were in the same theme, by the same artist. I didn’t know anything about art, but they were dark and looked expensive.
Fortunately I didn’t have to look very long. The first room I poked my head into was Rafael’s bedroom, and he was sitting on the bed with his phone held out. Still Facetiming with his parents.
“Sorry to interrupt, Rafa, but the food’s here.”
“Hey!” His face lit up when he saw me. “I thought I heard the doorbell earlier. I’m glad you came.”
Then he did the most dreadful thing in the world.
He turned the phone around. A dark-haired Puerto Rican woman squinted at me from the screen.
“Mom, this is Natalie. She’s our pitching coach.”
“Natalie? Your coach?” she asked in a thick accent.
“Yeah, mom. I told you about her. She’s the one who helped me settle down on opening day.”
I gave an awkward little wave. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Rivera.”
She squinted suspiciously. “What is your experience? Are you sure you should be coaching my son? He was the rookie of the year last season, you know. He needs proper guidance. What are you doing at his house? Are you there to monitor his nutrition? Rafa claims he is eating enough but I have my doubts.”
Rafael turned the phone back around. “Mom, she’s great. I promise.” He waved me away as if to say save yourself.
I hurried out of the room. That was definitely the weirdest way I had ever met a boy’s mom. I was only wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Hopefully she wasn’t judging me too hard.
And hopefully she didn’t keep asking Rafael why I was over at their house for dinner.
The next four rooms I checked were empty. Then I heard the sound of gunfire and explosions drifting from one of the rooms on the right. I turned the doorknob and entered into the back of a theater room. A projector was mounted in the ceiling and filled the far wall with scenes of action and violence. There were two rows of leather recliners, and Darryl’s tattooed frame was sunken into one of them.
“Hey!” I shouted over the videogame noise. “Food’s ready!”
He didn’t even glance up at me or pause his game. “Not hungry.”
“Joel ordered something for you. General Tso’s chicken and a whole bunch of sticky rice.”
“I’ll eat it later.”
I had stubborn baseball players on my team back in high school. I had seen my fair share of slumps and funks. When I had a player like Darryl, I usually gave them a big dose of tough love. My dad called it “Drill Instructor Natalie,” and it involved a lot of shouting and ridicule until the player snapped out of it.
I really wanted to give Darryl that treatment. Slumps were usually mental, and he had all but admitted that his was related to concerns about his contract negotiations. Shaking him out of it with some tough love would do the trick.
But I was in his house, and I felt like an intruder. Bluntly telling him to get his shit together was a surefire way to make sure I was never invited back to his house again. And based on how things were going with Rafael—and maybe Joel—I definitely didn’t want that.
“Suit yourself,” I said.
His teammates weren’t surprised when I told them about it over food. It was a nice night so we were eating outside, sitting around the pool.
“He’s been that way for a while,” Rafael said. “We’ve been trying to give him his space.”
“Darryl’s like a bear with his paw stuck in a trap,” Joel said with a mouthful of noodles. “If you try to get close enough to help him, he’ll just rip your head off.”
“Then I’m glad I ran away as quickly as possible,” I replied.
“Smart girl.” Joel smiled awkwardly, like he had just remembered our kiss earlier and felt embarrassed all over again. To cover it up, he pointed his chopsticks at me. “Dude, you’re not going to believe this. Natalie’s the reason I closed out your win today.”
Rafael cocked his head. “No shit?”
“I made the recommendation to the other coaches in the meeting yesterday. And Joel totally proved me right today.” I stared at him pointedly.
Rafael put his hand on Joel’s shoulder. “You’re one of my best friends, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. But I did not think you would be a good closer.”
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Until today,” Rafael clarified. “Seeing you out on the mound… It was like watching a different person. You