Chapter 21

"You want what?"Beckett bit out as he narrowed his eyes at me.

To him, I supposed my request seemed like it had come from out of the blue, but I'd been considering this option for weeks. My contract included a trade clause, thank fuck, because this was the best solution I could come up with. After the other night, when Kyle discovered Aurora at my place and the other guys almost had too, that became apparent. I wanted to keep playing baseball, but I wanted Aurora in my life more. So it was time to make my priorities clear. But in order for this to work, I needed to stay on the East Coast, and this needed to happen before the trade deadline.

"A trade?" Cortney asked, his demeanor and his expression much more calm.

"Yeah. I'm willing to go to Montreal, Buffalo, New York, DC, Pittsburg?—"

Cortney cleared his throat and sat up straighter on the other side of his desk. "So you're staying within a radius of Boston?"

I nodded once. "As close as possible."

"What the duck is going on?" Beckett asked, scooting to the edge of his seat. "Is it Wilson? Or one of the other players?"

Cortney waved him off. "Relax."

"We are not letting our top guy go," Beckett growled. "We can fix this, Dumpty. What's the issue?"

With a frown, Cortney steepled his fingers and assessed me. "I think the better question is: Why do you want to stay near Boston? Do you have a specific reason?"

Forcing my shoulders back, I blew out a breath. It was time to confess. I took a breath?—

"Wait." Beckett slapped the desk and eyed Cortney. "Like a female reason?"

The GM sighed. "What did we say about matchmaking?"

"That I'm the best at it." Beckett smirked.

"No one says that."

"Who is she?" The owner of the Revs, who was acting far too giddy at the prospect of a woman being my problem here, scrutinized me with the kind of intensity that immediately had me breaking into a sweat.

Cortney just sat back and raised one eyebrow.

I had no interest in a matchmaker. Things with Aurora and I would be fine as soon as we no longer worked for the same team.

"It doesn't matter. I just need a trade."

"It does matter. Give us a chance to move her."

"Absolutely not." I pushed to my feet and slammed both hands onto the desk. "That's the whole point." I whirled on Cortney. "She's wanted to be a trainer for a professional team since we were in high school. I won't be the one to mess that up for her."

Cortney kept his mouth shut and turned to Beckett.

When neither of them responded, I continued.

"I'll quit if I need to," I warned. "Fine me. Make me buy back my contract. Sue me. I don't care."

"A trainer?" Brows pulled low, Beckett scanned the room, as if he was mentally flipping through our staff list. With a tap of his fingers on the desk, his eyes went wide. "Rory?"

Cortney nodded before I had a chance to decide whether I wanted to confirm or deny her identity.

"Did he come to you again?" Beckett demanded, his jaw clenched tight.

"No, but I saw it." Cortney sighed. "I tried to subtly get them to come to me for help with the issue, but neither of them did. Now that you know that we know, can we clear the air?"

I shouldn't have been surprised. The man had dominated the plate for years because he paid attention to the minute details that everyone else missed.

I slumped back into my seat and roughed a hand down my face.

"Wait." Beckett sat up tall in his seat. "I can fix this. Easy."

"We are not moving her," I gritted out.

"Hold on." Beckett held out a hand. "She applied for a position with the Bolts first. Let's just move her there. Those assholes are always hurt, so we have space to carry another trainer."

"That's what I was going to suggest." Cortney smirked. "But apparently, we can't move her."

"Move her to the Bolts?" That might be the best option we had. I wouldn't have to leave Boston, and she wouldn't either. She'd still have a job. But it wouldn't be the same job. And I wasn't sure she'd be okay with it. "I'm not making this decision for her."

Worry worked its way through me, coiling my muscles tight. Would she be pissed? I promised her that she wouldn't lose her job.

"Go get her," Beckett said. "We can't just leave it as it is now that it's out in the open."

Right. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I'd get her, and hopefully she wouldn't be pissed.