I was only about a block from the park when my cellphone rang. I didn’t bother looking at the caller ID before answering, which wound up being a colossal mistake. “Sean, it’s your mother.” I loved when she greeted me that way, as if I wouldn’t know the clipped cadence of her voice if she didn’t announce herself.
“Hi Mom, how’re you?” She never called without a purpose, so I turned off the car and got comfortable in my seat, gearing up for whatever it was she wanted this time.
“I’d be better if it didn’t seem that two of my children have been avoiding me. How am I supposed to plan for Fourth of July if I have no clue who will be in attendance?” Lovely, she was on a fishing expedition. I wanted to ask her why she bothered badgering me about this every year since I hadn’t been to her annual party at the cabin since college.
“Sorry, I’ll be out of town,” I informed her. Mason beeped in on the other line and while I would have loved to cut the call short so I could talk to him, I figured it’d be for the best if I didn’t do anything to upset her. Just knowing that he’d called let me know the meeting was over was enough for me to stop worrying for a while.
“What about your sister?” she pressed.
“Have you called her?”
My mother let out a dramatic sigh. “Of course I’ve called her, but she can’t be bothered to answer her phone. You need to talk to her, because her behavior lately makes you look respectful, and that’s saying something. I’m starting to worry that she may have herself mixed up with the wrong crowd.”
Abi and I weren’t quite black sheep in our family, but we were definitely a dark shade of gray. The two of us broke free from the idyllic dream our parents had for their children, and I’d learned there was no accomplishment that could overcome their disappointment. I’d grown so used to her jabs over the years that they no longer bothered me.
“Mom, I’ve got to go,” I said, cutting off her rant about how she’d somehow gone wrong raising the two of us and how we needed to be more like our siblings. I knew I’d pay for my disrespect later, but I didn’t care. Right now, I had to get inside to get ready for the game.
I turned on my music as I walked across the parking lot to the players’ entrance. I was running late, so I kept my head bowed to avoid any possible distractions. Once inside, I sat down in the lounge to eat a quick sandwich before heading to the training room. It was still quiet, since most of the guys wouldn’t show up for another hour or so, but Jason walked in and sat down across the table from me.
“Man, you look like shit,” he observed as he helped himself to a carrot stick. He stared at it in disgust before biting off the end. “I have no clue how you eat that shit.”
“Boy, you’re full of encouraging words today, aren’t you?” I quipped. He held up his hands in surrender as he stood and started backing away. “Get back here. You did this to me, so you can deal with my bitchy, whiny hangover. Fuck, how am I supposed to get through this game?”
“Don’t sweat it, you’re going to do fine,” he assured me. “Nashville’s tough, but you’ve been getting better over the past few weeks.”
“If it was the game I was thinking about, it’d be no sweat. The problem is everything else that I can’t worry about right now,” I reminded him. I looked around to make sure we were still alone before going any further. “Mace had a meeting with his lawyers this morning, and then my mother called me when I got here. I went down there yesterday because you kept saying I needed to fix things with him, and I didn’t do that either.”
“You know better than to answer her calls,” he scolded me. “And as for Mason, you need to learn to leave your personal shit in your locker, the same way the other guys have to. If you’re thinking about home while you’re out on the mound, we’re all screwed. You’ve waited this long to talk to him, a few more hours won’t kill you.”
“Thanks for the pep talk.” I stood and threw my crumpled paper sack into the garbage. The guys gave me a hard time for stopping by a little deli before every home game, but it worked for me. The way I figured, we all had our quirks, and this was one of mine. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have to get dressed and go stretch.”
“Just remember what I said, man. Everything will be fine, but leave it at the door.” Jason followed me into the locker room and he chatted about plans for the all-star break while we got dressed. As soon as he heard my locker door shut, he stopped talking mid-sentence, knowing that it was time for me to get into the right headspace for the game.
Angel joined me during warm-ups, reminding me to watch my stretch. According to him, it was the one aspect I needed to work on to go from a good player to a great one. I wasn’t sure I believed all that, but I had to admit that when I stayed back and let my arm come through more, I had more control.
Jason and I walked to the dugout when it was time to go, and he reminded me again that the only thing that mattered in my life for the next few hours was confined within the walls of the ballpark. That became my mantra every time I took the mound, and by the end of the sixth when I was pulled from the game, I’d managed to give up no runs on five hits. I could have done without the four walks, but in the end, it was still a win and I’d take it.
Mason was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t hear me walk into the house. I sat down next to him on the couch, draping my arm over his shoulders as I kissed his temple. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“Sorry, I guess I’m distracted tonight,” he said quietly.
I leaned back, pulling Mason to lay on top of me while he finished watching his movie. He buried his head in the crook of my neck, breathing in my scent as he laughed at something on the screen. While we laid there, I wondered what it’d be like to have this be a regular occurrence.
“I want you,” Mason whispered as the credits began to roll across the screen. He’d apparently caught his second wind, because he practically jumped off the couch, reaching for my hand. “I know you said you’d wait, but I’m done being patient.”
I had no choice but to follow Mason as he dragged me up the stairs and into my bedroom. The wind was nearly knocked out of me as Mason shoved me against the wall as soon as we were in my room. His hands fisted in my t-shirt as he held me where he wanted me, his mouth sealed over mine in a brutal kiss. I let him keep control, his tongue wrestling with mine, until it became necessary to push him away long enough for me to catch my breath.
“I can think of more comfortable places to do this,” I suggested as I worked the buttons of the dress shirt he hadn’t bothered to take off before pushing it off his shoulders. I continued undressing him as we walked through the room, leaving his discarded clothes in our wake. By the time the backs of his knees hit the bed, he was stumbling over the pants pooled around his ankles.
“I fucking need you, Sean,” Mason pleaded. I kneeled in front of him as he leaned back on the mattress, stripping him until he was splayed out naked before me.