Page 127 of The Strike Zone

That was it, that one simple question and my tears dried up. Before the day had swiftly gone south, I’d been planning to pull out of the interview process, and Lowe sitting presented a unique opportunity I was unlikely to get again.

“Yes.” I sniffed, wiping my nose again. “I appreciate this isn’t the time or the place, but I’ve decided to pull out of the social media role. It’s not the right time for me. I love my current job and I want to keep working at it until I’ve outgrown it. I’ve still got so much to learn. I’m really grateful for the opportunity you gave me, but I’d be even more grateful if you’d allow me to continue in my current position. Also, if you haven’t guessed from my being here and all, you should know I’m dating Parker King. I haven’t signed the HR form yet, but it was on my list of things to do today, but things got in the way, and then this happened…”

There. That should cover everything.

Lowe sat back, rolled her mouth together, and nodded. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but if you feel you’re not ready for the role, then I appreciate your honesty in telling me. I’ve said it before, but we’re lucky to have you here, and I stand by that. You might not feel you’re ready now, but when you feel like taking on a new challenge, you let me know, and we’ll talk.”

“Thank you.”

“And in regard to Parker…hey, I’m dating my boss.” She laughed, before her smile softened. “It’s not easy to have a work relationship, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. If he makes you happy, that’s all that matters.”

“He does make me happy.” I smiled, genuinely for what was probably the first time all day.

Lowe nodded, pausing like she was about to say something then changed her mind. “C’mon, let’s go back, I’m sure you’ll want to see him.”

Tanner was laughing at something on his phone when we walked into the waiting room. “That’s what your mom said…never not funny.”

Instead of taking my seat, I walked to where Coach was sitting and stopped in front of him. I’d been honest with Lowe, may as well rip the whole Band-Aid off.

Here goes nothing.

“Sir, you should know that it was me who asked Parker to wait until we told people about our relationship. He did it for me because I was scared it would jeopardize a job role I was interviewing for. If anyone should be punished for not following the rules, it should be me. All Parker wants to do is play well for you and this team. Please don’t take that away from him.”

Coach removed his reading glasses, which made his eyes seem even more piercing. I was tempted to ask him to put them back on.

“I think Parker’s saved me the job of punishing him, don’t you?”

I nodded.

“He’s going to be on the injured list for sixty days, perhaps you two could use the time to get your story straight.”

“Yes, sir.” I nodded again as Lowe walked over with Penn.

“We can talk more about this tomorrow,” Lowe announced, resting her hand on my shoulder. “It’s late, we should be going home. There’s another game against the Mets to win tomorrow, and you all need your rest. Parker will be out until the morning, and we can’t do any more tonight. He’s in good hands here.”

There were murmurs of agreement as everyone stood up and made their way to the elevators. Penn, Lowe, Coach, and the team doc all took the first elevator, while the rest of us waited back. I could tell they were all reluctant to leave Parker on his own, especially Ace, but I had no plans to go anywhere, and I didn’t need to be in top shape to play a game of baseball.

“Guys, you heard Lowe, you all need your sleep. Don’t worry about Parker, I’m staying. I’ll message you if there’s anything urgent, but I’m sure he’s going to be fine.”

“She’s right,” said Lux, his arm around Radley, who looked like she was about to fall asleep. “We’ll come back first thing.”

After a few quick goodbyes and the promise to meet Holiday for breakfast, I followed the nurse to Parker’s room and crept in.

The glow of the machine lights lit my way as I leaned over to kiss his cheek, taking extra care not to disturb the morphine drip in his arm, then pulled a blanket over me and hunkered down on the couch.

THIRTY-ONE

PARKER

Imust have dreamed it.

The couch under the window was empty, but I swear I’d woken up in the night and Scout had been asleep on it. It was the only thing from this entire twenty-four hours that would have made me feel better. That and the morphine I was hooked up to.

Because this stuff was fucking incredible.

I also had a brief recollection of the surgeon coming in this morning to tell me how lucky I was I still had two balls, along with the ability to have children. Assuming I was ever allowed to have sex again, which would only happen once the intense throbbing in my groin stopped underneath the enormous diaper I appeared to be wearing.

My head dropped back against the pillow, and I tried my hardest to remember what had happened after Ace pitched, but maybe it was best that I couldn’t. It was bad enough that I’d woken up with a surgeon peering over me telling me she’d fixed my junk. I could kind of do with her returning, however, so she could fill me in on the more salient points, like what to do when I needed to take a piss.

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