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I chuckle. “My brother asked me the same thing on my way in. Is that really a thing?”
“Didn’t happen to me, either, but, yeah, apparently, it’s a thing. You find a property?” he asks, obviously remembering that I was looking.
“I did. Great place, actually. Four connected townhouses in a row, quiet street, decent parking.”
Taking the stairs up, he asks, “Your family moving here?”
“Hudson’s got a place in New York. My sister, Jillian, is in her last semester of her degree program in Virginia. We’ll get it figured out when she’s done with school. Mom’s got a nice little at-home job now”—instead of the three jobs she always worked until I graduated college—“so she won’t quit completely, but she’s able to be mobile now.”
“Guessing you wish she would,” he says as he opens the door to a conference room.
“Yeah, I do.”
Walking in, I see Zandor, Brisa—his blonde daughter who’s not as mouthy as Tris but equally as hot in a much different way and very married, as well—and Jase Steel on one side of the table. On the other are AJ Tereira, Blaze Bennett Jr., and Nour Uyar—all rookies, like me.
Amias and I both sit.
“First, welcome to the family. We’re excited about the preseason beginning with the regular season right around the corner. Maybe not as excited as I’m sure you all are, but excited just the same.” Brisa smiles then looks at Jase.
He leans back. “You might have heard that our veteran catcher is announcing his retirement today. What you don’t know is that our third baseman, our shortstop, and our number one pitcher, Blaze Bennett Sr., are retiring, as well.”
Jase pauses as we all slide our gazes to his son, Blaze Jr. For a split second, he looks shocked, making it obvious he didn’t know, but then his mask is set firmly back in place as he stays focused forward.
“Bennett Sr. will be staying on as the team’s new pitching coach.”
It’s like passing the scene of an accident—we all swing back and look at Blaze again. His face is completely void of emotion.
Zandor speaks next. “We’ve gone from four pitchers on our roster to six. Instead of two catchers, we have a third who also plays outfield, if needed. Uyar, we want to see what you’ve got; you’ll be starting game one, catching.” Game one is away, against Texas.
“I’ll give you everything,” he says, trying to remain cool, but I know damn well that, if I were him, I’d be losing my shit.
I lean over and hold out a fist. “Congrats, man.”
“Another change: Steel is moving from designated hitter to short. Turner will be our DH.”
I hold out a fist for him, and he taps it.
Zandor looks at Jase, who lifts a shoulder. “We named this Revolutionary Field. Can’t start a revolution without taking the first shot. Light it up, Z. Round them bases.”
Zandor clears his throat and continues, “Game one, we’re playing last year’s series champs. Pope has first. Hart, you’re starting on second.”
Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.
Steel, Uyar, and Tereira hold out a fist, and I tap each one.
“We’re bringing Leland Locke infield; he’ll be playing third.” Zandor smirks at AJ. “Tereira, you’re starting center.”
“Fuck, man,” he says as he makes the sign of the cross over his chest.
We all tap his fist.
“That leaves you, Bennett,” Jase says. “How do you feel about pitching your first major league game against last year’s champs?”
We all look at him and wait for a response.
“Good.”
Good? I think.
