Chapter 77
“The wrist looks good. How does it feel?” Maggie let go of Alfie’s wrist and looked him right in the eye. That always made him want to squirm even when he hadn’t done anything wrong.
It’s not like he’d exactly followed instructions the night before. Sure, he’d iced it, but using his hands to get Rhys off hadn’t been what Maggie meant by ‘taking it easy’.
“It feels fine.” His voice came out gruff as he thought about the night before. Definitely not where he needed his mind to be.
“Good. I’ll let the coaches know you’re cleared to play. Unless you fuck your body up some other way during practice.”
“You have such a way with words, Maggie.” Rhys came over to throw his arm around Alfie’s waist.
It was habit for his body to stiffen at the touch.
Even though he had not lied to Rhys. He would never be ashamed of loving him.
No one in the clubhouse would judge either of them for being with another man.
Caleb and Brock were together, so being teammates wasn’t an issue.
Yet that voice remained in the back of his head saying this was wrong.
They shouldn’t be doing this. They would be judged in God’s eyes.
Carajo. That was not his family’s voice saying that. It was the missionaries who had come during his childhood. The ones who’d taught him English, and apparently to hate himself. Is that really what had been holding him up so much? People who didn’t even have a place in his life?
Rhys pulled his arm away. Damn it. What was he doing? Maggie gave them a smile and he was pretty sure muttered, “It’s about damn time.”
He shook that off and headed toward the locker room. His phone buzzed as he approached his locker. Rhys looked over at him questioningly. Alfie took his phone out, expecting something from Rosalita about being sure she’d failed her final summer semester test. Just like every other time she passed.
Lucero
I need to speak with you.
His brother was never the one to reach out to him. He always responded and would keep a conversation going, but he did not contact Alfie first. Something had to be wrong.
He tapped the phone icon next to his brother’s name and waited for the phone to ring. “I did not mean right this second. Do you not have a game to get ready for?”
“You did not say what the problem was. I worried.”
“You worry too much. I just wanted to talk to you about something. I did not mean to distract you from baseball.”
“Well, I am distracted now. What is going on?” Rhys watched him, his brow furrowed. Alfie was sure he was not following his rapid Spanish. He’d fill him in later. He didn’t want to leave Rhys out of his life.
“There was a scout at the school yesterday,” Lucero said. “They came by the house this morning. Mom totally lost it.”
“You are sixteen, Lucero. She wants you to be the kid you still are.”
“You left. I do not see why I cannot do the same.”
It wasn’t at all the same. “I went to college. Mom didn’t allow anyone to exploit me before I was even fully grown.” That had been before he’d been able to send money home. No reason for Lucero to need to do this for their family.
“No one is exploiting me,” Lucero said. “They are giving me a chance. Just like you got. Why do you all want to keep it from me?”
“We are not…” Lucero ended the call. Alfie barely kept from throwing his phone into his locker.
How could Lucero think that? Everything Alfie had done since he’d left Venezuela had been to help his family.
He gave them as much as they would accept.
His brother thought he was trying to keep something from him.
How could he believe that?
“Is everything all right with your family?” Rhys moved up next to him.
No. Marisa was having twins, and he had no clue how much danger that would put her in.
His baby sister was getting married and freaking out their parents might not be able to make it up here for that.
His brother hated him because he wanted to give him a chance to grow up and not ruin his arm before he was twenty years old. He didn’t know how to fix any of it.
“Everyone is fine,” Alfie said quickly. He couldn’t think about it now.
Rhys stepped away. “Well, fine, then,” he said. “Don’t tell me about it.”
He turned away and Alfie opened his mouth. He closed it again. How was talking going to help make sure he didn’t let down a single member of his family? No, he needed to focus on what he was good at. Playing baseball, so he could help support them.
There wasn’t anything else to do. Surely Rhys of all people would understand wanting to focus on only the game.