Walker:
See you soon.
I grabbed my keys off the counter and headed out the door.
When I arrived at Hops & Hills, I saw that Walker had already gotten us a table and had a beer waiting for me. We fist-bumped, and I sat down as he pushed the beer in my direction.
“Figured you could use a beer. Addison told me about today.” Walker chuckled. “Noah is such a cocksucker.”
I laughed for the first time today and brought the beer to my lips, taking a long pull. “Tell me about it. I’m related to the cocksucker.”
“Well, if you ever need backup with that fucker, you just say the word.” Surprisingly, Walker dropped the subject there. Once he said that Addison had told him about what happened, I figured I would get interrogated or my ass handed to me, but nope. Walker said his piece, and that was that.
“So, you ready to get back to work? Spring training is coming up.”
Walker nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready. I’ve been working out all offseason and feel really strong. I think this is our year. We’ve got the talent to go all the way.” A pretty brunette walked past our table, her eyes lingering a moment too long on Walker, a smile spreading across her face as she looked him up and down. Walker looked over at her, returning the smile, but then brought his attention right back to me. “You should come to a game this season.”
Distracted by the exchange, I watched the woman make her way to her table of friends, still glancing over at Walker.
I turned my focus back to Walker and nodded. “For sure, man, I’d love to. After what you accomplished last season, I think you’re right about this being the year that you guys make a run.” Now the brunette was walking back to our table with a piece of paper in her hand.
Walker followed my line of sight and saw the woman approaching our table. She stood in front of us, handing the piece of paper to Walker. “Hey, here’s my number in case youwant it.” She winked and walked off.
I chuckled, putting the beer to my lips. “That girl was eye-fucking the shit out of you earlier. You going to call her?”
He laughed and crumpled up the paper, leaving it on the table. “Nah, man. I don’t have time for that shit right now. Plus, I try to stay away from anyone in this town.”
“Why’s that?”
“Everyone knows everyone’s shit in this town, so I don’t need it getting around. Especially when my ex lives here, it just makes everything complicated.”
“You mean Farrah?” Addison had mentioned Walker and Farrah’s past to me briefly.
Walker nodded and sighed heavily. “Yeah. Farrah.” By the tortured look on his face, I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it, so I decided not to press any further.
“Do you think you’ll retire as an Austin Aviator or eventually play for another team?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Nah, I’ll retire an Aviator. Honestly, I hope for this to be my last year. I don’t know that my arm has much left. I’m getting old.” He chuckled.
I couldn’t help but laugh as well. “Only a professional athlete can call themselves old at thirty.” I took another pull from my beer. “Sure looked like you had a hell of a lot left this past season.”
The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile as he clinked his beer against mine in a cheers. “Thanks, man.”
We had another round of beers and decided to shoot a couple of rounds of pool before calling it a night. The conversationwas easy, as we both intentionally centered it around baseball. I didn’t want to talk about everything going on with Addison, and he clearly didn’t want to talk about his past with Farrah.
I got home around midnight, and there was still radio silence on Addison’s end. I hadn’t heard from her after leaving her farm, but to be fair, I hadn’t reached out to her either. She clearly needed space to process what she had found out today, and I wanted to give her that. After showering, I slipped into bed with Coal at my feet. I reached over to my nightstand for my phone to check one last time to see if she’d texted—still nothing. I sighed heavily as I plopped my head back down on my pillow, fighting the urge to text her. After only a few minutes, I sat back up and grabbed my phone again. Unfortunately, when it came to Addison, I was a weak man. I pulled up our text thread.
Hey, you’re probably already asleep, but I just wanted to say that I missed you tonight.
I scrubbed a hand down my face and groaned. That was a lame-ass text, but I didn’t know what else to say. I wanted to tread lightly. I waited for what felt like hours for a response, but it was probably only ten minutes. Nothing. No response, no little dots across the screen. I would know because I stared at the screen the entire time like the desperate bastard I was. Convincing myself that she must already be asleep and wasn’t just ignoring me, I put my phone back on my nightstand and decided to try to get some sleep, the pit in my stomach still very much there.
I decided right then that I would tell her everything tomorrow.
Chapter 21
Addison
Dean:
