Keeping Score

by Sara Rider

  Someone knocked at the window, making her pull back with a yelp. She turned to see three noses squished up against the glass like pigs at the trough, and a half-dozen more sets of big, innocent brown eyes gawking at her. Behind the kids stood a gorgeous, elegant older woman with Alex’s piercing black eyes and beautifully defined cheekbones.

  “Inside the house, children.”

  Oh crap.

  Alex’s mom.

  26

  “TIO ALEX, IS THAT your girlfriend?” his nephew Danny shouted through the window.

  His mom shooed the kids off and opened his door. “Mijo, you didn’t tell me you were bringing your girlfriend to the party.” Her voice was stern, but he knew that was only for the grandkids’ sake. A crinkle of delight formed around her eyes, not that he wouldn’t catch hell for this decidedly un-Catholic display later on.

  “Yes, Mom. This is Jaime Chen. My girlfriend.” God, it felt good to say that. He caught her eye, wondering if she’d protest the label.

  She just smiled, looking like a beautiful angel with her mussed hair and flushed cheeks. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Martinez. Alex has told me so much about you and your family. I hope you don’t mind me tagging along to the party. It was a bit of a last-minute decision.”

  “Of course not. I’m so glad you came.” As soon as Jaime rolled off his lap and onto the ground, his mom pulled her into a bear hug. “Come, you must meet the rest of the family.”

  She dragged Jaime off to the house, leaving him to mire in his embarrassment and will away his painful hard-on. His brothers were going to rip into him about this for the rest of his life.

  Jaime turned back toward him at the front door and flashed him a wide grin and thumbs-up before disappearing into the house. He ran his hand through his hair. He’d been a half second away from telling her he’d been fired. How would she have reacted if he’d called her his girlfriend after that revelation? Sweat prickled his neck as the considered that thought.

  A moment later, Ricky tapped at the window, holding Mateo on his hip and grinning like only an older brother could.

  Alex got out of the truck and took his adorable nephew into his arms.

  “You know, the last time Mom caught me making out with a girl in my car she made me volunteer at the church laundry room for two weeks as punishment. Do you even know how stinky those altar-boy outfits get? You pull the same shit, and Mom’s acting like it’s a Christmas present.” He shook his head.

  “Perks of being the youngest,” he said, tickling Mateo’s pudgy cheek. His mom had figured out a long time ago that she could sit back and let Ricky, Adrian, and Felipe do her dirty work for her whenever he screwed up.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell anyone you were bringing a woman with you. You know Mom is already talking to her about possible wedding dates and names for more grandbabies.”

  Alex groaned, but it was mostly for show. The thought of settling down with Jaime didn’t scare him in the least. It excited him. But her life was in Seattle. Spokane wasn’t somewhere she’d settle down. Hell, as much as he loved growing up here, he couldn’t imagine himself settling down here, either, so far from the world of pro sports. But thanks to some goddamn reporters, he had no choice. He was no longer welcome in that world.

  “Look, don’t say anything about me moving here to work at your clinic yet, okay?”

  “You haven’t told her, bro?”

  Alex shook his head. The thought of disappointing her killed him. He should’ve told her sooner. Hell, he should’ve just picked up the phone and called her because he didn’t think he could bear to see the look in her eyes when she found out.

  Ricky covered Mateo’s ears and let out a string of curses. “Bad idea, man. Lying to a woman always ends in trouble.”

  “I know.” He grabbed the teddy bear from the back and showed it to Mateo. His squeals of excitement helped distract him from the knot growing in his stomach. Ricky tossed the baby up in the air, causing him to giggle even more.

  Rather curious for a man who was supposedly an invalid.

  “Speaking of lies, how about you tell me why Mom thinks you can barely function after the car accident?”

  His brother had the decency to look sheepish. “You know how she is. She worries, and I didn’t bother to correct her. She’s been coming by every time Mia has a nightshift to help clean the house and take care of the kids. She brings me homemade ceviche every time, bro.” He rubbed his belly and groaned. “You know I can’t resist her ceviche.”

  Alex laughed. His mom’s cooking was amazing. It was one of the perks he was looking forward to the most about moving back here. But even ceviche couldn’t make up for the fact he’d be far away from Jaime.

  He followed Ricky into the house and greeted the swarm of nieces and nephews with an endless stream of hugs before being wrestled to the ground for a tickle attack. When he finally managed to pry the last adorable little hand off his leg, he headed to the backyard to see if he could rescue Jaime from whatever antics his mom was up to. A dozen relatives, including his brothers Felipe and Adrian, filled the yard, waiting for his dad to fire up the grill. It took Alex a while to make the rounds as every single one of his five aunts insisted on ribbing him for being childless and interrogating him about Jaime.

  Just as he started to worry where she had gotten off to, the unmistakable sound of her enchanting laugh floated through the air. She was running around the far end of the large yard with his four-year-old niece Isabella on her shoulders, and five-year-old Julio chasing after. His chest felt tight, like there wasn’t enough room for the emotions welling inside him as he watched her get tackled, giggling and completely oblivious to the grass stains on her knees. She climbed to her feet and brushed her hair from her eyes, then gave Alex another thumbs-up as she walked over to him.

  He tucked her into his side and kissed her temple. The legendary Martinez gossip machine was already in full swing, so there was no reason not to give in to his urges to hold her. “Doing okay?”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Doing great. Your family is awesome. Hopefully they won’t hold the whole making-out-in-the-truck incident against me.”

  “Nah, I think everyone’s just shocked to see me with a woman.”

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “I don’t mean it that way. I just haven’t introduced anyone to my folks before. I still sleep in a twin bed when I visit.”

  She grimaced. “I didn’t even think about sleeping arrangements when I jumped in your truck this morning. Is that going to be a problem?”

  “It means your beautiful, naked body will be plastered up against mine all night.” He pulled her in tighter and trailed his knuckles down her arm. “I think I can handle that.”

  The shiver that slid down her spine vibrated against his body.

  “Alex,” his mom called. “Your father says we need more ice for the coolers. Can you run to the store?”

  “Yeah, sure.” He turned to Jaime. “Want to come for a ride?” This was his chance to stop being a chickenshit and tell her he was leaving the Falcons. The longer he waited, the worse it would be. He and Ricky were going to finalize the details tomorrow morning with the bank, and in two weeks after his house went on the market, he’d be making the same drive along the I-90, this time permanently. He just had to hope she’d be open to the idea of a long-distance relationship. Because if not? He had no idea what he was going to do.

  “Nonsense,” his mother interrupted. “She can stay here, and I’ll introduce her to the rest of the family.”

  “That’d be great,” Jaime replied earnestly. “I’ll be fine, Alex. Don’t worry about me.”

  He would’ve protested, but his mom was already dragging Jaime away. He gave his mom a warning look just in case, silently willing her not to break out the old photo albums of him as a pudgy, bucktoothed kid, and set out for the gr
ocery store a few blocks away.

  By the time he returned, which was later than expected since his mom had called him twice while he was in the store with more items than she needed, Mia and Ricky had lit the giant one-shaped candle on top of the bright Thomas the Train cake. Everyone gathered around a high chair in the middle of the backyard to watch Mateo savor that first taste of rich, moist chocolate.

  Alex scanned the space to find Jaime once more, eventually noticing her parked in a lawn chair next to his eighty-eight-year-old abuelita. After grabbing a piece of cake, he sidled through the masses toward the pair. Their hands were clasped together, heads bowed toward each other like they were sharing a secret. At one point, they laughed, simultaneously throwing their heads back.

  There was only one way what he was seeing could be possible.

  He kissed his grandmother on the cheek and handed her the cake, then turned to Jaime. “You speak Spanish?”

  “Yep. Mandarin and French, too. I also can swear in Russian, which pretty much counts as being fluent. I majored in languages in university. Figured I’d try to work in translation someday.”

  “I can’t believe you never told me.” He couldn’t believe she’d understood every dirty thing he’d ever uttered to her when he thought she couldn’t.

  “And I can’t believe you didn’t bring me a piece of cake, too.” With a quick good-bye to his grandmother, she grabbed his arm and led him back to the table where Ricky was slicing and serving the cake.

  “Tell me the caboose is still left,” she said to him, holding out a monkey-themed paper plate.

  “Saved it just for you,” Ricky replied, proving he was still unable to resist any chance to flirt, no matter how innocent. In low, rapid Spanish, he said to Alex, “Can we sign the papers at the bank in the afternoon tomorrow instead of the morning? I promised Mia I would do morning duty with the kids so she could get some rest.”

  “What papers?” Jaime asked in English, suspicion coating her words.

  Ricky’s eyes widened in horror, like he realized he had just reached into Alex’s stomach and ripped out his guts. “Oh shit. You speak Spanish?”

  “Yeah. I speak awkward subtext, too. So spill whatever it is that you’re not telling me.”

  “Let’s talk about this somewhere else.” He grabbed her elbow and tried to usher her to somewhere more private, but she shrugged him off.

  She crossed her arms and planted her feet, chin jutting out defiantly. “No. Tell me right now. You’ve been keeping something from me, and I want to know what it is.”

  “Ricky’s asked me to be his partner in his new clinic. In Spokane.”

  “You’re leaving the team?” Her beautiful face blanched. “After everything we’ve been through, you’re leaving me?”

  Her words hit him like a slap in the face. “No, I’m not leaving you.”

  “Really? Because when you decided to pack up and sneak away without bothering to tell me, it sure as heck sounded like you’re leaving me.”

  His jaw locked so tight, he had to force the words out. “I don’t have a choice.”

  “Of course you have a choice! You always have a choice.”

  “No, I don’t.” A sheen of tears formed at her eyes, tugging at the thread of frustration he’d buried deep inside himself until he’d unraveled. “I was fired, okay?”

  Jaime gasped. The hurt in her eyes softened, overlaid with pity. The last thing in the world he wanted was for her to look at him like some pathetic loser. Anger swelled hard and fast in his chest. He no longer cared who heard him. The truth was coming out one way or another.

  “It’s been a long time coming, and that news about my history with Daniels gave Chester the ammunition he needed to go through with it.”

  “He can’t fire you for something you didn’t do.”

  He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, he can.”

  “Not if you tell him the truth.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my god, you didn’t tell him the truth, did you?”

  A tug at the hem of his shirt stopped him from answering. “Tio Alex, Mommy says you always have to tell the truth, otherwise you get a time-out.” Isabella looked up at him with her huge brown eyes. “You don’t get to play again until you say sorry.”

  He caught Jaime’s wrist and took his niece’s advice to heart. “I’m sorry, querida.”

  “Then fight,” she said in a voice so quiet, he almost missed it. “You didn’t give anybody drugs. I know you didn’t. So tell the truth and fight it.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Of course you can.”

  “No, I can’t,” he exploded, feeling like an ass immediately after.

  A tear slid down her pale cheek. He brushed it away with his thumb. She jerked her head to the side but didn’t pull away. “Why? Why are you giving up?”

  “Because the truth is a hell of a lot worse than what was written in that article.”

  “I don’t believe you.” She pivoted on her heel and marched past him toward the sidewalk leading to the front of the house. She ignored his calls to her to wait as he chased after her, quickening her pace and pulling her phone from her purse.

  “Yeah, hi. I need a car,” she said into the phone when she reached the front sidewalk. She rattled off the address and tossed her phone back into her bag.

  “You don’t have to go. Stay with me tonight. We can talk about this. We can figure out how to make long-distance work.”

  She shook her head, destroying him with the soft dismissal. “I’m already committed to spending at least two weeks a month at a camp or traveling for the rest of the year. What are your hours at the clinic? Nine to five? Oh wait, you’ll be a partner, so probably more like eight-to-seven, right? Six days a week?”

  He nodded reluctantly.

  “It’s a four-hour drive. How often will I even see you? Once every six months?”

  “I know it sucks, but I don’t want to give up on us. We need to try.” He reached for her arm, but she shrugged him off.

  “The whole point in staying in Seattle over the off-season was to be with you. Now I might as well move back to Vancouver.”

  Even farther away. “We can figure something out.”

  “I don’t get it. Even if you’re leaving the Falcons, why do you have to leave the city? There have to be dozens of places that would hire you in Seattle.”

  He raked his hand through his hair. How could he explain to her so that she’d understand he had no choice? “Ricky needs me. He can’t afford the practice by himself. What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t help him?”

  She sighed and gazed down the quiet, elm-lined street. “At least tell me this. Can you really be happy if you move back here? If you leave pro sports?”

  He didn’t know how long he stood there, silently clinging to his sinking anchor of denial.

  “You fought for me. Why can’t you do the same for yourself?”

  He cupped her cheeks, needing to touch her. Feel her. “Because innocent people will get hurt. And I can’t let that happen.”

  The car pulled up next to them. She slipped out of his hands and opened the back passenger door. “How fast can you get me to the airport?”

  “Jaime, wait.” He laid his hand on her shoulder and pressed his face into the sweet-smelling hair. “I love you.”

  She stiffened.

  “I do, querida. I love you so much.”

  She turned to him with a bittersweet smile. “Just not enough to fight for us.”

  A moment later, she slid into the car and pulled the door shut.

  He sat down on the stoop and hung his head. There were many times in his life when he thought he’d hit rock bottom, but he had never felt more raw, more hopeless, than in this moment where he let the woman he loved walk out of his life.

  The screen door squeaked open and shut behind him. He reco
gnized his mom’s classic hands-on-the-hips pose from the shadow cast along the sidewalk. She sat next to him and offered a plate full of papas a la huancaína, his favorite dish. His stomach was clenched too tight for food, though, so he just shook his head.

  “I didn’t mean to ruin the party.”

  “Nonsense. We live for drama in this house. Your abuelita said it was like being in the middle of a real-life telenovela. Jaime’s right, you know. You need to go back to Seattle and fight for what you truly want.”

  Of all the advice his mom might have given at that moment, this was the last thing he expected. “You’ve been begging me to move back since the day I left.”

  “That was because I worried about you in that big house all alone with no family. You work so hard with no one taking care of you. But you have someone who loves you.”

  Exhaustion slammed down on him like a lead weight. “She doesn’t. Even if she did, she doesn’t now. I screwed it up.”

  “So fix it.”

  He laughed ruefully. Everyone around him seemed to think the answer was simple. This kind of scar on his reputation meant he wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a job anywhere, much less another pro sports career. “I can’t.”

  “I know I raised you better than what you’ve been accused of, yet for the last four years, you’ve refused to defend yourself. And now you let the woman you love get away. Why won’t you tell your side?”

  He ran his palms along his jean-covered thighs. He was so tired of carrying the weight of this secret, but he’d never be able to look himself in the mirror again and call himself a man if he revealed it. “Because if I do, an innocent child will end up back with the people who abused him.”

  27

  NOT FOR THE FIRST time in her life, Jaime wished she’d had the foresight to stash an extra pair of underwear in her purse. After three connecting flights over the past twenty-four hours and next to no sleep, she was grimy, cranky, and ready for a shower. Unfortunately, the hardest part of the whole mess she had jumped into was still to come.