Chapter 3: Learning Something New

Tatum's POV

I'm so f*cking screwed.

This is not happening, I keep telling myself. I must be dreaming because there is no way in hell the man I slept with last night is standing in front of me as the star pitcher for the LA Cats. The damn team that my dad coaches.

Nico…

Well, apparently that's not actually his name as I've come to learn in the past two minutes. I'm mortified that this is happening to me right now, and I can't hide the blush rushing up my neck to the tips of my ears. If my dad catches sight of the blush, I'm a goner.

He absolutely cannot find out about me and his star pitcher. My dad has always been wary of the men I date, the classic overprotective type. This is why I don't bring guys around to the house or mention whom I'm dating because he'll want to know every single thing about them and demand to meet them.

It's a little annoying, but I can't fault him for wanting to protect me and my heart. But still, he can never find out that Nico had me bent over a bathroom countertop last night. I don't even want to think about how he would react to that information.

"Tatum," Nico – or Phoenix, whatever his name is – drawls, his eyes dragging up and down the length of my body. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The way he says my full name and looks at me with the same intensity he did last night sends a shiver down my spine. My thighs clench unintentionally, and I curse at myself for it. Don't be weak, Tate.

"Uh, yeah, you too," I murmur, unable to look him directly in the eye.

Nico looks completely different than he did when I met him last night. He looked like he could've stepped off a modeling shoot, and today he looks like a professional athlete with the sweatshirt hanging loosely over his shoulders with the Cats' logo on it and form-fitting black sweatpants adorning his legs. The versatility of this man… goddamnit.

"Tate here is studying to be an accountant at university, so I thought she might enjoy learning a thing or two from the finance team," Dad says, thankfully not sensing the clear tension between Nico and me.

Nico looks at me with a drop-dead-gorgeous smile and slips a baseball cap over his messy curls. "Well, Tatum, you're going to enjoy being here today. I'll see you around."

I watch as he slips a baseball mitten over his hand and jogs over to where the rest of his teammates are gathering, waiting for my dad to begin the training session.

"I better get to work," Dad says, squeezing my shoulder. "Head back to the front desk and Jessica will show you the way to where the finance team is located. I'll see you in a couple of hours for lunch, okay?"

"Okay, but–" My words fall short as I watch my dad rush toward the team standing in the middle of the field, all smiles as they welcome him and he begins saying something inaudible.

I release a breath I didn't realize I had been holding and my shoulders slump forward. Well, sh*t.

***

The day rushes by in a blur of thinking about Nico and how the hell I got myself into this mess. I was so consumed by my thoughts that I barely registered when the head of financing, Angie, explained her job and how she got to where she is today. I'm sure it was a great story, but it was the least of my problems right now.

When 5 p.m. rolled around, I was almost pushing my dad out the door so we could go home. He didn't question why I was in desperate need to get home, but I can only hope he assumed it was because I was tired or no longer interested in learning any more about what the finance team does.

Dad tries to talk to me in the car on the way home, but his words are static in my ears as I send a text message to my best friend, Sammie.

Tate: You're not going to believe the sh*tshow that is my life right now.

A reply comes not even a minute later.

Sammie: B*tch, you better tell me the tea right now or else I'll explode.

Tate: Be at my house in thirty minutes and I'll explain everything.

When Dad pulls the car into the driveway thirty minutes later, I just about jump out. Before I can walk through the front door, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Tate, you didn't tell me how everything went today."

I stop and turn to face my dad, chewing on my bottom lip. Since finding out about Nico, I have been a little distant from him and that's not fair. I want to tell him that I'm still not sold on being an accountant even after today, but I don't want to start another fight, especially not when I see Sammie pulling into the driveway behind my dad's black SUV.

"It was great," I lie, unable to look him in the eye.

A smile graces his lips and his eyes light up with joy. "That's great, Tate. I'm so glad to hear that." He looks over his shoulder at the sound of Sammie closing her car door. "Ah, Sammie, it's nice to see you as always."

"You too, Mr. Monroe," Sammie says with a smile, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

Dad pats me on the shoulder and walks past me into the house. "I'll leave you girls to it. I'm ordering pizza tonight, so I'll get you both the usual."

"Thanks, Dad." I feel like a piece of sh*t for lying to him but worrying about my degree is the last thing on my mind.

"Let's go," Sammie whispers as she wraps her fingers around my wrist and drags me upstairs to my bedroom.

She plops down on the edge of my queen mattress, messing up the black and gray sheets, as she looks at me expectantly. "Spill it, Tate."

So, I do. I tell Sammie everything, starting with the fight I had with my dad, to then going to Mario's, meeting Nico, sleeping with him, and then finding out that he is on the team that my dad coaches. I feel breathless when I finish speaking, my legs sore from pacing the room as I spoke.

"That's it," I breathe as I slump into my desk chair that faces my bed, waiting for Sammie's response. "I'm a f*cking hot mess, right?"

Sammie is wide-eyed with her jaw practically hanging to the floor as she stares back at me, unblinking and unmoving. I frown at her reactions, worried she isn't going to say anything, when she jumps to her feet and releases a very loud squeal, one I'm sure my dad heard from downstairs with the television on.

"You slept with the Phoenix f*cking Reid? The CEO of ReidCo that creates the Fruit Venom energy drinks? Tate, I didn't know you had it in you! I'm so proud of you."

My brows shoot up momentarily at the mention of Nico being the CEO of a company. I have never heard of that energy drink, but it must be popular if Sammie knows about it. She is always up to date on what's trending these days. It would also make sense why Nico dressed so nicely last night. He could've just come from his office.

How does he find time in the day to be both a CEO and a professional baseball player?

"It's not something I should be celebrating, Sammie. Did you miss the part where I said he is the star pitcher for my dad's team?"

Sammie rolls her eyes and sits back on the mattress. "You're reading into this too much. So what if you hooked up with him and he works with your dad? If it was just a one-night stand like you claim, then there should be nothing to worry about. If you don't say anything to your dad, and neither does Phoenix, then your secret will be safe."

Huh, Sammie makes a great point. I think I was so shocked by seeing Nico at the training facility and the potential for my dad to find out that I didn't stop to think that maybe it's not a big deal if neither of us says anything. Nico even pretended not to know me in front of my dad, which I was both thankful for and a little sad about, but I shook the latter feeling away rather quickly when the reality of the situation struck.

"Maybe you're right," I murmur, and Sammie shrugs her shoulders as if to say, 'I know I am'. "And now that I think about it, as long as I don't go to work with my dad again, I'll never have to see Nico, so that solves all of my problems."

Sammie raises a brow at me. "Nico?"

"That's what he told me his name was when we met. I'm now realizing it was either a fake name he gives out to women he hooks up with or it's a nickname. I didn't think to question him though."

"Right, you were too busy dragging him into the bathroom to have your way with him to ask questions." Sammie smirks and I almost throw a pencil on my desk at her, but I refrain, heat rushing to my cheeks.

"Shut up. I was drunk and lonely, okay?"

"If given the chance to spend another glorious night with Phoenix Reid, one of the most desirable bachelors in the state of California, would you take it?" Sammie asks, bringing her knees to her chest as she awaits my answer.

I think about Nico's glorious smile that was enough to drop my panties in the bathroom for him, the way his skin felt against mine, and his experience when it came to how his hands roamed over my body, making me feel things I have never felt before with another man, not even with my ex-boyfriend. It was truly out of this world. Just the memory of being with him has my core tightening and my heart racing slightly.

At this point, my answer is obvious.

"Yes, I would. But I don't see that opportunity happening again any time soon."