5. Casey

CHAPTER FIVE

CASEY

This jackass is going to give me an ulcer before we even make it mid-season.

“Come on, Blue! You can’t be that blind!”

Baylor shot me a hard look. He could dish it out, but apparently, he couldn’t take it. Noted .

“Tyler, get in there and replace him. Bryce!” I shouted. “Come back in!”

Popping another antacid, I grimaced as the chalky fruit flavor coated my tongue. I hated them, but they were a necessary fact of life during every season. This season seemed longer than any other in my life, thanks to Buchanan. I couldn’t figure out if he was purposely sticking it to me, or if he was actually just a prick. Both, maybe?

Not that his personality mattered much when I was home alone in the shower. It was his face and his body I couldn’t get out of my head, not his smart mouth. That ass; so tight and so hot. I’d jacked off to him three more times.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

It was because I hadn’t met anyone new yet. That had to be it. I really needed to make time to get out to the club again, but it was so hard during the season. I came home exhausted. And then I had to make time for my projects outside, and by the day’s end there just wasn’t any drive to hit the club. But every time I stepped into that shower, I cursed myself for not making the time.

“Marley, what is Tanner doing out there?”

My assistant coach squinted, looking into the outfield as he shaded his eyes with his hand. “Not sure, Coach.”

“Well, tell him to quit or he’s going to be warming the bench all season.”

We were actually doing well—among the top five ranked D1 schools—the crankiness and anxiety were just par for the course for me. It was always like this. But more than that, it was Baylor . I just knew that fucker was out to get me.

It was personal for him, which meant it was personal for me.

“You all right, Casey?” Marcus ducked his head into the dugout.

Technically, he was my rival, the head coach of another D1 school, the Rainier Cougars, but off the record, he was my friend. A man I highly respected and liked.

“I’m fine, just that fucker ump and his blind eyes. I swear he’s got it in for me.” Instead of sympathizing with me, Marcus laughed. “What? What’s funny? He’s fucking with my season.”

“That fucker is my best friend. And you’re right, he’s as blind as you say he is.”

“Your best friend?” Not that I could accuse him of bias, since I slept with the man.

“Don’t think that counts for anything because it doesn’t. I think he has it in for me too,” he laughed.

“Great, maybe we can ask the boosters to fund his Lasik surgery.”

Marcus laughed harder. “Don’t sweat it, it’s not personal. Baylor takes his job seriously. He’s very fair.” Two plays later, Austin threw a slider that Baylor counted as out. “That was a ball,” Marcus shouted across the field.

“What were you saying about him being fair?”

Marcus fixed his friend with a glare that could burn him alive. “Fuck fair. He’s obviously out of his mind.”

His best friend. Hell, my small world and this small town were getting even smaller. The proverbial walls were closing in on me. Baylor was close, too close , and getting closer. He was smothering me.

I’ve never had the misfortune of being stuck with someone I had slept with. There was a reason, actually several, that I was a one-and-done kind of guy. Baylor was bucking the system, foiling my best-laid plans. The man was chaos personified, like a hailstorm headed directly at me, hell-bent on causing destruction and damage. Baylor Buchanan had to go.

“Come to Daddy. Come on girl, come to Daddy.”

The dog park was relatively empty today, which was great because Rawlings was in the mood to ignore commands. I tossed the frisbee again, and she darted after it, chasing it down. But instead of returning it to me so I could throw it again, she ran laps around the park with it gripped between her teeth. She had the zoomies today, and it was best to let her run it out.

“Come here, girl,” I tried again, only to be ignored.

Plopping my ass down on the bench, I took my phone out of my pocket and started scrolling online. Last night, lying in bed after having come again to the image of his face, I had a genius idea to try a dating site where I could screen my hookups better than I could in a crowded dark club.

The more famously gay ones like Grindr were out of the question. The risk of running into one of my players or another athlete in our division from another school, or hell, any student from my school, was too high. My face was too easily recognized. I thought maybe if I used an app more catered toward straight men and dating rather than just hooking up, I might have better luck remaining anonymous. Those apps were notorious for catering to men like me who were looking for other men, but wanted to keep everything quiet.

As I lay there in bed, I made a profile, using a picture of the curve of my ass in hopes it would act as a beacon for gay men. This way, we could chat a bit before I decided if I wanted to take things further. After I screened them to make sure they weren’t students. It was a much better plan than the crapshoot gamble I risked at the club.

Rawlings trotted up to me with the frisbee between her teeth, panting and drooling, and I took the frisbee, wiped my hand off on my jeans, and reached for my water bottle.

“Here you go, baby girl.” I drizzled some in her mouth and she lapped it up greedily. “You finished? We can stop for a Pup Cup on the way home.”

Those two words worked like magic. Rawlings barked and wagged her tail furiously. She was a whore for Pup Cups from Starbucks . Something about that mini paper cup filled with whipped cream made her entire day.

Unfortunately, the line at Starbucks was twelve cars deep, but at least it gave me plenty of time to scroll my phone and check my email. I clicked on the one from Austin Healey, my star pitcher.

“ Coach, I hope you’re well. Marcus and I would like to invite you over for a barbecue this weekend. You’re welcome to bring a plus one. Even if it’s your dog. Don’t worry about bringing anything, we have everything covered. Just show up on Saturday at twelve. Let me know if you can’t make it. Sincerely, Austin .”

What a great guy. Marcus was a lucky man. Again, I was hit with that pang of jealousy that he was out of the closet, living his best life with the man he fell hard for, even though their relationship had raised a few eyebrows.

More than a few. I guessed it was their age gap and the fact Austin was once Marcus’s student and a player on his team in high school. In fact, I remembered reading the headlines where Marcus got fired for that. But it didn’t stop them and they were still going strong. Someday, when I didn’t have a season to win and a faculty to kowtow to, maybe I could have that as well.

Hitting Reply , I typed out,

“ Sounds great, I’d love to come. And yes, Rawlings is my plus one. See you Saturday .”

“We’ve got a date, girl.” I rubbed between her ears, and she licked my face. “You and me on Saturday at the barbecue.”