Played: Scandalous Moves Series by Staley Deborah Grace

Author:Staley, Deborah Grace
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-05-27T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

Jaye woke before dawn. When she reached for Matt, she found the bed empty. She sat up, scanning the darkened room, looking for him. The balcony door stood open, but the curtains barely stirred.

Jaye went to the bathroom, then back into the bedroom, found one of Matt’s t-shirts, and put it on. Outside on the balcony, Matt sat in a lounge chair, staring out at the still ocean. Just a hint of color lined the horizon. “Good morning,” she said.

“Hi.”

He wore nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs that sat indecently low on his hips. He held out his hand. She went to him and curled into his side like she’d been made for him. Jaye was beginning to believe that had, in fact, been the case. Damn it all to hell.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked, putting off the conversation she knew they had to have.

For several moments, he didn’t speak. When he finally did, he said simply, “I thought if I sat out here and wished it so, the sun might not rise. But alas, no one can stop time.” In silence, they watched the light on the horizon brighten. “You have to go,” he said.

“We both do.”

Another long pause as they both continued watching the sunrise. “What will we do?”

Jaye focused on the horizon instead of Matt. It was that or burst into tears. “I don’t know. I need time.” She hesitated. “Time to think.”

He looked at her, and she nearly lost it. “Explain this to me once more. Why it—why we are impossible.”

“I am the general manager for the team you’re playing for. That means you work for me.”

He nodded. “And a relationship between us is inappropriate.”

“Yes, and it’s a distraction you don’t need when you’re trying to focus on getting your career back on track.”

He frowned. “Yes. There is that, I suppose,” he said as if his career was inconsequential.

“What’s going on with you, Matt? What’s happened? You were on fire, and then it was like someone turned a switch and you went completely off the rails. You lost saves, couldn’t throw strikes, started no-showing for practices, were late for spring training. Your head hasn’t been in the game since the middle of the season last year.”

He propped a hand behind his head, still watching the sunrise. Not speaking.

Jaye sat up and touched him. “Talk to me.”

He looked at her and said, “It’s not how I thought it would be.” He put his hand over hers and squeezed it. “Everything was perfect, except it wasn’t. I thought achieving this dream of playing in the major leagues and finding success in my career would be—” He shook his head. “I thought it would be everything I could have ever wanted, but it wasn’t. I felt empty inside.” She saw the turmoil he felt in his eyes. “There’s no life inside me, Jaye. I do not like who I have become.”

She smoothed his furrowed brow with her fingertips. “Who do you want to be?”

Without hesitation, he said, “A man you could respect and perhaps even care for.

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