Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
“I’ll have a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I was coming in for a plain old coffee, but the smell got me.”
The tiny barista’s words were spoken rapid-fire, “Tell me about it. I’ve had three already today.” Gee, I’d never have guessed.
“What’s your name?” She pointed her sharpie to a tall cup.
“Delilah.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
My eyes drifted to her nametag. Puma
She caught me noticing. “Yep. It’s my real name. My parents were hippies.”
I tried to sound sincere. “It’s nice. Unique.”
“At least they gave me a cool middle name—Ophelia. That sort of sounds like Delilah. And my married name is nice and simple—Oar.”
I smiled and moved to the other end of the counter to wait for Poo to make my latte.
Settling into an oversized leather chair in the corner, I sipped my Pumpkin Spice Latte and flipped open my MacBook to catch up on the morning news. My tongue prickled as the hot pseudo coffee burnt the tip. Damn it.
When I logged into WMBC’s live news webfeed, my eyes did a double take. There, on the front page of an Associated Press sports article, was a picture of Brody and me coming out of the elevator the other day. It was a shot taken from an angle, but you could clearly see his hand on my ass. Then I read the headline. WMBC Reporter Love Triangle. Underneath, there were a few pictures of the locker room would-be brawl. One showed Colin up against a locker with Brody’s forearm pressed against his neck. Colin’s face wore the same slimy smirk he’d given me when he was taunting Brody.
Shit. How would anyone take me seriously after this?
My phone began to buzz. My office. I took a deep breath and answered, “Delilah Maddox.”
“Did you have underwear on? I blew the shot up on my laptop, and I see absolutely no panty lines.”
Indie. Thank God. I let out a huge breath.
“Am I the laughingstock of the office?”
“No idea. I shut my office door as soon as I saw it come across my feed. I might have spent a few minutes ogling Brody’s chest before I moved on to your ass.”
“You’re supposed to be my eyes and ears.”
“After looking at that picture, I’d much rather be your tits and ass.”
I caught Indie up on everything that had transpired, keeping the details of the actual feud behind Brody and Colin to myself. I didn’t want to betray Brody’s confidence—he’d told the story to the woman he was seeing, not the reporter vying for a story. It was best leaving it at “the two men had history.”
“Is he flying back or waiting around for you until you’re done Sunday?”
“We’re both scheduled to fly back with the team after the game.”
“I didn’t think he’d be allowed to fly with the team.”
“Why not?”
“Eh. What the hell do I know? The other article said suspended players couldn’t have contact with any team members or attend the game. I figured they’d make him hitch another way home.”
“Brody doesn’t think he’ll get a suspension, probably just a fine.”
“Uh . . . I guess you didn’t get past looking at your ass on the screen. Brody was suspended. Came across about an hour ago.”
I hung up quickly and scoured the rest of the morning feed until I came across the other article Indie was referring to. Easton Headed Back East. The article said he’d been fined and suspended for one game for violating the team’s new personal-conduct policy. Colin Anderson, on the other hand, had only been fined.
Shit.
Double shit.
Brody was going to be devastated he was suspended, and I didn’t even bring my own employer the scoop on a story I was involved in.
I’d tried calling and texting Brody all afternoon, but he never responded. As soon as my interview wrapped, I headed straight back to the hotel.
“Hey. What are you doing?” Brody was sitting in a chair, the room quiet, a glass full of clear liquid in his hand.
“Proving everyone right.” He gulped back the remainder of his drink.
I sat on the edge of the bed across from him. “I’m sorry. I heard. I tried to reach you, but your phone must be off.”
“It is. Permanently.” He eyed the phone on the table next to him. The screen was smashed. I didn’t need to ask how it happened.
“Is it appealable?”
“I’m not going to appeal it.”
“Why? Especially if Colin only got a slap on the wrist?”
“Because it will just drag me back into a bad place. I don’t need that shit.”
“I don’t understand.”
“After I got drafted into the NFL, I started to move on with my life. Until Willow reappeared again. I lost focus. Crashed my car speeding one night heading to find her when she went on a binge. I started missing practice and workouts, couldn’t concentrate on the game. My performance took a nosedive, and Coach benched me to teach me a lesson. I eventually lost my spot on the team by getting sucked into Willow’s life again.”