CHAPTER 7 KAYLEE
We stay at Honeys until Ellie finishes her hot wings, and I guess the draw for men is the hot girls dancing on the stage because it’s certainly not the food, though Ellie is attacking her plate like it’s her last meal.
My plate is left untouched because the grease is about the most unappetizing thing I can imagine, and I leave hungry.
We’re almost back to Ellie’s car when the front door to the club opens and a woman comes running toward us.
“Wait!” she yells. She’s not winded by the time she catches up with us even though we’re clear across the parking lot.
My guess is the dancing she does on a nightly basis keeps her in tiptop shape.
We both turn around. “Was there something else?” I ask as I face the woman lying to the media about Ben. I hold in the impulse to punch her in the face.
“Yeah…um…it’s just—well, uh—I’m sorry. Eric is your key here. He’s making the rules and I can’t really do anything,” she says softly. “I feel like shit for what I did, but I had to. Okay?”
I nod, suddenly feeling a little sorry for the woman standing in front of me.
She’s trying to protect herself, obviously, but in doing so she’s not just hurting Ben or his reputation or his career.
She’s hurting me, too. She’s hurting his family and his friends.
She’s hurting his fans…the entire Aces organization.
And all for what? So Eric can have more playing time?
She doesn’t know me from anybody else, but I still somehow appreciate the fact that she came out here to say that to me.
“Thank you,” I say. “I know you’re doing what you have to do to protect yourself, but could you please think about Ben? You’re not just hurting him with this.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I just—I’m stuck, okay?” she says, and there’s a pleading quality to her tone that makes me wonder what the hell Eric said to her.
“He’s calling the shots?” I ask.
I glance over at Ellie, but it’s clear from the look on her face that she’s letting me handle this how I need to.
Kitty nods. “I’m sort of out of options right now. I shouldn’t have even told you that, but you seem like a nice girl and I don’t want to hurt you anymore than you’ve already been hurt.”
“I really appreciate that,” I say. I nod over at Ellie and we both get into the car as Kitty turns to walk back into the club.
“Well, we knew Eric had the keys before. I wonder what he’s holding over her,” Ellie says.
“My guess? He’s holding her payday until the season starts so he can secure his spot on the team.” I shrug as I look out the window. “We have to figure out some way to get him to admit the truth.”
Ellie nods as she turns out of the parking lot. “Right, and that’s going to get more difficult as we’re up in Montana for the next few weeks.”
A new sort of determination washes over me. “There’s always a way. We’ll find it.”
Ellie drops me at Ben’s place then heads home herself to finish packing ahead of our flight tonight. When I walk in, I find Ben in the kitchen making lunch. “Want anything?” he asks.
“I got an order of the hot wings at Honeys and I have no idea how you eat them.”
He laughs. “Iron stomach,” he says, patting his belly. “My chicken veggie wraps have zero grease in them if you’re interested.”
“Veggies actually sound delicious.” I slide onto the stool across from where he works. “Can I do anything?”
He shakes his head. “I got it. You find anything out?”
“Kitty was there serving tables for the lunch shift. She basically told me ten out of ten times people believe the woman in these situations.”
He nods, but he doesn’t mask his disappointment. “I sort of figured that’s how it would go but was still hopeful for a different outcome.”
“Interestingly, she stopped me before we drove away. She made it sound like her hands are tied because of something Eric’s holding over her. She said he’s in charge.”
Ben’s tongue darts out to moisten his lower lip. “And he already said he won’t talk.”
“That’s not exactly what he said,” I say. “He also mentioned that nothing happened and there were two witnesses who overheard that.”
“Yeah, my fiancée and my publicist.” He shoots me a rueful little smile. “Nobody’s going to believe that’s true.”
I lift my shoulder. “I’m not sure the who matters. You have witnesses, and I think you have enough people on your side that trust in what you’re saying that we can figure out the answer to this.”
“Calvin said he hasn’t heard from Eric. I don’t know if he’ll talk if Calvin gets involved. I don’t know him well enough to know the answer to that. I thought I did. But I also never thought he’d do something like this to me.”
“Do you know where he lives?” I ask.
Ben nods.
“You ever think about maybe showing up and talking to him in person?”
“You mean putting the pressure on in person?” he asks.
“Call it what you want, but you’ve got three inches on him, twenty-five pounds, six or seven years, and a whole lot more to lose.”
Ben presses his lips together. “Come with me after lunch?”
I nod. “Of course.”
“And if he’s not home?” Ben asks.
I lift a shoulder. “Then at least we tried. We’re not giving up without a fight.”
“Thank you,” he says quietly. He looks at me with a little bit of wonder.
He shakes his head just slightly. “You’re standing by my side through this.
You aren’t just someone who believes in me and loves me despite my faults and despite the lies people are telling.
I don’t know if I’ve ever had someone so willing to stand up and fight for me the way you’re doing. ”
My heart aches that he’s never had someone do that for him before. “That’s what love is,” I say. “When times get tough you have two options: stick together or run away. I believe in you and I’m choosing to stick with you.”
“I love you,” he says.
I offer him a smile. “I know. And I love you, too. We will fight this, and we will win because we are on the right side.”
He draws in a deep breath, and then he passes the plate across the counter to me.
And once we finish eating, it’s time to see if we can put the pressure on the asshole causing all these problems.