Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
nate
While my teammates and I celebrated on the field, my eyes tracked the head of curls that held my attention in the stands. Was she technically there watching her brother? Maybe. But this was the first game of my Major League career with a friend in the crowd.
And Cooper, wearing my jersey, might have given me a little extra push to pull that last hit to land as a single. Those two cheering for me—that was the good stuff.
“Nate, how does it feel to be the youngest player in the history of the game to hit for the cycle?” The reporter shouted the question and stuck a microphone in my face.
I froze and stared at the camera, tongue-tied. The team had been working with me on media training, but now that it was time for me to speak on camera, I couldn’t. Froze up like a damn fool.
Austin came and slapped me on the back and took over, answering their questions as I did my best to slink away.
“Nate! How are you going to celebrate?”
“He’s not having a beer.” Tucker Milligan scoffed. Joking about my age was one of his second favorite pastimes—second to being a giant dick.
It was then that I found my words. “I’m gonna call my mom. I hope she had time to catch the game.”
“Has your mom been to many games?”
“Not yet. She’s in Alabama, but hoping she gets to travel up here soon.”
“Any other friends in the stands?”
“Yeah. A couple.” I shut down the rest of the questions and joked about celebrating with ice cream later.
As Colby Crosby, the team’s social media director and the owner’s sister, walked alongside me, she kept yapping about ice cream and mentioned a concession item named after me. I nodded, entirely in a fugue. Man, I just wanted to take a shower and spend a few moments alone to reflect on the game.
“You’ve got this,” Austin said, his hand steady on my shoulder. “The vultures will swarm whether you smell good or you stink. Be thankful for the good days.”
I could have stood in the shower for hours, but as the water ran off of me, reality set in—holy fuck. I guess I was keeping the walk-up song as Look What You Made Me Do. by Taylor Swift. I got some shit when I picked it, but the superstitious fucks surrounding me won’t say anything now.
“Come on, man,” Austin said, prodding me along. “Olivia and Cooper are riding back with us.”
I checked my phone, but there was nothing from my mother yet. Ugh, did she even watch? Yeah, she couldn’t watch every game, but I really hoped she’d seen this one.
My heart beat a little faster when I saw the next notification.
Olivia: Holy shitballs. You’re actually pretty good, huh?
I laughed when I read her text. She could have sent that in the group text, but didn’t. Was I an idiot for reading into that too much?
Me: We’ll be out soon. Sorry to keep you guys waiting.
Olivia: Milk it, buddy. Go—talk to all the press and tell them how Tay Tay powered you to a fucking record.
Me: I guess I’m keeping the walk-up song.
Olivia: You better.
I stared at my phone like a dumbass, the grin on my face almost painful.
“Reaves, are you ready?”
“Yeah.”
“You got a girl?”
“Not yet, still working on it, though.”
Austin nodded, swallowed hard, and I knew that his recent experiences were preventing him from being supportive. Fuck Ashley.
Well, if I told him I was planning to make a move on his sister—I was pretty sure that would be a solid no from him. But it was Olivia’s response I cared about; it wasn’t her brother’s decision.
I slid into the back of Austin’s Range Rover, leaving the front seat for Olivia, and checked once more for a response from my mother. Nothing.
Me: Mom—did you catch the game?
Undelivered.
What the fuck?
“Hey, is your phone working?”
“Yeah,” Austin and Olivia answered in unison.
“Mine isn’t sending texts. Not since I got off Wi-Fi.”
“Try calling me,” Olivia said.
I put the call on speaker and pressed the call button for her contact. Instead of ringing, I got a tone that routed the call to the phone company’s collections department. I hung up.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked.
“Is it possible you didn’t pay your bill?” Olivia turned and looked at me. Those eyes were wide, fuck, were they disappointed in me?
“I can’t see how. There’s plenty of money in the account.”
“Let’s figure this out when we get home,” Olivia said.
“I can’t wait. My mom is on my account. If I don’t have a phone, she doesn’t either. I can’t leave her without a phone.” Panic set in. Fuck. I had money, so how had I been so fucking stupid?
“The car has a hot spot. Olivia, go to settings and help him connect while I drive.”
Once I was on, Olivia asked me to check my bank account to see if it posted. Scrolling through, I didn’t see the payment go through.
“Do you see it?” I handed her my phone, and she looked at my account.
Her eyes bugged out of her head. “Um, Nate, you don’t keep all this money in your checking account, do you?”
“Why not?”
I caught the side-eye Olivia gave Austin. “You’re only protected up to $250,000.”
“What does that even mean?” Panic set in. I hated this shit. I always thought it would be easier to have money than not, and apparently, I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing.
“I don’t see your phone payment here. Let’s deal with that first. My friend Sophie’s husband, Brandon, is a financial planner. We’ll set you up with him. I don’t know what to do with all of this money either.”
“The payment was supposed to be automatic—”
“Well, maybe a number was wrong on the account. Let’s get it fixed.”
As Olivia promised, it was fixable. But, fuck it, if it wasn’t a reminder of how ill-prepared I was to live on my own. Yeah, I could hit a ball, but I couldn’t manage to pay bills, even if the money was in the account.
The phone was back on before we were even halfway home, and I immediately called home.
“Hey, Mom.” Relief hit hard when I heard her voice.
“Nate! I watched the game! I saw everything! I was at work, and they put the game on, but oh my God! Everyone was so happy for you!”
“Sorry about your phone. I’m not sure what happened. I thought the payment was automatic.”
“I don’t give two shits, Nate. I’m a grown woman and have never needed my son to take care of me. I should be paying it myself.”
“Sorry—never again.”
Fuck. Remembering the years as a kid when our electricity got shut off, phones, cable, all subject to getting shut off whenever Mom struggled. Which was most of the time. When I took over the phone payment, it was because I wanted her never to feel that again. And I fucking failed.