Page 1 of Curve Ball
1
GAEL
This can’t be fucking happening to me right now.
“It’s just not working for me.” Natalia pushes the salad around on her plate with her fork, trying hard to not make eye contact with me.Probably because she knows I know she cheated.“Come on, it’s not like you thought we would get married.”
Actually, prior to finding out that she cheated, I could have seen myself marrying her. She was everything I ever wanted. I thought she was a good person.
How fucking wrong was I?
Leaning back in my chair, I stare across the table at her, trying my best to keep my demeanor casual. “So this has absolutely nothing to do with you hooking up with Santiago Barraza?” Her eyes shift and her lips purse.
Gotcha.
“What do you want me to say?”
“Did you or did you not…” I lean across the table and whisper. “Fuck him?”
Natalia drops her fork and lets out a drawn-out sigh, then looks straight into my eyes. “I did.”
“So what, having a boyfriend means nothing to you? For fuck’s sake, Nat, we’ve been together for two years. It’s not like there was any confusion about us being together.” I clear my throat, reach for my glass of water and take a sip. “Why?”
“Santi… He’s just more put together. He knows what he wants in life and it’s not all centered on baseball.”
Here we fucking go again.“I said we could talk about it after my first year in the majors.”
“And I want a baby now, Gael. I want to be married to a man who is able to financially take care of his family. I’m a quality woman and I don’t want to have to live on a budget. My children would deserve the best. Christ, every time I would bring it up, you would run like a scared little boy. So I finally stopped bringing it up and found someone who felt the same as me.”
Someone who has a bigger salary than me, who’s been playing longer than me. Someone who has a huge fan base.
It all makes sense now.
I push my plate away and look around the restaurant. My cousin stares at me from the servers’ station and gives me a strained smile. It probably wasn’t a good idea to do this here. The last thing I need is for my mom to come out or one of my Tías. Bianca catches my eye and signs,You finished?
“No. Don’t come over right now.”I sign back and she gives me another smile.
That bad?
“Worse.”
Natalia turns to see my cousin at the back and whips her head back around, grunting in disgust. “Talking shit about me?”
I roll my eyes. “She was asking if I was finished. Not everything is about you, Nat. Believe it or not, my family loves you.”
It’s the truth. My parents thought I struck gold with Natalia and have been on my ass to propose.
It just never felt like the right time.
“How long have you been fucking him?” It has to have been for a while if she’s been talking to him about kids and marriage.
“That’s not important.”
“¿Cuánto tiempo?”I growl, losing my patience.
“I don’t fucking speak Spanish, Gael.”
“No, you don’t. You just have a very specific fucking type. How long, Nat?”
