Page 131 of Commander in Briefs

I tear my eyes away from her mouth as she licks the salt of her lime margarita off her upper lip. “Yes, you were saying Cade is annoying, as always. Hayes is banging every chick south of Atlanta, and Vic, Mason, and Tim are all still attached at the hip like chicks.” I wave my chip at her amused face. “Except you said it with a whole bunch of ridiculous words mixed in.”

She throws a chip at me and I easily maneuver my mouth under it, catching it. I’m a baseball player for goodness’ sake, did you think I would miss it?

“You’re an ass,” she says, but there is no bite to her words. She likes that I’m this way.

“A fine piece of ass, you mean?”

Her curls flutter with the exasperated shake of her head. “So, a little birdie told me you’ve been saying you wanted to retire from baseball. Is that true? Do you want to quit?”

Fucking Thad. What a butt kiss. I bet he couldn’t wait to run and tell her all about me wanting to quit. I crumble the chip in my hand into tiny pieces, finding the motion fitting for this conversation.

Crumbling.

It never goes well when this is brought up. I go for humor instead of the serious conversation I know we are bound to have. “I think you should really refer Thad to see one of your psychologist buddies. His lying is getting out of hand. I hear that usually means you have deep-rooted issues.”

Her answering scowl is not to be fucked with. She’s in no mood for jokes. Fine.

“Maybe. It’s just a thought. With me being in Washington all the time and you in Madison, we never see each other. I could find a job. Be a coach for one of the local schools?”

Anniston doesn’t answer me right away. She takes a long sip of her drink, placing it back down gently. “Is that what you want? To coach some no-name baseball team for our small town?”

She’s right. I wouldn’t be happy coaching some sniveling little brats who think their shit doesn’t stink, not that I was that way or anything. But I’m not happy traveling with the MLB either. I want to spend my nights wrapped up on the sofa with Anniston, arguing over whose day it is to have the remote. I want to fart under the covers and hold her tight so she can’t escape the smell. I want to give Cade hell until he explodes and hits something. I want to shoot the shit with Hayes and whoop Mason’s ass in Call of Duty. Most importantly, I want to be home. With her and this crazy family she has built for us.

“I don’t know. I need to figure out something. I’m tired of spending my nights in a hotel room, living off takeout, watching bad cable on a twenty-six-inch TV. I want stay home in my own bed.” She and I both know I don’t mean my penthouse.

“You do come home, more than the daily players on your team.”

I hope she can see that I don’t give two fucks about what “daily players” get to do.

I want to come home.

End of story.

I am tired of playing for the Nationals. I had offers for trade but the Nationals wouldn’t give in. No way are they going to give up my 0.98 ERA. If I’m going to leave this ball club I will have to buy out my contract. The millions I would fork out for that will be a hit, but at this point, I would be willing to do anything.

“Anniston, I don’t want to fight about this. I know you love that I play but I don’t want to anymore.”

Her eyes go wide in disbelief. “Is that why you play? For me?”

I shrug, popping another chip in my mouth. “No. It’s not the reason I play. I love the game. I love making money playing it. But…”

How do I put this so I don’t sound pussy-whipped?

“It’s not the same without you there. I thought it was always going to be us. Bonnie and Clyde. Seeing the country one game at a time. But then, the guys came along and all you do is help them. Which is a good thing. I’m not saying you shouldn’t. I just had a future planned for us and now…”

“Theo.” Anniston slides out of the booth, joining me in mine. She takes my fisted hand, shaking off the crumbs, and places it to her cheek. “I love you. You will always be my number one priority. I never did this to be away from you. I just needed to do something for me. To create a future for myself. That doesn’t mean I planned to leave you out of it.”

I slide her closer to me, anxious to close the gap I have created by revealing this secret. I understand why she did it. And I’m happy for her. I just feel left out and want to create a different kind of future.

“I love you, too. You’re my girl.” I rub my hand down her back, my head inching toward her delicate shoulder.

“We’ll figure it out, Theo.”

“Yeah. We will. But in the meantime, I think reducing Thad’s pay will certainly help ease the transition of quitting. Can you imagine the extra money I could save?”

We’re both laughing, humor lightening the tense debate. The waiter comes out with steaming fajitas, placing them in front of us. Anniston looks at me, back at the fajitas, and then at the waiter.

“I think we’re going to need these to go.”

I frown. “We will?”

She nods, growing more confident. “Yep. We have a plane to catch.”

I cringe knowing I’ll have to call Cade and tell him we’re coming home early and that he’s right, I am a selfish asshole. Even more so now, for putting her back in harm’s way just because I can’t stand another night in Washington.

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