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“Emma,” he whispers in a broken voice.
And just like that, everything falls into place and makes sense. I understand exactly where he’s coming from.
“We can't talk about this here, but we will,” I reassure him. “But until we can, I need you to listen to me. Emma isn't here. Right now, on this field, there’s only your mitt and that ball. Let everything else melt away. Nothing else exists on this field, Leo. Do you understand me?”
Leo lifts his gaze to meet mine. There’s so much pain and misery swimming in his eyes. I know that’s exactly how I’ve looked for the past few years.
“I don’t know if I can do that.”
“You can. You can leave it all in the locker room. As soon as you step on the field, it’s just baseball and nothing else.”
He nods his head and we slowly stand together. He grabs his glove and ball off the ground and rubs the ball into the leather.
“Are you ready to get back to work?” Danny sighs. He’s more than done with us today.
“Yes,” Leo growls again. Clearly his anger isn't gone, but maybe he can get out of his head. “Just leave me the fuck alone.”
He spins around and stomps to the pitcher’s mound. He doesn’t wait for Danny or Wyatt to clear the field, instead he hurls the ball towards home plate and Smithy is left blinking when the ball hits the catcher’s glove. He must’ve come back from whatever he was handling and jumped right into practice.
He mutters something as Leo sends another ball flying his way. Smithy swings, but it’s too fast and he misses. He shakes his head and rolls his shoulders. He’s the best batter on the team, he rarely ever misses one of Leo’s pitches. The last pitch lands with a solid thud in the catcher’s mitt and has Smithy throwing his bat across the field.
I don’t know what’s going on with Smithy, but he looks almost as frustrated as Leo is. Practicing isn't going to help either one of them. If anything, they’re going to get more angry and more stuck in their head.
Danny’s an idiot for not picking up on these things, but I'm not letting it continue.
Fans and the media think I'm the golden Powell child and because I play on a team my father owns, I get my way with everything. They think my life has been handed to me on a silver platter and that’s almost laughable.
Yes, my life has been easier than many, but Dad didn’t hand me a position on his MLB team just because I'm his son. Nope, he made me work my ass off to get here. He told me he wouldn’t hire me unless I was good enough to play. Because I know he doesn’t joke around when it comes to business, I worked my ass off to be here. How embarrassing would it be for me to have an MLB team owned by my family and yet I couldn’t get picked to play on the team? I couldn’t let that happen.
I still had offers from multiple teams. I could’ve gone anywhere. But I didn’t want to leave my parents or sister behind. Hell, I didn’t want to leave Macy. I knew staying in Philadelphia was my best option.
I’ve always followed the rules Dad expects every player to follow and I’ve given Danny a ton of respect as our coach. But today he’s fucking up and I'm done with it.
“We’re finished!” I cup my hands around my mouth and holler across the field. Everyone’s eyes snap to mine and watch me carefully. “Get in the locker room.”
“No, we’re not!” Danny’s face turns red as his furious glare lands directly on me.
“Yes, we are. Everyone go!”
Every player’s gaze bounces from me to Danny, and then to each other. No one knows who they should listen to.
Leo’s the first to make a move. He marches past Danny, making sure to keep a decent amount of distance from him. That’s probably a good move on his part because he looks seconds away from smashing his hand into something and if Danny tries to stop him, he might become the target. And that won't end well for either one of them.
Smithy trails after Leo and Wyatt’s quick to hobble after them. Once everyone sees the three of them go, they all follow suit and I hurry to catch up.
I’ve barely stepped foot inside the locker room when Danny bellows from behind me, “Powell, my office!”
I drop my head back so I'm staring up at the ceiling and let out a loud groan. I knew this would happen, but that doesn’t mean I want to deal with it.
“Nah, let’s come into my office.” Dad’s leaning against the threshold of his door. His arms are folded across his chest and he’s not happy. I swallow hard. I'm not scared of Danny, not even a little bit, but a pissed off Owen Powell? Yeah, I'm terrified of him. I’ve seen what he can do to people.
I slowly step inside his office and lower myself into a chair. I don’t open my mouth or try to defend myself. I know how Dad works and me trying to talk first isn't going to help.
“Aren't you going to say anything, Cord?” Danny growls.
I pinch my lips together and shake my head. It’s going to piss him off, but I don’t care. I have a hell of a lot more respect for Dad than I do for him.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” Dad’s tone is eerily calm and relaxed.
