Triple Play - Cassie Cole Page 0,87

was right. I saw the realization and then fear blossom in her eyes.

“The season is almost over,” I said. “Give it a few more days and then we can be together again.”

“What if I don’t want to be together then?”

Her words cracked out like a whip, cutting my skin. “You don’t mean that.”

“Clearly I’m not important to you. You’re prioritizing your career over what we have, without compromise.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her. “Is this some kind of purity test? If I don’t fuck you in this hotel room tonight, you’re going to dump me? That’s fucked up, Natalie.”

“I don’t mean it like that,” she argued. “But I’ve spent the last three months thinking about you day and night, waiting until we can be together, and now that I’m here you won’t even touch me.”

“I think you should leave,” I said. “You can’t be here, Natalie.”

“You’re kicking me out?”

I went to the door and gripped the handle. “I know you’re frustrated. And I know you miss me. But we can’t do this right now. I need you to leave.”

She stared at me in defiance, but when I opened the door, she walked through it.

The room was vacuously empty without her. Natalie’s scent hung in the air. The ghost of her presence. I wanted to rush out into the hallway and tell her to wait, that I cared about her more than anyone in this world. That I wanted her to stay.

I forced myself not to.

For the next week, I was a Los Angeles Dodger first, and Natalie Betts’ lover second.

39

Natalie

Everything that had happened in Joel’s hotel room stung like a fresh wound. I made it downstairs to my car before crying. Not because he had rejected me. But because deep down I knew he was right.

It would be terrible if we got caught. That scandal would undermine everything I had worked towards. People would ignore my skill as a pitching coach and claim I only wanted to fuck my players. Or worse: they would claim I had only gotten the job because I slept with the players. If that story broke during the World Series, I might never get to coach again. It would set back female coaches for decades.

But I didn’t care. I was tired, and frustrated, and I desperately wanted to be with Joel despite the risks. And the fact that he was able to say no made my own recklessness more glaring.

I drove home to our big mansion. Rafael was already asleep and Darryl had his door closed while he played videogames. I wanted to open his door and kiss him, to lose myself in his body the way we had done so many times this season, but after tonight’s loss I knew he just wanted to be alone. I didn’t think I could handle being rejected twice in one night.

So I went back to the guest room and curled into bed, and felt more alone than I ever had.

The next day I was able to lose myself in my work. Two hours of bullpens with the pitchers, plus strategy meetings and contingency plans depending on circumstances that occurred in tonight’s game. By the time the game started, I had stopped being hurt by the events of last night. Instead, I was focused and determined. We were going to beat the Dodgers. Especially Joel. It wasn’t his fault he had been traded, but now he was the enemy. For a few more days, at least.

Domingo had a shaky first inning, but he settled down after that. Darryl recovered some of his swagger and hit a pair of doubles, leading us to a 4-1 victory.

We flew to Los Angeles immediately after the game, arriving at two in the morning—which was four in the morning our time. Fortunately we had a day off before game three, which we spent having a light practice with a few simulated warm-ups with the pitchers.

Rafael threw another test bullpen too. He looked good with his form and mechanics, but his fastball was still only hitting the mid-eighties. Nowhere near his old velocity.

“I feel great,” he admitted to me. “Zero discomfort in my elbow. All my scans have come back clean. It’s like my arm was never injured.”

“That’s great news,” I said sincerely. “You’ll be healthy enough to start off fresh in the spring.”

He smiled, but I could tell he was still down on himself.

The Dodgers won game three, but we countered by taking game four thanks to a stellar outing from Carter.