He studied me, starting with my bare feet, quickly working his way up the rest of my body until he met my gaze. “I can see you’ve been enjoying yourself these last few months.”
“Shut up, man.” I rolled my eyes. Brenna never complained about my body, so I wouldn’t let his insults penetrate.
“I gave you to the new year, but now it’s time to get serious, Sharpe.” Leo tossed his bag over his shoulder and pushed past me into the foyer. He slipped off his hat, revealing his fluffy hair. “All right. Where’s this woman who trapped you here? It’s about time we met.”
I sucked in a breath like I’d absorbed a physical blow.
“Brenna, Brenna, Brenna,” Leo sang with the musical grace of a spoon in the garbage disposal.
“She’s not here, jackass.” I slammed the door closed and headed to the kitchen to make coffee.
“So you’re here alone?”
I closed the fridge door after grabbing milk, cringing at how loudly it shut. Seeing her disgusting almond milk felt like a shiv in my side. “I am now.”
Leo tipped his head back and gazed at the ceiling. “Shit, man. You lost heragain?”
“I didn’t lose her,” I growled.
Leo’s energy wasn’t the kind I needed now, not as my world dimmed lower than it had in a long time. Even lower than when I first got here. That version of me didn’t yet know how incredible it was to live the future of his dreams. A glimpse, that was all I got, and now nothing would compare.
Since the night we first kissed during the blackout, I’d thought constantly about how to make this relationship work. And I hadn’t figured out how to keep us in the same location, not with Brenna caring for Molly and me pursuing a baseball career.
Optimism was as much a part of her DNA as her pretty brown eyes, but deep down, she had to recognize the uphill battle to gain custody. Unless her mother signed away her parental rights, it would take Brenna months—years—to prove her mother was unfit. If she even could.
All the while, Bren would fund her mother’s good-for-nothing life. Give up her dreams of becoming a physical therapist to protect her little sister. Deprioritize her own needs for as long as it took.
I didn’t make enough money to provide the kind of lifestyle her mother sought, or to pay for the legal services Brenna needed. She might’ve consulted Ellis for advice, but he wasn’t a child custody specialist. She needed the best lawyer money could buy.
Leo draped a hand on my nonpitching shoulder. “You okay, man? You’re wound tighter than a nun. I thought I’d at least find you well-laid.”
I shoved him off me. He wasn’t prepared, so he stumbled back into the kitchen counter. He only laughed.
“What are you doing here, Leo?”
“It’s January. Go time! We report in six weeks.”
Leo and I used to count down the days until pitchers and catchers were required to arrive at spring training. Last year, we were both invited to the major league team’s training camp for the first time in our careers. He’d get another one for sure, but my future was uncertain.
I shook my head. “No contract for me yet. You’ll be reporting by yourself, DiCaprio. Coffee?”
“Nocontract? What the hell, Nathan?” He didn’t wait for me to respond and kept ranting. “This is why you gotta get back to Houston and talk to management,proveto them you want to be there, that you’re more than ready for the seaso—”
“I’m seeing an orthopedic surgeon today,” I cut in.
Leo’s jaw went slack.
I never expected my shoulder pain to go away, only hoped I could stave off the worst of it. But no amount of ice, heat, physical therapy exercises, or CBD halted the slow decline of my shoulder after years of throwing thousands of pitches. Every season, it got a little bit worse until it started to bother me outside of baseball. When I reached for a plate on a high shelf. Typing on my computer. Anything that involved a stretch of the muscle or lengthy activation.
Fooling around with Brenna hadn’t flagged the pain, but I suspected I was too distracted to notice.
“You think it’s necessary?”
I nodded. “It’s time.”
“Shit.” Leo snagged a bottle of whiskey from the counter and took a swig. “I’m coming with you.”
46
