Page 95 of Sliding Into Love
The past few months with Ivy did wonders for his nervous habits, but with the season ending at theWorld Fucking Series, and his new plan of action, Ethan couldn’t contain his nervous energy. Chewing gum helped him avoid biting the inside of his cheek to a bloody ruin; already he was working his jaw into a steady rhythm. A hand appeared before his face, and Ethan handed the pack over to Derek who passed it to Isaac, who handed it to Jen, who took the last piece.
Ethan sighed.
He ran his hands through his hair, bracing his elbows on his knees to keep his legs from bouncing. It didn’t work; it made his entire body bounce, too. It felt like his brain might vibrate out of his skull, and the waiting was torture. Harkness was taking her sweet time explaining the travel and lodging arrangements, along with the various other obligations once they would arrive onsite. The whole ordeal sounded like a nightmare.
“Well,” Harkness finished. “We’re going to the World Series.”
Around him, his teammates had varied reactions. Some, like him, seemed anxious, with their frenetic energy displaying itself in tapping fingers or bitten nails. Derek, on the opposite end of the spectrum, was excited, gesticulating wildly to Isaac, who seemed to be in the middle of the anxious and excited crowds. He smiled, but he seemed more subdued than normal.
“Right, well, we’ll meet back here again tomorrow for travel, so… carry on.” Harkness seemed distracted. Ethan thought she was probably already mapping out strategies in her head.
He was eternally grateful the World Series coincided with Ivy’s school district’s autumn break. Over the past few months, Ethan and Ivy had rarely spent the nights when he’d been home apart, and he seriously considered buying her a new bed because his large frame didn't fit comfortably in her full-sized one. So as soon as he got a free moment, Ethan scoured the internet for a rental house large enough for Ivy, Lily, Jase, and Janna.
After their weird interrogative dinner, Lily and Derek officially accepted him into their strange little family. Lily still called him Sasquatch, and Derek had begun teasing Ethan even more, but now they had the easy camaraderie of siblings, or at least what he imagined that would be like. The same with Isaac, though Isaac was overly friendly to everyone anyway.
Soon, everything had fallen into an easy rhythm, and Ethan loved the simple domesticity of their lives now. Ivy had even gotten better at cooking — she had surprised him about a month earlier by making him homemade Alfredo sauceandhomemade bread. She’d fretted over the vaguely phallic-shaped bread loaves, but he’d praised her and the slightly misshapen bread anyway because it had been delicious.
Ethan knew the team members were required to all stay in a block of rooms at a hotel near the stadium, which was standard. But he also knew he’d sleep better knowing Ivy was nearby, so he rented a house on the beach for Ivy, Lily, and the kids.
As he wandered the clubhouse, Ethan noticed many of his teammates doing the same, nervous energy still rippling off most of them.
When Ethan encountered Isaac, the shorter man was pacing and alternately running his hands through his hair and scrubbing his hands over his face, leaving him looking ragged.
“Are you okay?” Ethan asked warily.
Isaac grunted, still pacing.
“Isaac?”
Isaac paused his pacing, finally looking at Ethan.
“We’re playing the Tornadoes,” Isaac said.
“Yes?” Ethan wasn't quite certain where the conversation was going.
“We’re playing theTornadoes,” Isaac repeated.
Right, Isaac used to play for them. The pitcher had been on the Hawks team for at least half of the season, and Ethan had nearly forgotten where he’d come from and who he’d played for.
“Ah.”Lawrence.Ethan shifted uncomfortably. “What did he say to you?”
“He said if I left, I was a traitor and to never come back, even though it wasn’t my decision,” Isaac said through a scowl.
“That sounds familiar,” Ethan scoffed, shoving his hands into his pockets.
For a while, they were both silent, ruminating on the past, but then Isaac asked, “Why didn’t you play for the Tornadoes after college?”
Ethan snorted. “Lawrence.”
Isaac arched a dark eyebrow at him in question.
“You know I lived with him for a while in high school,” Ethan began, and Isaac nodded. “My parents sent me there when I started getting more attention from scouts. Living with him was like being some kind of monk. He lived and breathed baseball; it was theonlything for him. It was never like that for me, but I was young and didn’t know any better, so I followed along with what he taught me.” Ethan’s shoulders curved inward. “I thought my parents didn’t want me when they shipped me off to him, so I thought I had no other choices. I thought what he said was law. He always wanted to be better, to outshine all the things his father had done. Become more famous than my mom, the socialite-heiress-CEO.” Ethan scowled again, shaking off the rising memories. “Lawrence always pushed me, harder and harder, always breaking me down, but never building me back up. He said he saw how much I was like my grandfather, his dad, and I think he was trying to keep me from going down that road the only way he knew how.”
Isaac frowned.
“Whatdidhappen with your grandfather?” Isaac asked. “I’ve heard a lot over the years, but it was before my time.”
“It was before mine too, and no one would ever give me a straight answer,” Ethan replied. “I tried to piece things together, though. He started gaining attention from a young age. He was a great player, even in high school, but his upbringing was kind of rough. Single mom working two jobs situation, I think. Scouts started watching him when he was a high school freshman, I think, and at some point, all the attention got to him. He went to college to study engineering, but he left early to be a free agent for the Tornadoes. There were rumors of partying and drugs, but the college covered it all up, especially when he did well in the Majors. He married my grandma and got clean for a while, but then more rumors started. Steroids and cheating, and he began having these…outbursts. Picking fights with teammates and umpires, throwing punches and screaming, and getting kicked out of half his games. But for a while, he still played too well for them to kick him off the team. He did a lot of gambling in the off-season, and he won big. Big enough to buy out the agency representing him. And I think he got addicted to power since he’d been ordered around his whole life and had never made his own choices. He drank and gambled more, and more cheating rumors went around. Grandma left him, and it all got worse. And then his car crashed.” Ethan shrugged. “He was a good player, but I think he was lost a long time before it all went bad for him.
