Free One Last Night by Lynne Jaymes Page A

money for the rest of the month and
then collecting on the debt without an ounce of regret.
    “Tyler!” Jason comes up and gives me a quick
hug and pat on the back. “I still can’t fucking believe you’re
leaving.”
    “I can’t believe you kept this a secret,” I
say. I just saw him at our apartment an hour ago.
    He smiles at Hailey. “When your girlfriend
orders you to keep a secret, you keep a secret.”
    “You bet your ass you do,” Hailey says,
winking at him. She squeezes my hand and then lets go. “I’m going
to make sure everything’s good with the food, okay?”
    “Okay.” I say. I watch her walk by another
waiter, depositing her empty glass on the tray and replacing it
with a full one in a quick motion. My heart sinks a little but I
have to believe Hailey’s going to be cool this time. She
promised.
    “You are one lucky fuck,” Jason says, watching
her walk away.
    “I know,” I say, admiring the way the short
black dress seems to float along her curves. And I do know. How
many times have I watched Hailey work a room, making people laugh
with her quick wit and having every guy wishing he was the one she
was going home with at the end of the night? And for the past nine
hundred and something nights, that’s been me.
    “What are you going to do about Hailey while
you’re gone?”
    I take another sip of the champagne and then
put it down on the table next to me. “What do you mean?”
    “Come on,” John says, shaking his head. “With
you a couple of thousand miles away most of the year, you know
every guy in town is going to take a run at that.”
    “We have an understanding,” I say, hopefully
with more confidence than I feel, because we haven’t exactly talked
about it like it’s a real thing. We were both happy when I got this
scholarship to play ball in Texas—it’s all I’ve been working for
since the day I set foot on a baseball field back in second
grade—but the actual, concrete fact that I’m getting on a plane in
less than twenty four hours hasn’t really sunk it with either of
us.
    “Well, I’m understanding that a girl as
hot as Hailey isn’t exactly going to be sitting around at home
every night waiting for your sorry ass to call,” Jason
says.
    “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I don’t
love the direction this conversation is heading. I see a waiter
hand a tall glass to one of the guys at Carlos’ table. “I’m going
to go see if I can find a beer.”
    I push through the crowded room, shaking hands
with people I know and accepting congratulations from people I
don’t.
    “Can I get a beer?” I ask the waiter with the
empty tray.
    “Sure thing,” he says. “Any particular
draft?”
    “You choose,” I say, thinking that a cold beer
in my hand is going to make this night a lot easier
    “I’ll be right back,” he says and disappears
into the hallway.
    “Tyler, right?”
    I turn and see Carlos leaning up against the
corner of the booth.
    “You’re the one all this is for?”
    “That’s right,” I say, trying to think of
something to say that won’t make me sound like a
dumbass.
    “Congratulations on the scholarship,” he says
with a friendly smile. “Garvin State is a badass baseball school—we
used to play them when I was with Indiana. You’ll do well
there.”
    “Thanks.” There’s an awkward silence. “That
was a great game against the Yankees last week.” As soon as I say
it I feel like some idiot superfan, but he actually breaks into a
smile.
    “I got lucky,” he says. “It almost got away
from me in the top of the ninth.”
    “No way,” I say. “You had it locked up. The
minute you had Teixeira fanning at your curveball there was no way
you weren’t going to win.”
    The waiter brings my beer and sets it on the
table.
    Carlos indicates the empty booth next to him.
“Grab a seat,” he says.
    I look around but I don’t see Hailey anywhere.
Besides, what idiot passes up an opportunity to sit next to