“I’ll ask,” he says.
I pat his shoulder.
“Thanks, Shawn. I appreciate it.”
I really want a reason to go back to Sweetwater. I need this second chance to plead my case and talk Renleigh into coming with me. I checked the schedule, and if I head back to Oklahoma after my arm care on Tuesday, I’ll have all day Wednesday to wear her down, then drive my ass back here for my bullpen session on Thursday morning.
“You need help with any of that?” Shawn glances at my checked bag and the small leather travel one dangling from my fist. I lift it like a kettle weight and smile.
“I can handle it,” I say.
“Okay, man. Wow! This is huge. I hope you know that.” He laughs nervously, probably because he knows if I’m up here for fifty innings of work, then his power of negotiation on my behalf gets a full season head start.
“Get ready to earn your keep,” I say, tremors of excitement tickling my belly. We grasp hands, then he pulls me in for a hug, slapping my back.
“I’ll work my ass off, Hunt. You do your job, and I’ll do mine.”
We slap hands and he heads back to his car as I make my way to the elevator to get to my new home for, well, probably a week. My phone buzzes in my bag, so I fumble the key to unlock my apartment while also grabbing for my phone. In all my scurrying, I answer, expecting it to be Renleigh.
“You’re a cat person, aren’t you?” I smile, proud of my easy banter in the face of telling her I’m falling for her.
“I am not. I’m a kid person. And the thought of adding a pet into my mix right now sounds terrifying.”
I deflate when my brain catches up. It’s Lindsey’s voice on the other line. I pull the phone away from my ear to verify the unknown number, then put her on speaker.
“Sorry, I thought?—”
“I know,” she says. “And don’t worry. When you call later, she’ll answer. And if you tell her I called you, I will end you forever. Hear me?”
I swallow hard, then laugh.
“I hear you,” I confirm.
“Good. Now, I only have a second before she meets me on the porch for wine. I need to say a few things, and I simply need you to listen.”
“Shoot,” I say, picking up my phone and carrying it with me to the basic gray loveseat sitting in a very empty, very basic room.
“Our mom fucked my sister up good, and she doesn’t trust relationships because of it. But she trusts you, Hunter. And that scares her. If you’re really invested in this thing with her, I’m asking you to be patient. And to not give up. Because I haven’t seen her open to the possibility of finding her person, well, ever.”
I sit with her words for a beat, then utter, “I get it. And I am. I’m invested.”
“Good. Now, call her in an hour. Right now, my sister and I need a drink.” With that, she ends our call.
Chapter 24
Renleigh
There’s an empty wine bottle on the porch table, and I am only responsible for a single glass of it. That was enough for me. And while my sister can be a sloppy drunk, she has earned the right be sloppy a few times before she has to get her shit together and take her soon-to-be ex-husband to the cleaners.
“Come on, Linds. Let me do the heavy lifting.”
I duck under my sister’s arm and help her stand, sort of. She’s wobbly, so by the time we get inside, she has to lean against the entry table for balance. She spots her keys in the tin bowl and clutches them, so I promptly take them from her hand and tuck them in my pocket.
“Nope. You’re staying here tonight, remember? The boys are on the pull-out sofa.” My sister giggles and wanders toward her twins, so I veer her back toward the stairs. “No, babe. Let them sleep.”
This was so much easier when I was a freshman in high school and she was a senior. Seven years of life has made her more gangly, a bit heavier, and stubborn.
“Let me help. Here,” my mom says, swooping in and taking my sister’s other side. My face goes stoic, but I accept her offeras my sister rolls her head to my side and holds her finger to her lips.
