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Chapter Eight

DREW

“Stop your fucking bitchin’,” Tristan growls from in front of his locker. God, he’s a miserable fucker sometimes.

“Dude, shut up. It’s bullshit. I was cleared to play by Doc and the trainer. It’s bullshit Coach won’t let me play.” I run a hand through my hair as I let out an exasperated breath. “If I’m fine to suit up, I’m fine to play. I need to be out there with you.”

“Pitch, it’s one game. You weren’t even set to pitch today. And you are out there,” Cameron says as he puts on his cap.

I roll my eyes, but Kayce adds, “Stop being a drama llama. Also, for future reference, maybe don’t go running into burning buildings and saving the damsels in distress. Or at least make sure you’re Superman before doing that.” He smiles at me.

“Look, I did what I thought I had to do. And I’m glad I did. Right place, right time.” I shrug.

“And now you aren’t cleared to play,” Tristan reminds me sourly. Did I mention he’s a miserable bastard?

I huff in annoyance. “Yeah, whatever.” I slam my bag into my locker. I’m stressed to the max. Not being given the go ahead by coach to play and having to be sidelined while we fight to keep our undefeated streak going is internally killing me.

Then add in that no one has been able to find Raelyn. She disappeared into the wind. If it wasn’t for others knowing she existed, I would question my sanity.

Though I don’t even know if anyone cares. It’s obvious she was in trouble, that she had been through more than most people in their lives. Not to mention the condition I found her in was deplorable. So it makes sense that she disappeared.

She is a lost soul. She got scared and ran from people who were legit trying to help her. My heart pulls at the idea that she is out there all alone.

But of course, I don’t know that. She could be with family, friends, anyone really. I know nothing about her. Just her name.

Raelyn.

“Spencer! Get in here!” Coach Bertelli yells from his office, breaking me out of my thoughts, and I wince.

“Oh, someone is gonna get yelled at for pouting.” Kayce frowns and makes sniffling noises at me and then laughs as I throw my glove at him. That only makes him laugh even harder.

“Shut it, Anderson,” Tristan snaps from where he sits in front of his locker.

I shake my head at the guys and walk into Coach’s office. It’s covered in baseball memorabilia, a lot of it from the days when he played. Coach Bertelli was a legend back then and an amazing third baseman. We are all very fortunate that he’s our coach and that we get to learn from the best.

“What’s up, Coach?” I nod as I walk in and sit on the black leather couch that rests against the wall.

He sighs. “I know you’re pissed?—”

“Pissed is an understatement,” I cut him off.

He holds up a hand to stop me. “We are just playing it safe with this game. And you weren’t even on the pitching rotation for today anyway.”

“Coach, you always list me as a backup, and today I’m not. Please put me on the roster,” I beg. “I get it that you’re playing it safe, but I need to be part of the team. It’s been a week since the fire.”

Coach Bertelli hums for a moment as he watches me.

“You get why it was stupid to do what you did, right? It was a house on fire . You had no idea who was in there or if you could get out! What if the building collapsed? What if you went in there for nothing? It was stupid. It was a stupid fucking thing to do.”

My jaw clenches. “Look, you and I have different definitions of stupid. Anderson live streaming his drunken escapades dry humping strippers on the Vegas Strip is stupid. Me rescuing a person from a fire? Not stupid. And I would do it again in a heartbeat.” I shrug as I lay down the facts.

“Fuckin’ Anderson needs his phone taken away.” Coach pinches the bridge of his nose. “Look, you’re a good kid, son. But one more day isn’t going to hurt. I get why you did what you did. Like I said, you’re a good egg. But I need to look out for your best interest as well as this team’s.

“And I can’t risk having my best pitcher rushed back to the hospital because he passes out on that mound. I know you were cleared, but I, as your coach, am saying you’re sitting out this game. It’s one more game. Then you are back on that field and racking up the strike outs. Okay?”

I let out a huff. “Yeah, Coach. One more game.” With that, I I stand up from the couch, spin on my heel and head out, not even turning back into the locker room. Instead, I head up toward the offices. I walk through the tunnels until I find myself at the office of my best friend.

I knock on the door and wait to get let in.

“Come in,” a sweet voice says from behind the door.

Slowly, I open it and see Phoenix sitting at her desk, typing away with Raven on the floor next to her desk.

“There’s my favorite little human.” I immediately kneel down and pick up Raven.

“Drew! Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the game?” Phoenix eyes me.

I blow out a breath. “I’m sitting out again. Coach’s orders. Though, supposedly, this will be the last one.” The irritation in my voice is evident because I hear her sigh.

“That’s bullshit, but I trust Coach Bertelli. So, if he thinks you sitting out one more game is the right move, then it’s one more game. Besides, you wouldn’t have started this game anyway,” Phoenix adds.

“Yeah, yeah. I haven’t played in a week. Who says I wouldn’t have started?” I shrug.

Phoenix looks over at the giant game calendar on her wall and smiles. “Because you play against the Chicago Ravens this weekend. And you know you need to pitch that first game.”

My lips tip up. Yeah, I do. My rivalry with a good friend of mine, Kyle Moody, hasn’t died down one bit since we were both drafted to the Major Leagues. “Fuckin’ Moody.”

“Moody. Exactly. And you know you need to be sharp and ready to take them on. So, while I get you are upset, Drew, Coach Bertelli knows what he’s doing. He needs you ready to go this weekend.” Phoenix offers me a smile.

Raven babbles and dances in my arms as she tries to recite the words to the Cocomelon song playing on the TV in the office. I give her a kiss on the forehead and place her back on the floor. She goes back to her toys and making noise.

“I know. Fuck, I-I’ve just got a lot on my mind, and I need a way to get it out, I guess,” I confess.

“It’s that woman you saved.” She doesn’t ask it, she states it. She knows me better than I know myself sometimes.

I nod. “I just can’t get her out of my head. The way she looked, the pain I felt for her.” I rub my chest. “And she took off. I couldn’t help her.”

“You can’t save everyone, Drew,” Phoenix says softly.

“I know, but she needed help. They should have kept a better eye on her.” My voice is thick with emotion.

“From someone who was once scared out of her mind, sometimes fear doesn’t let you make rational decisions.

All you know is what’s in front of you. Broken pieces of the puzzle.

And when you try to put it together, well, it can be overwhelming.

She ran because she didn’t know what was going on.

John says he’s searching missing persons and trying to see if anyone reported someone who looked like her missing. ”

“But what does it matter? She’s gone. Las Vegas is a big place.” I run my hand through my hair. “I would have preferred making sure she was okay with my own eyes. I should’ve just seen her that same day.”

“Look, focus on the game. Focus on what you are doing after the game. I heard the guys are going downtown for some concert tonight on Fremont Street.” Phoenix gets up and walks over to Raven, picking her up and giving her a kiss and hug.

“Focus on a game I’m not playing?” I throw back.

“You know you need to be there for the team, so don’t give me that shit. The team needs you, even if you aren’t playing. Focus on that. Focus on tonight. Focus on having a good time with friends and teammates. Focus on practice tomorrow. Focus on the games this weekend.”

I sigh. “That’s a lot of focusing.” I chuckle. “So, focus on everything else. Got it.” Looking down at my watch, I check the time and see that I need to get back to the locker room. I turn on my heel and head back toward the door. “Thanks, Phoenix. Just, if you hear anything?—”

“I will make sure you know. Now get fucking down on the field. Don’t make me trade you.” She smirks as she lets out a chuckle.

“You wouldn’t dare. Who else would get to drive you crazy on a daily basis?”

Phoenix shrugs. “Evans, Anderson, Davis…”

“Yeah, yeah.” I shake my head, smiling as I leave, closing the door behind me.

Her words bounce in my head. Focus .

Such a simple word. A word that has my stomach in knots and my mind whirling. And I can focus, but I am focused on one thing.

Finding Raelyn.