by Katie Rae
And I knew I would accept.
They had to offer at least a league standard just based on my experience, time in, stats, and years with this team. And I knew that minimum amount would be more than I had ever made before.
My confession to Becca was true. This wasn’t all about the money. But what it stood for was everything I had worked for since I was 12 years old and decided I wanted to play Major League Baseball.
This meant respect. This meant a longer career.
This meant avoiding my dad a bit longer.
◆◆◆
“They’re signing you a year early?” Becca jumped up and down on my bed in excitement. “Thank God!”
“You seem a little more invested than just being happy for me,” I joked.
“Hell yeah, I am. I am happy for me. And all the other Kings’ fans. We do not need Fernandez behind the plate full time. He would drive us and the pitching staff right into the bottom of the division.”
I smiled and looked up at Becca’s happy face. When she showed up tonight, I couldn’t wait to tell her about my call from Tim, but I didn’t realize she would be this fervent. It made my heart swell even more for her.
I grabbed her hand and brought her back down off her feet and onto my lap. She curled into me like she had been doing this for years. Each of her legs wrapped around my waist and her arms around my neck.
“I’m glad you’re glad, Princess,” I spoke into her lips before kissing her with a soft peck.
“I am so happy for you Chase. I know how much this means to you.” She kissed me again, this time more ardently.
When she started moving her pelvis, I knew it was time to celebrate the way we knew best.
Naked.
I flipped her up and onto her back, making quick work of her jeans and t-shirt, and buried my face between her legs. At this point, I knew her body and I knew it well. So, it wasn’t long before she was screaming my name and begging me for more while simultaneously trying to tear my shorts off.
I lived for this. For us like this.
I could do this every damn day of my life with her.
For the last 33 years, I assumed having a relationship of any kind with a woman would be a downfall—a distraction. Now I realized that I had just never met a woman worth the risk.
Becca was worth it. We proved that every day when we snuck in and out of each other’s rooms, when we caught a glance of each other across the locker room, when we sucked in a quiet breath every time we touched in the training room.
And as it turned out, Becca wasn’t much of a distraction at all. She was my savior and my new lucky charm.
My world.
Chapter 24
Becca
“How is it I have been down here for almost two weeks and you and I have only hung out twice now?” Ali asked as we laid in her hotel room, eating greasy cheese fries and drinking wine.
I shrugged but I wasn’t sure she could see me since we were both looking at the ceiling.
“I have been so busy. This job is every day, all the time.” It wasn’t far from the truth, but I wasn’t ready to tell her I spent my downtime with Chase. A few more days and I would no longer be working for the team, I would tell her then—maybe.
“Well, at least we have tonight!”
We didn’t have much planned. Just hanging out in her room, a little girl talk, and wine. Cam and Kace were hanging out again with “the guys.” Chase was one of those guys.
Kace had backed off his Chase inquisition and, as far as I knew, he hadn’t said anything to him or me since. He seemed leery, but I guess he had heeded my “it’s none of his business” warning.
Is it possible that if Kace suspected Chase and I were together he would not tell Cam and Ali? Seemed doubtful. But Cam was still his usual happy self and Ali would have hounded me for details, so I was sure they didn’t know anything.
I guess we would find out in a few days when I was no longer here.
When Chase told me that the guys invited him out, I encouraged him to go. He normally would have if it wasn’t for me, and it seemed suspicious that he was always turning them down. Plus, I needed time with Ali before she started getting suspicious of me. And Chase didn’t know yet, that I was close to her.
A few more days, Becca.
If my head didn’t explode before the end of the week, I would be ok. I could explain things to Chase, tell my brother how I felt about Chase, and apply for jobs back in the high school circuit—where I was safe from falling for the players.
I sat up to refill my wine, Ali following suit.
“Whatever happened to Isla?” Ali asked.
She had actually asked me through texts plenty of times in the last couple of weeks, but I gave vague answers. She was ready for the real talk tonight, but I was ready to close that embarrassing story for good.
“Nothing. The guy went back to be with her, and I haven’t seen him since.”
“She was a girlfriend? He was down here in Florida cheating on her? What a pig, you’re better off.”
“Yep,” I popped and brought the wine to my lips.
Before I took a sip, I paused. Something didn’t feel right. My stomach had been in knots all day, on the verge of getting sick. And now that I had all the greasy fries, I think I was starting to regret it.
I set my glass of wine down and held my stomach. But before I had another thought, I lurched forward and ran toward the bathroom, immediately throwing up the entire contents of girls’ night in the toilet.
Oh my God!
Ali came running in behind me, “Are you ok?”
“Yes,” No. I waved her off, tucking my head into my hands, and praying for peace. Or death.
Ali handed me a wet washcloth and backed away. Once I had my shit together, I chanced moving back into the main room—slowly.
“Becs, what the hell?”
“I think it was the grease,” I mumbled. “Or the wine.”
“We barely made a dent in the wine,” she mused.
“Maybe I am getting sick. I’m going to lay down in my room. I’m sorry.”
“Girl, yes, go lay down.”
I stood and started gathering my things, being careful not to move too quickly. I felt triggered like one false move was going to make me throw up again.
Once I had my bag on my shoulder, Ali leaned in to hug me.
“Can I just ask one question?”
“What?”
“There isn’t a chance you’re pregnant is there?”
I bolted up from my hunched position and widened my eyes.
Pregnant?
I immediately ran into the bathroom again, the quick movements causing me to feel squeamish again. This time, I shut myself in with a slam to the bathroom door.
After emptying my already empty stomach, I sat on the floor.
Pregnant?
“Becs? You ok? I hope I didn’t freak you out. I just kind of wondered. You saw that guy a few weeks ago, and I wouldn’t blame you if you two hooked up. And now, all of a sudden, you’re sick. I mean, it could totally be the flu, or definitely the grease, like you said. Yeah, that’s probably it…” Ali was rambling, and I was too weak to stop her. “But when a girl gets sick and craves greasy fries all of a sudden..... It's ok to be pregnant. You are crazily loved. It's ok!”
“Pregnant?” I heard a yell, a very loud male voice.
Cam.
“Pregnant?” That sounded like Kace.
“Baby are you pregnant?” Cam again, sounding excited this time. Which gave me questions of my own, but I was going to save those for another day.
Meanwhile, Ali chose this moment to stop talking. Probably debating what was safer--letting them think she was pregnant or confessing that she thought I was. I needed to stop this before it got out of hand.
“Becs is in the bathroom,” Ali said quietly, before I could get out of the door.
“So, you’re not in here giving yourself a pep talk about being pregnant?” Kace asked, almost sounding sad. They must h
ave walked in at the end of her speech.
Did they want Ali to get pregnant?
Shit, I had a ton of questions.
But none of those could be answered right now. I needed to get the hell out of here, before I vomited again.
I splashed water on my face just as reality dawned on the guys.
“You mean Becs is pregnant?” Cam yelled.
I swayed, trying to open the door, but failing. I felt so weak and exhausted.
“No, maybe, probably,” Ali answered.
What the hell, Ali? Even if I was pregnant, couldn’t she keep a secret for five seconds?
The answer was nope, because she just kept on talking. “Becca was seeing a guy here in town a few weeks ago. He left town and ended up having a girlfriend. She was pretty upset if you remember. I am pretty sure they hooked up. Now she is craving greasy fries and throwing up.”
“She was seeing someone. How did she have time for that?” Kace asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered, “but he’s gone home now. He was just here for a few days.”
The good news was, this threw Kace off the scent of me and Chase being a thing. The bad news was, I was too sick to even care if they thought I was pregnant. I didn’t have the strength to correct them.
I cracked the door open, realizing they had moved further into the room and weren’t paying me any attention at the moment. The door to the hallway was close by, and I made a run for it. I just prayed I got to my room before I got sick again.
◆◆◆
I made it to my room without any more vomit.
I even managed to brush my teeth.
I returned a text from Ali, who realized I bailed on the party and was checking in. I told her I was just sick. But I could tell she didn’t believe me.
That was fine. I would deal with her later.
Chase texted me as well and wanted to come down to my room now that his night was over, but I didn’t want him to see me like this.
That didn’t matter much. When I told him I wasn’t feeling well, he showed up anyway—chicken soup and carrot cake in hand.
I couldn’t eat it.
But we laid together and I fell asleep in his arms, as his fingers ran through my hair.
I was glad he came anyway.
I needed him here.
The next morning, I woke up still feeling a little queasy, but much better than I was the night before.
Chase was already on the floor doing his stretches without me. He had headphones in and hadn’t realized I was awake yet.
He leaned in on his bent left knee, with his right leg stretched out to the side. The muscles in his side rippled as he pulsed in the stretch. Then he leaned over and did the other side.
I stayed as still as possible, watching him and enjoying the show. His sweatpants were hanging low on his waist, and I could tell he didn’t bother with boxers again.
My heart swelled thinking of how far we had come in the past few weeks. It’s not that we were ever enemies, but we sure as hell hadn’t made life easy on one another. All of that initial friction had disappeared the second we finally gave in to one another—physically, emotionally, even professionally.
I knew I had failed myself when it came to this job. I had lost sight of everything I set out to do while I was here. I broke all the rules. I became a distraction.
I fell for a player.
But I didn’t regret it.
No matter how many more years I spent at the high school level, or how this all ended with Chase, I would never regret feeling like this—if only for a small fraction of time.
“Morning Princess,” Chase said when he turned and realized my eyes were open.
“Don’t stop,” I moaned. “Keep going. In fact, lose the sweatpants and stretch naked.”
“Enjoying the show?” he laughed.
“I would enjoy it more if you were naked.”
“Well, as much as I want to indulge your every fantasy, I have to get to the stadium.”
He leaned in and kissed my nose. Another intimate gesture that made my heart want to burst.
I started to get up too, hoping I would feel better after a shower. But Chase held me down.
“Where are you going?”
I looked at him like he was losing it. “Work?”
“Cupcake, you need to chill. Just for a day.”
“I’m fine, Chase. It was just something I ate.”
“Yeah, that’s probably true, but why not just take one day off to be sure?”
“I can’t afford to do that. I have too much work to do. Plus, Eddie is starting today. I will feel awful if I am not on the bench.”
“Gary can handle it. But if you really are sick and go in and get us all sick, then you’re gonna feel worse.”
Damn him. He had a point. But there wasn’t much time left. I knew it was false hope, but somewhere deep inside I wanted to prove my worth right up until the end.
I would have to do that tomorrow, though. Because even though I felt better, I didn’t feel 100%, so I needed to do what was best for the team and hang tight until I was sure I was ok.
“Ok,” I conceded. “I will text Gary and tell him I was sick last night and probably need 24 hours to get right.”
“Good girl,” he said, kissing my forehead. “The game is televised today, so you can keep an eye on Eddie from right here in your bed.”
“If I am in bed, Eddie isn't the one I will be keeping my eyes on,” I teased.
“Mmmm. Maybe I need to send you a special message today. Like every time I think about you, I will wiggle my fingers before I give Eddie the sign.”
I smiled so big my face hurt and leaned up to kiss Chase on his neck. “Well I will be watching closely,” I murmured against his skin. “The TV camera angle is perfect when you’re crushing on the catcher.”
“Is that so?” he smiled, enjoying our tease.
“Yep. Direct shot. Right between the legs.”
Chapter 25
Chase
I wiggled my fingers so many times, Eddie thought I had a cramp. I eventually had to walk to the mound and tell him to deal with it because today, my fingers were wiggling.
I just couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Even now, as I crouched behind the plate, warming up a relief pitcher that was coming into the game, she was all I could think about.
I wished more than anything I could be with her today, making sure she was ok, getting her anything she needed. She looked better than last night when I left, but still, what if she needed me?
I got through a few more innings before I left the game to let Fernandez get some innings in. I had been keeping my eye on him since Becca said he was taking a fucking vitamin. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that the “vitamin” he took caused his balls to shrink. I just hadn’t seen him take them yet.
Even if I did see him take them, I probably needed to let it play out naturally without being a tattle-tell. But that wouldn’t happen either. Fernandez shot himself in the foot where Becca was concerned. He had it out for her, and I would do anything to protect her—even tattle-tell.
I sat at my locker and checked my phone. Two routine texts from Isla letting me know my dad was fine—drinking, sleeping, repeat.
Two texts from Tim letting me know how the meetings were going, and that I would be brought in with an offer tomorrow.
And one beautiful text from Becca. A picture of her kissing me on the TV as I went up to bat in the 3rd inning with the caption: You must be thinking about me a lot today. ;-)
Damn I think I love that woman.
No slip of the tongue, no bullshit, no freak-out realization. I sincerely think I love her.
What else did it mean when she was all I thought about? When I wanted her to be happier than anyone in the world, and I wanted to be the reason she smiled every day?
As scary as our future was—in particular the next few days—loving her wasn’t as scary as I had always thought love would be. I guess I w
as just waiting on her my whole life.
“Hey Turner,” Kace called me from the other side of the locker room. He had still been stiff with me, but had undoubtedly decided that whatever his beef was, he would deal with it later, because he had dropped the glare he had been giving me and was now using real words with me again.
I thought by me showing up with them at the bar last night he would open up about what he knew or suspected or whatever was eating at him, but he didn’t. For the most part, we had a decent time and comfortable conversation.
So, I turned to him, ready, figuring now was the time. “Yeah, Cap? What’s up?”
“I heard your agent is in town. You ready for the dotted lines?”
“Yep. It’s what I have been working so hard for.”
He snorted and shook his head. “I am going to let you do you, but you need to think long and hard about the impact this is going to have.”
I snapped my head up to him, questioning in my eyes. What impact? It was my damn life. My career. My everything.
Besides her.
Kace put his hands up in surrender, not wanting this to be a bigger discussion. “I want you behind that plate for this team. But I want you to be the best you can be while you’re back there. If anything is holding you up, … All I am saying is, you need to think long term. I am going to back off and let you be the vet you are, but just food for thought.”
What in the actual fuck?
Kace walked off toward the showers leaving me sitting there confused and irritated.
This couldn’t possibly be about Becca. Could it?
How would being with her not be me “being my best self”? Hell, I had never been better since I met her—both on and off the field.
Long term? Everything about her and I was long term. We may not have had that talk yet, but it was inevitable. You don’t just walk away from something like us.
I skipped a shower and headed straight to the hotel, straight to Becca.
She opened the door looking much better than she did before I left. I kissed her cheek as I walked in and ran a hand down the curve of her hips.
“Good game,” she smiled.
“It would have been better if you were there.”