Page 34 of The Shake Off

I spun around to where they were walking across the entrance foyer to see Penn’s head snapping up in my direction as he swiped his pass over the entrance gates. “Ah, Ace, good. I’m glad you’re here.”

I readied myself for another lecture, though grabbing me around the neck wasn’t really Penn’s style. Come to think of it, that’s probably why Pablo was employed in the first place.

“Morning, sir.”

“Walk with me.” He gestured forward, and I did my best to follow at the same pace. For someone who wasn’t a professional sportsperson, he sure was fast. “Parker, you too.”

I took the stairs two at a time, just as Penn had, Jupiter and Parker close on our heels. By the time we’d reached the fourth floor, where the owner’s suite was, I’d almost broken out in a sweat whereas Penn had barely raised his heartrate from the looks of it, as his long strides ate up the stretch of hallway leading to his office.

I stopped momentarily in the doorway and took in the view. I’d never been in here before. I wasn’t sure I’d even seen the field from this angle. The rich terracotta dirt fanned around three bright white bases, and home plate.

And there in the middle wasmyspot. If I could still call it that.

“Whoa,” exclaimed Parker as he reached the office, right behind Jupiter who’d marched straight in and sat down. “Nice view.”

“It is,” Penn grinned, then looked at me. “Do you want coffee?”

“No, thank you.”

“Okay.” Penn rolled his lips and perched on the edge of his desk, his stare never straying from my face.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to speak, so I didn’t. Instead, I clenched and unclenched my fists, anything to distract myself. Silence made me uncomfortable, and right now, I was really fucking uncomfortable.

“Think that’s the longest you’ve ever kept your mouth shut,” chuckled Jupiter after what felt like hours, when it was probably only ten seconds.

My eyes flicked over to his with a scowl, making his grin widen.

“What’s going on, Watson?” asked Penn. “Are you okay?”

I shuffled my feet. I’d already had a talking to from Coach Chase and Coach Willis, my pitching coach, and hoped I’d be able to avoid one from Penn Shepherd, because this felt a lot like being hauled into the principal’s office… except I’d walked in freely.

“Yes, sir. I’m fine. I just had an off day.”

“We can’t afford to have off days, Ace,” he replied, matter-of-factly. “Is it your shoulder? The X-rays have come back negative, but we can have it looked at again.”

“It’s not my shoulder, sir, I just couldn’t focus. It was a bad day. I can’t blame anything except myself.”

“Coach Chase is starting Rivers tonight.”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Penn took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring as he did. “Get your head back in the game, Watson. I want to see you out on the mound with the fire you had last season.”

I nodded again, because there’s no way I could argue against it. This man owned my job, and if I wanted to keep it, I needed to do everything within my power to get my pitch back.Everything.

“I’m fixing it.”

I didn’t dare turn around to where Parker was standing, I didn’t even want to look at Jupiter or his raised brow, making it clear he wasn’t sure what exactly ‘fixing it’ entailed, but had every intention of finding out.

Jupiter Reeves knowing about any part of this situation would only be happening over my dead body.

“Okay, you can go. Have you been to see Doctor Benedict?”

I stilled. I thought I might have gotten away without the club psychologist being mentioned, but it was something Shepherd had been hot on last season; we’d all had to make sure we were mentally fit as well as physically fit – except this wasn’t a subject I wanted to discuss with anyone, especially when I knew what was wrong.

Doctor Benedict couldn’t help me with this problem.

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

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