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“Why do you think I picked it?” He squeezes my calf. “Are you sure? I don’t report to Jupiter for spring training until February 17th, so we’ve got a few weeks to figure it out.”
“Feeling like I almost lost you again was enough. Once we know who you’re playing for this season, I’ll talk to TSG about travel options.”
Setting the pint of ice cream on the coffee table, Devin grabs my hips, and hoists me onto his lap, straddling him. His baseball-throwing hands dive into my disheveled hair, dragging my lips to his, tender and starved. “God, I love you.” Without getting to echo his sentiment, his tongue invades my mouth, stroking mine, and I cling to his shoulders.
He breaks the kiss before I’m ready with one punctuated peck. “Before I get lost in you again, I want to talk to you about one other thing.”
“Oh, Lord. What, did you buy a boat too?”
“Not a bad idea, but no.” He taps my nose. “I want to start a fund or foundation. Something to raise awareness and support victims of assault and abuse. Maybe focus on kids in sports and people in positions of authority abusing their power? I’m not sure exactly, but I’d really love your help. I remember the stories you told me during our road trip of how much you enjoyed joining your dad at charity events when you were younger.”
“This is why I love you, Devin Hawthorne.” I pat his chest, my eyes roving his face. “That sounds amazing. You’re talking my love language now. You know I would love to help.”
“Whether I play one year in the majors or have a full career, I want to leverage what little fame and money I have for something bigger than me.”
My head spins with all of the things I imagine we’d need to do to get started. Awareness would come first, then financing. Devin has little time during the season. Maybe something as simple as a dinner and auction would be the way to begin?
“Your eyes have glazed over.” Devin buries his nose against my neck. “As much as I’d like to think it’s a reaction to the influence of my mouth,” he sucks my skin between his lips, “I have a feeling it’s you making lists in that beautiful head of yours.”
My fingers weave into his hair, tugging as his mouth continues tormenting. “You know me so well.”
“I bet you I can wipe all thoughts of lists from your mind.” Hands dip to my hips, then slip beneath my borrowed tee, drawing the soft cotton up my torso.
Lifting my arms, I surrender all thoughts but one. “I eagerly accept that bet, Hotshot.”
fifty-four | devin
I grewup watching Suzy Kaufman on the sidelines reporting for football, baseball, and even tennis. Sitting across from her and sharing such a personal story is dumbfounding and terrifying. ESBN offered to fly me to their New York headquarters for the interview, and the Sharks offered us unfettered use of the stadium facilities, but Nova suggested somewhere more personal. Somewhere I would be comfortable. Our new home.
Situated across from each other in the matching pale gray armchairs delivered only two days ago, Suzy offers me a smile as the lighting is adjusted, a stray lock of hair is smoothed, and the camera focused on me shifts right. We’ve discussed the logistics, and there’s nothing left to do but begin.
Suzy picks up from where she explained her voice-over introduction will play with a package of my game highlights and footage put together from my childhood. “Devin, when looking over the last twenty months, one word came to mind. Whirlwind.” Chuckling, I nod. “In an age when most athletes leave school early, you are one of a handful to be drafted after playing all four years at Cal State Monterey Bay. Miami drafted you and sent you straight to double-A for the short season, where everyone on the staff praised your dedication to the game. They invited you to spring training last February, where you didn’t make the final cut, but you were signed to the forty man roster and bumped to triple-A. Something Roman Rossy says the Sharks batting coaches made a big push for.”
I smile. “That’s right.”
“So, there you are in your first full season in the minors, playing ball in Jacksonville, and you get the call that Stokard is out. Describe what it was like.”
“It’s been a ride. That call changed my life. I barely made the flight out of Jax to New York. To take my first at-bat in New York City of all places, it was surreal.”
“In high school you lettered in football and baseball, when did one overtake the other as something you wanted to do professionally?”
“Honestly, I loved them both. I was a kid from a single income home, so whichever sport was going to get me to college became my choice. It wasn’t until after I met someone special that I allowed myself to believe I could make it.”
“That someone special, being your current girlfriend?” Suzy asks, and I nod, but we don’t bring Nova’s name into the interview. No more freebies for the public. They’ll likely figure out who she is within hours of this airing. “What did she do or say that was your tipping point?”
* * *
“She told me she could see my love of the game in my eyes when I talked about it. She made me want to succeed.”
Leaning over, I bite Nova’s tan shoulder, while tugging the tie on her bikini top.
“Dev, I’m trying to watch this.” She squirms as my fingers work the double knot at her neck.
“You were there when we recorded it.” I give up teasing her and move back to my chaise. “You know what I said.”
“We don’t know how they edited it.” Nova shoots me side-eye from where she lies on her chaise, propped on her elbows with her cell in hand, watching my interview with Suzy as it airs for the first time.
Three days.
