Part 23 (2/2)

Mr. Osbourne looked at Mr. Carter, who gave a slight shake of his head. The GM cleared his throat before answering. ”You can ride back on the charter with us, Miss Everett, but once we reach Baltimore, consider your interns.h.i.+p terminated.”

She gave a terse nod, needing to get out of the suite before the tears erupted. ”May I go now?” she managed to choke out.

Mr. Osbourne nodded and Shay bolted for the door.

”Not you, Brody,” she heard him say as she reached the hallway. ”We've got a lot more to talk about.”

Shay was grateful for that. Because the last person she wanted to see was Brody Janik.

It was no surprise that the entire team knew about the blog, but Shay was unprepared for the media lined up outside the hotel as they boarded the charter buses. They peppered her with questions, but Coach Richardson's tall body s.h.i.+elded her from the cameras. He'd appointed himself her new knight in the face of Brody's sudden defection.

”You don't have to do this,” Shay told him as he shoved a guy with a cell phone camera aimed at her off to the side.

”No, I don't have to. I want to.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. ”Nothing about this makes sense, except that you're not one who sells out someone she cares about.”

Shay climbed the steps up into the bus, her throat tight again. It was nice to have someone in her corner. She took the first seat, directly behind the bus driver. The tinted windows allowed her to stare at the paparazzi, trudging through the snow to get a shot of her or Brody. They would be out of luck on that score. According to Coach Richardson, Brody had been escorted back to Baltimore on the owner's private plane.

Even after all that had transpired this morning, her heart ached for him. His fears about his future had to be magnified tenfold, but he'd hide behind his charm and bravado so no one knew. Not even his family. For a man who had so much, he bore his apprehension in solitude. Shay knew he'd survive this crisis just fine, however. His condition was easily manageable and the Blaze would do anything to keep their star player on board. Too bad Brody didn't realize that.

The rest of the team filed on the bus, all of them ignoring her presence. DeShawn glared at her as he pa.s.sed by, obviously believing she'd been the one to rat him out to the blogger, costing him a huge endors.e.m.e.nt contract. The man made millions of dollars for appearing in magazines with his s.h.i.+rt off and he was upset because he was caught using one toothpaste instead of the one he was paid more millions to endorse. The irony was almost laughable.

Unable to stand the freeze-out from the players any longer, Shay turned back to the window. A body slid into the seat next to her. She hoped it wasn't Coach Richardson because she wasn't sure she could hold off the tears if he said something nice again.

”Here.” It was Nate.

Shay turned and took the envelope he held out for her, raising an eyebrow in question.

”It's your performance review. I e-mailed a copy to your advisor this morning, but this is the hard copy for you to keep.”

She ran a finger over the glossy envelope, her heart in her throat. Mama and Teryn had been calling all morning. Both professed to be worried about her, but she knew their bigger fear was whether or not she'd get the necessary requirements fulfilled to get her degree in time.

”It's the review I wrote up last week,” Nate said. ”Nothing has changed. You worked hard and you fulfilled the basic requirements of the interns.h.i.+p. I know it wasn't exactly what you expected, but then, you got added research with Brody, didn't you?”

Shay tried not to cringe at his tone. ”Thank you.”

Nate waved a hand in the air. ”If in fact Brody has diabetes, you did a great job helping him control it without insulin. You're going to be a successful nutritionist. That's all I care about.”

”I'm pretty sure it's just reactive hypoglycemia,” Shay said, her spirits buoyed a bit by Nate's compliment.

”Is that how you went about preparing a plan for him?”

Shay nodded.

”Impressive. I'll need whatever you've got. His meal plans, schedule, etcetera. I don't want to shake up things too much.”

Nate was going to handle Brody's diet? Brody was going to have a fit.

”E-mail me everything as soon as we get back, okay?” It wasn't so much a question as it was a demand. Grateful for the performance review, she had no choice but to agree.

”Sure. Thank you, Nate. For believing in me.”

Nate eyed her curiously. ”Oh, hey. I don't care if you sold Brody out to that blogger or not. The point is, he's just like every other professional athlete, trying to bend the rules. They all get their own personal trainers and nutritionists just so they can hide things from management. It's not right. It's my job to take care of the members of this team and keep the GM and the coaching staff apprised of their status. Brody and his teammates just want to take that decision out of my hands. He was using you, Shay, and he got what he deserved.”

Shay wasn't so sure about that. She'd been using him, too, for a lot more than just research.

”You take care of yourself, Shay,” Nate said as he stood.

Apparently, even he didn't want to be seen sitting with her. Shay carefully placed the envelope into her book bag, pulling out her note cards. All that was left was the pro forma defense of her dissertation, but she wasn't taking any chances. Mama was depending on her. And the sooner she got home to Texas, the better.

The media hadn't expected Brody to arrive in Baltimore two hours before the team, so he was able to slip into his house un.o.bserved. Unfortunately, his kitchen wasn't unoccupied.

”OhmiG.o.d, Brody!”

Bridgett nearly hurdled a barstool, spilling her tea in the process, to get to him. His normally uneffusive sister wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug.

”Are you okay?” she mumbled against his chest.

Chagrined by her concern, he draped his own arms around her and returned the hug.

His parents and sisters had been texting and calling him all day. It was a miracle that the entire Janik clan wasn't a.s.sembled in his kitchen right now, but he'd told his parents he needed rest. The team was insisting on a complete physical first thing in the morning. He'd see his family after the team's verdict. Whatever it was.

”I'm fine, Bridge. Perfectly fine.” He patted her back for good measure.

”Good,” she said, pulling out of the embrace and punching him, hard as she could.

”Ow!” Brody rubbed his shoulder. ”What was that for?”

”For being an idiot and keeping something as serious as diabetes from your family! What were you thinking?”

Brody's stomach growled and he headed for the fridge. His schedule was pretty jacked up with the time change. Shannon would have allowed for that, prescribing exactly what he should eat-protein or fiber and carbohydrates-and how much. But Shannon wasn't here anymore. She'd sold him out. And of all the things that pained him today, that one hurt the most.

He knew their relations.h.i.+p was just temporary; they were both using each other to achieve their goals. They'd been honest about that from the start. Somewhere along the line, however, it had become something more. And just like everyone else he'd shared his real self with, she'd turned his secrets into profit.

”Should you be eating that?” Bridgett asked.

Brody was piling some turkey on the nasty sawdust bread Shannon made him eat. ”If you're gonna nag me, Bridgett, you can go back to your hotel. I've been doing this for a few months now. I can handle it.”

”I knew there was more to your and Shay's relations.h.i.+p than what you wanted us to see. She was teaching you how to manage your diet, wasn't she?”

He snagged a barstool with his foot and pulled it up to the breakfast bar, sitting down to eat his snack. If his mouth was full, he couldn't answer his sister's questions.

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