“I like the way you think.” I let Eric lead me down the street to where he’d parked. Milwaukee wasn’t a homerun for me, it was more of a grand slam.
Epilogue
Spring training wasn’t as awful as I expected it to be. If anyone other than Mark held a grudge about the last game of the playoffs, they didn’t show it. In fact, life was pretty damn good. Tonight, everyone was coming to our place for a bit of a celebration.
Secured Hope had opened the week we had to report to Arizona, so there hadn’t been time to party then. Plus, our report day happened to be the day after the live finale of A Cut Above. While we’d partied as hard as we dared after watching Cam win the entire fucking show, he hadn’t been there with us. But he would be tonight.
It was also Asher’s birthday. The little shit was giving new meaning to the term terrible twos. I tried telling Sean that was the result of spending too much time at home with Mason.
And as if all that wasn’t enough to celebrate, Cody had called me a few days ago to let me know he’d secured yet another scholarship. I’d told him he didn’t need to stress, that we’d cover whatever he wasn’t awarded, but he was determined to make it on his own. He’d even gotten a job at the clubhouse so he had his own money. I couldn’t have been prouder of him if he’d been my own flesh and blood.
“Hey, Jackson!” Jason yelled across the locker room. “Cam just texted and asked when we’d be out of here. You about ready?”
Hell yes. Eric and Bryce had caught a later flight than I’d have liked so Cody wouldn’t miss an important test at school. All of our lives now seemed to revolve around the schedule of an eighteen-year-old kid, but that was okay.
“Yeah, just give me a minute.” As I leaned over to shove a few last things into my duffel bag, someone rammed into my side, knocking me off balance.
“Fucking fairies everywhere around here now,” Mark bitched. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, remembering what Sean had told me about not antagonizing him. If I ignored it, maybe it’d go away. Besides, I’d probably still be pissed if our roles had been reversed and I cost him the game. “I heard the office is working with Disney to see if they can change the mascot to Tinkerbell wearing a motherfucking cowboy hat.”
“Let it fucking go, man,” Riley Anderson scolded him. He pointed directly at me. “That man has done more for this team than you ever will. The only reason you’re still here is because your contract hasn’t expired and the suits can’t pay another team to take your sorry ass. I like pussy just as much as most of the guys in here, but there’s only one dick I can’t stand. And that’s you.”
The entire room fell silent while Riley went off on Mark. Slowly, a few of them started mumbling encouragement to Riley and a few hurled insults of their own to Mark. He shrank back and gathered his shit as quick as he could.
I noticed one of the rookies hanging back, away from the altercation. Today was his first day working out with the Mavericks and we’d made a really shitty first impression. Not only that, but he had the potential to fuck us all. His dad was a fucking legend, someone we all dreamed of as starry eyed kids hoping to make it to the big leagues someday.
“Hey Stone, you coming over tonight?” The kid looked up at me and his eyes were so wide I thought they were going to pop out of his head.
“Me?” He pointed at his own chest.
I rolled my eyes. It was hard to believe it’d only been two years ago that I’d been in his shoes. “Yeah, you. Get your shit together and meet me outside. Unless you’d rather head back to your hotel room and veg in front of the TV all night.”
That sparked the rookie pitcher into action. He damn near stumbled over his feet trying to get to the door. “Thanks, man. Sorry, but I’m not used to guys treating me normal. They find out who my old man is and either try to crawl up my ass to get closer to him or they steer clear, figuring I’m his little snitch.”
I eyed him warily, mostly to give him a hard time. “You’re not, are you?”
“Fuck no!” he answered bitterly. I couldn’t imagine how tough it was to be him.
“Good, because I have to warn you, you may see some crazy shit tonight.” That was an understatement with our crew. “I’d hate to have you texting him pictures of what we do in our downtime.”
“Even if I was a snitch, it wouldn’t be you guys I’d rat out,” he told me, glaring toward where Mark had been dressed down in front of everyone. “Why do you put up with that shit? The league has policies to prevent that.”
“Yeah, but eventually you’ll learn that some things work better on paper than they do in reality,” I informed him. “The league has come a long way and Stu is good about keeping the bullshit to a minimum, but it takes time to make real change.”
“You don’t have to tell me.” I took a good look at the kid, Nick, I think Stu said was his name. He didn’t look to be much older than Cody. His troubles may not be the same, but there was definitely pain lying just beneath the surface.
“Come on, there’s someone you need to meet.” I draped my arm over his shoulder and led him toward the employee entrance. Whatever was going on in that kid’s mind, I silently vowed to make sure his problems didn’t become all of ours.
Note from the Author
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Other titles by Sloan Johnson:
Unexpected Angel
Unexpected Protector
Unexpected Consequences
Truth or Dare
Dare to Dream
Fragile Bonds
Teach Me
Dance With Destiny
Godsend
Wild Pitch
Curve Ball
About the Author
Sloan Johnson is a big city girl trapped in a country girl’s life. While she longs for the hustle and bustle of New York City or Las Vegas, she hasn’t yet figured out how to sit on the deck with her morning coffee, watching the deer and wild turkeys in the fields while surrounded by concrete and glass.
When she was three, her parents received their first call from the principal asking them to pick her up from school. Apparently, if you aren’t enrolled, you can’t attend classes, even in Kindergarten. The next week, she was in preschool and started plotting her first story soon after.
Later in life, her parents needed to do something to help their socially awkward, uncoordinated child come out of her shell and figured there was no better place than a bar on Wednesday nights. It’s a good thing they did because this is where she found her love of reading and writing. Who needs socialization when you can sit alone in your bedroom with a good book?
Now, Sloan is a tattooed mom with a mohawk and two kids. She’s been kicked out of the PTA in two school districts and is no longer asked to help with fundraisers because she’s been known to lose herself with a good book and forget she has somewhere to be.