Page 93 of Catch Me
“You haven’t been coming, and I know you’re probably busy, which is fine.”
I wanted to slap myself for taking his chin between my fingers, but I was already here and he hadn’t pulled away. “I’m not busy. I was just giving you space.”
“I don’t want space.”
Dropping my hand, I cleared my throat. “Let me get dressed, then we can go.”
Without waiting for him to respond, I turned around.
Fucking breathe, Travis.
*****
Aside from trying to avoid another debacle like when I came looking for Roman at the stadium, I hadn’t been keen on going today because of who was on the roster. Out of all the people on the team, there were three who didn’t particularly like me. Two of them were scheduled together today because they were best friends.
Dan and Anthony were the school bullies all grown up, the boys who thought of themselves as untouchable and wanted a wife who acted like a mother instead of a partner, then complained about her ‘nagging’ all the time. I doubted they’d ever changed their kids’ diapers or touched a vacuum. Gay men were the root of half their jokes and they thought they were God’s gift to Earth. Some of the guys got along with them fine, but others hated them.
Did I despise them? Yes. Did they bother me? Their existence did, but I didn’t get offended by tools like them. Angry, though...I got angry. If I was allowed, I definitely would’ve hit them by now. Preferably with a baseball bat or one of my fastballs.
They arrived together, which didn’t surprise me. Their gazes landed on us where we were sitting on the lowest step leading up to the stands. Roman stood when they approached, then shook their handsduring the introductions. Apparently, his dad was a huge fan of Anthony’s, which tracked. After he told Dan to meet him at home base, Anthony wandered off to god knows where.
“Not gonna throw the ball?” Roman asked.
“With Anthony?” I let out a dry laugh. “No.”
“Oh. Why not?”
“Doesn’t matter. Let’s get this done, okay?”
He set his jaw before he joined Dan. I watched him for a little while, admiring the way he got so into this. Every time he adjusted Dan’s pose, I saw the sense in it. This came so naturally to him that he was clearly born for it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Anthony approach. I wasn’t in the mood for whatever bullshit might come out of his mouth, but then again, I never was. If I had a shrink ray, I’d make him the size of a cockroach and stomp on him.
He stood beside the step I was sitting on and crossed his arms. The position looked casual, as if he had no intention of vomiting some variation of bigotry.
“How’s the wife?” I asked, stretching my legs out in front of me.
“As good as they get.”
My nose wrinkled. “Alright, then.”
“I’d ask the same, but . . .”
“Wow, you’re funny. How have I not realized how funny you are, Tony?”
“Why are you even here, McKinney?”
“This whole thing was my idea and it’s fun to watch.”
“Looks boring to me. There’s only one car out there. You drive together?”
“Unsurprisingly, I’m not interested in having a conversation with you.”
He chuckled as he looked over at Dan and Roman. “Oh, I get it. That’s what you’re watching.”
Continuing the conversation would only give him what he wanted, so I pulled out my phone and ignored him. People on Instagram were asking me to do another LIVE, and since I wasn’t doing anything else today, I thought about hopping on at some point.
“When we heard that you found some art guy and brought him here, we were gonna make bets, but that didn’t work out because we both agreed that it’s someone you’re fucking.”
