Page 9 of Stetson
His eyes darkened. “Good luck.”
With that, he backed out of the room.Someonehad to have picked up on the tension between us but upon observation, everyone had resumed their pre-game rituals. I resumed my pacing, effectively pissing off all my team members until Coach came to get us to start drills.
Thatwas when the rest of the team caught up to my energy. No one spoke, save for the few religious players mumbling quiet prayers to themselves.
I’d been placed halfway through the line, and I took a few deep breaths. My stomach flipped. The noise from the crowd that packed the stadium vibrated through my body. The New York Hellbenders were already on the field. As we made our way out to join them, a stray player far in the outfield caught my eye. As I followed the movement, I realized it wasn’t justanyplayer.
It was Barrett Swindon, catcher for the Hellbenders. The man had the accuracy of a sniper. Legend had it he could read batters like a book, communicating almost telepathically with the pitcher to strike out even the best of the best.
Well, he hadn’t met me yet.
Entirely captivated by the man, I picked a spot near the home dugout to stretch while I watched him closely. Some players ran laps, but Barrett leisurely strolled over to the fence behind home plate. Someone was leaning over the railing. No, not someone:Levi. I saw those aviators glinting in the sun. Barrett approached, and his smile widened. I was interested, but I thought nothing of it.
That was, until Barrett hooked his foot into the fence, pulling himself up and planting a kiss on Levi’s lips. There was no mistaking that kiss either. Levi cupped Barrett’s cheeks, smiling against his mouth. My stomach churned, my blood boiled but before I could rip my gaze away, I felt the smack of a glove on my shoulder.
“Getting an eye full, Rookie? Here.”
Harrison plonked a ball into my hand and backed up about five feet in front of me.
“What’s the story with that?” I asked, sending the ball at him. Admittedly, it wasn’t my best throw. I was a teensy bit distracted.
“What do you mean?”
“Are they together?”
Harrison raised a brow at me under his cap. “You don’t know the story?”
“Clearly not”
He scoffed. “Yeah, they’re together. I’d say… five years ago now? There was a huge scandal. It was all over the place. How do you not know?”
“I was in the hospital five years ago. I tore my rotator cuff and wasn’t sure if I’d ever play again.”
Harrison nodded along with me. “Ah, so you were ignoring the headlines completely.”
I returned the ball, feeling that anger all over again. “Anything to do with baseball as a whole.”
“I think that makes you the only person in the sport that doesn’t know what happened. What’s got you all bent out of shape over it?”
Instead of answering, I looked back to Levi again, who was smiling at me. In light of recent discoveries, I found it hard to return the gesture. “It doesn’t matter.”
Harrison cast a knowing grin my way. “Ohh, you have a thing for Levi. I thought I sensed something in the clubhouse earlier.”
“And I thought you were asleep.” The next time I got the ball, I didn’t throw it back. Instead, I closed the distance between us, smacking it directly in his hand. “Say nothing.”
He studied me, something indiscernible in his eyes. “You got it.”
I went back into the dugout, dropping my glove in my seat and heading for the clubhouse.
“Holloway! Where are you going?” Coach called out.
“Bathroom.”
“Make it quick!”
I went straight for my cubicle, grabbing my phone and perching on the edge of my chair. I pulled up a search window and typed in Levi’s name. The first few options were what I’d expected: his website and information about signing. But when I scrolled further, I found a headline that caught my eye:
Levi Grant Client Relationship Exposed.
