Page 6 of Renegade Rift
Tyler and I might not have been close—let’s be real, we were never two peas in a pod—but it was a work in progress. Mostly mine, considering he hated my guts, but I tried.
My team at the time, the Blues, were supposed to play the Renegades the following week, and I had every intention of showing up and locking myself in Tyler’s hotel room until he would listen to me. In hindsight, I don’t think it would have worked, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And after my mom died, I was desperate.
Hell, maybe I still am.
Then the crash happened and now, instead of chasing Tyler’s forgiveness, I’m chasing his wife. Not for forgiveness, but because—I don’t know. I guess I feel responsible for her now that Tyler is gone.
That, and I literally have no one left.
The thing is, I’m beginning to believe she doesn’t want to be found.
“I’m sorry,Penguino,” Espinosa chimes in. “I know you’ve tried everything to find her. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get your mind off it for a little bit this morning.”
Clearing my throat does nothing to help the way my heart is lodged in my throat, but I somehow manage to choke out. “Are you guys going to tell me whatever it is you’re hiding?”
“Nope.” Carson pops the p at the end. “It will be so much better if you’re surprised.”
“Fine,” I sigh, setting my mug down on the island. “At least let me get dressed before whatever shit show you guys have planned.”
Two out of three nod their heads, leaving Smitty as the only one with any apprehension on his face.
Once in my room, I tug off my sleep shorts, tossing them on the bed before sliding into a pair of jeans. A knock at the front door has my friends rustling in the living room, and I can’t help the soft chuckle that escapes me.
They mean well. They really do. This team—the Renegades—isn’t what I expected. Somehow, despite the fact we’ve all been thrown together under the shittiest circumstances, we’ve come together in a way I’ve never experienced before. In the short time of spring training and the first half of the season, we’ve become a family. Sure, there have been growing pains, but at the core we all want the same thing: to play baseball and honor the team that came before us.
Which is the only reason I didn’t tell them to go kick rocks. Especially after bringing up Juliet.
My thoughts stray back to those crystals.
Those damn rocks are a reminder of my failure.
Failure to speak up.
Failure to protect my family.
Failure to fix what I broke.
The list goes on and on.
But they also give me the tiniest bit of hope that maybe I can atone for those sins. Maybe I can be there for her in the way I wasn’t for Tyler.
I will be there for her.
Glaring at the clutter of clothes at the end of the bed, I heave the pile into my arms and shove it into the closet, but not before I grab a shirt for myself. Not that hiding my clutter will make a difference if this cleaner opens the door, but it makes me feel a little better.
My feet are sluggish as I head back to the living room, tugging on my shirt as I do. Might as well get this over with.
“Surprise!” my teammates yell the moment I enter the common area and at first, I’m not entirely sure what they’re talking about.
That is until my eyes track to the kitchen where a woman stands with her back to us. Her very exposed back. As in, she’s wearing nothing from the waist up.
“We got us a topless maid for the morning!” Espinoza clarifies, no doubt because of the confused crease in my brows.
“Us?” I mutter, still trying to put the pieces together on how they thought this was a good idea.
The maid in question still hasn’t turned to face us. Either she’s just not interested in what we have to say or she’s giving me a moment to come to terms with what is clearly an ambush.
“We know you’ve been down about the search coming up empty.” Carson beams with the ingenuity of his idea. “So, we figured we’d surprise you, but it only made sense to have all four of our apartments cleaned as well. So, we booked her for the entire morning before we have to head to the stadium.”
