“Same reason you would have. I didn’t want Tucker to have any more control over my life than he’d already taken.”
“And? Did it work?”
“No, Jonathan hates that I’m out there alone for my long runs. He found me in the shower. I was a mess.”
“You didn’t tell him, did you?”
“No. I fucked him in the shower instead.”
“You—”
“Used him. I used him. And now I feel like I’m about to fuck up the one thing in my life that’s good and pure. How the hell am I going to fix this?”
“You need to tell him everything,Kendra.”
“He can’t know. How can I do that to him? It will put him in the worst position as the owner of the team.”
“What do you think is more important to him? His role as a team owner? Or his role as a man? Because I sure as hell know that Sam would die if something happened to me.”
“I’ll figure something out.”
FORTY
hawk
I satin the stands at our spring training facility and watched the first few practices as an observer. Later that day, we had a meeting planned with the coaching staff before I flew back to Boston on the team jet.
I felt good about the pitching rotation; our starting catcher had finally agreed to terms right before training began. But in watching the infield, there was something just slightly off about the chemistry. Our starting shortstop was mouthy and seemed to piss other members of the team off just as badly as he pissed me off.
When he commented on what he wanted to do with Austin Monroe’s wife after hours, I thought it would come to blows. I would have cheered on our center fielder and supported him when the union met in the discipline hearings. The only one on the team who seemed amused by his antics was Elijah Griffen, our third baseman, who had always been a guys’ guy, and while he portrayed himself as a family man, everyone on the team knew about his exploits.
It was too soon to talk trades, but when the time came, he would be the first to go—if I could find any takers.
Me: Landing around 9:00.
Kendra: At my place. Will you be hungry?
Me: No, don’t wait for me. But I’m coming over. I missed you.
She never responded. But once I got to her place, I would do what I needed to figure out what was going on with her. I had felt more than the physical distance over the last week, and I couldn’t shake the thought that what had happened in the shower had caused most of the issue.
What I loved the most about Kendra was her drive and stubbornness, which also unsettled me. If something were wrong, would she tell me? Or would she attempt to handle it herself?
The coaches’ meeting had gone well, but our pitching coach, Luc, had seemed less enthusiastic than I remembered. He said nothing about his recent breakup, likely because it would lead to questions that could impact his relationship with our ace pitcher. All stark reminders that the team had significant family connections for Kendra and me. Maybe her connection to the team was why I trusted her implicitly with my decisions, or maybe because I had always wanted a partner connected to all aspects of my life. Yeah, I wanted someone who understood me, and she did.
While on the flight, I reviewed Colby’s social media plan for the next few weeks. She planned to stay in Florida for the duration of spring training and get as much footage as possible. Her first series was a getting to knowyou media blitz for our new and returning players. She’d also planned to capitalize on the attention that Lindy Griffen and Kelsey Drummond’s podcast. Kelsey had more of a supporting role and mainly focused on drawing attention to the non-profit she’d helped to support Boston women.
I signed off on the first few plans and then moved on to her ideas for Tucker Milligan. Yeah, she struggled. It seemed as though he’d also managed to piss off my sister. We usually celebrated some of the more popular players by naming an item at the concessions after them. She presented me with two options: Tucker’s mini dogs or Milligan’s Swill. The beer she’d selected was from a local beer company that sold cheap beer and had a reputation for tasting like swamp water.
My e-mail response:
To: Colby Crosby
From: Jonathan Crosby, III
Re: Concession Rollout
Colby,
