Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
TWO YEARS LATER
“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room—Jace Lyons.
Rumor is, the Hawks are bringing him back after their disastrous pre-season.
Not only is Ramos still out on the IR list for a few more months, but several of their rookies also went down.
So, Matt, what do you think about bringing Lyons back up from the Triple-As? ”
“Man, it depends. We’ve been seeing great things from his time up in Portland, but he was a different player when he was on the Hawks’ bench. So I guess the question is, what player are we going to end up with? The prodigal son, or the guy they shipped to back down—-”
“Oh my God, turn that shit off.” My mind blanked out as the screen turned black, silencing the sports reporters’ comments. Melanie stared at me, holding the remote toward the screen, her narrowed eyes scanning me for any crack in my shell.
Her heels clicked on the concrete floor as she moved through her office, pulling my focus back to her.
She placed one hand on her hip as she stopped at the edge of her desk while the other continued tapping away on her phone.
As the team’s Director of Communications and Media Relations, she always had her hands full, but I’d made her life even harder with my past mistakes.
Hell, during my rookie season, her entire day centered on keeping my name clean.
When I kept staring at the blank screen, she sighed, turning it away from me.
“Don’t let those assholes get in your head. ”
“It’s fine,” I muttered, leaning back on the couch as I donned my signature cocky smirk. “Looking forward to proving them wrong.”
“That’s the spirit,” Melanie answered, her eyes still stuck on her phone.
She shifted, moving to the other side of her desk, and I swiveled my chair to follow her.
As she plopped down into her white leather chair, she handed me a file folder.
“Here are all the press releases we’ve prepared to announce your return to the team.
Your agent already has a copy, but I’d like your personal sign-off as well.
There are also some interviews and lives we’d like to schedule before the season gets into full swing. ”
I nodded, unable to say much more. Despite my calm persona, inside, I was a fucking wreck.
Being back in this city had always been the goal, but now, painful memories haunted every inch.
There were plenty of offers to join other teams, but I wanted to return here.
Fuck, I needed to come back to Erie City. “Jace, are you listening to me?”
Shit. I forced my focus on Melanie. She tapped her nails on the counter, each beat upping my anxiety. “You know I hate to ask, but your…problems. They’re in the past, right?”
“Yeah, Mel. I’ve been clean for fifteen months. Haven’t touched anything—not even an aspirin—since I got out of rehab.”
“Good,” she sighed. “In case I haven’t said it yet, we’re glad to have you back on the team. Benny struggled with letting you go.”
I cleared my throat and placed my hands on my knees to stop them from shaking. “Promise, Mel. I’m here for the right reasons. I wouldn’t have come back if my head wasn’t in the game.”
She stared at me with those piercing eyes, but I didn’t flinch.
Over the past year, I’d dedicated a lot of time to improving myself, from attending local support groups to my weekly sessions with my therapist. My sponsor back in Portland had already put in a call to someone local to keep the transition as smooth as possible, especially with all the triggers in the majors.
In my case, more money led to bigger problems, and I couldn’t go back down that road again, not after all the effort I’d put in to get clean.
“Okay,” Melanie said. “Get outta here, Lyons. The guys need you, so make sure you’re ready to jump right into the game.”
“You got it, boss.”
She grinned. “Don’t let Benny hear you say that. He won’t like it one bit.”
I pushed out the door, walking down the halls of Erie City Stadium.
These upper floors were a far cry from the clubhouse downstairs, where sweat and adrenaline lined the hallowed halls.
Up here, light wood paneling lined all the surfaces, broken up by professional images of the team over the years.
It gleamed as if it were brand new—not a speck of the dirt from the field had made its way up here.
Getting called up to these offices meant bad news, but today, I’d come back to excited cheers and smiles.
It jarred me, especially after the last time I stood in the same spot.
At least this time, I didn’t have a cardboard box to clear out my locker.
“Lyons, wait up!”
My feet slid to a stop as the familiar voice reached me. Damien Ramos, our team captain, emerged from a different office, greeting me with a wide grin. It took a little while for him to catch up, especially with the slight hitch in his step.
I nodded down to his injured knee. “Looking better, old man. Can hardly see that limp anymore.”
“Fuck you, kid.” Damien pulled me into a hug. When he leaned back, he shook his head. “Wait until I get back out on the field. Numbers never lie.”
I shook my head, but a wide smile filled my face.
When I was suspended from the team, most of the guys seemed to forget about me.
I didn’t take it personally, especially given how I’d left.
A lot of them cursed my name when I destroyed their chances for the postseason, yet Damien’s faith remained.
He’d trekked out to visit me in rehab during the off-season and then came up to Maine to help me settle in before I started with the Triple-A team, the Portland Lynx.
Looking at Damien now, you’d never know that, last year, he came close to losing his career because of a tear in his patella tendon.
His recovery had been tough, and, for a while, it looked like he was going to call it quits.
I found out when some of his team members reached out, and I hopped on the first flight out.
“You ready for this?” Damien asked.
I swallowed. “Yeah, ready as I’ve ever been. Just hope the guys aren’t too pissed about me taking up a spot again.”
“Nah, most of us are glad to have you back.”
“Most?”
Damien flinched, probably hoping I didn’t pick up on the slight. He ran his tattooed fingers through his dark hair. “Just some of the rookies talking shit. Don’t fucking listen to them. You’ve got this, Jace. You worked too hard to get back here and have nothing to prove to anyone. Do you hear me?”
I nodded, not sure if I meant it. Did I deserve another chance?
I sure as hell hoped I did. But then again, there were so many guys who’d never get to this level once, much less twice.
Look at the guys back on my team in Portland—desperate for that taste of the majors, but they were stuck, still waiting on their call after years in the minors, while I’d only been back down for one season before my number got pulled again.
“How’s Bri?” I asked, changing the subject.
“She’s amazing,” Damien said. His entire expression brightened at the mention of his girlfriend.
So much had changed since I left. Before, Damien had been the worst of us, never looking for more than one night with a woman.
But then, Brianna showed up and knocked him on his ass, stealing his heart right out from under him.
Three months ago, she’d moved in, and now, they were talking about getting married.
His watch buzzed, and he grimaced. “Actually, I got to meet up with Chase for a PT session, so I can get back home to her. She’s getting ready for her students to take the state tests next month, so she’s a little more stressed than usual. ”
“Gotcha,” I said as I stepped around him. “Let me know if she needs anything.”
“Nah, we’re good,” Damien replied. “But I better be seeing you at the team dinner on Sunday.” He pointed at me. “No excuses, Lyons. You’re a part of this team again, which means you’re expected to hang out with us.”
I chuckled as I pressed the button for the elevator. “What, did you miss me, old man?”
“Something like that, Lyons.”