Page 99 of Stealing Home

I’m proven right when Joaquin starts closing my books and helping me put them back in my bag. “Thanks,” I say disingenuously.

Joaquin smiles at me, not picking up on my tone. I roll my eyes. Might as well catch up with them. “How is everything off the field?” I ask them. Quinn and Joaquin share a look, and I know I’m not going to like what they’re going to tell me.

“Campbell has reconciled with Marco, but he’s on the outs with everyone else still,” Quinn says. Coming from him that’s telling, considering the three of them were once thick as thieves and just as trustworthy.

Joaquin huffs. “Q isn’t giving you the full picture. The parties are done, and not just because Max and Will don’t want to have them anymore. No one is really in the mood to party considering the losing streak. Without Katrina leading them, the girls have all gone in different directions. That means everyone is drifting apart into little cliques.”

I bob my head. “I guess that explains part of the reason the team isn’t playing like a unit.”

“We need you back, Ryan,” Joaquin insists.

I’m not getting out of this conversation without giving them some hope. “I can’t come back with Rivera still coaching.” Quinn opens his mouth, but I hold up my hand to keep him from speaking. “We’ve literally just talked about this. It’s not a matter of convincing Coach to bring me back. I won’t play for him. You want me back, figure out a way to make him leave.”

Tired of going around in circles about this, I grab my things and head to the library. I’ve only eaten about half of my lunch, but suddenly I’m not as hungry as I was before.

Even with the lunchtime distraction, I get all my work done before five when Harlow gets off work. I pull into the parking space behind the garage moments before she walks out the back door. I meet her at the bottom of the stairs with dinner. I hold up a bag with her favorite take out.

“My lunch got interrupted today, so I thought I’d pick something up.”

She smiles at me. “How will I ever thank you for being such a good boyfriend?”

I fight to keep my lips from twitching. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”

Harlow tugs on her blouse. “Do I have time to shower?”

Tipping my head toward the stairs, I tell her, “Go, I’ll set the table and keep dinner warm.”

A knock on the door interrupts me in the middle of setting the table. I can see Coach Tucker through the window that looks out on the deck. This must be the day for me to get hassled about the fate of the team.

“Hey, Coach,” I greet him when I open the door. I take a step back and let him in.

“Let’s cut right to the chase. Quinn and Joaquin said they ran into you at lunch and you had some interesting suggestions on how we could convince you to come back.”

This conversation is going to require a beer. I grab one out of the fridge and offer him one. He takes it and we move into the living room. Once we’re sitting on the couch, he turns my direction. “What if I told you there might be a way to push Rivera out? Would you come back?”

I look over in the direction of the bathroom. Harlow doesn’t know I overheard her talking to her sister after that awful visit with my parents. I’m not going to forget what she said anytime soon. “I’ve learned from my mistakes. Mostly. At least I’ve learned enough to know not to get bangs after a breakup. Too bad I didn’t learn my lesson about dating athletes.”

I should tell him no. Baseball is not worth losing Harlow, but I can’t deny that leaving the team the way I did burns a bit. “I’ll have to think about it. Only if you manage to get him out. I won’t come back if he’s still the head coach.”

Tucker nods. “I think he’s on shaky ground with the athletic director. There’s rumors that Alicia’s parents have lodged sexual harassment charges against him, and I’ve heard she’s taken a leave of absence from school. Some of the faculty have been complaining because practices keep bleeding over into players’ class times. Some of the players have complained about how he’s treating them. Then of course there’s the fact that the team is falling apart, and he can’t explain why you’re no longer on the team and have been replaced by a pitcher even a little leaguer could get a hit off of.”

“How is he even still coaching?” I wonder.

“Because he’s got a five year contract and the protection of the president of the university,” Tucker admits.

“This sounds like that Greek myth of Sisyphus, who was doomed to push a rock up a hill for all of eternity. Don’t let Rivera become your rock, Tucker,” I warn him.

He hands me his empty bottle and stands up. “Thanks for the beer, Ryan. I’ll see what I can do on my end. If it works, I’ll come back and ask again.”

After Tucker leaves, Harlow comes out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. “I didn’t mean to listen, but this place isn’t very big, and I was kinda trapped in the bathroom. Unless you wanted me to come out like this.” She sweeps her hand down her body, still glistening with droplets of water.

“One of these days we’re going to eat while our food is still hot, but that’s not going to be today,” I tell her as I charge towards her.

Some time, and a few orgasms later, we finally sit down to eat. I can tell there’s something on her mind. “You’re thinking way too hard over there,” I speak up, after watching her push food back and forth on her plate.

She sighs, and puts her fork down. “I hope you aren’t refusing to go back to your team because of me.”

I am already shaking my head before she even finishes her sentence. “No, I will not play for your ex, and we both know you don’t want to be in a relationship with an athlete.”

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