Page 81 of Nothing Less Than Everything

“You two look good together. I’ve known Tatum for a long time. He doesn’t put up with bullshit or annoying women. He seemed… I don’t know. Smitten?”

I choked on a sip of water.

Heidi smirked like a super villain whose diabolical plan was right on track. “I told Gideon I was going to set him up with one of my friends when he got traded to the Reds, but Tatum insisted that he didn’t need my help. He’s awfully tight-lipped about it all. I know the team is playing it up like you two had a moment, but is he seeing anyone? Gideon just rolls his eyes whenever I ask.”

Voices neared the tent, one of them being Catherine Trumble’s. “I should get back out there.” I lifted the nearly empty water bottle. “Thanks for this.”

Heidi waved it off. “Anytime. Don’t be a stranger.” She paused and added, “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

I dipped out of the tent and plastered on a smile, shirking off Heidi’s bait and switch inquisition. Her bubbly charm was merely a disguise for the shark hiding underneath.

“Wren Porter!” A woman with a head of raucous red curls shoved a tape recorder in my face. “Are you dating T.J. Bryant Jr.?”

Ah, shit.I recognized the woman as one of the piranhas that had been circling my apartment building all season, trying to get a shot of Tatum sneaking over.

Looking for an out, I spotted Catherine on a warpath toward me. Double shit. The piranha was the lesser evil.

“T.J. Bryant is a great asset to the Reds family. It’s been a pleasure to cheer him on from my spot on the sidelines.” The rehearsed media-training line rolled off my tongue easily.

She turned her phone toward me, a gallery of photos displayed on the screen. “He’s been spotted getting coffee at the Dunkin’ on your block three times in the past two weeks.”

That made me laugh inside. Little did she know, Tatum had been to that Dunkin’ at least eight times in ten days. Rarely did he show up to my place without an iced coffee offering. His support of my caffeine addiction was one of the many things I loved about him.

Instead of reaming her for stalking me outside my apartment, I laughed—audibly this time. “What can I say? It’s a small state.”

“So, you’re denying being involved with T.J. Bryant Jr.?”

She was cornering me into lying, but I wasn’t playing her game. “I’m saying that the team has rules for workplace conduct, and I prioritize what’s most important to me. I’m sure Mr. Bryant would say the same.”

I couldn’t quite figure out when my rose-colored glasses had fallen off. Maybe it was when Tatum tackled me. Maybe it was talking to Heidi. But in that moment, with those words, I knew my answer to Tatum’s question.

What does fullness look like to you? Do you want a full schedule or a full life?

I would never be fulfilled by the four quarters on the field. By the lights and the screaming fans. I would never be fulfilled by a corner office in a city that never stopped to appreciate simple pleasures like sitting on a park bench and eating a lobster roll. It was about the fifth quarter. When we’re alone, living for ourselves and no one else.

Fullness was a life with him. Whatever that looked like, we’d build it together.

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