The wrong man, p.1
The Wrong Man, page 1
THE WRONG MAN
ELIZABETH COLLINS
Copyright © 2024 by Elizabeth Collins
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To my dad who made sure I knew as much about professional baseball as I could. Thank you for always believing in me.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About The Author
Chapter One
Valerie
“Shit, shit, shit,” I cursed under my breath, my hands beating against the leather steering wheel.
My body jerked back and forth in tandem with the car as it sputtered its last breath. I knew this was coming sooner or later. I had just been desperately hoping for later. But when you still drove the crappy car you bought when you were sixteen almost a decade later, it was bound to give out on you at some point.
Unfortunately, as I looked at the map on my phone, this was the absolute worst timing.
According to my phone, I still had an hour left until I arrived at my destination and as I warily watched steam billow from the hood of the car, I knew that this piece of junk wouldn’t be making the rest of the trek.
Blowing out a breath, I weighed my options. A large group of us were renting a house in Crystal Cove for the summer, most of us celebrating finishing grad school finally. Elena, my best friend from college, would pick me up if I called, but she wasn’t at the house yet and we were traveling from two separate directions. Meaning she would have to drive out of her way and even though I knew she would, I didn’t want to add more hours to her already long drive.
Another option would be to call a tow truck, wait for them to arrive, and hope my insurance covered a rental car until mine was fixed. But considering I had the cheapest insurance possible for my dingy car, I had a feeling a rental car wouldn’t be in my future.
Which left me with my last option. Which just happened to be my favorite and least favorite at the same time. See, I was the cliché. The cliché girl that was in love with her childhood best friend. Drew was the man of my dreams and I was just the girl next door.
I always thought after high school it would be our chance, but then I went to college on the east coast and Drew went out west. We kept in touch through phone calls and visits throughout the years, but there was no chance of a relationship happening when thousands of miles separated us.
But going into this summer, I had decided that it was now or never. We would be spending an entire summer together, under the same roof, and then both starting our careers in the same city. With that thought in mind, I scrolled until I found his number in my contacts and pressed call.
Drumming my fingers nervously against my thigh, I listened to the ring, getting worried the longer it went on without an answer. When I figured that he wasn’t answering, the voicemail near, his voice finally came down the line.
“Val?” He breathed out, sounding out of breath and faraway from the phone.
“Drew!” I exclaimed, my heart starting to beat faster just at the sound of his voice.
“What’s up? Are you almost here?”
More voices sounded over the phone, too far in the background for me to hear what they were saying. Biting the pad of my thumb, a habit I hated but had followed me through life whenever I felt uncomfortable, I responded.
“That’s actually why I’m calling. My car broke down.”
Drew didn’t answer for several moments, the loud voices continuing, and I wondered if he had even heard me.
“Sorry Val, we’re down at the beach and everything's a little wild right now. What did you say?”
Biting my thumb harder, I squeezed my eyes shut before responding. I hated inconveniencing people, especially Drew, which was why I had been hesitant to call him. But as I peeked at the steam continuing to billow from my hood, I knew I needed to ignore whatever I was feeling and just ask for help.
“I said my car broke down. I need someone to come pick me up,” I raised my voice this time, making sure I would be heard over all the noise.
“Shit Val, you should have gotten a new car years ago. I’m not surprised that piece of crap broke down on you.”
I rolled my eyes at his words, having heard this statement for years. Actually, I had heard it since I bought the car. Add in the same talk from my parents and Elena, and I’ve probably been told over a hundred times to ditch this car. But it just held so many memories, I was trying to hold on to it for as long as possible.
“I know, I know,” I admitted. “But can you come pick me up? I’m in the middle of nowhere and I don’t want to be stuck here for too long.”
“Of course, Val. Send me your location.”
Sighing, I finally dropped my hand, settling into my seat with a smile. This was why I loved this man. Because no matter what, he would be there for me when I needed him.
“Thanks Drew, I really appreciate it.”
Just as I responded, I heard a loud voice calling for him to get his ass over there in the background.
“Send me the location! I’ll see you soon Val!” He shouted down the line and then I heard the distinct silence as he hung up.
Instinctively, I started to worry again, hating that I was taking him away from whatever fun he was having. But seeing that it was already six in the evening, I knew I had made the right choice. The last thing I needed was to be alone and stuck on the side of an empty road in the dark.
Pushing my seat back so I had more room, I folded my legs up to my chest, pulling up a game on my phone to pass the time until Drew got here.
And as I played the mind-numbing game, I thought of all my plans for the summer. Drew Holsten had been the one constant in my life since I was five years old, but it had been twenty years. And now I was ready to make him see that I had been in front of him this whole time. And it was finally our moment to take that step from friendship into something more. Something I had been waiting for my entire life.
Chapter Two
Miller
My elbow ached. And fuck, but so did my heart as I watched everyone run around the beach, the guys throwing a football back and forth as if it was nothing. And this time last year, it would have been nothing for me too. In fact, I probably could have thrown it better than most of the guys jogging around the beach.
But not anymore. It had only been a year since the injury, nine months since the beginning of physical therapy, and three months since my career ended. Yet it felt like an eternity since I had heard the words that shattered the life I had. That demolished the future I had seen for myself. Three months since I heard the words the physical therapy didn’t work; you’ll never pitch the same way again.
My general manager had been standing beside me when the doctor delivered the news, patting me gently on the shoulder. And then the next day I was in management’s office, being assured I’d receive this year’s salary, as if that would be suffice enough to take away the pain of my dream being torn away.
I was only twenty-five. Only had four years in the MLB as one of the best pitchers ever under my belt, and now it was all taken away in the blink of an eye.
I had immediately known something was wrong during the final World Series game. I had been pitching an amazing game when suddenly I heard a pop. The excruciating pain followed. I heard the news our team had won while doctors poked and prodded at my left arm. It was an UCL tear, the ligament in my elbow had torn so badly that surgery was immediately suggested.
I had the damn surgery, went through months of physical therapy, just to be told I would never be the same. Ever since that meeting with management, I had been just cruising along. No idea what to do. So, when Drew called me up and invited me to spend the summer with him and a bunch of others, I figured why the fuck not?
“Hey man, I have to head out for a bit. I should be back before ten.”
Speaking of Drew, he came up to me, his skin pinking already from being in the sun. Although he lived on the west coast for the past six years, he still had pale skin that burned under the slightest ray.
“Where you headed?” I asked, my gaze scanning the large crowd hanging out in our area.
It seemed to me like the party wouldn’t be dying down anytime soon and eve n though I hadn’t seen Drew much since junior year, the guy I remembered never left a party early.
“Val’s piece of crap car broke down about an hour away. I need to go pick her up before the sun sets. That girl is more scared of the dark than anyone I’ve ever met,” he chuckled, shaking his head as he thought about her.
I had only met Valerie twice throughout the years I’ve known Drew, but I had heard plenty about her. She was Drew’s oldest friend, the two of them growing up together since they were in diapers. To be honest, I had always assumed I would hear one day that the two of them had gotten together. But it seemed like Drew viewed her more as a sister than anything else.
“Drew!” One of our other friends from college, Sammy, yelled out, tossing the football in the air before catching it again.
“You’re not leaving, are you? We were just about to go kite surfing.”
I watched as Drew’s face fell immediately, his brows furrowing in indecisiveness. And without much thought, I stood up from the chair I had been seated in for hours.
“You go with them.” I nodded toward the group, knowing that although I wanted to, my shoulder was still too sore for those kinds of activities. “Send me her location and I’ll pick her up.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to saddle you with this.” Drew’s brows were still furrowed, but as his gaze kept darting toward Sammy and the others, I knew his decision had already been made.
He would happily let me pick up Valerie and I would happily avoid any reminder that I wasn’t able to participate in things that used to come so naturally.
* * *
After I easily convinced Drew to go kite surfing, he sent me a quick text with Valerie’s location and I headed off. I didn’t want to keep her waiting longer than necessary, especially when the sun was setting soon and Drew claimed she was scared of the dark.
As I drove through the mostly empty back roads, my mind wandered, trying to remember the last time I had seen Valerie. If I remember correctly, it had been New Year of junior year, right before I was drafted. Valerie had come to visit Drew and come out with all of us to celebrate the holiday. However, that seemed to be the extent of my memory. She had been like Drew’s shadow, too shy to talk to others and staying by his side the entire night.
The Bluetooth of my car started ringing and without checking the name, I answered, assuming it was Drew. But as the voice came through, I wanted to smack myself for not looking.
“You’ve been ignoring me.”
I rolled my eyes at the voice, hating that he was right but refusing to admit it.
“No, just been busy.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Miller. You’ve been ignoring me and I’m over it.”
Sighing, I knew that if there was one person to actually call me on my shit; it was Noah Matthews. We had been drafted together and been roommates for the last five years. At this point, he knew me better than anyone. Which meant he should know exactly why I was ignoring him.
“I just needed a break.”
I knew he would know what I meant. I needed a break from anything that reminded me of the future I lost. To forget about the game I had loved since I was a kid. And Noah was unfortunately a stark representation of all of that.
“Look, I get it. I’d be the same in your position. But you left me hanging out to dry, trying to make friends with the other assholes on the team.”
At that, I couldn’t help but chuckle. The older guys on the team were all solid guys. But unfortunately, most of them had families to go home too, not wanting to spend their nights out on the prowl with guys like Matthews and me. And the younger guys? They were just annoying as fuck.
“Sorry about that, man. But I needed to get out and my buddy from college offered the perfect escape.”
Although, if today was any indication, it wasn’t so perfect. As everyone ran around having fun, I was stuck on the sidelines, sulking over my injury and everything I could no longer do. Hence why I didn’t mind this chance to drive for a few hours, allowed to just stew in my thoughts.
“And where exactly is this escape?” Noah asked, slight noise going on in the background and I knew he would currently be watching tv, decompressing after a day of training and preparing for their game tomorrow.
“Southern California.” I tried to whisper the words, knowing Noah would be even more pissed about the ignoring after finding out where I was.
“You really are a piece of shit, Miller. Your escape is right next to our apartment?”
And there was the reaction I had been expecting and the main reason I had been ignoring him. I bit my tongue, not wanting to remind him that it was no longer our apartment. Our lease ended and began during spring training every year and this year I hadn’t renewed. Instead, I had been living at a hotel, trying to figure out what I was doing next.
“Didn’t I mention that?” I tried to play dumb, knowing it would never work on him.
“The fuck you did. How long are you there for?”
“They rented the place out till the end of August. No clue if I’ll be here the whole time.”
Although, I probably would. Unless I wanted to go back home to Michigan, where my parents still lived, I didn’t have a plan.
Noah didn’t respond for a minute and I knew he was considering the information, trying to understand what position I must be in to feel like I had to lie to my best friend that I was staying right under his nose.
He may come off as the big, burly guy, but the man was thoughtful as hell. Especially for those he cared about.
“Look, I’m going to be honest. I’m pissed at you, but I get it. So what you’re going to do to make it up to me is send me the address and tell your buddies to keep a room open in case I want to drop by and check on my friend.”
“That’s the apology you want? An excuse to see me?”
“No, I want an excuse to make sure you aren’t sulking in the corner instead of enjoying the free time you haven’t had in almost five years.”
I shook my head at his bluntness, but smiled nonetheless. When your talent is no longer there, the thing that made you special for so long, it feels like a lot of people lose interest. I should have known Noah wouldn’t have just been another in a long line of people who dropped me like a hot stone.
“Fine, I’ll send you the address. And you don’t need a room, you can just bunk with me, since you desperately miss me,” I joked, knowing there were plenty of open rooms, considering Drew rented the largest property on the beach.
“Of course I do,” Noah responded seriously. “Now I have to go, some of us have an important game tomorrow.”
“Asshole,” I drawled, knowing that although it hurt, I needed the normalcy of his comment. It would be the only way I could get through this.
Noah just laughed loudly, knowing he got under my skin, and I hung up without a goodbye, knowing he could be laughing for a while longer at my expense.
Checking the map on my phone, I saw I was closing in on Valerie’s location and just in time, as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. With a deep breath, I let the conversation with Noah lighten my mood. My baseball career may be over, but that didn’t mean my life needed to be. And maybe I needed to do what he said and have some worry-free fun for the first time in five years.
Chapter Three
Valerie
My phone was almost dead and the sun was starting to set. The last text I had received was from Drew over an hour ago to not worry and that I would be saved before anything in the dark could get me. I had rolled my eyes at the text, knowing that one of his favorite things to do was make fun of my inane fear of the dark.
Most kids grew out of that fear, but I never had. And it wasn’t for any reason, I hadn’t been stuck in the dark as a child and now carried that with me into adulthood. I simply didn’t like the dark and flinched at any noise when I couldn’t see.
Thankfully, my phone hadn’t died before I had called Elena and told her what was going on. She had admonished me at first for not immediately calling her, but when I had explained that Drew was picking me up, she had squealed like a teenage girl in a movie. She was the only one who knew about my long-lasting crush on Drew and had been constantly pushing me over the years to make a move.
My phone buzzed in my hand and I quickly opened the screen, hoping it would be from Drew telling me he was close. Unfortunately, it wasn’t him, but instead Elena. She had sent me a photo of her smiling widely in front of a vast beach house, sunglasses sitting atop her platinum hair. Under the photo, she sent that she had arrived and was starting to unpack her things.
