Hitting It_Locker Room Diaries

by Kathy Lyons

  I interrupted Mom just before she launched into my grandfather’s educational awards. “As a kid, I swore I’d get my picture on the wall doing something besides giving birth to the next generation.”

  “Aiya.” My mother sighed as she turned to inspect my attire. “My daughter does not think being a wife and mother is important.” Then she lifted her chin. “And you will get your picture on the wall when you pass the bar.”

  Or not. But before I could say anything, Rob turned to me.

  “Tommy told me you’re looking at UCLA. It’s a great school.” He didn’t sound like his heart was in his words, but then it was hard to tell as my mother cried out in shock.

  “UCLA! Aiya, Huifen,” she cried using my Chinese name. “You said you weren’t going.”

  Oh shit. Shitshitshit. “I’m not. At least not for law school.”

  I saw Rob’s eyes widen as he realized he’d just exposed my shame, but more than that, I saw my father’s brows draw together in a glower that was guaranteed to set my knees shaking.

  “Um,” Rob began. “I didn’t realize…”

  I shook my head. “Not your fault,” I said in a low voice, then I turned and faced my parents. I had to do this now and clearly. And if Rob hadn’t been standing there as a living example of following his passion, then I’m not sure I could have done it. Not this firmly.

  “I’m not going to law school, because I don’t want to be a lawyer,” I said. “I’m going to be an investigative journalist.”

  My father’s frown deepened. “The world has gone digital, Huifen. There is no future in print anymore.”

  “But the world needs journalists, Baba. More than ever.” I desperately wanted to take Rob’s hand. I needed his strength. But I didn’t think I had the right, not after I’d stormed out of his apartment.

  Meanwhile my father dismissed my dreams with a single shake of his head. “That is not a smart move.”

  Meanwhile, my mother made a shushing gesture. “This is not a discussion to be had now. Not when we have a guest.” She suddenly brightened. “Huifen is going to UCLA. We must celebrate.”

  “No celebration, Mama. Maybe when I get accepted into their journalism program.”

  “Aiya,” she moaned. “You and all the different schools. When will you stop and just decide what you want? UCLA is an excellent place to study.”

  I was going to strangle her. Right in front of Rob, I was going to strangle my mother. Except he stopped me by asking a simple question.

  “Have you read her articles? They’re terrific. She did a piece on one school’s choice to divert art funding to the after-school program. It got a lot of people talking, and they’re re-examining the budget thanks to her.”

  I stared at him. “How did you know about that?” It was published weeks before we’d gotten back together.

  He shrugged. “We weren’t together all the time. I did a search for your byline.”

  And wow. I didn’t think I could get all soft and gooey in the middle of this conversation, but the idea that he’d read my articles and knew about this piece set my heart to pounding. It wasn’t even my favorite of my work, but it had been important. At least to the kids who wanted art supplies.

  Which is when my mother surprised me.

  “Yes, yes, of course we do.” Then she grabbed a photo album that had sticky pages to press in pictures. It had been sitting on the end table beside the Wall of Accomplishments, and she started paging through it immediately, showing Rob every single article that had my byline. Every one of them had been meticulously cut out and pressed into those pages, and I hadn’t even known about it. “We have all of Heidi’s writings here,” she said. “There are more upstairs in her bedroom, but those are school papers. Not published writings like this.”

  “You must be very proud,” Rob said.

  “Yes, yes. She is a smart girl, our Heidi.”

  And the weird thing was that I could see it was true. My father, too. They both looked at that photo album in the same way they gazed at the pictures of my brothers when they’d gotten their MDs. And at my father’s Excellence award. Even my grandfather’s university picture with him in his robes.

  They were just as proud of me as they were everyone else. And I hadn’t really done anything yet.

  “So you understand?” I asked. “You see that I need to be a journalist? Not a lawyer?”

  “Aiya, no, I do not understand,” my mother cried. “But you like to argue.” She ran a hand over a piece I’d written about the school board elections. “I suppose you can argue with the politicians, too? Tell them not to cut school funding.”

  “Um, yes. That’s the idea.”

  My mother nodded, then turned to the kitchen. “I will go make tea.” It’s what she did when she wanted to think about something. Fortunately, that meant she was thinking and not arguing.

  My father wasn’t nearly as easy. He had been staring at me this whole time with a tight frown. But when I turned to face him, not even blinking at his heavy stare, he finally relented. “I suppose we could tell your grandfather that you decided not to go to UCLA. Much better to turn down a fine school for something better.”

  Right. Except I hadn’t applied, so I wasn’t turning down anything. Then suddenly his lips quirked in a small smile.

  “We will say that it is because lawyers come too late.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “The world does not change in a courtroom. It changes first in people’s hearts and minds. That is what a journalist does. It shows people what is wrong first. Then the lawyers come later.” He nodded as if that answered everything. “You will go first and lead. Let the lawyers follow later.”

  And with that, he followed my mother back into the kitchen, presumably for some tea. And I stood there shocked at how easy that had been. Or not so easy because my heart was still pounding and despite everything, I found my fingers entwined with Rob’s. I had needed to hold on to him and he had let me. In fact his grip was so strong that I felt supported even though it was just his fingers.

  “Your parents seem very nice,” he said in a low voice.

  “Um…yeah. I guess they are.”

  “They surprised you, didn’t they?”

  “Um, yeah. They did.” They weren’t done, of course. There would still be worry and hand-wringing about how to explain this to my aunts who were the real gossip biddies in the family. But my father had already gotten his mind wrapped around a way. And whatever bumps lay ahead, they were mostly on board with my decision.

  Which was a miracle of epic proportions. The only larger miracle was having Rob show up at my parents’ house.

  “Speaking of surprises,” I said as I turned to him. “What are you doing here? Why would you miss your game?”

  He flushed and looked down at our hands. I should have let him go, but I just couldn’t make my fingers release his. “I had to see you before you left for California.”

  “I’m not going to California.”

  “I know that now, but it doesn’t matter. I had to see you again. I had to say I’m a total dick. I never should have let you leave. And I never should have agreed to that Brittany thing.”

  “I saw what happened on my Twitter feed. That was really clever.”

  He shrugged. “It was the least I could do. Heidi, I’ve screwed up with you from the beginning. I should have moved heaven and earth to find you after spring break. But I’m not making that mistake again.” He grabbed my other hand. “Please say you’ll give us another shot. Please let me—”

  “You were right,” I interrupted. “About spring break. It wasn’t the right time. And you have a career. A great career and I can’t expect you to be at my beck and call.”

  “Not your beck and call, but I’m not going to lie about it, either. I still want you to move in. I still want—”

  “And I had to figure out what I wanted first. I needed to decide about law school and journalism. About who I am and—”

  “I don’
t care what you do. I just want you with me.”

  “—who I want to be with.” I took a breath. “I want to be with you, Rob. I want it more than anything.”

  “I love you, Heidi. I have since spring break. I was just too stupid to realize it before.”

  I stared at him, his words replaying in my mind. We’d been speaking so fast, talking over each other, but his last words caught up to my brain and I was stunned into silence. Had he really said what I thought he did? Was he really as in love with me as I was with him?

  Then before I could ask, he said it again.

  “I love you, Heidi. Whatever you do, whatever comes, I want to be with you.”

  And then I realized that he really had just chosen me over baseball. He’d come here instead of playing in Indianapolis. And he wanted to be with me even though I was still a journalist. Especially since he didn’t realize I’d figured out a work-around.

  “Heidi? Say something.”

  I grinned. I flat-out grinned. And then in defiance of every rule my parents had about the house, I whooped in glee. “Yes, yes!” I cried. “I love you, too!”

  And then we were kissing. Right there beside the Wall of Accomplishments while his five-o’clock shadow sensitized my lips to a delicious degree. And we would have gone on kissing while my toes curled, and he lifted me up in his arms, except my mother’s voice interrupted us.

  “Aiya. So dramatic. That’s not good for a lawyer. But for a journalist? That’s very important. Now stop that and come and drink some tea.”

  Epilogue

  Two Weeks Later

  Heidi

  “I don’t know how you did it.” Hank’s voice was admiring, but I wasn’t fooled. “Fifteen years in this business and I’ve never seen anything like it before.” He was angling for the secret to my success as he leaned his forearms on his desk. “The Bobcats don’t allow any of their players to give an interview. Not like this. And certainly not to a no-name journalist.”

  I grinned as I saw the mock-up for tomorrow’s paper. Front and center on the sports page was my article on the secrets to home run success. It was all about the mind-set that makes a good hitter, starting with patience. I’d managed interviews with all the big run guys, but the one with the most column inches was our very own Bobcats star Rob Lee. Especially since he was well on his way to breaking the team’s slugging percentage record.

  “It was all sleight of hand,” I confessed. “I wrote the article about Rob first, then told everyone if they wanted their guy in it, they had to let me do an interview.”

  “But how did you get the Bobcats to agree?”

  That was the best part. “I told them I had everyone else. If they wanted Rob in it, then they had to let me do the interview.”

  Hank shook his head. “That’s still some major tap-dancing. You sure you don’t want to stay in sports? The city desk is a hard beat.”

  Hell, no. That had been part of my deal with the Bobcats. Rob wasn’t violating his “no journalists” rule if this was my one and only sports story. And since I only cared about Rob and not the sport he played, I was thrilled to accept a full-time position at the Indianapolis Sun city beat. I had benefits and everything, not to mention people who would teach me what I needed to learn to go all the way.

  But first, I had to accept one other thing. I held out my hand and Hank slapped a check into it. Payment for my article. Proof positive that I was going to make it as a journalist.

  “A pleasure doing business with you,” I quipped as I stood up.

  “You’ll still come around and help me with the interns, right?” he asked as he pushed to his feet.

  “Nope. That’s your job now. I’ve got bigger and better fish to fry.” And with that, I waved goodbye. Five minutes later, I was outside and entwining my fingers with Rob’s.

  “Did you get it? Did you see it?”

  “Yes and yes!” I said as I showed him the check. He’d have to wait until tomorrow to see the story, but he’d already read it.

  “So all in all, a home run?” he asked.

  “It was a grand slam!” I answered. Not only had I published the article and gotten a fat paycheck, but I’d also gotten a better job. But that was only a double. What made it a grand slam was the man right now who was looking at me like I held the moon and the stars in my hands. And I did because I was holding his hands.

  Rob made it my grand slam. Because we’d moved in together, and because of my beautiful new engagement ring sitting on the mantel back at our apartment. We still had to play things cool. Thanks to Rob’s fancy work at his “date” with Brittany, the social media attention was off him, but neither of us wanted to take the risk. I stayed out of the spotlight and pretended to be Dana’s roommate. We’d announce our engagement sometime around Christmas. It was awkward, but Rob was worth the wait. And the engagement ring told me he wasn’t going anywhere. That and the way he looked at me every time he said those magic words.

  “I love you, Heidi.”

  “See? Grand slam. Because I completely, totally, and absolutely love you, too.”

  Did you love this Brazen? Check out more of our steamy titles here!

  Don’t miss another book by Kathy Lyons! Sign up for the Brazen newsletter here.

  About the Author

  Kathy Lyons writes light, funny, sexy stories for Brazen. She loves the faster pace of category books and that her humor can shine through. She leaves the dark, tortured love stories to her alter ego, Jade Lee. Visit them both on the web at www.kathylyons.com or www.jadeleeauthor.com!

  Also by Kathy Lyons…

  Dream Nights with the CEO

  One Night in the Spa

  Two Week Seduction

  The Makeover Mistake

  The Player Next Door

  If you love sexy romance, one-click these steamy Brazen releases…

  Scoring Off the Field

  a WAGS novel by Naima Simone

  Football is Dominic Anderson’s life. With his contract soon up for renewal, his focus needs to be on the game. But Tennyson—his dependable, logical best friend—is making that impossible with her mysterious new job and sudden interest in online dating. He doesn’t do relationships. But the thought of another man touching her has him grasping at the chance for hot, no-strings sex that she offers. It’s simple, uncomplicated…until it’s not.

  Playing House

  a Sydney Smoke Rugby novel by Amy Andrews

  Eleanor is content with her boring life—mostly. She’s even fine being the quirky sister in a bevy of beauties. So imagine her surprise when one of her brother’s Sydney Smoke mates hits on her at an engagement party. Bodie is shocked the next morning to find the soft, sexy virgin who seduced him with corsets is his best friend’s little sister. If he could kick his own ass, he would. Two months later, he’s in for an even bigger surprise…

  The Bad Girl and the Baby

  a Cutting Loose novel by Nina Croft

  When Captain Matt Peterson finds himself the guardian of his baby niece, he knows he’s in over his head. Then he meets the child’s aunt—tough, sexy MMA fighter Darcy Butler—and he knows he’s really in trouble!

  Tempting the Player

  a Gamble Brothers novel by J. Lynn

  After the paparazzi catches him in a compromising position, baseball bad boy Chad Gamble is issued an ultimatum: fake falling in love with the feisty redhead in the pictures, or kiss his multi-million dollar contract goodbye. Too bad being blackmailed into a relationship with a dominant lover like Chad is the last thing Bridget Rodgers needs.

 

 

 
" class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share