all a dream. Getting drafted by the Rangers. Making the team. Being promoted to closer. Being traded.
Pitching in the freaking World Series.
A knock came at my door. I expected it to be one of the coaches. When I opened the door, I saw that I was right—sort of.
“Natalie?” I gasped. I felt a smile take over my face. “What are you doing here?”
She pushed her way into the room and closed the door. “I should be asking you that. Why are you here?” she asked angrily.
“In my hotel room?”
“Yes. Why are you staying in this hotel instead of with us? At Darryl’s place?”
“I’m on the other team. I should stay with them in their hotel.”
“Plenty of Dodgers aren’t staying here,” she pointed out, eyes wide with anger. “Kershaw has family here he’s staying with. Martinez got an AirBNB with his wife, the NFL trainer. You could have stayed with us!”
I crossed my arms. “I’m not sure Darryl would appreciate me being there after I got him out tonight.”
“Darryl wouldn’t care! Neither would Rafa! They would be happy to see you.”
“It wouldn’t look good,” I explained. “We’re facing off against each other in the World Series. I can’t stay at the enemy’s house.”
“Then we could have gotten a hotel together,” Natalie said in a softer tone. “I haven’t seen you in months, Joel. I miss you.”
I held her by the arms and smiled sadly. “That would really look bad. You’re my old pitching coach. We’re on opposite sides of this whole thing.”
“We could keep it a secret,” she said stubbornly.
“We could try. And we’d probably get caught.” I frowned. “How did you know what room I was staying in?”
“I flashed my team badge with the guy at the front desk. He didn’t seem to know the difference between the Rangers and Dodgers.”
“That’s fucked up. What if you were a stalker or something?”
“Do you have those out in Los Angeles?” she teased. “Fans that stalk you everywhere you go? Plastic bimbos with fake volleyball tits?”
I chuckled. “No. There are some rabid fans, though.” I wrapped my arms around her. “I’ve missed you so much, Natalie.”
“Me too,” she said into my shoulder.
I put my hand on the back of her head, feeling the strands of her hair underneath my fingertips. She smelled like her, a scent I desperately missed. Now that she was here I wanted to make her stay. To order room service and stay up all night talking about baseball, the way we used to. Laughing and joking about the different pitchers on our respective teams.
I wanted to ask her advice. To get her opinion on how to tackle the next game. But of course I couldn’t ask that, and she couldn’t answer.
“You’re not here to sabotage my arm, are you?” I asked.
She pulled back and looked up into my eyes. “I’m here because I couldn’t go another day without doing this.”
Her kiss was electric. It was the kiss of old lovers who had not seen each other for months and were making up for lost time. Her tongue pushed into my mouth and she pressed her body against mine, allowing me to feel her curves.
I ached for her.
But I pushed her away.
“I can’t do this, Natalie.”
She took a full step back. “What?”
“I heard about how you cursed Rafa’s arm,” I said, using a joke to disarm the situation. “The blowjob before game one of the ALDS? No thank you.”
Her eyes widened. “Who told you about that!”
“Darryl did,” I said with a laugh. “I’m joking though. You can’t blame yourself for that. Just a stupid coincidence.”
She stepped toward me again. “Then let’s forget everything and just be us tonight.”
I held out a hand to keep her away. “I’m sorry, Natalie. We’re on opposing teams. It would look terrible if we got caught fucking in the hotel room in the middle of the World Series.”
Her lips pursed into a tight, angry line. “Is that what you care about? Your optics?”
“I meant it would look terrible for you,” I insisted. “You’re on the Rangers coaching staff. This kind of interaction is inexcusable right now. What if they think you’re helping me? Giving me an advantage because we’re lovers?”
“That’s stupid.”
“I know it’s stupid. You know it’s stupid. Hell, most of our teammates would know it’s stupid. But the media wouldn’t. They would have a field day turning this into a big scandal. The Rangers would be forced to suspend you for the remainder of the series. They might even fire you entirely.”
She knew I