“No, I am not, asshole, but if I’m getting a babysitter I want to actually relax with my wife.”
Will hits Dex’s shoulder with his glove. “It’s so funny that you think we would ever have a laidback outing, even if we went to a damn restaurant.”
“That’s fair,” Dex huffs. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”
We make our way back out to our training facility. We’re fairly warmed up from practice, but I start with signaling the pitches they’re most comfortable with throwing.
At this point Will and I are seamlessly working together. I can adapt with any of our pitchers, but Will’s on the same levelmy old buddy Jett was before he retired. When he’s playing it’s the most at ease I can possibly feel during the game.
Now, with Dex, he’s on the upper caliber. Prior to his retirement, it was him and Jett for the top pitchers in the league. The whole team has been stoked to have him back on the roster, but our dynamic has to shift.
I’ve only worked with him as the pitching coach and being the catcher during the game, I’m an extension of that. I see the whole damn field and know precisely how every player works with each other and how to communicate with all of them.
But now I have to rewire how I originally had Dex in that mix as a coach and learn his dynamic on the field. The bright side is that Dex is damn good at his job.
“So, Luce has about a million questions for the engagement party, and I’ve had zero answers for her.” Dex pauses to throw a changeup. After the beautiful sound of the ball hitting my glove, he takes a step back. “Needless to say, I’m going to need an update to give her when I get back home.”
I chuckle, tossing the ball in the bucket next to me. “Everything’s being handled. Mia’s going to have the whole place set up. You can have her text me, though, if she wants something specific.”
Stepping up, Will tosses a ball in his glove. “I got one text about this party from my sister that said she demands an all-out event considering what Callie did for your wedding.”
“Which is ironic since Callie only operates in an all-out style every single day.”
The smile that comes to Will’s face at the thought of my sister makes me feel damn good. Their relationship was the easiest thing for me to get on board with. I couldn’t comprehend why they felt like they had to keep it a secret to begin with. Besides, they were so into each other it ended up being the worst-kept secret anyway.
Suddenly, Callie was happier, more confident in herself. Will actually seemed to have some sort of personality. Knowing both of them the way I do—I’d had to be blind and deaf for them to have kept it completely in the dark.
Will rears back to throw a classic curveball.
“Not to completely change the subject, but Callie is still here working with Emma in her office, so in order to keep this whole thing a secret, I actually am, in fact, changing the subject.”
Dex shakes his head. “You’re the one who got everyone involved to begin with. I’m fucking surprised we’ve made it this long.”
“We’re never going to make it through Spring Training. Well, I will, but my money’s on either Will, Beck, or Callie straight-up just figuring it out by herself,” I say.
“No, none of that’s going to happen, and we’re changing the subject to you now.”
“Me? Why me?”
Dex and Will switch, and I signal Dex to throw a slider.
“This ought to be good,” Dex says right before he throws.
The ball hits my glove, and it’d qualify as a good throw, but I know he can do better.
“Throw another one of those, Dex.”
Will grabs another ball from the bucket and tosses it to Dex. “I’m not saying Callie told me to pry, but you can read between the lines here. She’s worried about her brother. I told her you were good, to which I got a whole speech about how she’s ‘invested in your happiness.’ I much prefer listening to her talk over you, but I’m going to need you to give me something to tell her.”
I get ready to catch Dex’s slider on my right. “Much better,” I tell him before going back to Will. “Tell herIsaid I’m good.”
Will huffs. “Try again.”
“Tell her to ask me herself.”
“She will. The moment I tell her what you say, we both know she’ll be knocking on your door. If you give me something decent, she might not press too much.”
He’s not wrong.
