Page 85 of Fake Love

Nora is pissed and I would be too if I wasn’t so worried that Maddox was possibly hurt.

The game was going good, well at least to me it was going good. Maddox was pitching okay and at one point the Miners had the lead. Sure there were a few rough innings but I had faith that the miners would pull through and win.

Hell I was even letting my inner Selena out and yelling at the umpires about their calls.

I thought it was a good game, until the seventh inning and all hell broke loose.

One second he was waiting for a pitch the next he was out, his bat was on the floor and he was coming face to face with the other team’s catcher.

At first, I thought it was just going to be two of them springing words at each other and they would both walk away.

Nope.

Words were definitely exchanged but when the catcher threw a punch towards Maddox, it was like a wrestling match like Nora said.

Benches were cleared, the bullpen got involved and both Maddox and the catcher were taken out of the game.

After the fight, the stadium felt different. There was definitely tension between the two teams even without Maddox and the catcher nowhere in sight.

I tried to call and text Maddox but he didn’t answer. He still hasn’t answered as we make our way down to the visiting clubhouse with the rest of the players' families that are here.

“The catcher threw the first punch.” I say in Maddox defense. It’s a weak one but it’s all I got.

“And my idiot son threw the second.” She throws back.

I mean, she’s not wrong.

We continue to walk through the tunnels of the stadium until we reach the meeting area of the clubhouse. Family members, kids, and new people are all over the place.

Some players have trickled out but not the one that me and Nora are looking for.

After about ten minutes of waiting, the crowd has dwindled down to the point that we are the only family members left with some reporters that are waiting for a picture.

Finally after another five minutes, the doors open again, this time Maddox coming out with another man.

A man that has Nora adjusting her hair, that she says has grown a lot since her last chemo session in December, and baseball hat.

“Damn. That man can bend me over and take me anytime that he wants,” Nora says only for me to hear.

“Nora!” I say, through a laugh.

“What? I could have said he could fuck me any time he wants. Just because I have a grown man for a son, doesn’t mean that I’m a prude. I’m only forty-six,” she says, throwing me a smirk that is so much like the one her son wears.

As the men approach us, I can totally see why the man has Nora drooling.

The man is hot as hell, with bulging muscles, a thin beard and tattoos on his hands.

I know from my new found baseball knowledge that this man is Ben Kipper the Miners manager. Or skipper as Maddox called him.

But my attention doesn’t stay on him long because its quickly taken by the bruise that is forming on Maddox’s face.

It looks angry and like it will take a few weeks to go away.

Without thinking about it, I break the distance between me and Maddox and reach up to gently touch his cheek.

He flinches a bit at my touch but then leans into my touch.

“I’m fine,” he voices, placing a hand on my mine and lowering it from his face, but he doesn’t let go of me.

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