Page 178 of Catch Me
“I guess we’ll see what happens. Not gonna lie, Trav has been inspirational for me since I came to terms with myself, but in this line of work, it’s not always easy to be that guy, you know?”
“I get it. I’m not even fully out. Not to my dad.”
His eyes softened. “You get it, then. We don’t have the history he does, but there’s still a lot that keeps us from taking that leap. I have an ex-wife and a daughter. Aside from the team and the fans, I worry about how they’ll feel, if my ex will be resentful and want to keep Mallory from me.”
My heart ached for him. All of my previous hostility melted away, and I reached out to squeeze his bicep. “He’ll be more than happy to talk to you about it. Trust me.”
“Should I put in a good word for you?”
Using the hand on his arm, I shoved him away with a laugh. “Shut the hell up.”
“You’re right. I don’t have to put in a good word. I saw how he looked at you.”
I pursed my lips and stepped closer to my door. “Good luck. I mean it, man. Granted, I hope you lose, but that’s unrelated.”
“Thanks, Roman. Likewise, I hope you get everything you want.”
I breathed a laugh and watched him saunter down the hall. When he knocked on Travis’ door, I dipped into mine. Grabbing my drawing pad from the table, I tossed it on the bed and dropped onto my stomach. My teeth scoured the pencil as I thought about what I was going to put on paper.
It really wasn’t a hard decision.
Chapter 59
Travis
Today marked our second game in Boston. There was one tomorrow, then we’d be back in Georgia. With two losses and one win, we had to fight for the next ones.
I should’ve been excited. Iwasexcited. It was that fucking asshole down the hall that was tarnishing this experience.
I wished he would go home. But I’d also told him I wanted him to stay. What the hell was I even doing?
It seemed like I kept asking myself that. He’d told me that he wanted me, and that was a dick move. It threw me off and pushed me right back into that time when I’d been willing to give him more of myself than I should have.
Thinking about it now, I wondered if he’d been right back then. Would I have sacrificed too much? That was sort of my thing, but that didn’t make it right that he’d made decisions for me. Left me out of those decisions. Left me with no answers, no lifeline, no faith.
There was a knock on my door, and I groaned. I stared up at the ceiling for another minute before I got up. It was early, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else was awake right now. I had a few hoursbefore I had to start getting ready for the game, and even though I knew I wouldn’t get any more sleep, I’d been content to be delusional about it for a while.
Delusion over. The only saving grace was that Spencer had me sitting out this game so my arm could rest.
Yawning, I turned the deadbolt and opened the door.
Cool, an empty hallway. That wasn’t annoying at all.
Worse, there was something on the floor.
I picked up the piece of paper, which was folded in half. After I closed the door, I flipped it open, confirming what I’d feared. It was a drawing, and it was of me.
This one was different from the others he’d made. It was a close-up of my face, just a pencil sketch, but the detail in the eyes was incredible. I'd never noticed anything wrong with the way he drew my eyes, even though he always thought they weren’t right. Now, they encompassed what I’d been feeling for a while, and it made me angry that he’d been able to see it.
As I looked at it, the room began to feel too small. It wasn’t warm, but it suddenly seemed stuffy. I couldn’t imagine waiting around here for a few hours, so I grabbed my keys off the table and left the room. Taking the stairs, I made it to the parking garage in record time. It was dead down here, everyone still sleeping like normal people would be at this hour.
I wasn’t familiar with this area, so I did a quick search to find somewhere that would offer me solitude. It was out of the city and took me thirty minutes, but the lot was empty, so I figured it was worth it.
When I got out of the car, I immediately headed into the trees at a jog. I sped up, maneuvering around rocks and patches of mud. In my thin hoodie, the chill in the air stung my skin, especially on my face, but I kept going. It wasn’t until I reached a creek what must’ve been a mile away that I slowed.
Dropping into a crouch, I reached for the water. It was freezing, but it was also grounding when I splashed it on my face.
I had to get myself together. There were at least two more games, possibly three, and I couldn’t let personal shit get in the way of my performance. That wasn’t me. I was level-headed, focused, and sure of myself. Whatever I’d been infected with needed to be killed before it ruined what I’d worked so hard for.
