His muscles ached from a good workout and his head hurt thinking about the meeting he had planned for this afternoon. Carole had called. She was in New York and had said she needed to talk to him. Not a good sign.
"God, I'm beat."
"Join the club," Roper said.
Damian shut his eyes and breathed in deeply, taking in the familiar smells that had always relaxed him in the past.
"How're the workouts going?" Roper asked.
Damian appreciated the small talk that would take him out of his own head. "Pretty good." He'd begun a slow routine of getting into shape with his trainer and the wrist was feeling surprisingly limber.
He'd be back on the field in a couple of days. Not a minute top soon considering that ass Carter had been playing with all the heart and soul Damian had possessed in his younger years. If he'd just lose the prick like attitude, he had potential.
And it galled Damian to admit it.
“I’m sure the time off on the island helped," Roper said.
"It didn't hurt."
Roper's stare bored into him, making him uneasy. Micki's name had never passed the other man's lips but it hung between them anyway. Everyone knew Roper and Micki were close and it came as no shock that Roper would make his way around to discussing the island. They both knew Micki had everything to do with Damian's last trip down there.
"You did a decent thing, taking care of Micki," Roper said.
Bingo. Damian rolled his head to one side, his shoulders suddenly tense. "Just how tight are you two?"
Roper chuckled. "If I was Carter, I'd torture the hell out of you making you think there's more between us than there is, but you're my captain so I'll let you down fast and easy. She's like a sister to me."
"Okay then." Damian exhaled hard. He'd been home from the island ten days and not an hour went by that he didn't think of her. "How's she doing?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Roper asked, making Damian feel completely juvenile.
He let out a laugh. "I've regressed."
"Nah. You're just scared shitless because she's more than capable of handling you."
"She's probably the only woman who can." The words were out before he could censor them.
"And to think Micki was convinced she couldn't possibly interest a real jock because she's too much like one. Too much of a challenge, in other words."
"One of the guys." Damian repeated Micki's expression as if he and Roper shared equal insight into Micki's psyche. In reality, the other guy had much more knowledge and information than Damian had.
"Exactly." Roper nodded. "I'm guessing you showed her she was wrong?" His voice held typical innuendo but Damian knew Roper cared too much for Micki to indulge in locker room trashing. He wasn't prying, rather he was testing Damian's intentions.
"For a while." And then he'd given her the kiss-off at the airport, probably reinforcing her insecurities. No matter how unintentional, Damian had screwed Micki big-time.
"So why don't you call her and make it for a while longer?" Roper asked.
"Can't." Damian eased his legs out in front of him. He'd begun to sweat and though normally at this point in the routine he'd be feeling mellow and relaxed, with Micki front and center in his mind, he was still wound tight. "I need to focus on rehab and playing."
"And that and Micki are mutually exclusive?" Roper asked, but before Damian could reply, the other man continued. "I'd guess so considering you have your hands full keeping Carter off your back."
A subject Damian could discuss with Roper without holding back. He and the other man had come up through the ranks together. They didn't have much in common except the game and mutual respect but it was enough to forge a bond between teammates.
"The kid has balls," Damian said of Ricky Carter. Damian understood the other man's drive and determination. He'd had it himself at that age. He'd also had respect for those who had come before him, and that was where he and Carter differed.
"If you need help stuffing him dick first into his locker, I'm your man," Roper offered.
"Thanks, John."
"My pleasure." Roper folded his arms behind his head and lay down on the long bench.
Silence descended but instead of releasing tension, their conversation had reminded Damian of all he'd left behind on the island in favor of the shit he'd returned to in his everyday life.
He wiped the sweat off his forehead with a towel and copied Roper, lying back and closing his eyes. Better than facing what lay ahead.
CAROLE PACED THE FLOOR of her New York City hotel room, which was twice the size of her condo, a one-floor apartment that she paid for with her job as a legal secretary. Through her position at a law firm specializing in sports contracts, she'd met a variety of athletes at a variety of stages in their lives. Some, like Damian, were close to retirement and others, like Carter, had youth on their side.
She was attracted to them all and when they reciprocated, she indulged in what she thought was every woman's fantasy. Sleeping with ballplayers, star ballplayers, made her feel special and one step up from the other struggling working women of the world.
She'd never thought twice about her lifestyle nor had she had a problem moving on when a relationship had bored her-until Damian had come along. She'd enjoyed his company and looked forward to his return trips to Florida. She thought he'd felt the same way despite his reputation and so she hadn't seen it coming when his interest had faded. Not wanting to lose him, she thought that if she'd played it cool, he'd come to his senses and realize he didn't want to lose her. For a short time, her plan had worked because he had called, wanting to see her on his last trip to Florida. Then he'd unceremoniously dumped her that same night, passing her off to Ricky Carter like she was a piece of meat to be shared.
Not that she didn't like Carter. She did. A lot. Enough to have slept with him starting back in April, while she was still trying to hang on to Damian. She and Carter had had a good laugh over the fact that Damian had thought they didn't know one another. He'd even paid for their night out.
Still, in her heart, Damian's actions had stung. And now she had a major problem. A life-changing problem that would make living in her small apartment awfully cramped.
Her hand came to rest on her belly, as it often had since the stick had turned pink a few weeks ago. A baby. Jeez, how the frig had she been so careless?
She shook her head. Careless wasn't the right word. She might like men, but she was smart enough to use protection each and every time. With each and every man, though in the past six months, there had only been two of them.
Damian and Carter.
She couldn't know for sure whose baby she was carrying, but she knew who was better capable of supporting her and this child.
She knew what she had to do, which was why she was in New York now. She was so nauseous she thought she'd die and she knew it had nothing to do with morning sickness.
She was petrified of telling Damian and yet she knew that he was the only one capable of sparing her from the same fate as her mother-pregnant and alone, raising a kid on welfare, a revolving door of men passing through. In fact it had been this pregnancy that had forced her to face reality.
Her life had been too damn close to her mother's. One man after another, nobody ever staying long, nobody loving her. Carole wiped the tear that dripped down her cheek. Pathetic, that's what she was and she never even saw it happening.
The sound of someone knocking on the door startled her and she ran to the mirror to quickly check her makeup before letting Damian inside. He was her one chance to fix her life and she couldn't afford to mess up now.
CHAPTER NINE
SINCE RETURNING from the island, Damian's game was running smoothly. On the field, he was the Damian Fuller his coaches and fans expected. His first game off the disabled list, he'd played all nine innings, singled, doubled, walked twice and homered once. In the field, his work had been his best in years. Most importantly, as a team the Renegades had won this past series at home and they were still solidly in first place. Carter was pissed at being put back on the bench, but that was the kid's problem. Damian was at the top of his game again and that's all that mattered to him.