“Actually, you’ll have to ask the next bat boy about the gummies because this”—I motioned between me and Donovan—“means I lose my job.”
“Fucking hell, Kellan,” Donovan said as several players gasped. “I can’t have you—”
“It wasn’t your choice. It was mine. And I choose you.”
Before he could argue again, I planted another kiss on his lips, just as we heard the door swing open behind us.
“Kellan and Brady, my office, now!” Dad said, and the room fell silent.
Brady reached for my hand, and we walked together into the lion’s den.
23
Brady
It wasn’t really the lion’s den—or Coach’s office, for that matter—because the facilities were being loaned to the tournament. And maybe it was better that it wasn’t. Our clubhouse would’ve felt too familiar and real, and right now, I needed someone to pinch me and wake me from this dream.
What just happened between Kellan and me was incredible, but being called out by Coach felt awful, and my gut churned as we stepped into the room and closed the door behind us.
Coach Adams was leaning against the windowsill, and he threw us a sympathetic look as my heart ping-ponged in my chest.
“Before you say anything, Dad,” Kellan rushed out, “I want to tell you how sorry I am.”
Coach gripped the arms of the chair behind the desk, a disgruntled look on his face. “What are you sorry about, exactly?”
“You made me promise never to play favorites.” Kellan’s shoulders slumped. “And for months, I tried to resist getting to know Donovan, but I did. He became my friend. And he also became my absolute favorite.”
Fuck, I swore under my breath, feeling the sting of emotions behind my eyes before blinking them away. I was partly to blame for this. I’d pushed my way into his life. I’d teased him incessantly, invited him everywhere, and gotten in his face because of this overwhelming, burning desire to know him.
“Kellan,” Coach warned. “You can’t—”
“I fully accept the consequences,” Kellan said. “This was a great job, and I learned a ton. So thanks for the opportunity.”
“No, Kel!” I blurted out, finally finding my voice. “I can quit the team. This was your dream job—”
“To pick up sweaty jockstraps?” he teased, and Coach Adams winced.
I threw him a stern look. “You know what I mean.”
“It’s your dream too.” He grasped my hand. “You might even get scouted next year. We’ll both earn our degrees, and I’ll have this experience on my résumé, which will help me get a job.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever play for anyo—”
“I don’t want to lose you,” Kellan said.
I frowned, the thought of it sticking in my gut. “I don’t want to lose you either.”
“You’d do that?” Coach asked, his eyes trained on me. “Quit the team?”
“For him?” I squeezed Kellan’s fingers. “Yes.”
“Christ, what am I going to do with the two of you?” Coach said, roughly adjusting the ball cap on his head. He made a frustrated sound. “I’m happy you found each other—I really am—but rules are rules.”
Coach Adams opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. He knew, just like the rest of us, how strict Coach was. So none of this surprised me, but it did bum me out.
“I completely understand,” Kellan said. “And I was the one who broke your rule, not Donovan, so he shouldn’t be punished for it.”
I tried to argue, but Kellan threw me a warning look as he began pulling me toward the door, conversation over.
“I’m sorry, Kellan,” his father said in a throaty voice, the emotion right at the surface.
“It’s okay, Dad,” he replied, then shut the door behind us. “Or it will be.”
Out in the hallway, we took a moment to collect ourselves. I wrapped an arm around him, my stomach feeling shredded. “What do we do now?”
“Let’s celebrate our win with the team!” His face brightened. “And being in love. We can deal with the rest later.”
And that was exactly what we did. We went out to dinner with the team and held hands under the table the entire time. That in itself helped soothe the burn from earlier. And I noticed Coach keeping his eye on us, the regret clear in his expression. Resignation too. That lent to the somber undertone, which Kellan tried to wipe away by making jokes and being more his true self—the one he’d mostly kept hidden from the team.
God, why was all this so hard and confusing?
Once back at the hotel, we stayed up late, playing cards in Devers’s room, which was fun, especially having Kellan by my side. And then we retired to Kellan’s bed, where I just held him all night—and okay, we also rubbed up against each other until we came because how could we not after all that crazy tension?
The bus trip home the next morning was surreal too. We sat together in the last row, earbuds in, fingers knotted together. That felt amazing but also bittersweet since I knew it would be our last ride together as part of this team. Whenever I’d tried to bring up the subject, to maybe brainstorm a different solution, he’d shushed me. Besides, I always came away empty-handed. Once the genie was out of the bottle, it was too late—or whatever that saying was that my mom sometimes used. But it was true. I didn’t think I could go back to hiding my feelings for him again.