“You are doing well, my dear,” the woman to my left tells me.
Her name is Raquel, and from what I’ve been able to ascertain, she and her husband, João, are very close with Marcus and his family. I know they live in the States, but I haven’t had time to ask them anything else as everyone keeps wanting to know about me and Marcus.
“Thank you. It’s not an easy language, but I am trying hard to learn it.”
“You use quite a bit of slang for someone who’s learning from a book. I never thought of Marcus as patient enough to teach our language. I guess love will do that to you—give you the gift of patience.”
“My boyfriend is actually very patient with me while I learn,” I tell her, truthfully. She doesn’t need to know that my boyfriend’s name is Joel and not Marcus.
After a few dances, Marcus ushers me upstairs and insists that he needs to stay awhile to protect his reputation. I roll my eyes and point to the couch. Once I’ve changed into sweats and a loose Legends t-shirt, I join him in the living room, curling up on the big chair by the window.
“Tell me about this boyfriend of yours. Is he a spy, too?”
“No. He’s not a spy.”
I can’t tell him what he does. Joel’s told me that there’s a couple of other Brazilian-born players in the majors, but not enough to keep him from possibly figuring it out. It’s none of his business anyway.
“That’s all I’m getting, huh?”
“Yep.”
“He’s good to you, though? I mean, I guess he has to be. A kick-ass spy isn’t going to put up with anyone’s crap.”
“He’s very good to me, and no, I don’t put up with any shit.”
“Thank you for tonight, Sierra. It seems to have been a waste of time, but I appreciate the time you took to look out for me.”
“It’s my job, Marcus, but you’re welcome. You seem like a nice guy, so I’m glad to see you live another day.”
“Not nice enough to sleep with, though?”
“Não.”
We watch some T.V., where I’m happy to realize I understand almost all of what is being said. After a couple of hours, I tell him his manhood should be intact, and he can go. He tries one more time to get me to change my mind, but I just hug him at the door.
“Adeus, Sierra. I hope to see you again one day.”
“With all due respect, I hope you don’t.”
He laughs and walks away. Stella comes out of the bedroom once I close the door. “He didn’t want to take no for an answer.”
“No, he really didn’t.”
“You did good. With him, and with the mission.”
“Thanks. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“How do you do it? I mean, with Kace and him being gone so much. Isn’t it hard?” Her husband is a boy band star, and I know he tours for several months out of the year.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, the Society included. We have lots of phone and Skype sex, and he has it written into his tour and recording contracts that he gets at least 4 days off twice a month. The other girls, and my assistant, cover for me then, and I use my regular days off to go to him at least once a month. It’s not enough, but at the same time it is. I’m busy, too, and when he’s home between tours or recording, sometimes I get called to a mission, and he’s home alone. We love each other enough to make it work.”
“You don’t worry about other women?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t have married him, or even started dating him. Kace isn’t going to cheat on me.”
“But he knows. Joel doesn’t. I can’t tell him until I’m official, and that’s close to a year away.”
“It’s hard, believe me, I know. Kace didn’t know about me being a spy when we met, and I almost lost him when it came out. It’s not going to be easy, but if he’s the one for you, you’ll find a way to make it work.”
“He is. He’s the one. I trust him, too. He won’t cheat on me.”
“Then we’ll help you see him, and also help you hide from him at the same time. If that makes sense.”
“It does.”
I know I need help with both. Hiding is going to be the hardest, but Joel and I promised each other that we’d find a way to work it out. He can’t get away like Kace can, but if I can fly to him on my days off, it will help. I know I want to be at his first game back. He will be back. I know it, and I also know I can deal with it. I don’t have a choice at this point.
* * *
Joel
“How are you doing, son?” the GM of my team asks me as I walk onto the field.
“I’m good, sir.”
I’m not suited up, but I did go into the clubhouse to put my cleats on. My locker is still there, with my uniforms, glove, spare cleats and hats inside. Seeing that gave me more hope than anything Dean or anyone else could say to me. Now I just need to prove that their faith in me is warranted.
“We want you back, but you gotta show us one-hundred percent,” Coach tells me.
“I’m there.”
“Good. Warm up your arm, and we’ll get this underway.”
I nod and head to the batter’s box. My buddy, D.J., walks onto the mound while I’m swinging the wood. He’s the starting pitcher, and I feel a sense of pride at seeing him. They have enough faith in me to bring out the big gun. I’m not going to let them down.
An hour later, I’ve hit almost everything D.J.’s thrown at me, and hit them well. I even knocked a couple out of the park. “Let’s see if you can still throw,” Coach says.
Our catcher, Glen, comes out and we take our places. I catch and throw like I was never hurt, sending a silent thanks to Miles and Waverly for all their help. Coach calls us in and claps me on the back. “Welcome back, Joel. We’ve missed you.”
“Thank you. I won’t let you down.”
“You wanna go get a beer, man?” D.J. asks me. “We can invite the guys who are in town.”
“Yeah. That’d be great.”
We go to a local bar, and I’m surprised how many of the guys show up. The fans also surprise me, and I get a bunch of free drinks. I also get hit on by a bunch of women. I don’t kiss them or take any of them home, but the drunker I get, the more pictures I take with them. I’m back, and there’s nothing wrong with a little celebrating.
Chapter 12
Sierra
I came home on a high from my first mission, and then crashed when I saw the pictures of Joel all over the Internet. Apparently, he’s back on the team. He didn’t call me and tell me. Or even text me. I guess he’s been too busy partying with the bunnies these past few days. No! I need to stop thinking like that. I know that things can be taken out of context, and I also know he didn’t kiss anyone in those pictures, or put his hands anywhere he shouldn’t have. He did let them kiss him, and a few of them even had their hands on his ass, but he didn’t touch them. I have to keep reminding myself of that. It’s hard when he hasn’t reached out, and I don’t even know if he’s coming back, but I’m trying. I’m trying really hard. And sucking really hard at it.
The knock at my door surprises me, since I’ve been keeping to myself since I got back. The door opens to Reina, and all of the mentors, plus Alex, followed by all of the recruits. They’re all in pajamas, and they all have bags with them.
“Umm, hi.”
“Hi, Sierra. Remember I told you that your friends would be here when the guy you loved acted like an ass? Well, here we are. We have ice cream, cookies, chips, soda, vodka, whiskey, and chick flicks.”
“Is there any cake? I really want cake,” I tell them as I burst into tears.
“We’ve got cake, Mija,” Audrey tells me, pulling me into her arms. “All kinds of cake.”
Two hours later, most of us are in various stages of drunkeness when security calls me from downstairs. Tegan answers since she’s six months pregnant, and therefore not drinking. “Oh. Umm, I don’t know. Hold on.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Joel�
�s downstairs asking for permission to come up and see you.”
I grab the phone from her and practically yell into it. “Send the bastard up.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Tegan asks me.
“Nope, but I might as well get it over with.”
“We’re here for you,” Reina says, swaying as she gets to her feet. Audrey grabs her, and holds her steady with a smile. She only had one glass of wine since she’s breastfeeding.
There’s a hesitant knock on the door, and I put my hands on my hips as I shout out for him to come in. “Hi,” he says, and then he sees us. 20 women in various stages of drunkenness, surrounded by empty ice cream containers, chip bags, and bottles of liquor. “Wow. You having a rager, Si?”
“No. I was having a good cry with my friends.”
“How drunk are you?”
“Very.”
“I should come back.”
“No. You should say what you came here to say. Then you can go back to your bunnies.”
“Gatinha. No. There were no bunnies. Not like that. I should’ve called you.”
“Yes, you should’ve,” I tell him, starting to cry again. Dammit! I don’t want him to see me crying.
“Nothing happened with any of those women. I know the pictures look bad, but I swear to you that I didn’t cheat.”
“I wanted to believe that. I did believe it, but then you didn’t call, or even text. I had to hear that you’re back on the team from Google.”
“I told you. It wasn’t Google,” Ainsley yells out.
“I think we need to go now,” Audrey says.
“I don’t know if I can walk,” Kalila admits.
“I called for reinforcements,” Tegan tells us, opening the door.
Matt, Aiden, Nate, Isa’s husband Jake, and their friend Theo all walk in, shaking their heads. The guys head for the drunkest girls first. Matt lifts a sleeping Neveah gently into his arms, kissing Reina on his way by. “I’ll be back for you, Rei.”
“Okay.”
As drunk as I am, I still notice Kalila pull Theo in for a kiss. He pulls back, and lifts her up as she pouts. “You don’t want to kiss me?”
“You know I do, Kali, but I don’t want you to regret it in the morning.”
“Why do you have to be so honorable? It ruins everything.”
“I’m sorry, baby. So very sorry. Let me get you to bed so I can help your friends.”
“Will you come back and cuddle with me? I won’t be mad in the morning. Promise.”
“Okay. I’ll cuddle,” he says, carrying her out.
The other girls and I share looks, but no one seems to know what that was all about. “I can’t tell you, so don’t ask,” Reina tells us as she leans on Audrey.
“You know those of us who remember this tomorrow are definitely going to be asking just because you said that, right?” Jen says.
“I won’t tell.”
“No, she won’t. My wife’s a vault,” Matt tells us as he picks her up. “C’mon, Princess. Let’s get you to bed.”
“Mm, I want to go to bed with you. Being drunk makes me horny.”
“I know. I’ll take care of you.”
“TMI, Matthew,” Darcy tells him with a smile before walking out behind them.
Jade and Ellie wait for their guys to take the last of the other girls to their apartments, and then hug me on their way out. Audrey and Tegan ask me if I’m sure I’m okay, and I assure them that no matter how much of a bastard Joel is, he would never take advantage of me. They throw one more glare his way before leaving. Then it’s just us.
“Bastard, huh? I guess I deserve that.”
“You do.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Maybe you should just go,” I tell him, rubbing my head. “I drank too much whipped cream vodka, and ate too much chocolate cake. I’m going to throw up soon.”
“I’ll hold your hair.”
“What if I don’t want you to?”
“If you really want me to leave, I will.”
“I don’t know what I want,” I tell him honestly.
He starts to speak, but I hold up my hand and run for my bathroom. I make it there, and he’s right behind me as I sink to the floor. Holding my hair like he promised, and then holding me when I’m done. I can’t think about what I want right now. I just want to sleep, so I close my eyes, and that’s what I do. Sleep.
* * *
Joel
I screwed up big time. I could’ve called her. I should’ve texted her. I knew how bad those pictures looked when I saw them online. And yet, I gave her nothing. Treated her like she was nothing. I might still be doing it if I hadn’t gone to D.J.’s house for some beers, and found a sex party going on instead. A few bunnies had been “assigned” to me, and I barely made it out of there. My t-shirt wasn’t so lucky, being literally torn off my body by those women. It was then that I knew things had gone too far. I was in no danger of going too far where women were concerned, but I didn’t make that as clear as I thought I did. Talk about a wake-up call.
I didn’t sleep much last night, because I wanted to be there for Sierra when she needed me. She slept most of the night, only getting up twice to throw up again. I cleaned out her place, and tossed the trash down the chute at the end of the hall. Now I’m cooking her breakfast. I don’t know if she’ll be up soon, but I want to be ready. Bacon, eggs, and lots of water are on the menu.
“You’re here.”
I turn to see her rubbing her eyes, then her hand cross over her stomach. “Of course, I’m here. My girlfriend needs me.”
“Your girlfriend needed you yesterday, and the day before.”
“Sit down, and eat. We can talk after you get some food in you.”
“This doesn’t make up for it. Holding my hair, cleaning my apartment, and cooking me breakfast. It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t,” she tells me and my heart breaks as her tears fall.
I pull her into my arms, and kiss the top of her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Why do you have to be so romantic after being so mean?”
“I’m being romantic?”
“Yes, dammit. Taking care of me is more romantic than flowers or material things could ever be.”
I lift her up, and put her on one of the bar stools. “I love taking care of you,” I tell her has as I hand her a fork and nod towards her plate of food. “You should eat.”
“You hurt me. A lot.”
“The pictures. I know.”
“No. Those pictures didn’t hurt me. You hurt me. I believed that you were doing nothing wrong in those pictures until you didn’t call or text me, or even send me an owl.”
“An owl?”
“Never mind.”
“I got caught up in everything. The other players welcoming me back, the fans buying me drinks…it was like I was someone again.”
“You’ve always been someone to me. I thought you felt the same way.”
“I did. I do.”
She shakes her head. “No. If you did, you would’ve called me right away when the team took you back. Just like I called and left you a message telling you my training trip had gone well. You were the first person I wanted to tell, and so I did. I can come second to baseball, but I can’t come fifth. You once told me not to talk like a ball bunny, but yet you put them before me.”
She’s right. I did put them all before her. I’ll never do it again, though. “It won’t happen again. I swear it. You mean more to me than any other human on this planet, except my parents. I’ll never put anyone before you again. I swear it. Juro. In both languages, I promise you this.”
“I’m happy for you, you know.”
I nod. “Yes. I know you are.”
“I wanted to celebrate with you.”
“My parents are coming to town this weekend to celebrate. I was hoping you’d join us.”
“You want me to meet them?”
“Claro. Eu te amo, Sierra.”
“I love you too
, Joel. I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but I do.”
“I have to leave in two weeks,” I blurt out.
“We can make this work, but you can’t go days without even texting me. Even just a stupid smiley face or something. I need something from you. Maybe that’s too clingy, but it’s how I feel.”
“It’s not clingy. You’re my girlfriend. You deserve more than just a smiley face. I’ll call as often as I can and text you when I can’t.”
“I can come visit you if I get two days off in a row. Wherever you are.”
“Yeah?”
She nods. “The tickets for your first Spring Training game are sold out, but Miles said he can get me a ticket.”
“I’ll get you a ticket, a jersey, a hat. Whatever you want.”
“All of the above, please.”
“I want to be there when you finish your training. Do they have a graduation or something?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“You tell me, and I’ll be there. Do you need to study today? We can practice your Portuguese.”
“I passed that test.”
“You did? Really?”
“Yes.”
I pick her up and swing her around, stopping when she reminds me she’s still hung over. I sit back on the stool, but with her on my lap this time. I feed her breakfast while we talk to each other in a mix of English and Portuguese. I can’t believe I almost lost her. That’s not going to happen again.
Chapter 13
Sierra
“It’s good to see you smiling again,” Rhieve tells me as we grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria.
“It’s good to be smiling,” I admit.
It’s been three days since Joel showed up during our drunken slumber party, and things have been pretty close to perfect. He’s pretty much moved in again. I still want to see his place, but he tells me that since he didn’t unpack much when he moved in, mine is much more comfortable for us. I don’t really care where we are, as long as we’re together.
“Were you able to work something out with Reina?” Neveah asks me.
Society Girls: Sierra Page 10