“Holy shit!” he yelled and clapped his hands twice. “That would be fucking awesome. Yes. I’d love for you to come.”
“Are you sure? I don’t have to.”
“No. You definitely need to.” He leaned over, grabbed my face with his hand and kissed me right on the mouth. “I’m so happy you want to come.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” He looked down at me with so much warmth in his eyes that it was easy to assume he felt the same way I did.Love.But the fear took over and I pushed the comment deep down. “It’s a huge part of who I am and it would mean a lot if you came. Let me know what day so I can reserve you seats.”
“Oh, like, good seats?”
“Yes.” He laughed again. “God, it’s cute how innocent you are.”
“Hey.” I flicked his wrist. “You’ve made sure I’m notthatinnocent anymore.”
“And I’ve loved every second of it.” He grinned, but it died when he stared at my face longer. “Hey, I know you said you didn’t want to talk about it, but your smile is one of my favorite things and it’s been a little forced. I love teasing you, but I’m also a good listener.”
Ah shit.His sweet tone was harder to keep at bay than his playful banter and flirting. My mood brightened because he was there, but my parents’ behavior still felt like a heavy weight on my chest. It wouldn’t do any good to give him specifics, especially since his lawyer had been quiet, but I could still talk about it. “It just sucks because I feel like me, for the first time in a while, and instead of enjoying it, they tear me down.”
“I’m sorry you have to go through that.” He reached over and squeezed my forearm. “I know what you mean about being the real version of yourself. When others don’t see that or care enough, it hurts.”
“Yes.” I hung my head for a second and met his eyes. “I’ll get over the hurt. I really will. But I want to spend my last night with you naked. We can talk feelings over the phone.”
“Sarah,” he said, backing up when I started crawling toward him. “We can gab all night if you want.”
“I’d prefer you between my legs, actually.”
“Fuck me,” he said, sighing. “Then I guess we better remove some clothes, huh?”
“Guess we better.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Brigham
Blue Bell missed me.
It was juvenile to enjoy the fact that she texted me the words, but it did nothing to stop my upbeat attitude. Sure, I played a hell of a game—a homerun and two doubles—but it was easier to think about Sarah than the chance of not playing baseball again. My mind wouldn’t even go that route, and if I did in the middle of the night, my brain would short circuit and send me into a full panic. So, thinking about Sarah’s little sighs when I touched her, or the sound of her laugh, helped. It helped a lot.
“Dude,” Gideon said, we got back into the hotel for the night. “You’re having a hell of a month, man.” He hit my back with a proud look on his face. “Starting to make me look bad, actually.”
I snorted. “Fuck off, Gid.”
“You want to grab a drink in the bar? I think Tate and Bummy are joining us.” He nodded toward the right and the scene unfolded in my mind.Having one drink, wanting another then doing something dumb.
“Uh, better not.” I tried to smile. “Too worried about fucking up my good karma.”
“Brigs, you can’t keep hiding in your room alone on road trips. You’ll go crazy.” He put a hand on my shoulder and guided me toward a booth. “We miss your competitive ass. Without you, we all just sit and stare at each other in silence.”
“Jesus,” I scoffed, but warmed at his words. Being a part of this team, with these guys, was a dream come true. The support they offered, the friendship, wasn’t always the case in the majors, and despite the warning in my gut, I sat down with him just as Bummy and Tate joined us.
“Heyoo, Brigs!” Tate said, fist bumping me across the table. “What are you on, man? Your stats are wild right now.”
“It’s annoying,” Bummy said, typing something on his phone and smiling like an idiot.The dude gets married and becomes a marshmallow.Never made sense before but now, thinking about Sarah, I might understand it.
I showed them all my middle finger as a waiter came over and took our order. I ordered one light beer and hoped my friends didn’t see how nervous I was. This was a big deal. The first drink since the arrest. It wasn’t like I was an alcoholic, but my drinking had gotten out of control. Taking a deep breath, I smiled when I was supposed to and forced a laugh. The waiter brought the drinks, and when we all had our fingers wrapped around our bottles, Gideon held his up. “To Brigham, the pretty party boy who is kicking ass and who will totally fucking beat this case.”
“Brigs!”
