“Oh, my God. Really?” Murphy says, looking appalled at Aspen. “Do you get bonuses for sleeping with him?”

Aspen snorts. “Hardly. I had them write into the contract that under no circumstances would I be having sex with him.”

“You did?”

Aspen nods. “Yes. And not only that, I stipulated that he not be allowed to have sex with anyone else, either, for the duration of our arrangement. I didn’t want to be made to look like a fool.”

Murphy’s face turns from a cold, hard stare into a soft smile. Then she laughs. Then my other three friends laugh.

“What’s so goddamn funny?” I ask.

When Brady and Caden are done doubling over, Caden says, “This season just got so much more interesting.”

“Listen, guys,” Aspen says. “I know what this must look like to you, but rest assured, Bass and I are good people. And I’m just a poor college student who was down on my luck when I ran into Sawyer. I don’t give a rat’s ass about him being some famous baseball player. I had no idea who he was when I met him, and if I had my way, I wouldn’t even be sitting here. But circumstances dictate I do this, so here we are.” She stands up and I’m afraid she might storm out of the townhouse. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Bass and I are going to step out back for five minutes. You can talk about me all you want during that time, but, please, when we come back, can we just sit down and figure this out?”

She looks at Bass, imploring him to follow her. We all watch as they walk out my back door and sit on my porch.

I turn to my friends. “I know you think this is stupid, but the contract is iron-clad. If either of them says anything about it, she doesn’t get the money. Even afterwards, she has to pay it all back if she ever tells anyone.”

“You really think you can trust them?” Caden asks. “I mean, why not just go find an actual girlfriend?”

“Come on, you guys know me. I’m not boyfriend material. This is the only way.”

“Having a contract that says you can’t have sex for six months is the only way?” Brady asks.

“Yes,” I say. “This is my career on the line. I can trust Aspen. I think she’s exactly what I need. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. You should see all the shit she made Sarah add to the contract.”

“She really didn’t know who you were?” Rylee asks.

“Not a clue, I’m sure of it.”

Murphy looks out my back window. “I think I might like her,” she says.

“Ditto for me,” Rylee says. “Come on, Murphy, let’s go get them.”

When the girls leave, Brady scratches his head, still not getting it. “But why not just do what Rick asked and keep your dick in your pants? This seems so much more complicated.”

I shake my head. “Because I know I couldn’t do it. I didn’t even make it one fucking day. The day Rick said they were trading me was the day I met Aspen. We hit it off, had some drinks, and ended up back at her place.”

“Wait, you slept with her?” Caden asks. “But she said she wrote the whole ‘no sex’ thing into the contract. It doesn’t make sense.”

“She doesn’t remember,” I tell them. “I swear I didn’t think she was that drunk. I would never take advantage of a drunk chick. I slipped out like I normally do, but then I started thinking about her grad school acceptance letter that I saw lying on the floor. She’d said the night before that the letter was why she had a bad day, so I figured she needed money. She needed money and I needed a good reputation. So I went back to her place and told her about my plan. She kicked me out, thinking I was a creepy asshole, which I probably was. But then when I went back that night to apologize, she heard me out.”

“Dude, you didn’t tell her you had sex with her?” Brady asks.

“Why the fuck would I? I got a free pass.”

Brady scolds me with his disapproving stare.

“And I wasn’t sure she’d agree to any of this if she knew,” I admit.

Caden laughs. “Oh, man, you’ve got balls, I’ll give you that.”

“Wouldn’t you guys do anything to save your career?” I ask them.

The three of us stare at each other as everyone else comes back in the room. They don’t have to say anything. I know what the answer is.

“Okay,” Caden says. “Tell us how we can help.”

“For starters, you two can validate it when I start talking about Aspen around the other guys. They won’t believe me if I say I have a girlfriend.”

“Then don’t tell them,” Murphy says. “Because, you’re right, they won’t believe you. You should let them see you together. Maybe deny that you have feelings for her. Talk about her like you’d talk about any of the others. It will seem more real to them if they watch it happen rather than being told it has happened.”

“This is why we need them,” I tell Aspen. “Okay, what else?”

“Maybe you should ‘meet’ her when you’re out with the guys,” Rylee says. “That way, they think you are meeting her for the first time.”

I nod. “Good. When?”

“We leave for San Diego on Thursday,” Caden says. “How about Sunday night after we get back?”

“Not soon enough,” I say. “I don’t want to give Rick another opportunity to find a reason to get rid of me.”

“Isn’t Spencer’s birthday this week?” Rylee asks.

“How the hell are we supposed to know?” I say.

“Because you’re his friends,” she says, pulling out her phone to tap around on it. “Yes, it is. It’s Wednesday and he’s currently unattached, so he probably has no plans. Why don’t you guys take him out for a drink after the game?”

“We have an early flight on Thursday,” Caden reminds us.

“In and out by midnight?” I ask. “Would that work?”

Caden and Brady look at each other and nod. “We could do that.”

“Good,” Murphy says. “Take him to Taps Bar. Do you know where that is, Aspen?”

Aspen nods.

Murphy walks around the living room as she talks. “Show up around ten thirty, after they’ve been there for a while. Go sit at the bar and keep looking at Sawyer. Don’t wear anything too revealing, something like what you have on now is perfect. It says ‘girl next door’ in a sexy kind of way. Sawyer will ask you to join them. He’ll hit on you in his usual arrogant way and you’ll walk out with them when they leave. Boom – mission accomplished. Some of the guys will have met you and then when they see you again later, they will tease Sawyer about taking out a girl twice, but they won’t become suspicious.”

Murphy turns to me. “Don’t do anything that would make Aspen out to be a slut. In fact, maybe you just want to ask for her number when you walk out. Don’t take her home. Caden will remind everyone about the early flight and Aspen will say she has a morning class. You’ll gawk after her when she walks away.”

She stops talking and we all stare at her.

“What?” Murphy asks.

Caden laughs at her. “I think you missed your calling, Murph. You might just be a little too good at this.”

“At what?”

“All the deception. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

She laughs. “As in, I was a secret agent in another life?”

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Rylee adds, getting into the spirit of things. “Maybe Aspen should sit and talk to Sawyer, but then reject him when he tries to take her to a hotel. Because we all know he would. Instead of going with him, however, she’ll give him her number and tell him if he ever wants a ‘nice’ girl – one who doesn’t have sex with random strangers, to call her. She’ll say it in front of everyone.”

“Yes,” Murphy says. “That’s good. Are you guys getting all this?” She turns to look at Aspen and me.

Aspen starts laughing. “I think I like your friends,” she says. “Please tell me we’ll get to go out with them.”

Murphy looks at the other two women in the room and then motions to the kitchen. “Come on girls, let’s go get a real drink and come up with some good lines Aspen can feed Sawyer on Wednesday.”

The four of us guys watch them walk away, and I know I’m not the only one who’s thinking that they just became fast friends.

“Are you okay with this?” I ask Bass. “I guess you can come too if you’d like, but it’s probably best if you watch from a distance.”

“Aspen is a big girl,” he says. “I know the place well. It’s safe and close to home. And I know where to find all of you if anything happens.”

“We won’t let anything happen to her,” I say. “I give you my word.”

“We’ll all watch out for her,” Caden says.

Bass nods. “I appreciate that. She’s the most important person in my life.”

Brady cocks his head and studies him. “You sure you’re just roommates?”

“I’m sure,” he says, laughing. “That ship sailed long ago.”

I’m not sure why, but when he says that, my jaw twitches.

Brady looks from Bass to me and back to Bass. He laughs under his breath and says, “Rylee’s right. This is going to be a hell of a lot of fun.”

Chapter Ten

Aspen

The camera closes in on Sawyer for a close-up of his slide into home. The stadium erupts in cheers when he is called safe. He gets up, brushes the dirt off his shirt and tips his helmet to the fans. They show replay after replay as the announcers talk about him adding to his record of stolen bases. They put statistics on the screen that compare him to the all-time greats of the past.

I stand here stunned, as I take in just how good Sawyer Mills really is. The way they talk about him – it’s like he’s a god. After only nine games, they are saying he’s already on track to capture another season record.