Page 69 of Sweet Spot

Ev shrugged his wide pitcher’s shoulders. “I just don’t want to get in your way. You haven’t seriously dated anyone since Amanda.”

I studied the way he sat. Stooped over, shoulders hunched, like he was holding back the world. “Kate and I are solid. Don’t worry about that.” It was clear that while everything was going right for me, something was going wrong with my brother. “Is it me, baseball, or Dad?”

He flashed a smile without looking up. “It is weird having you be the boss of me, but no. It’s not you or Dad.”

Dad accepted it when I walked away. He couldn’t fight my reasoning. But Everett? He fought him tooth and nail. “So it’s baseball again?”

“Not the same as last time, but some of it’s real familiar.” He set his mug aside and clenched his hands, flipping them over and doing it again. “The feeling inside is coming from the same place.”

That wasn’t good at all. “But it’s different?”

“Yeah. I don’t know. It’s why I’m not sleeping. I can’t figure it out and it’s driving me up a wall.”

“Is Liam any help?”

Ev wobbled his head from side to side. “A little. But he’s as in the dark as I am.”

“So what’s the plan?”

He shrugged. “Make a big breakfast.”

“Ev.”

He sighed. “Willa called.” Once upon a time Willa had been the third Amigo to Seth and Everett in college. She went along with their pranks and parties but was the cool head that prevailed when they went too far. “She and Seth have been talking. Seth and I have been talking. Obviously we’re both in a weird place, so she called me.”

“How long has it been?”

“Too long. I let it drift. I own that. She sends me emails and text messages randomly. I only reply on her birthday or at Christmas.”

“So this is the first time you’ve spoken in a while?”

“Yep.” He huffed. “It was good to catch up. She said Seth invited her out since we’re on the same team. We’re going to have a little reunion.”

Fuck, maybe my brother just needed a friend. “You want to head over to Reds and shoot the shit for lunch today?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I do.”

We sat in the corner booth and ordered burgers and wings. It was pretty quiet so we put our feet up and watched the sports news feed over the bar. I did not ask him questions or try to fix his problems. At The Red Tourist we were always friends and I wouldn’t change that now.

“You remember Lori?” he said out of nowhere.

Lori? I searched back through the annals and came up blank. “No.”

“She was Seth’s girlfriend in college.”

Oh…Lori. “Yeah. I remember her.”

“I think that’s why Seth is messed up.”

I thought back to the weird conversation I had with him in the locker room. “He was talking about missing college and needing new dreams.”

“Yeah.” Everett grabbed an enormous fry and slowly munched it like a rabbit eating a carrot. “It all goes back to college. All of it. It’s why he turned into such an asshole. You remember what he was like before.”

“I just thought all the money and fame went to his head.”

“Nope. It all happened because of Lori.”

Oh… “How do we help one of the highest paid and most successful players in baseball find a new dream?”

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