“I’m good. I’ll see you all later.” I say, rushing out of the locker room.
The stares from my teammates are too much for me to take. I can’t be in there right now. I wonder how long it is going to take. I know that this has happened to Cassie and Mac before and I always hated that they had to go through it. I just never thought I would be on the same side as they once were.
When I finally reach my apartment, I run up the stairs and fling open the apartment door. Thankfully, Ash is sitting on the couch, watching TV. He looks up at me, grinning, like he’s happy to see me. But that smile quickly fades.
“Hendrix, what is going on? What happened?” he asks me, rising from the couch and coming to me.
“The whole team knows that I’m seeing August. It was announced today by Maxwell Cromwell after August did his little press conference thing,” I blurt it all out in rush. “I can’t believe this happened. Everyone was staring at me. You should have seen the looks on their faces, Ash. It was awful. Absolutely awful.”
I finally let the tears well up in my eyes and blink them down my cheeks. “I can’t believe that this is happening,” I say.
Ash pulls me into his arms and holds me, letting me cry on his shoulder. Just like I’ve done so many times before, when I was little or when I first got dumped by August.
“Does that mean that the Blaze is going to make you give up August?” he asks me, as he rubs his hand up and down my back.
“I don’t think so. I don’t know. Coach Watts just said that he’ll have to talk to the Cromwells and we’ll see what happens,” I squeak out through my tears.
I can feel him nod against me. “I thought that maybe they would say that you can’t be with him.”
“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” I sniffle.
“No,” he pulls back so that he can look me in the eyes. “I don’t like coming home and finding your clothes and his spread all over the living room. However, I don’t want to see you unhappy, Hendrix. And if he makes you happy, then so be it. I just don’t want to see something bad happen to you with the Blaze because of this man. He’s not worth that much. You are finally living your dream. Let’s not do something to irrational that makes you have to give that up. That’s all I’m saying.”
I nod. “I get that.” I wipe my eyes with the backs of my hands. “But they didn’t make Jase and Cassie stop seeing each other. Nor did they do that to Mac and Danny. Or Amelia and Dex.” I list off all of my friends and shake my head. “He can’t impact my playing time. I mean, sure, he’s the owner, but at the same time, it’s Coach Watts’ call. He was the one who was promised that this was his team and that nothing would change that. I believe that August won’t go back on that. Plus, Watts did say before I left that I have proven myself,” I say, shrugging. “So…” The words die on my tongue because I have no idea where I was going with that ‘so.’
“Your talent definitely does speak for itself,” he says, smiling at me. “I’m sorry that this happened to you today. What I can tell you is that it was inevitable. The team was going to find out, and they were going to react. But it’s up to you on how you handle this. You can choose to let it define you, or you can prove yourself on that pitch game after game. And even in practices. Because you are worth your weight in gold out there. Show them that, and they’ll have no other choice but to shut the fuck up and stop running their mouths. I guarantee it.”
I grin at him. “I needed that bit of big brother advice. Thank you for that.” I hug him and he gives me a quick squeeze back. “Iget it that it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I just hope that I can survive it.”
“You will,” he promises me. “You absolutely will. And I will be here every step of the way.”
“You will?” I ask him, confused. “Are you, like, never planning on going back to Philadelphia?”
He sighs and watches me for a beat. “Well, I was thinking it might be nice to be here with you for a bit.” He shrugs and asks, “What do you think? Would you like some more time with your big brother?”
I grin at him. “Yeah, I would like some more time with you. That would be awesome. Don’t you need to work, though?”
He shakes his head, laughing. “No, remember I’m good for the time being. I realize that you may not want me to be here with you in your team housing for all that time. I’m not sure what the rules are for how long you can have guests, but I can find somewhere else to live if that helps you. I wouldn’t want the team to be asking you too many questions or thinking that this is a part of your special treatment. Plus, if I ever want to have company over, then it might be weird.”
“Oh, and who is this someone that you might want to have over?” I ask him, excited at the possibility of keeping my big brother around for longer.
“Well, no one really yet. But who knows.”
I giggle and lean in to hug him. “Yeah, who knows.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
~AUGUST~
“August?” Nancy says, peeking her head into my office. “You may want to head back into the conference room that you were in earlier with your father. There are a few more inhabitants in that room now. Some of them want to speak with you.”
“What?” I ask her, confused. “When I left that room, it was only Drew and my father. They were going to come up with some kind of solution for Drew running the team. Now who is there?”
She sighs. “Now you have all the coaches in that room with Maxwell and Drew. They are talking about the fact that you are dating Hendrix. I think it might be a good idea for you to go see what is happening in there.”
I nod and rise. “Thank you, Nancy.”
I head toward the conference room and from what I can hear on my way there, it’s not a heated discussion right now. No one is screaming into the hallway. I reach the room and see that they are all just sitting around the wide oak table, relaxing in the black leather chairs that I had chosen for the room.
