Page 70 of West Bound

“You’re lucky I’m not replacing you on the active roster. Take your fucking suspension and stay away from the field. Workout with your trainer and take care of that million dollar hand.” He drops his head back against his chair and looks up at the ceiling. “Jesus Christ. I can’t believe my star pitcher was using his pitching hand to beat the tar out of his teammates.”

Tuck clamps a hand down on my shoulder as my head slumps down and my body finally releases the fight in it. A ten game suspension. I don’t care about losing money. I could not make a penny for the remainder of the season and not give a damn. But ten games sitting on the bench-no, scratch that–ten games away from the field when we’re first is going to hurt my team.

“Tuck. Walk West to his car and Philo, get his stuff. I don’t want him going back there. Fuck,” he yells and kicks the trashcan beside his desk, sending papers and wrappers flying across the room. “I gotta go check on those two. See how bad it is. You better hope you didn’t break anything, West.”

I nod and stand then walk out, both Philo and Tuck close behind me. I appreciate them being here with me, but appreciate it even more that neither of them tries to console or chide me. I know I fucked up, but I’m not some chump who’s just going to sit there and let someone talk about his girlfriend that way.

I reach my truck and turn to Tuck while we wait for Philo to return with my bag.

“Tuck, I’m sorry. I really fucked you guys over.”

He smacks my arms and I look at him. “Don’t apologize, Nix. I would’ve done the same damn thing if I had a girl and they were talking about her like that.”

“Yeah, well I don’t know if the rest of the team shares your sentiments. I pray to God the rest of the pitching lineup can pull extra weight without me. Fuck!” I screech and throw my fist towards my window, but I don’t connect.

Tuck grabs hold of me and shakes his head. “Don’t. You’ll for sure end up watching from the bench when you bust your hand.”

I nod and blow out a deep breath, slumping against the truck. “I gotta call Vivian,” I mutter just as Philo comes running out with my bag.

“Hey man,” he says and passes me my stuff. “Just thought you’d like to know that team isn’t mad at you. Most of them said they wouldn’t have let those two walk out on their own if they’d been talking about their wives. Even Kenrick, the douchenozzle that he is, said it wasn’t cool the way they were talking. Don’t worry, okay. We’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, Nix. The team will pick up the slack. And now that you know the rest of the team isn’t pissed, you can focus on training and ten days will fly by.”

“Thanks, guys. I’m sorry. I still want to kill those fucking pricks, but I’ll wait until the season is over before I do it.” I chuckle and they laugh with me.

I say goodbye, hop in my truck and dial Vivian as I pull out of the lot.

“Phoenix? Why are you calling me?” She answers

“I fucked up, Peaches. Can you meet me for lunch?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

VIVIAN

“Woman” - Doja Cat

“I fucked up, Peaches. Can you meet me for lunch?” Phoenix sounds distant and disengaged and it has my heart plummeting to the pit of my stomach.

“I…what did you…” I don’t know if I want to hear what he has to say because I feel like it’s just going to be a knife to the heart right when I’m starting to let myself feel.

“It’s nothing bad. Well, it is, but it’s not what you’re probably thinking.” I let out a little breath and my heart that stopped for a moment, begins to beat again.

“Uh, sure. Now?” I ask.

“Can you? I’ll come get you and we’ll go somewhere quiet.”

I look at my watch and note the time and then survey the office for activity. Most people are either caught up in their work or out to lunch, and I decide I can sneak away for a while.

“Okay. Give me ten minutes to shut down and I’ll meet you out front.”

“Thanks, Peaches. See you in a few.” Phoenix hangs up and I stare at the blank screen, very confused and very concerned as to what could be so bad to have him calling me when he should be at the field.

I type out a quick response to an email I received just before Phoenix called, then set my computer to sleep mode before grabbing my purse and walking towards the elevators.

I stand in the metal box as it descends and worry my lip, running different scenarios through my mind.

He said it’s bad but not in the way I’m thinking, so I’m assuming he didn’t cheat on me. He was a pretty big player so maybe a chick he hooked up with ended up pregnant and now has a child with him.

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