Page 22 of In the Works

A gruff call of “Batter up!” ripped through the air, momentarily pausing our conversation. I took a deep breath asour first batter headed onto the field. We were likely going to get creamed out there, but I tried to remind myself that this was supposed to be for fun.

Punching my arm, Cleo pulled me back into our conversation. “This is great news. She has crazy connections. She could probably get your work in front of any art dealer in the world. You have to do it.”

I laughed. “Cleo, that’s not the problem. I’m retired.”

“But wasn’t the lack of money part of it?” Cleo stood from the bench as the coach gestured that their turn at bat was coming.

Shaking my head, I stood, moving to the fence while they practiced their swing just outside the dugout. “I mean that was a part of it, but that’s not all of it. And I don’t know that I want my comeback to be some rich lady’s table.”

“Cleo, get a move on. You’re on deck.” The coach rolled her eyes.

Nodding, Cleo started moving toward the dugout exit. But they called back to me. “Maybe it’s not really about Bradley. Maybe it’s more about what you can do for Sarah.”

Before I could argue with them, Cleo walked out onto the field.

Our conversation continued like that for the rest of the game, one of us dragged out onto the field while the other anxiously awaited more details.

They had a point. Sarah had been a great friend to me over the years – putting aside her very fair absence while raising three kids.

After a sprint from third base to home plate, Cleo returned to the dugout out of breath and wiping sweat from their forehead. I passed them their bottle so they could chug some water.

“You know what else is weird?” I blurted out as soon as Cleo sat down.

Cleo whipped their head around to look at me. “Really? Not even ‘Nice run, you may have won us the game’?”

Laughing, I patted Cleo on the back. “Well done.”

“What else is weird?” Cleo said between gasps for air.

“I felt like she was… checking me out.” The words felt silly coming out of my lips in a low whisper. I’d only ever heard Sarah talk about guys. But the way she looked at me felt hot.

Cleo’s eyebrows lifted. “Really?

With a shrug, I looked out on the field where one of our teammates got out. “I couldn’t really explain it. But it just felt like she had wanted me all of those years and was just now figuring it out.

Cleo could sense my confusion. They’d known Sarah almost as long as I had. We’d all seen her relentless adoration of Jason over the last decade.

Eventually, they leaned back onto the bench and laughed. “I mean, maybe she’s opened her mind up to somenewoptions? She got married to her quarterback boyfriend right out of high school. Most of us didn’t figure out our queerness until college at the earliest.”

They weren’t wrong. Even I struggled to understand my feelings for Sarah back then. I knew I loved her and wanted the very best for her. Despite Jason being a nice guy, I knew someone – maybe even I – could be better. To some extent, Sarah withdrawing from the friendship had felt like a reset for me: a chance to let those feelings fade so our friendship could survive.

But just the thought of her being interested in me brought all of those old hopes back.

I pulled out my phone and looked at her text again as Cleo got up to refill their water. Looking at the texts, I knew I owed her an answer. But I still hadn’t figured out where my mind was.

Maybe another chat will help.

I typed out a message and hit send:

Hey. I think I need to talk it through one more time. When can I see you?

I set my phone in my lap and waited patiently. The field was switching over, and the New Winford team was about to play the field. Just as I was about to set it on the bench, a buzz radiated from my phone. It was a speedy response from Sarah:

Kids are out of the house tonight, if that works. We could do pizza?

A blush immediately took over my face. I quickly sent a text confirming and ran out onto the field. Each stride felt lighter. A part of me knew she would convince me to make the piece. And most of me liked that.

14

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