Clutch Hit Faith O'Shea (red queen free ebook txt) 📖

wife. Not understanding the feelings, unable to articulate the emotion behind it, he’d fallen back on Rumi, something his mother would have expected. He’d gambled everything for love, not a love that had blossomed but the seed of it. He was counting on growing it with Alicia. He just wasn’t sure whether the seed would sprout or die.

Seb came out from the kitchen, two beers in his hands. Mateo had invited him over after the mercy meal and his friend hadn’t left yet. He handed over a beer, and dropped down to the couch, the remote in his hand.

“What the hell has you so amped?”

Mateo studied his friend, considering what to tell him. He wasn’t sure he should expand on the story Alicia had given everyone, that she was taking a few personal days to make up for her lost vacation. But he was at wit’s end waiting for some word about the meeting.

Taking a seat at the edge of the blue sofa, he said, “I need to talk to someone about what’s going on, but it’s highly confidential. I need your promise that you won’t say a word.”

Seb took his finger off the power button and placed the remote in his lap.

“I’ve got your back.”

“Alicia—”

“Would you stop calling her that? It makes me think of a Spanish ice queen and that’s not our Allie.”

Mateo exhaled. It’s how he’d come to know her, and it would take practice to change the way he addressed her. When he thought about it, he realized that calling her Alicia might be too formal, and it kept him at a distance. He wanted to close that gap so maybe… For that reason, and in deference to his friend he said, “Allie is in Havana. She’s agreed to sponsor my mother’s visa. I’m waiting for the call to say she’s arrived and that she’s met her.”

“Why is that a secret? She does things like that all the time.”

Mateo sat up, thrown off by the statement.

“She has done this before?”

“Well, no, not that I know of, but it doesn’t surprise me.” Seb narrowed his eyes as if in contemplation before asking, “How is she going to do that? Can anybody sponsor a Cuban for an exit visa?” After a moment of silence, as if he was thinking more on the subject, he added, “Can’t be or the major league would have been providing sponsorships for any player they wanted to bring here.”

Mateo began to bite his nail. He was on the edge, trying to decide if he should jump off or back up.

“This is the part that’s confidential. You won’t tell anyone?”

Seb leaned forward, ready to listen. “I won’t. You have my word.”

Not sure if he could really trust him, their friendship new and untested, he stood and paced.

Seb tried to re-assure him. “Mateo. Really. I won’t say a word. I’ll even tell you something no one knows so we’re even.”

He thought Seb had already done that the night he got drunk, although he wasn’t sure his friend remembered telling him about Casey.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and blurted out, “We are married.”

Seb’s eyes widened and he blurted back, “Holy shit.”

“It is not what you think.”

“I bet it’s exactly what I think. She did it to get you here. I knew she’d do just about anything for the team, but this was not on my radar.”

Mateo didn’t want to hear this. Didn’t want the reminder that the marriage was temporary, that no one would be surprised to hear what she’d done. That she’d done it for the express purpose she’d told him, for the team, not for what might be between them.

Seb must have noticed the somber expression and his smile dipped.

“You went into it with more…feeling?”

Not wanting to look like a fool, he said, “I did it to get my mother here.”

“Not judging here. I know what it’s like to fall like a redwood to someone’s smile.”

The tension eased in Mateo’s shoulders, but he thought maybe Seb’s had tightened.

“Casey?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled, trying to throw some shade. “And I didn’t even know who her dad was.”

“What does that mean? You would have fallen quicker, harder if you had?”

“There would have been interest, but I wouldn’t have gotten to know her first. There would have been that distraction hanging over us.”

“How long did it take you to find out?”

“About her dad? A couple of months. They’d just moved to Lexington, so it’s not like I would have known him from little league or anything.”

“And the world is filled with Caliparis?”

“Oh, I asked. She told me he was a distant relative. It’s what she told everyone. She didn’t like the kind of attention it brought.”

“How did you find out he was more than a distant relative?”

“Glee Club concert. He was there with Galen and the look of pride on his face told a completely different story than the one she’d told. I met him that night and he… let’s just say he did a lot to help me, took me to practice with him, introduced me to the players, treated me like a son.”

“He was disappointed in you when you broke up with her.”

Seb’s eyes focused on something in the distance. “I thought he understood. The night I tried to explain it to him. I thought he understood but…he never talked to me again afterwards.”

“Did that hurt more than leaving Casey behind?”

Seb dropped his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

“Not by a long shot.”

“You still love her?’

He raised his head and looked him in the eye. “I’ll never stop having feelings for her, but I can’t promise something I can’t deliver.”

“What is that?”

“I can’t promise forever.” He shifted his eyes to meet Mateo’s. “You’ll get to walk away, a free man as soon as you’ve accomplished your goals. Temporary wouldn’t have worked with Case.”

The look of disappointment on Seb’s face was telling. Mateo had a feeling that he was re-thinking his position but unwilling to admit it.

As he was about to