Off the Field: Bad Boy Sports Romance by Heidi Hunter, Bad Boy Team

options, trying to figure out a strategy before they interviewed me. I had nothing to hide, but I still needed a lawyer. Fuck…I was just with her in the shower naked and now this? Incredulous!
     
    ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
     
    “Cory? Is that you?”
    “Thanks for accepting the charges.”
    “What the hell happened?”
    “Don’t talk on the phone,” I said. “I’m okay. They’re going to get me a public defender, okay? Do you understand? We don’t have enough money to get me a lawyer.”
    “But…”
    “I said we do not have enough money to get me an attorney. Do you understand?”
    “Yeah. I’m so sorry, Cory,” she sobbed into the phone.
    “Don’t. Be strong. I’ll be okay. And you’re safe now.”
    Shit. That probably isn’t a smart thing to say over a prison phone, I thought to myself.
    “Hey, I have to go. Someone’s waiting to use the phone. Come and see me soon, okay? We’ll figure this out. I didn’t do anything to Mack. Someone else shot him.”
    “I love you, Cory.”
    While it wasn’t the type of situation I wanted to hear those words from her, they sounded magical to me. Has she always felt this way?
    “I love you, too. We’ll talk more soon.”
    I hung up the phone, knowing she would never say goodbye.
     
    ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
     
    Two days later, I was in the county jail cafeteria when some guy walked up to me and demanded my fruit cup. I sighed. If I didn’t stand up for myself, the rest of the prisoners would be all over me. Because I wasn’t sure how long I would be incarcerated, I dropped my tray to the floor and punched the guy in the face. The quick jab hit him in the jaw, taking him down immediately.
    As I turned around slowly, waiting for anyone else to come up, the other inmates yelled and got to their feet. The guards jumped into action quick, taking me down roughly. After they had my hands cuffed, they pulled me to my feet and got me out of the cafeteria. They took me to the guard in charge of the cell block I was in. I sat down in a chair in front of his desk.
    “You’re new, aren’t you?” he asked, his hands folded on the table in front of him.
    “Yeah. I’m not supposed to be here.”
    “I know, I know. No one is supposed to be in here.” He sighed and shook his head from side to side. “Let me guess, you’ve watched one too many movies or television shows that say you have to be a bad ass when you go to jail or you’re going to get ass raped. Am I right?”
    I shook my head side to side slowly.
    “Look, I get it, okay. I’m still going to have to punish you because you punched first according to the guards. Take some time and think about how you're going to act while you’re here.”
    The guards led me away to a solitary cell. When the slammed the door shut and locked it, the walls seemed to get a little closer. After two days in lock-up, I still hadn’t talked to an attorney. Heidi was aware I was in jail, but I didn’t want to use Mack’s money to get me a lawyer because doing so would make me look guiltier. As it stood, no one knew Heidi had the ten grand.
    Waiting on a public defender probably wasn’t the wisest decision, but I didn’t have many cards to play. I sat down on the cot in the cell and took a deep breath. All I could think about was Heidi and how close we’d come to consummating our love for each other. Even though she was in my apartment which was just a few miles away, in my world that was an insurmountable distance.
     
     
     

 
     
     
    Heidi
     
     
    Jail scared the hell out of me, but I had to go see Cory. He’d done so much for me. I didn’t understand why he’d gone to see Mack. If he hadn’t gone, he wouldn’t be in jail. I believed he had nothing to do with what happened, but the female witness claimed she saw the shooting and that he’d pulled the trigger and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
    Her entire story was bogus. No one would listen to reason. While I’d never met her before, I was positive she