No one can fault him for his sour attitude. Who wants to do a press conference after a loss? No one.
I answer what questions come my way. My numbers were good this season. Better than good honestly—the second half of the year, I played the best baseball of my career, and I know it regardless of what anyone thinks, including Shane Whitaker. Even though everyone in this room knows it, how well I played doesn’t change anything. Whitaker made his decision back in June.
The questions rotate. Someone asks about Harkins, and Hayes cuts in and answers diplomatically before I have to. Good. I would not have been diplomatic in my response.
Then a reporter in the third row stands.
We’ve figured out that her name is Jordan Blake. She’s the one who’s been calling us out the last two seasons. She outed Hayes and Leighton’s relationship. And last year, she outed that Foster and Callie were expecting a baby. So I’m wise to have my guard up when she makes her presence known.
Penelope and I have kept our relationship private. We’ve sacrificed a lot of time we’d like to be out in public with Hazel. If we go somewhere, it’s usually the entire squad of us. I’ve grown tired of the subterfuge, but we did it for Ripley. We didn’t want him to be in a situation where everyone knew one of his players was dating his daughter. But the season is over and Whitaker doesn’t want me, so I don’t give a shit anymore.
“Decker,” Jordan says.
“Here we go,” I mumble.
“There’s been a lot of speculation this season about your contract situation with the Colts. Do you think it’s a result of your rusty start this season?”
I lean toward the microphone, my body taut. “I can’t speculate what the front office thinks. Wish I could, maybe I would’ve tried to please them.”
A few chuckles ring out from some of the media, and Jordan sits. Thank God.
We field a few more questions about specific plays and whether they were the ones that lost the game for us. They call out Easton for an error in the fifth when he bobbled the ball.
“You have to be kidding me. That play should earn me a Gold Glove.” Easton shakes his head and settles back in his chair.
Another reporter stands. “Hayes, rumor is you’re up for the Gold Glove this year. It would be your first. How does it feel?”
Hayes leans in. “It would be great. I have an entire life outside of baseball that I cherish, but of course it’s nice to be recognized. Even this late in my career.”
Light laughter rings out in the room.
Jordan raises her hand again, and I groan when she says, “This one is for Decker.”
“I figured,” I answer.
Everyone laughs, knowing she always picks one of us to put in the hot seat.
“Do you think you’re not getting a contract renewal because you’re dating the manager’s daughter?” She stands there with a smug look, waiting for my response.
The room goes silent.
I glance at Ripley, but he has no expression on his face.
Here goes. If I admit to the relationship, I’m kissing my chance of playing in Chicago goodbye. But if I deny it, it’s completely disregarding what Penelope and Hazel mean in my life. I’d never sacrifice them for anything, including who I play for. I’ll retire before my job affects them and their feeling of worth in my life.
I pull the microphone closer. “Well, you sure do your research.”
Hayes shifts beside me. Just slightly. Only someone who knows him would catch it.
“Since my contract situation has nothing to do with my performance this season—and I think anyone who watched me play knows that—that’s between me and the organization. I’ll leave it there.” I pause. “As for Penelope…”
I feel like every reporter straightens in their chairs, holding their microphones a little closer.
“Yeah, we’re together.”
Cameras start snapping immediately. I continue because why the hell not?
“I’m not going to get into when or how, because that’s our business. What I will say—” I look directly at the reporter— “is that the suggestion that a relationship with the manager’s daughter is somehow responsible for a contract decision is the kind of question that assumes the worst about both of us. Penelope Ripley is one of the most professional people I have ever worked alongside. She has never once—not once—used her relationship with her father or her position with this organization for anything other than doing her job exceptionally well. The idea that my contract situation is her fault is not only wrong, it’s insulting to her.”
