Bryant
CONOR’S BIG ASS is taking up my entire couch when I come out of my room.
“What’re you doing here?”
“I’m bored and came to see what you were doing,” he replies without taking his eyes off the TV.
“I just got off the phone with Layne.”
“I’m glad you told her how you felt. She’s good for you.”
I can only smile. I’m glad too.
I’d already pulled strings to get her the home game tickets through her season ticket status. She doesn’t know yet. Hell, I don’t even know if she can come if she’s short staffed at the bar. But I wanted to make sure she and Gracie had tickets if they could.
Then, I found out a couple days ago that my teammate Rutger’s girlfriend bailed on him last week. He’d gotten tickets for her and a couple friends to come to the games in New York, so I basically promised him my first born child to give me the tickets. I’m having all the information delivered to Layne with breakfast and coffee tomorrow morning from a little café I love. I wish there was a way I could see the look on her face when she opens the envelope. In it is a letter explaining I’ve already made the arrangements and purchased all the tickets for her and Gracie to be at all the games of the World Series. I’ll need to finalize the details of their trip to New York once she tells me when they’ll be able to fly out.
“Why are you smiling like a lunatic? What did you do?” Conor asks, his face actually showing genuine concern for my sanity.
“I may have made arrangements for her and her daughter to be at all the games,” I tell him honestly, watching for his face to show surprise. It doesn’t. He smirks.
“The great Slam Nash has fallen.” He claps his hand on my back and wipes a nonexistent tear from his eye. “You’ve grown into a fine young man. I’m proud of you, my son.”
I smack his hands away, laughing. “Knock it off, asshole.”
“In all seriousness, Bryant. I’m happy for you. You seem happier than you have been in a long time, and I know she has more to do with that than anything. I hope whatever is going on with you guys works out.”
Conor has been telling me for years someday I’d meet a woman who would knock me off my feet. I’ve never believed him. Just like I hadn’t believed my dad when he’d said it, because I didn’t understand then what that feeling was. Until I stumbled into the bar and came face to face with Layne. As much as I tried to deny the connection, it was almost instantaneous.
“Thanks.”
“All right, enough girl bonding. I’m going to bed.”
“See you in the morning.”
He waves his hand over his head as he heads off to his room.
Climbing into bed minutes later, I grab my laptop and pull up the search engine. Things to do in New York City. Maybe if I can sweeten the deal and find her and Gracie some fun things to do while they are there, it’ll help her make the decision to go to the away games. I know she’ll have to pull Gracie out of school to be there, and she’ll have to talk to Garrett about it. Plus, she’d be leaving her bar for longer than she’s used too. Oh, and she said she’d been shorthanded and working more shifts.
Shit.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
TODAY WE ONLY have a team meeting in the afternoon, so I didn’t set an alarm. It took me forever to fall asleep last night, so when my phone starts ringing at what seems like an obnoxiously early time, I’m not the greatest mindset when I snap at the caller.
“What?” I grumble into the phone without even looking to see who it is.
“Bryant Nash!” Layne yells into the phone. “What in the hell?”
I’m wide awake and holding my breath that she isn’t mad. It took me hours of trying to convince myself she’d be happy and not upset before I fell asleep last night.
When I haven’t responded after a few seconds, her tone changes.
“What did you do?” she asks, her voice full of amusement and what I can only explain as excitement.
“Are you mad?”
“Hell no, I’m not mad. Why would I be mad?”
My heart immediately drops back down into my chest. Jesus, when did I become such a sissy?
“I know how busy you are and Gracie is in school. I didn’t know if you’d be upset because you guys are so busy and can’t get away.”
“Bryant.” Her voice has dropped to a level of sexy I’ve only heard a time or two. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Of course we will go. I obviously need to talk to Garrett about the away games first, but I doubt he’ll say no.”
“Perfect. Once you chat with him, let me know what day you want to fly out, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
She’s silent for a moment before she responds.
“We can’t share a room with you in New York. You know that right?”
Taking a moment to think about how to word this right, I take a sip of the water on my nightstand before responding.
“I know. I’ve already looked into setting you up in your own room. Close to mine in case you need me, but you’ll have your own space. I know it’s probably too soon to tell her about us. I won’t have a lot of free time anyway, so you probably won’t see me much. I want to know you’re at the games watching though. Like my two little good luck charms in the stands.”
She’s quiet for a moment before she responds. “I can hardly wait.” I hear a deep intake of breath before she speaks again. “I’ll talk to Garrett this afternoon when I drop Gracie off on my way to work. I’ll get work stuff figured out this evening and call you tonight if it’s slow enough or tomorrow morning. Will that work?”
“Yep. We are on a strict schedule tomorrow, so if you call in the morning and I don’t answer, leave me a message and I’ll call you back when we break.”
“Okay. I have to go. I hear Gracie shuffling around,” she says quietly. “Thank you so much for this, Bryant. She is going to lose her mind when I tell her.”
“You’re welcome. Have a good day.”
“You too. Bye.”
“Bye, beautiful.”
Now that I know she’s not mad about the tickets and stuff, I fall back asleep quickly. A gorgeous little brunette starring front and center in my dreams.
BANG.
Bang.
Bang.
“Dude. You need to get your ass out of bed or you’re not gonna be able to move!” Conor hollers through my door.
“Go away,” I mumble into my pillow.
“It’s lunch time, man. If you don’t get up and stretch, your shoulder is gonna be a pissed-off bitch.”
Rolling slowly, I know immediately he’s right.
Fucking Conor.
“All right, I’m getting up. Stop yelling.”
I extend my legs as far as they’ll go, reaching my hands over my head and pulling forward in a deep stretch. My shoulder is definitely going to need to be massaged and iced down today.
By the time I make it into the kitchenette area, Conor has already had room service bring us one of everything. It looks amazing, and my stomach growls loudly when the smell hits my nose.
“I called Sean. He’ll be here in an hour to work your arm. You better eat and take some ibuprofen.”
The therapy guy they’d originally hired earlier in the year tried to get me to pop a bunch of painkillers to get me through the days when the pain was out of control. It took me and Spencer two seconds of discussion before they canned him and hired this new guy, Sean. He is holistic in his approach to handling my care. I like that. I refuse to become one of those players who literally lives on painkillers to make it through the day.
We devour the amazing food, and I do as Conor suggests and take some ibuprofen.
Sean shows up a little after one and immediately throws the hot blanket on my shoulder to loosen it up. Although the massage therapy makes it feel better in the long run, the massage itself usually doesn’t feel all that wonderful.
By the time Sean is done and has left, my body feels like a wet noodle. With strict instruction from him, I’m relaxing and icing it. Good thing we don’t practice today.
There hasn’t been a second of this season I haven’t been fully aware it will be my last. The amount of pain I’ve been in over the past few weeks seals the deal that I’m making the right decision.
The meeting is faster than I thought it would be. We go over New York’s strengths and weaknesses, and Coach goes over things we need to be paying attention to and things to avoid.
By the time we make it back to the hotel, it’s only dinner time, but I’m exhausted and ready for bed.
Except I want to talk to Layne first. Tomorrow will be a defining moment in my life. Whether we win or lose tomorrow, I’m playing in the World Series. The Fall Classic. Some players go their entire career without ever playing in it. I am one of the lucky ones.
After a small dinner of pasta and bread, I’m even more tired. Noting that it’s only 7:00 p.m., I jump in the shower, hoping it will wake me up enough to stay awake at least until nine. If I go to sleep too early, I’ll be awake at like three in the morning, and I hate when that happens.
By the time nine rolls around, I can’t wait any longer. She’s working tonight, so I shouldn’t bother her, but I can’t go to sleep without finding out what Garrett said about her bringing Gracie to the away games.
Me: Are you busy? Can you talk for a few minutes?
While I’m brushing my teeth a few minutes later, my phone rings and it’s her.
“Hey,” I mumble out around my toothbrush, quickly spitting the toothpaste out into the sink. I rinse the brush and lay it beside the sink.
“What are you doing?” she laughs out. “Are you eating?” There is a lot of noise in the background, and I know she’s definitely busy.
“No, sorry. I was brushing my teeth,” I reply. “I’m about to turn in and wanted to see if you had a chance to talk to Garrett and find out what he said.”
“Can you hang on for a second?” she blurts out quickly, followed by the phone hitting the counter before I have a chance to reply. I listen to her chewing some loud woman’s ass, then only the noise from the TVs before she picks the phone back up a few seconds later.
“Sorry. Sometimes that group gets a little rowdy and I gotta make ’em take it down a notch,” she apologizes. “Tyler, I’m gonna go in the back for a few minutes to take this call. Can you handle them for a few?” she hollers out, her hand covering the speaker. I don’t hear his reply, but he must concede because the background noise gets a whole lot quieter.
“All right, sorry again. I’m listening.”
“I’m sorry to bother you at work. You could’ve just told me you’re busy and we’d talk later,” I explain.
“Nah, it’s okay. It’s not crazy busy or anything but I do have a rowdy group in here. Truthfully, Tyler handles them better than I do anyway. He’s a lot bigger and a little more intimidating,” she confesses.
“Awesome. Tyler sounds like a big help,” I reply, trying not to sound like a jealous asshole that she’s talking about another guy.
She chuckles under her breath before replying. “Huge help. He’s also a kid barely old enough to actually work here. No worries, Bryant.”
“I’m not worried,” I blurt out. “So, let’s talk about what Garrett said.”
“He’s fine with it,” she responds quickly. “As a matter of fact, he was pretty damn jealous that Gracie and I get to go to all the games. He ranted and raved for ten minutes about how cool it was and all the cool things we could see while we are in New York.”
“I like Garrett already, and I’ve only spent about twenty-five seconds talking to him. Sounds like a good guy.”
“He is,” she confirms.
We’re both silent for what feels like minutes before she breaks the weirdness.
“Are you nervous for tomorrow?”
“A little, but honestly, we’ve never been more ready. We’ve worked hard and are ready to head to the show.”
“Well, you better get some rest,” she scolds. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Smoke Stadium, for game one of the World freaking Series.” The giggle that leaves her lips makes me want to wrap my arms around her and kiss the hell out of her, but I guess that’s going to have to wait.
“All right, babe. Tomorrow it is.”
“Good luck,” she begins. “If I haven’t told you already, I’m crazy proud of you.”
“Thank you,” I reply, trying to keep my emotions in check. It’s been a really long time since someone has told me they’re proud of me. This woman keeps working her way deeper and deeper into my heart.
“Good night.”
“Night, beautiful.”