Page 122 of Caught Stealing

“Nix!” I shout, my fingers curled over the wall. But he doesn’t look. In fact, it takes calling his name another two times before I finally feel those dark brown eyes on me.

“Holden?”

I nod, my fingers tightening on the padding. “Come here. Please.”

There’s a slight frown on his lips as he jogs over, and as the distance between us dwindles to nothing but a ten-foot vertical drop in no time, I hate it more and more. But it’s the tired, dejected look in his eyes as they stare up at me that makes me wish I could grab him by the jersey, haul him up here, and wrap my arms around him. Take away some of the pain he’s so clearly in.

“I didn’t realize you guys were staying for both days.”

My brows furrow, wondering why we wouldn’t. “We want to support you. Support the team.”

His ungloved hand adjusts the hat on his head before he glances over to his right fielder, who is openly waiting for him.

“What is it, Holden? I’m kinda in the middle of a game, and I shouldn’t be over here at all.”

God. The defeat in his voice is heartbreaking.

“I know,” I whisper, the words coming out on shards of glass. “But I need to talk to you.”

He lets out a sharp laugh. “It couldn’t have waited another couple hours?”

Shaking my head, I tighten my grip on the barrier separating us and hope it’s enough to keep me from vaulting over it to get to him.

His jaw ticks. “Well, I can’t do this right now. I’ve got—”

“I’ll be quick, but you need to hear this.” I swallow past the baseball-sized knot in my throat, my fingers gripping the wall tighter. “You need to know that I don’t care if your loyalty to Kason wins out, and all I’m doing here is making a fool of myself. It doesn’t matter, and I don’t care if you don’t feel the same way, because I can’t go another day keeping this shit to myself. Especially now that he knows.”

There’s pain and sorrow etched into his features that might as well run my heart through a blender as he goes to speak.

“Hold—”

“I’m sorry,” I cut in, knowing my time is limited. “I have a lot of things to apologize for, and those can all wait ‘til we have more time. Hell, I’m sorry for doing this now, during a game instead of waiting. But if there’s one thing through this entire fucked-up situation I’m not sorry for, it’s falling in love with you. And you need to know that.”

His dark eyes give nothing away as they bore into mine. Neither does his body language, facial expression…absolutely nothing. And it sends my anxiety sky-rocketing into outer space.

“Say something,” I plead, unable to stand his silence. “Please, say something.”

The timer on the clock keeps ticking down, every second both flashing by instantly while also dragging on for eternity. Both of which are agonizing while I wait for the man I love to tell me he loves me too. Wait for some kind of answer from the guy who could…fuck.

The guy who could be my forever.

“Nix. Baby—”

“I have to go,” he says, shaking his head. “I’ll find you after the game, and we can talk, okay?”

On second thought,nowit feels like my heart has been tossed in a blender.

“Okay,” I manage to choke out. “Good luck.”

All I get in return is a half-hearted smile before he turns and jogs back into position without a backward glance. Meanwhile, I’m left frozen where I stand, helplessly staring after him and wondering if this will be the last time I have to watch him walk away.

The game drags on forever, and because fate is a cruel bitch, it also goes into extra innings. Three of them, to be exact. And by the time some of Phoenix’s teammates start filing out of the stadium toward the bus, I’ve just about lost my damn mind.

I wait, crouched against the brick exterior, as the sun begins setting off in the distance, illuminating the city in shades of orange and yellow. A beautiful sight, one I’d no doubt enjoy a lot more if I didn’t feel like the sky was about to crash down on top of me.

At least I was smart enough to give Harrison and the others my keys to the Jeep. I don’t want them around to watch this go down, especially ifit ends badly. The last thing I want or need is an audience while having my heart ripped to shreds.

I sure didn’t envy Quinton and Oakley when it happened with them a couple of weeks ago.

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