Authors: Harper Bentley
Jag
It’s a done deal. I’
m now a Cub
and I couldn’t be more excited. But I’m also a little sad.
I’m at Baxter’s where he and
his wife Amanda are throwing a going away party for me, and that kind of bums me out. They’ve been really great friends to me over the past year and I’m going to miss them a lot when I leave. Bax plays catcher for the Dodgers and we’ve grown really close. I’ve told him he’s like the brother I never wanted which got me the bird. Amanda has been great in helping me get through things when El and I broke up, and their kids are the coolest ever.
Most of the team’s here to give me a big sendoff and the alcohol is definitely flowing. Logan saunters up to me
as I’m talking to one of the other pitchers.
“Dude, whatta you gonna do for surfing when you go back?”
“I can surf on Lake Michigan,” I inform him.
“You’re gonna surf on a fuckin’ lake? How is that even possible?” He looks at me like I’m an idiot.
“Logan, it’s Chicago. It’s fuckin’ windy there. Trust me. I’ll be able to surf.” I finish what’s left in my beer bottle.
“How?”
“What’s up?” Baxter comes over and asks, handing me another beer.
I jerk my thumb at Logan. “He doesn’t believe I’ll be able to surf on Lake Michigan.”
“You can surf on Lake Michigan?” Baxter asks, surprised.
Good God.
“Yeah. Think about it. It’s water. It’s windy. Wind makes waves. And voilà, you can surf.” They’re both looking at me as if I’m stupid and I laugh. “What?”
“That’s fuckin’ awesome,” Baxte
r says. He downs the rest of the Jim Beam Black in his tumbler.
“I still don’t believe you,” Logan puts in.
“Whatever. Come visit me and we’ll go. ‘Course, it’s not like the ocean, but it works,” I explain.
“Deal.
But I still don’t see how you can surf in water that’s not salty,” he says.
I look at
Baxter who shakes his head then he and I start laughing. “What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” I ask.
Logan downs the scotch in his glass. “You float in salt water,” he says as if that clears things up.
Baxter and I really start laughing now.
“And?” Baxter questions
when he catches his breath.
“It’s the salt that keeps your board afloat, dummy,” Logan states and rolls his eyes.
Now Bax and I burst out laughing.
Amanda comes up and wraps her arm around Baxter’s waist
and he throws an arm around her shoulders. “What’s so funny?”
“Bill Nye here
is giving us a lesson on the principles of flotation,” Bax answers and he and I break out laughing again.
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Logan replies.
“I’m really gonna miss you, man,” I say and pat Logan on the back.
“Whatever. Gonna get a refill,” he answers and walks away heading toward the kitchen.
“So, Jag,
we’re
really gonna miss
you
,” Amanda says and her eyes fill with tears.
Damn it. I hate that there’s a bad side to all of this.
“Baby,” Bax says, pulling her tighter to him, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.
“I’m gonna miss you guys too. A lot. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I honestly appreciate it so much,” I tell them.
Amanda sniffs. “Well, if you’re ever in town or just need a place to go, you know you’re always welcome to stay here.”
She’d given me a lot of advice about El after our first breakup, and both she and Bax have been here for me throughout my injury and this last shit that’s happened
between El and me. They’d told me about the problems they’d had early on in their marriage when Bax had cheated on her, but they’d gotten through it and now had four awesome kids, an amazing relationship and were a huge inspiration for me.
“Thanks,” I reply and I have to clear my throat.
“All right. That’s enough feels for now,” Bax says. “C’mon, Jag, let’s go check out the beer pong game they’ve got going in the family room.”
Before I follow Bax to the other room,
Amanda gives me a hug, telling me it’s all going to work out great. I hope she’s right.
Less than a week later, I’m in Chicago.
Dad flew out to LA and helped me get everything in order with moving then we drove my Camaro home. I have to say, my new condo in the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago is fucking awesome. Hardwood floors, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s east facing looking out on the river and Lake Michigan, and let me tell you, the view alone is worth what I paid for it. It’s beautiful, especially at night. Mom helped me pick it out, and I decided if I was going to be living here for a while, I might as well go big.
“Jesus Christ,” R
oss says when he and Tyler Callihan come visit me that Sunday night.
“C’mon in,” I say with a laugh.
“Dude, we just rode the elevator up with Derrick Rose,” Tyler says with a stunned look on his face.
“Yeah, my realtor said there are a couple of other pros who live here,” I tell him.
“That’s so fucking cool,” Ross comments.
“Damn, Jensen, your place makes mine look like a hovel,” Tyler says as he goes to the windows that line the east wall of the living room.
“It’s just a place,” I reply
with a shrug, coming into the living room and handing each a beer.
“Bet there are some fucking hot-ass chicks who live here
too,” Tyler says then takes a drink. “Probably some supermodels.”
I cringe. “God, I fucking hope not. That’s the last thing I need.”
Ross chokes on his beer. “No shit. El finds out, you’re toast, man.”
We sit
in the living room and I turn on a football game.
“How’s that going, anyway?” Tyler asks.
I frown as I look at my beer bottle before answering. “Don’t know. Gonna have to take it slow, I think. Things are pretty fucked up so far.”
Tyler nods then continues watching the game. Then Ross throws out there, “Bec said El’s been going out with some guy.”
And my heart stops. I look at him trying to take in what he just said. I think he said El’s dating someone. “What?”
“Fuck,” he mumbles.
I stand up now and look down at him. “What?”
“Jag…” Ross stands now.
“What the fuck did you just say?” My breathing has sped up and I can feel the rage taking over. Jesus Christ.
Tyler jumps up and gets between us facing me. “Calm down, buddy. Ross? What’s going on?”
“Goddamn it. You know how I am with secrets, Jag,” Ross explains.
“What the fuck? You’ve known this and haven’t told me? What the fuck!” I
’m screaming at the top of my lungs and seriously consider throwing my beer bottle at the fucking windows. Or him. Either works.
“C
alm down, bro.” Tyler takes the bottle from me and puts it somewhere that I don’t see then leads me by the shoulders backwards as I cuss out Ross over his shoulder into one of the bedrooms that’s still empty. I’m breathing so heavily I’m seeing fucking black spots before my eyes as I pace back and forth. “Jag, calm the fuck down.”
“He fucking knew and didn’t tell me! I’m gonna kick his fucking ass!” I’m so goddamned pissed right now.
I run my fingers through my hair, pulling it, as I pace trying to understand what the hell just went down.
El’s dating someone. She’s moved on. She doesn’t want me back. And
now I’m even angrier and I try getting past Tyler to go back to the living room to beat the shit out of Ross.
“Desiree
Beckman,” Tyler says suddenly which gets my attention and I stop trying to get by him and look at him.
“What?”
“Desiree Beckman. Remember her?”
It takes me a second to realize what he’s talking about. “Yeah, I remember her.”
“Yeah? Good.”
“What’s your fucking point?” I spit out.
“I was in love with her, man,” he says.
I know this. Our sophomore year in high school, Desiree had been a senior and Tyler had fallen hard for her. He’d just moved here, so he didn’t know about her, but we all knew she had a boyfriend who was away at college and that she was just messing around with Tyler
for fun, but none of us had to heart to tell him.
“You guys kept that shit to yourselves then she broke my fucking heart,” he mutters.
I swallow. I guess this is pretty much the same thing. How’d he keep from killing all of us?
He looks at me. “Fucking broke my heart. And you didn’t tell me. So chill. I know how it fucking feels.”
“How’d you handle it?” I ask, seriously wondering how I’ll ever forgive Ross.
“Remember when Mr. Vining gave you all community service because he thought you painted the graffiti on the gym doors?”
I blink then stare at him. “You sneaky son of a bitch. We picked up trash along the highway for an entire month. Not to mention the fact that I got the Camaro taken away from me that entire time!”
He smiles wickedly. “That’s how.”
I can’t help but laugh at that and shake my head. But then I think about Ross keeping this shit from me and I still want to rip him a new one. I clench my teeth and take a deep breath through my nose trying to get my shit under control.
“How can I do this?” I ask.
It’s a loaded question.
He shrugs. “I’m a lawyer. I can get his ass in trouble easily.
The other part? Not sure.”
I
huff out another laugh. “You should be one of those guys who talks people down off the ledge.” Then I narrow my eyes at him. “Or not.” Looking at the entire situation, Ross is the least of my worries.
“Don’t have all the answers. But for now, c
ut him some slack. He was put in a bad situation.”
I take another deep breath then pace the room again, my hands clasped behind my head as I look at the floor.
After a couple minutes he asks, “You good?” I stop and look at him then nod slowly. He raises an eyebrow at me to make sure and I nod again. “All right. Let’s do this.”
We walk back into the living room and Ross is standing by the bar looking at me remorsefully. “Jag, I’m sorry, man. Really,” he says.
“Tell me,” I say.
He takes a deep breath.
“You sure?”
“Fucking tell me,” I
say as I grit my teeth.
He takes another deep breath.
“Bec and El went shopping last week. They didn’t know I was home when they came in and I heard them talking about some guy that El’s been seeing, Austin something. When El left, I confronted Bec but all she’d tell me is that it’s none of my business what El does.”
I also take a deep breath, trying
to keep my cool. “And you didn’t tell me. Why?”
He looks like he’s in pain now. “Man, I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I thought about it, thinking if I’d wanna know if Bec was doing that, and I didn’t know if I did.
I mean, yeah, I guess it’d be better to know than not, but I don’t know. And I knew you were coming back home, so I was gonna tell you but then I thought you had so much other shit going on right now, I didn’t wanna add to it. I’m sorry.”
After another deep breath, I
try to start thinking more clearly, but all I can come up with is that although it’s not his fault, he still could’ve told me, so I remain pissed.
“And you don’t know who he is?” I ask.
“Bec wouldn’t tell me. That’s all I know.”
“You think it’s someone she met at work?”
He shrugs uneasily.
“Someone she’s working on? Another fucking pro athlete?”
He shrugs again.
Well, this is a game changer. Here I’ve been biding my time thinking all I had to do was wait a little longer then make my move.
Since El was the one who broke it off, I thought that maybe if I gave her a little more time, showed her that I’m not doing the things the tabloids say I’m doing, she’d be over shit and we could move forward. But she’s gone and changed the rules.
I know t
his is my fault. I should’ve let her know I was in town, told her about the Cubs. I mean, what’d I expect would happen, she’d be sitting at home every night waiting for me? And I did tell her the last time we talked that I was no longer her concern and to leave me alone. Well, not as nicely as that, but whatever. She’s also called a couple times but I haven’t answered or called her back, not having a clue as to what I’d say. Now I see my indecision’s been a double-edged sword that’s just been waiting around to stab me in the ass.
N
ow as I think about what’s going on with her, a part of me wants to go hunt her down and tell her she’s mine. Another part is shocked that she’d do this to us. The last part wants to find the bastard she’s been seeing and rip his goddamned head off.