Now, I’d have to settle for sending him a text message before heading back to the hotel and sitting around waiting for him to get through with his post-game ritual. He’d been the last player out of the park since we were in the minors, and probably would be until the day he retired.
The entire team looked better during warm-ups. It gave me confidence that we’d manage to pull a win out of our asses to take the series, otherwise, it’d come down to tomorrow’s game. Losing always sucked, but none of us wanted to have a series loss to Chicago early in the season hanging over our heads.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs seemed to have the same idea we did, and it was rough first few innings. Every time we scored a run, they’d answer in the bottom of the inning. Our saving grace was a two-run homerun by Ricky White in the top of the seventh to put the Mavericks up by three heading into the seventh inning stretch.
Tommy Randall pitched the game of his career trying to hold onto the save but the Bulldogs fought that much harder. With a win for Chicago, the series was tied at one all.
I kept to myself in the locker room, carefully avoiding the conversations about plans for the evening. I was rarely in the mood for a night of drinking, but tonight I had a much better offer on the table. Or at least I hoped I did.
“Tucker, you’re not getting out of this,” Tommy yelled as I reached for the locker room door. “We’re heading straight to the lobby bar when we get back to the hotel.”
All eyes were on me by this point, waiting for me to give them an answer.
“Yeah, of course,” I acquiesced. As much as I wanted to spend the night at Mason’s, I knew it’d draw far too much attention if I tried to bail on the guys.
I made my way out to the bus and sent Mason a message letting him know there was no way I’d be able to meet up tonight. His response was quick and understanding. He quickly sent a follow-up message, telling me to set my alarm for eight and he’d meet me for breakfast.
I considered telling him it’d be reckless for us to be seen together in public, but then I considered the fact that we’d done the same thing almost every time our teams had met up over the years. Regardless of what happened last night, we were friends, and friends shared meals.
Jason slumped into the seat next to me at the back of the bus, leaning in to look at my phone.
“Aww, aren’t you two cute, sending messages back and forth as soon as the game ended,” he teased. My cheeks flushed and I started wracking my brain, trying to figure out how to deflect his attention. “I’m glad he came down last night and you got away for a bit. You’ve been tense for a while, and I know you and Eric were close.”
He knew? I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
If Jason knew, who else had also figured it out?
The longer I sat trying to stave off a panic attack, the more I realized the reaction was in my head. The idea of someone finding out I was gay still worried me, but it wasn’t as terrifying if I thought of Mason having my back.Thatwound up being the thought that nearly sent me over the edge.
“I mean, Henderson’s a pain in the ass and I had to wear ear plugs to get any sleep because of his snoring, but it’d be weird to not have him in the other bed,” he rambled, unaware of my anxiety. Okay, maybe he didn’t know, but he’d figure it out if the paranoia kept up. “Not to mention the fact that you’re going to have to break in a new roommate once we get to Boston. You might want to call it an early night and enjoy the peace and quiet, just in case you get a loudmouth who never shuts up.”
“You mean like you?” I quipped, only half-joking. I chewed on Jason’s words for a moment, wondering if there was talk of more shuffling that I hadn’t heard.
It seemed obvious to me that I’d be paired up with Kevin Green, seeing as he was the outfielder brought up to bring some power to our batting lineup. “And I’d already planned on turning in after one drink, two tops. Mason’s parents are in town and his mom wants to go to breakfast tomorrow.”
I was an idiot. Now, I had no choice but to get in touch with Mason and let him know our breakfast for two was now going to be a family affair.
Everyone rushed off the bus and up to their rooms to change the minute the bus was parked. Stu hollered after us to be smart and not stay out all night since tomorrow’s game was an early one. His warnings likely fell on deaf ears because everyone was pumped and ready to get stupid.
I lingered in my seat, waiting for everyone else to make their way down the steps. Stu placed a hand on my shoulder as I walked past him.
“Tucker, are you heading down to the bar?”
“For a little while, yeah, but I planned on making it an early night.” Besides breakfast, tomorrow was bullpen day, which meant I was going to be pushing my body much harder than I did today.
“We need more guys like you on the team, Tucker,” he praised, giving my shoulder a paternal squeeze. “I don’t expect you to stay out until the last kid goes up to his room, but keep an eye on them tonight, okay?”
“You got it,” I assured him. He released me and I jogged down the steps before he asked anything else of me.
With my shoulders slumped forward, I sulked my way through the lobby, even less in the mood to join the guys than I had been a few minutes ago. The last time Stu had asked me to help keep an eye on the younger guys, I’d wound up so hung over I could barely function the next day. No way could I let that happen tonight.
Once I was safely inside my room, I scrolled through my contacts to give Mason a quick call. We were accustomed to going months without seeing one another, and yet tonight it weighed heavily on my mind that we were in the same city but not going to be able to meet up.
“You’ve reached Mason. I’m either busy or ignoring your call. If you leave a message, you’ll figure out which when I either call you back or don’t.”I laughed at the blunt outgoing message on Mason’s voicemail.
“Hey, it’s me,” I started, smacking myself in the forehead because I was fumbling to find something to say. “I hope you’re just busy, because it’d suck to find out you’re ignoring me. Anyway, I was calling to let you know I’m heading down to the lobby bar. If you wanted to swing by with your mom and dad, that’d be cool. Oh, and speaking of, I might have mentioned to Jason that I’m having breakfast with you and your parents tomorrow. I know it sucks, but I promise I’ll make it up to you soon for blowing our date. Hell, can breakfast even be considered a date? I don’t know. And while you said you were cool with neither of us looking for someone else, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re up fordating.Okay, well now I’m rambling, so I guess I’ll shut up now. I’m beginning to think you’re a bad influence.”
God, I sounded like a giddy teenage girl. I’m not sure there was another man alive who had this effect on me. Then again, I imagined I wasn’t much different than those girls when the captain of the football team asked them out.
