I’m done feeling helpless. I’m donebeinghelpless.
I have always prided myself on taking care of what’s mine, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
There’s still a way for Reese to keep her position. She didn’t mention it earlier today because in her mind, it’s not an option.
But if I quit my job, what’s the press going to say then? My contract extension is the most damning part of this all. It could easily be spun to look as if I was only with her to renew my job. But if I took that off the table, not just the extension but my entire position, what would the press have to say then? Nothing. They’d have no fucking story.
Two people fell for each other, so one of them left their job so they could be together. Pretty boring story if you ask me.
I promised Reese I’d take care of her because she deserves to be taken care of, and tomorrow, I’m going to do exactly that.
“Hey, what’s up?” Isaiah asks, closing my office door behind him. “You wanted to see me?”
His eyes trail to find his brother in my office as well. Kai has a shoulder leant against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, just as confused as to what’s going on. He thought we were having a pregame pitching lineup meeting until I told him we needed to wait for Isaiah.
Standing from my desk, I round it to the other side, sitting back on the edge. “I wanted to talk to both of you before the game.”
Kai and Isaiah look at each other, silently asking the other what’s going on.
“I just needed you boys to hear it from me that after the game tonight, I’m going to be stepping down from coaching this team.”
Kai pushes off the wall, standing up straight. “What?”
“Nothing is going to change between the three of us. We’re—”
“Hold up.” Kai screws his eyes shut, holding his hands up to stop me. “What the fuck are you talking about, Monty?”
I don’t know why I thought this was going to be easy. I suppose because my conversation with Miller this morning was. As soonas I told her I was stepping down, she completely understood where I was coming from.
But it’s different with Miller. She’s been questioning what Reese and I were going to do about work for a while now. This was on her radar.
It clearly wasn’t on Kai or Isaiah’s.
I exhale a long breath. “Miller already knows. I talked to her this morning, but I asked her to let me be the one to tell you guys. I’m going to be stepping down after today’s game. Things are complicated right now. There’s some stuff happening behind the scenes.”
“What kind of stuff?” Isaiah asks, frustration lining his tone. “What does that even mean?”
“Threats to Reese’s position. Threats to make our relationship look bad in the media, and I need to protect her from that. This is how I can do that. This is theonlyway I know how to do that.”
Silence fills my office.
Kai’s brows are furrowed. His face is etched in anger and confusion.
Isaiah’s expression is a bit blank. His mouth is parted without words to say.
“Nothing will change between the three of us. You guys are my family. Have been since I met you. And hell...” I gesture to Kai. “You’re legally stuck with me now anyway.”
The humor doesn’t diffuse anything. Both of them are still silent, staring at me in disbelief.
I’m doing my best to make this easy, but the truth is, telling them is breaking my heart. The three of us met here. We’ve become family because of our time together here. I’ve loved being involved with this team, both on and off the field.
I’d like to believe that nothing is going to change, but certain things will. I’ll still be their friend. I’ll still be Kai’s father-in-law. But I don’t know that I’ll still be the guy they come to for adviceor when they need to talk something out. Baseball has bonded us in that way. Me being their coach has made our dynamic what it is, and I can only hope that it stays the same when I’m no longer involved with the team.
“Someone say something.”
“But you love your job,” Isaiah finally chimes in.
“Of course I do, but...” I scrub a palm over my face, swallowing down the lump in my throat. “Look, I’ve lost someone once before and I can’t go through that again. As much as I love my job, it’s not worth losing Reese over. Not even close.”
