When he dropped me off at the airport on Sunday evening, I cried. It was like saying good-bye to him for the first time all over again. Seeing him made it harder to be away, which was sort of fucked up, if you asked me.
“I hate saying good-bye to you. It sucks.” I buried my face against his shoulder.
“I know. Me too.” He kissed the top of my head as his fingers caressed my back.
I pushed myself away from the protection of his arms. “I’ll call you as soon as I land, okay?”
“You better,” he teased before cupping my face in his hands. “I love you.” His mouth pressed against mine as his tongue swept across my lips.
“I love you too,” I said, pulling away from him.
I shut the car door before walking through the sliding glass doors of the airport entrance. I headed toward the security checkpoint, thankful that it wasn’t crowded. Once my bag and my body were cleared, I found my gate and plopped into an empty chair, the weekend’s activities catching up to me. I yawned as my cell phone rang with Jack’s song.
“What’s up, babe?”
“Cassie,” he shouted, the wind whipping through the air, forcing the reception to crackle. “Can you hear me?”
“Sort of. Are you okay?” I grabbed my bag and looked for a more private setting.
“I just got off the phone with Coach. They’re pulling me up to Double-A. I leave for Alabama in two days!”
“Oh my God, babe, that’s amazing! Congratulations. I’ve always wanted to see Alabama,” I added, so happy for my guy.
“Is that so?”
“Yep.”
“In that case, I can’t wait to fly you out.” He laughed. “I’ve gotta call Dean and Gran. I just wanted to tell you first.”
“I’m so glad you did. Congratulations again, babe. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Kitten. Love you. Call me when you land.” He hung up and I couldn’t stop my face from grinning.
FIFTEEN
JACK
The state of Alabama welcomed me with open arms. That was the good news. The bad news was that the air there was so thick with humidity I thought I might choke. I’d never experienced heat that felt almost solid in form, hitting you in the face when you stepped outside. But the people were friendly and the city boasted that small-town feel I thought only existed in movies.
All the shifting in the Diamondbacks organization caused a group of guys on my team to lose a roommate. This worked out perfectly for me, considering I was looking for some. I moved in right away, taking not only the other guy’s room in the house, but his spot on the roster too.
I braced for resentment from the other players that would never come. Instead, I found myself playing with a group of extremely supportive guys. The competition was fierce, but this was still a team sport, no matter how you sliced it.
“Hi,” I said as Cassie picked up her phone.
“Hi, yourself,” she said back, her voice making me smile. “How are you? How’s the team?”
“I’m good. The team is insane.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone’s just really fucking good.” I sighed with contentment.
“Like better than your other team, or how?”
“Just in every way possible. It’s a whole different level of ball.”
“You expected that though, right?” Her voice suggested if I hadn’t, I should have.
“I guess I didn’t really think about it. They’re definitely better hitters and my pitches don’t intimidate them.”
“So pitch around their bats and make your pitches scary,” she suggested with a giggle.
“I’m trying, Kitten.”
“Jack, you’re an incredible pitcher. You’ll figure it out. This is all part of the process and in the end you’ll be a better player for it.”
“When’d you get so smart?”
“Probably the second you left town.” I could practically feel her eye-roll over the phone line.
“Brat.”
“I gotta go, Jack. I’m sorry but I get to sit in on a call with the New York offices! Yay!” she screamed into the phone.
“That’s great, babe. You go. I’ll talk to you later.” I chuckled, her excitement making me smile.
“Wait, Jack?” she shouted and I fumbled.
“Yeah?”
“Good luck tonight.”
“Thanks. Love you,” I said before hanging up.
I took a deep breath as I kicked at the dirt mound beneath my cleats. The fans were all on their feet cheering, but I could barely hear anything above the sound of my own heart pumping adrenaline through my veins.
“You got this, Carter,” I heard my shortstop shout. I glanced at him briefly, our eyes meeting in a hopeful exchange. The cheers grew louder when I stepped onto the mound. My catcher flashed signs between his legs and I nodded in agreement, then gripped the ball in my left hand, the baseball’s string seams pressing against my fingertips. With another focused breath, I lifted my right leg into the air before delivering a piping hot fastball right down the middle.