Surely, I must have misheard him. The stadium is really loud tonight.
“I would have liked to see her pretty face hit the dirt. Women like that always get whatever they want, do whatever they want. They need to get knocked down a bit.”
“Excuse me?” My stomach pitches like he just force-fed me wet garbage.
“I’ve seen her reporting,” Matt continues, watching the batter, though my attention is trained on the side of his pockmarked face. “She’s too confident.”
“Alex has every right to be confident. She’s an incredible reporter.”
Matt makes a dismissive noise. “She probably only got that job from being alittle—”
I shove his chest when the derogatory word drops from his ugly lips. “You don’t talk about her like that.”
Matt stumbles off base, eyes wide. “I can say whatever I want.”
“Not about her, you can’t.” My hands fist at my sides, but it’s Matt who takes the first swing.
I rear back, his fist barely missing my jaw. Matt’s face reddens as I raise my balled hands, ready totake himdown a notch. Gasps and murmurs erupt throughout the stadium as we square off. Before I can hit Matt in his foul mouth, Rhett and Shane flank me, yanking me backward.
“You’vegotto be kidding me.”
I struggle against their strong holds, the irony not lost on me. Last season, Rhett and I had to hold Trevor back from pummeling our jerk teammate, Aaron, when he’d been bad-mouthing Kenzie.
“As it stands, you’re going to get ejected,” Shane tells me, breathing hard as I fight his firm grip. “But since you didn’t swing, the suspension is likely to be minor. If you hit him, you’ll be out multiple games with fines and lost pay. Is that what you want?”
“Yes.” My answer is a visceral growl.
I want Matt to pay for his horrendous comment. I want him to have a nice dark bruise, reminding him to watch his mouth when talking about Alex. I want his stupid, ugly brain to ring in his thick skull from the power of my punch.
Trevor steps in front of me, already wearing his catcher’s gear in preparation for the next inning. “Let it go, Tenny.”
“But—” I glance at Matt, my teeth grinding together. “He was trash-talking the woman I love. Hedeservesit.”
Shane scoffs. “Of course this is over some woman.”
“Alex isn’t just ‘some woman,’” I say, my jaw tightening. “She’s the only one who fully accepts me for who I am. It doesn’t matter if I’m zero-for-four or hit another grand slam, Alex cares aboutme. Not to mention that she makes me laugh when I feel like I’m spiraling but is also strong enough to call me out when I need it.”
“She’s—” I huff a frustrated breath that I can’t quite encapsulate everything that Alex means to me. Though I’m usually verbose, I’m almost at a loss for words now. “She’s my person.”
Since Rhett and Shane have gone eerily quiet, I focus on our catcher. “Trevor, you get it. Tell these two to let me go.”
Trevor shakes his head with a controlled exhale. “It will work itself out. Things like this usually do.”
He’s referencing when his wife Kenzie had been the one tofinallypunch Aaron in his smug face in our clubhouse last season. Though, I can’t imagine a scenario in which Alex would get the same opportunity. A shudder racks through me at the thought. Ineverwant Alex to know about the terrible things Matt said.
My chin dips as I stop struggling against my teammate’s hold.
“Tenny, I have to ask you to leave,” Manuel, the first base umpire, tells me as he breaks into our circle.
A sigh escapes me. “I understand.”
Manuel pats me on the shoulder when he should be giving me the ejection signal. “You’re not one to lose your cool.”
I nod as Rhett and Shane release my arms. What I really want is to explain myself and then call Matt every expletive known to man. That would be a tiny consolation prize since I didn’t get to displace a tooth. But with the fog of shocked anger clearing, I’m able to hold my tongue.
Keeping my head up, I march toward the dugout. I made my choices, and now I have to pay for them. The only good thing about this altercation is that it willin no wayaffect Alex.
Chapter 34
