Chapter 6
Dylan
Five Months Later
As soon as I rolled over, Faye’s name lit up my phone screen. Just the promise of a message from her had me sitting up and swiping it open.
Good luck you two! I’ll be watching all day and I expect a celebration selfie later
I grinned like an idiot. Her messages were the highlight of each day.
For the past five months, the three of us kept a nearly nonstop group chat filled with late-night Loop clips, flirty memes, and the occasional thirst-trap pic.
But despite all the texting, we still hadn’t seen her in person.
During the last stretch of school, Jase and I pushed ourselves even harder than before, and our stats were among the best UCLA had ever seen. The day after we graduated, we signed with our agent, Marcos, and were immediately invited to a dozen MLB team workouts.
Honestly, the lack of invites the year before should have been the first clue that last year’s draft wouldn’t go our way, but back then we’d both been too cocky. We hadn’t even considered the possibility we wouldn’t sign with anyone.
It had been the kick in the ass we’d needed, even if it meant missing out on events like Faye’s annual Fourth of July party.
“Don’t risk it. Teams are watching everything you two do, so be boring. Let them see you as investments, not as headlines,” Marcos had said.
So, we had taken his advice and were lying low.
This afternoon, though, that could all change. It was our last chance to be drafted, and I was convinced this year would be different from the previous summer.
I set my phone down and dragged myself out of bed.
Jase and I were back at our dads’ house in Portland.
Chase had just wrapped up a homestand with the Seawolves before the All-Star break, and two of his players, Crew Stratton and Knox Singleton, were getting married in a couple of days.
So it made the most sense for our family to gather in Oregon again rather than in LA.
The house wasn’t full yet, but it would be soon. Cammie was staying with us, and Jamie and her husband, Tony, were staying at a nearby hotel, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already downstairs. In a couple of hours, Marcos and an ESPN camera crew were supposed to arrive.
The only people missing were my brother, Tyler, and his husband, Hayden. They’d shared the news that they’d been selected for a private adoption and had urgent paperwork to take care of in Boston before Hayden left to cover the All-Star game for his news company.
I pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts then stepped into the hallway at the same moment Jase did. He was dressed similarly to me; in fact, I was pretty sure he was wearing my UCLA T-shirt.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked through a yawn.
“Tossed and turned all night. What about you?”
“Same. I think I’m more nervous than I was last year.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Me too.”
The scent of coffee and bacon hit my nose before we even made it into the kitchen. “Your mom must be here already.”
It wasn’t a shock to find Jamie standing at the stove flipping chocolate-chip pancakes when we rounded the corner. When Jamie wanted to be helpful but was unsure what to do, she’d start feeding everyone.
“Look who decided to join the land of the living,” she teased as Jase and I walked over to hug her.
“You two had better be hungry. Jamie and Tony have been working their asses off since they came over an hour ago,” Dad explained.
Tony set a tray of bacon on top of the hot pads on the island. “As soon as the eggs are done, breakfast will be ready.”
Cammie sat on a barstool, still in her pajamas, her hair piled in a messy bun. For once, her phone was face down on the counter, and she seemed to be paying attention to what was going on around her rather than scrolling, probably because today was a big deal.
“Hope you’re going to change before the cameras start rolling.” I ruffled her hair, leaving it even more of a tangled mess.
She slapped my hand away. “Like you have room to talk. You look like you picked something out of the dirty laundry.”
“Kids.” Chase shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. “I don’t understand how we have four adult children, yet breakfast always turns into the Statler-Matthewson Roast Hour.”
“You’d be sad if we stopped picking on each other.” Jase grinned.
“You’re probably right,” he agreed.
Once the eggs were done cooking, we all filled our plates and moved to the dining table.
I exchanged a look with Jase as we sat down to enjoy a meal with our family. Even with the draft still a couple of hours way, the moment felt like the start of something big.
The living room didn’t look anything like it had a couple hours earlier.
ESPN had transformed it into a full production set, with studio lights so bright I had to shield my eyes when I walked in.
Two cameras stood on tripods, one aimed at the couch where Jase and I were supposed to sit, the other at a cluster of chairs where our family and Marcos would be.
“This is wild,” Jase whispered as we looked around. “It better be a good sign.”
“Can you imagine if we don’t get drafted? It was bad enough when it was just us and our dads.”
Someone in a headset waved us over before either of us could spiral further. “We’ll start recording as soon as the draft begins. Just relax and pretend we’re not here.”
Relax? Like that was going to happen.
My stomach had been in knots since breakfast, and with all the equipment scattered around the room, I couldn’t pace to burn off my nervous energy.
A few minutes later, Marcos moved to the center of the room. “Okay, everyone, we’ve got five minutes until showtime. Take your bathroom breaks, grab your drinks, and then find your spots.”
Jase and I dropped onto the couch together. My knee bounced nonstop, while Jase rubbed his hands up and down his thighs.
“I feel like I’m going to throw up,” he admitted.
Cammie leaned over the back of the couch between us. “Please don’t do that on live TV. I really don’t want to be known as the sister of the puking guy.”
“Be nice,” Jamie chided gently, pulling her daughter toward an open chair.
Five minutes passed quickly, and then we watched the commissioner finally walk to the podium. After a brief speech, he launched straight into the countdown for the Chicago White Sox to make the first selection.
When their pick was announced, neither of our names were called. The same thing happened with the second and third teams.
Suddenly, my phone and Jase’s buzzed on the coffee table, and my heart nearly leaped out of my chest. But it wasn’t a call. It was a text.
Faye: Remember to breathe. You guys got this
Footage of us hadn’t aired yet, but somehow she knew exactly what I needed to hear. Taking her advice, I inhaled slowly through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jase do the same. When we both felt a bit calmer, we turned toward each other and smiled.
Looking at the screen again, I saw the countdown had begun for the Carolina Crushers, an expansion team like the Seawolves, which would be starting its third season this year.
They were also one of the teams Marcos had mentioned was showing a lot of interest in me.
At the forty-second mark, my phone rang.
I fumbled to grab it and barely managed a shaky “Hello?”
“Is this Dylan Statler?” the man on the other end of the line asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“This is Shane Reynolds, the general manager of the Carolina Crushers. We’d like to welcome you to our organization.”
For a split second, it felt as if I had forgotten how to speak, but I eventually found the words. “Thank you so much for the opportunity.”
“You’ve earned it,” he said. “Now go watch the announcement with your family. I’m sending all the information you’ll need to your agent right now.”
We hung up just as the commissioner announced, “With the fourth pick in the first round, the Carolina Crushers select Dylan Statler, an outfielder from UCLA.”
A picture of me flashed on the screen, and the room erupted.
Jamie screamed so loudly that I was pretty sure half of Portland heard her.
“That’s my boy!” Dad shouted, then pulled me into a bear hug that nearly cracked my ribs.
“Fuck yeah,” Jase yelled, clapping me on the back.
Chase, Cammie, Tony, and Marcos all came over for congratulatory hugs. The excitement was indescribable. Ever since I was a little kid, I’d imagined playing in the majors, and now it was happening.
The idea hadn’t settled in my mind when Jase’s phone rang. Everyone fell silent again.
“Yes, sir. I’d be honored,” he said, sounding a bit more composed than I had been.
He’d barely ended his call before the commissioner started saying, “With the fifth pick of the first round, the Boston Red Sox select Jase Matthewson, shortstop from UCLA.”
Jamie shrieked even louder this time, and Tony pumped both fists in the air. We all crowded around Jase, congratulating him on a job well done.
Once we backed up a little, Chase cupped the side of Jase’s neck with one hand and leaned his forehead to his. “I knew you could do it, Son.”
“Too bad they didn’t pick a better picture of you,” Cammie joked, but the smile on her face showed just how happy she was for her brother.
Both of our phones buzzed again, this time with a message from Tyler:
Congrats little bros!
I barked out a laugh. Tyler may have been older, but Jase and I both had a couple of inches on him.
Thanks. You can buy us drinks to celebrate when we’re in Cape Cod for Fallon’s wedding
You got it
A second later, another message came through:
Faye: I knew you’d get picked early. So happy for you two
My phone buzzed again:
Faye: Don’t forget to send a selfie
Jase typed out a response faster than me:
Send us one first :)
“Good call.” I offered my fist for a bump.
Faye: I’m saving that for in-person ;)
Fuck. I really couldn’t wait to see her again.
“All right, boys,” Marcos said to get our attention. “Tonight, you get to celebrate with your family, but then shit gets real. You two will be flying out to Florida next week for mini-camp, physicals, and onboarding stuff for new players. I’ll email you with all the details.”
Tony let out a whistle. “They don’t get any downtime, do they?”
Marcos shook his head. “Not in this business.”
Just then, it hit me. This was really happening for us. We’d be together in Florida for a while, but then what? Jase and I were going to play for different teams, in different states, and likely in different minor-league divisions.
For the first time since the phone rang, there was a little crack in my happiness.
Jase must’ve felt the change because he bumped my foot with his. “What’s wrong?”
I shrugged. “Just realizing that next season will be the first time we won’t be together since we were what? Ten years old?”
I half expected him to make a joke about me getting emotional.
Instead, he swallowed hard. “Yeah. I know.”
Around us, our family was still celebrating, but I couldn’t stop looking at Jase. We were both smiling, both thrilled to be living the dream, but for the first time, the future wasn’t ours.
It was his and mine. Separate.
And while it was supposed to be our beginning, it also felt like an ending I wasn’t ready for.