Page 15 of Dead Ball Situation

Despite everything, a watery laugh escaped Sacha. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t be in the middle. I know he’s your best friend.”

“You’re my friend too, and I love you. There’s nothing, not even this, that you can’t bring to me. I’m sorry I introduced you two. Not once did I think Bandit would do something like this.”

Sacha let Baylor hold him. “Me either, but here we are.” He straightened. Sacha had too many people depending on him to fall apart. “Thank you for helping me get started on something new. I pray I don’t fail you.” Or his family.

Baylor rubbed his back. “Don’t worry. Chipper knows literally everyone on the planet. He’ll keep orders headed your way. We never would’ve made this decision at your expense. But it’s okay to focus on yourself for a bit. You’ve existed for everyone else for years. Take a minute to breathe. I promise money isn’t something you’ll have to worry about.”

Baylor was right. Chipper knew everyone. He would probably be swamped with orders. Sacha should be thrilled. He never thought he would get to live his dream. But this was his life and that meant he wouldn’t get to enjoy a single moment of happiness over it. He didn’t know where to go from here.

Bandit’s chest hurt every second of the day. He had wanted to show up on Sacha’s front porch first thing this morning, but he had mandatory team practice. This wasn’t a job from which he could call out sick. Bandit was contractually obligated to behere. Thankfully, it was over, and he was five minutes away from being out the door.

While bent and tying his shoes, a silence fell over the locker room. It was followed closely by some rumblings about it being a long time and condolences. Before Bandit could figure out what happened, a very enraged-looking Baylor hovered over him.

“Never in our entire lives have I been so goddamn mad at you. What in the hell were you thinking? If you didn’t want Sacha any longer, you should’ve broken things off before landing online kissing someone else.”

Oh, fuck. Surely not. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Bandit had never seen Baylor like this, and he had seen a lot of sides of Baylor.

“I’m not trying to. I just genuinely don’t know what in the hell you’re talking about.”

“Um.” Tip shuffled closer and flashed his phone Bandit’s way. There it was. A picture of Tip kissing him. His gaze shot to Tip. Tip looked as shocked as him. He wouldn’t want this either. This was their career. More than anything, this definitely destroyed his relationship.

Bandit stood and grabbed his bag. “It’s not what it looks like. I have to get to Sacha.”

“Not what it looks—what? Surely that’s not the bullshit you’re about to feed Sacha. You’ve decided to fucking gaslight him?”

All eyes were on them. Bandit wondered if he would faint. His world was crashing down on him, and he couldn’t breathe.

“It genuinely isn’t how it looks,” Tip cut in, bringing Baylor’s wrathful look his way. Tip held up his hands in surrender. “Seriously. Go with Bandit and let him explain.”

Bandit took Baylor’s arm and steered him from the room. He didn’t meet anyone’s stare or say a word until they were outside. He saw Chipper waiting, but he didn’t approach. That was good. Bandit was on his last string.

He spun and focused on Baylor. “I didn’t cheat. Let’s get that out of the way.”

Baylor gave him a sharp nod, proving he would listen.

Bandit took a breath. Baylor believed. That mattered as much as Sacha believing. “Last night, I just thought a teammate was asking me to drinks to celebrate. It never occurred to me it might be more. Sacha tried to tell me Tip had a thing for me, but I wouldn’t listen because I’m just me. Why would anyone have a thing for me?”

“Because you’re gorgeous and nice,” Baylor said, cutting in.

Bandit ignored him and kept talking. “Anyhow, we went to get drinks, and I spent the entire time trying to get Sacha to answer my texts. I stepped outside to try to call him, and Tip followed. He kissed me before I saw it coming. I immediately jumped away, but apparently, someone had been taking pictures of us at the exact right time. I set Tip straight, but Sacha won’t speak to me to let me explain and apologize.”

Baylor pushed him toward his car. “Then go now while he’s still home. Beg for forgiveness.”

“You seriously believe me?”

Baylor’s face screwed up in confusion. “Of course I do. You’d never lie to me, but just like you giving Chipper the keys to your place so he could talk me down from my bullshit, I have to call you on yours. I knew you two were dating, but I didn’t say anything because I’d never seen either of you so happy. I figured we’d talk about it when you were ready to let me into your bubble. Seriously, I love you both and I can’t watch either of you hurt. With Sacha, I do what I can while letting him keep his pride, but he needs you. I think you two genuinely love each other, so don’t lose that, okay?”

“You think Sacha loves me?”

For a moment, Baylor stared at him in silence before shaking his head. “I swear I have never met another person as completely blind as you. You never see when people want you. It would be funny if it didn’t end up hurting people.”

Bandit winced. “I don’t ever want to assume.”

Baylor swiped his hand across his lips, as if fighting back a smile. He shoved at Bandit’s arm. “Go. Don’t fuck this up.”

Before he got away, Bandit snagged Baylor around the waist and kissed his forehead. “I love you. Thanks for being my friend.”

---