Page 4 of Switch Pitching

Not that I’d ever admit it to him, or anyone else. I have one shot at making it in the big leagues, and I need to prove myself. I can’t let anything interfere with that or give anyone the impression that I’ve got baggage. Said baggage: being gay. Sure, professional sports are more accepting now, but I want to be seen for my skills first.

“Rough morning, Sullivan?” A deep voice rumbles beside me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I turn to see Will Leblanc leaning against the chain-link fence. He’s a third-season infielder, and we overlapped on the Portland team for about a month after I joined. We’re both from the same corner of middle-of-nowhere Maine, and we got along well.

“Yeah, no kidding,” I manage, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand. “Trying to adjust to how intense this is.”

Will chuckles. “Don’t worry, it’s a rite of passage. Survive this, and it’ll be chill.”

I give him a side-eye. “Easy for you to say. You don’t even look tired.”

Smirking, Will claps my shoulder. “Just comes with experience. You’ll learn all the tricks soon enough.”

I nod, appreciating the reassurance, but my gaze drifts back to James. He’s deep in conversation with one of the coaches, nodding while adjusting his grip on the ball.

“Saw you chatting to James earlier. It seems like you’ve made a friend already.”

“Yeah, we ended up talking this morning. He’s cool,” I say.

“That’s one way to put it. He’s a character, that’s for sure.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

Will chuckles again. “You’ll see. If you two become super close, you might balance each other out. You’ll bring your quiet stoicism, and he’ll bring his… everything.”

Tilting my head, I wait for Will to elaborate. He’s holding back a laugh, and I get the sense there’s more to this story.

“Okay, spill. Is there something else?” I ask. I try to keep my voice casual, but I can’t shake my curiosity.

Will leans closer, lowering his voice. “Alright, so here’s the thing. The first night James arrived for spring training, back in March, we hit up this restaurant. It was supposed to be super casual, but James walks in and shows us all up without trying, you know what he looks like. He was all cleaned up, dressed well, the whole package. It didn’t take long before this group of women at the bar started obviously checking him out.”

I pause to let the details sink in.

“Anyway,” Will continues. “These women approach him and lay on heavy with the flirting, and before we know it, they’re all over him. I mean, seriously, they were like moths to a flame. Next thing we see, he’s leaving with the whole group.”

I raise an eyebrow. “All of them?”

“All four. He walked out super chill, like it was normal for him.”

I can’t say I’m too surprised, considering how attractive James is. I have eyes, but I don’t let myself get any ideas. The guy is clearly straight, which gives me momentary disappointment before I remind myself that dating a teammate is a terrible idea.

But still, leaving with four women? That’s something else. Good for him, though.

Will smiles at my subdued reaction. “So yeah, now everyone thinks he’s a total player.”

“Right.” I can see how that would happen. The team seems to have the same athletic, hyper-masculine dynamic as everywhere else I’ve played.

“Don’t worry, man. James is a great guy. Just, uh, get ready for some stories once you guys end up hanging out,” says Will.

I let out a short laugh. “Noted. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sending a parting wave my way, Will jogs off to rejoin the rest of his training group, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I glance back at James, who’s still talking to the pitching coach.

Will might be onto something. Even though I just met James a few hours ago, we hit it off well. While I’m not the type to draw a crowd, I have my own way of getting things done. As long as I stay focused and keep putting in the work, I can make my short spring training a success.

2

JAMES

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