“I don’t have anything to say. ”
“You always have something to say. Just say it. Please talk to me,” I begged. This girl brought me to my knees, and I’d fall to the floor willingly for her every single time.
She swallowed before inhaling deeply, “I just think it sucks. Obviously management knows that cheating goes on and by putting the wives on separate floors, it’s like they condone it. I just don’t understand why the integrity they demand from you guys on the field isn’t demanded once you’re off it?”
“It’s not that, babe. The cheating is going to happen no matter what anyone says. The wives eventually started asking to be put on different floors. They didn’t want to see girls coming out of their friends’ husbands’ rooms. ”
The car slowed to a roll before coming to a stop altogether. In the height of the conversation, I’d almost forgotten where we were. Matteo exited the car before I could stop him, opening our door and extending a hand to Cass. He pulled her with care from the backseat, guiding her toward the building entrance by placing his hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you,” she said politely.
“Thanks, man. ” I reached out for Matteo’s hand and gripped it tight. He gripped it just as firmly in response, and I fought the urge to squeeze it until his bones popped. If this was some sort of pissing contest we were having, I’d be the one winning. “See you tomorrow?”
“Absolutely. Good night and good luck. ” He raised an eyebrow, and I patted his back.
“Thanks. ”
We walked through the lobby, saying hello to Fred before taking the elevator up to our apartment. Once through the front door I emptied the loose change from my pockets onto the table. I sorted through it, grabbing all the quarters and removing them from the pile.
“What are you doing?” she asked, peering around the refrigerator door at me.
“Taking out the quarters. ”
“Whyyyy?” she asked, dragging out the y sound for emphasis.
“You know why,” I said with a wink.
“Humor me. ”
“I don’t spend quarters anymore, Kitten. They all get saved and put in that box right over there. ” I pointed to the box filled with quarters Fred delivered that night, sitting on the shelf.
“I owe you a lot of touches, Mr. Carter. ”
“You’re telling me. Why do you think I keep adding to the box?”
She laughed, and I watched her face light up before I took her smile away. “Now that we’re alone, will you please tell me what’s wrong? I know you’re tired, but something else happened tonight. What was it?” She hesitated, and I sensed she didn’t want to tell me. “Cass. Please. I’m starting to go a little fucking crazy here. Did someone hurt you?”
“No. ” She shook her head, her eyes avoiding mine. “No one hurt me. ”
“I know something happened. I can see it in your face. There might not be bruises this time, but I can see it just the same. ”
She winced at my bringing up the mugging. We barely talked about that night, partly because they caught the guy, but mostly because it made me uncontrollably pissed off. I could barely think about that night, the way she looked and the way she trembled in my arms, without wanting to break into jail and kill that asshole with my bare hands.
I searched my memory for anything I might have said or done recently to piss her off. “Why the fuck are you making me drag it out of you like this? Just talk to me!” My irritation started to build as my tone escalated.
Why wouldn’t she just fucking talk to me? “Dammit, Cassie, just spit it out! Are you pissed at me? Did I do something wrong?”
My phone beeped, signaling a text message. Irritated, I grabbed it and slammed my finger against the buttons.
Cass will kill me for sending you this Jack, but you need to see it. It’s from tonight’s game.
Attached to my little brother’s text was a picture of Cassie getting a cup of beer thrown at her back.
I Don’t Need a Babysitter
Cassie
I hated that Jack instantly thought it was something he did. I didn’t want to tell him about the fans. Or the wives. Or any of it, really. The last thing he needed to do was to worry about me when he was on the field. Baseball was his job, not some hobby he played for fun on the weekend. I didn’t want to be the kind of girl that distracted him, and suddenly, I would do anything to avoid him seeing me as a burden. The stadium was filled with thousands of people every night. It’s not like he could stop them from saying whatever they wanted to me.