17. Fox
”Coach, hear me out,”I say, my hands up in a defensive stance as I walk through the door.
”We”re beyond the ”hear me out” stage, son. You gotta be fucking kidding me!”
I wince. ”I”m not, but I am sorry for it coming out this way.”
”Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me? Have I ever made you feel like you couldn”t come talk to me about any fucking thing, Fox? Have I?”
”No, sir,” I say, shaking my head.
”Then why the fuck am I finding out about you dating a fucking player on another team from the damn internet?!”
I sink into a chair and hang my head. ”I have no excuse. I just... I thought we were being more careful.”
”Careful?! You boarded a commercial flight with another professional athlete, went to a game on your night off in another city – hell a whole other state – and went to a player”s private residence from the other team, and you think that”s being careful?!”
”Well, when you lay it out like that,” I start, but he cuts me off.
”Fucking hell, Foxworth.”
”What do you want me to say? Do you want me to apologize for my relationship? Because I won”t. Neither of us planned it. Weren”t even looking for it. We ran into each other before spring training while I was in Texas visiting my sister and nephew, and something just... sparked.”
I shrug and lean back against the chair. ”I was just trying to catch my fucking breath in Texas before another season.”
”Yeah, well, you caught something alright,” Coach mutters.
His phone rings, and he looks at me quizzically. ”Why is AM Fields calling me?”
My eyes widen at the name of Grey”s general manager, and I shrug.
”Hello?”
The silence on this end pulls me from my chair to pace.
”That so?”
His brows raise dramatically as he looks at me. A low whistle followed by a whispered curse brings me to his side, trying to get close enough to hear something. Anything. He pushes me off and says, ”Yeah, that sounds like a temporary solution to a long-term problem to me, too.”
More silence.
”Fox is in my office. Let me call you back in ten.” He ends the call and stares at me. ”You two are real pieces of work, you know that?”
”What does that mean?”
He shakes his head and rounds the desk, sitting on the edge as he stares down at me. ”It means I”m getting ready to give you a piece of information that can”t leave this office. And if it does, all the shit you”ve stirred this morning will be small potatoes. Do you hear me?”
”I can”t talk to Grey about whatever you”re gonna say. Got it. Spit it out... please.”
He smirks and crosses his arms across his barrel chest. ”Seems your boyfriend told his coach and GM to send him down to Birmingham if your relationship was such a problem.”
I shoot out of my seat. ”He did what?!”
”Yeah, that”s about how Fordham and Fields responded, too.” He squints at me. ”This thing is for real, then, huh?”
I nod. ”Yes, sir. It”s only been a few months, but as they say, when you know, you know.”
”They”re not gonna send him down, son. You know that, right? He”s too damn good to waste on the minors. Even triple-A.”
”Yeah. I do.” I hang my head and grip the back of my neck. ”So what”s he calling you for then?”
”That”s the part I will fire your ass for saying a word about, no questions asked.”
”Well, all due respect, just fucking tell me already.”