Page 47 of The Battery

Leo

T urbulence harangued us the entire flight back from Austin as if the Lone Stars had summoned weather demons to curse the trip. The only saving grace was knowing they were right behind us in their own jet, likely experiencing the same bumpy hell.

I had been flying my entire baseball career. Didn’t care at takeoff. Didn’t care at landing. The white-knuckle grip I had on the armrest while the giant metal can in the sky shook revealed my thoughts on in-flight issues.

Cody, bless his soul, blatantly ignored the chink in my armor.

He pretended I was still that implacable, stalwart guardian, unfazed by a little jarring in the air.

I bided the hours-long flight by reviewing every highlight reel I could get my hands on.

Not only did I review the mishaps of our last game, I also watched endless clips of the Lone Stars in an effort to divine their weakness.

To clinch the pennant and secure out spot in the World Series, we needed to win four of the six game series.

We traveled to Austin for the first two, where we lost the first and won the second.

I was not surprised that they won the first, their home field advantage taking full effect, the roaring Texan fans drowning out everything like a swarm of bees.

They won by four runs and that night in the hotel, I studied their pitchers like it was the only thing that mattered.

I had been distracted, though. After lights out, Cody sneaked his way into my room under the pretense that he needed to “help you get to sleep,” as he put it.

Not that I could reject him. It was a welcomed distraction from the replays on my tablet.

We found a balance between hard and soft.

A sort of quiet intensity, as I came to think of it.

The simplicity of lovemaking with the intensity of… well, fucking .

We won the second game by an impressive five runs. It was enough to humiliate them, though I considered it a double-edged sword. Now they would come after us twice as hard in game three to prove a point. It was a night game, and everyone left as soon as it was done.

Now, somewhere over the heartland at midnight, the majority of the team slept while I sat next to Cody as we reviewed some replays together.

We should have been sleeping. Once we got back to Lexington, I wanted to take full advantage of the only day we had off—ahead of us was three back-to-back games, then it was a return to Austin.

If we had to head back to Austin. We had three games in Lexington. If we won all three, that put us at four, which would mean…

I could hear the echo of Uncle Andy in my ear. Encouraging words, telling me how proud he was of not only the game, but my life.

Four pennants , I thought as I stared through the tablet resting on my lap. Cody had fallen asleep, his head resting on my shoulder. We were in our usual spot, tucked in the back corner. But really? I think people had figured it out. I didn’t care. Emma, our PR lady, hadn’t said anything. Yet.

The plane hit a particularly wicked air pocket and I hissed from momentary fright. Cody jolted awake and blinked away the sleep in his eyes. “Did… did you just scream like a little girl?”

I elbowed him. “Not funny,” I said, then readjusted the tablet on my lap that had shifted from my jump. “Go back to sleep.”

He looked around the cabin, then dropped his head onto my shoulder, eyes shutting.

What world am I in?

Six months ago I was scheming to transfer out of the Brawlers on a singular mission to win a pennant for my uncle.

Since then, I lost a loved one and gained a new one.

A simple thing to say, yet it carried the weight of my lifetime.

Did I change or did the world around me change?

I didn’t feel different, exactly, but being around Cody had unlocked something that I didn’t realize had been caged.

Would I have found something like this in Brooklyn if I could go back in time with these experiences?

Did another love await me in that city that I had missed out on?

I peeked down at Cody, who had already begun to snore lightly.

Does it matter if there was someone else? I had someone right here.

Fuck it.

I lifted my arm and draped it around Cody’s shoulders to pull him closer.

A teammate had gotten up to hit the head and paused at the sight.

One of the Assholes—Shoji. I had caught Cody a number of times texting the man during off hours.

They had gone from bitter rivals to frenemies.

His constant, playful ribbing was good for Cody.

Friendly competition had always been more desirable than hated rivalry.

Shoji held up his hand like he was grabbing something, then made a crude, stroking gesture while pushing his tongue into his cheek. With my free hand, I gave him the bird. He cracked a smile, smacked me on the shoulder, then continued on to the bathroom.

I dropped my head into the cushioned seat back and put my focus on Cody’s body heat.

Turbulence carried us all the way to Boston.

*

I slapped the button to close the garage door as Cody moved cautiously down the hallway of our house.

I fidgeted for the light switch inside and flicked it on.

Cody let out a little hiss and scrunched his eyes closed.

We dropped our bags in the kitchen and shuffled upstairs, half asleep already and yawning.

We could catch a few hours of Zs, then wake up and enjoy a day off before diving back into the game.

At the top of the stairs, Cody came to a halt. I bumped into him, one step down.

“Are we officially living together?” he asked without any preamble. The sleep had vanished from his voice. He was clear as a bell with his question.

My brow went up, caught by surprise.

“We kinda already have been,” I answered earnestly.

Cody shook his head. “No. That was my recovery. That doesn’t count. I meant in the past week or so. I’ve had every opportunity to go back to Freddie’s. A lot of my stuff is still there.”

I shifted my weight and leaned against the banister. “Do you want to go back there?”

“No.”

I pushed off from the railing and walked past Cody. “Then we’re officially living together. Simple as that.”

Cody scoffed and chased after me. “I feel like that’s a big milestone. Should we be so dismissive of it?”

I shrugged as I ambled down the hallway. “The house is about twenty grand a month. How about you pay half?”

He let out a chortle that cut through the quiet of the house. He started to speak but I stopped just shy of the doorway to our bedroom. I spun and said, “This would be a good conversation for the morning, don’t you think?”

“I dunno. I kinda want to talk about it now.”

There was clarity in his eyes. Where he had been sleepy since we left Austin, I now saw a wide-awake Cody. I glanced longingly at the bed. “You couldn’t have brought this up on the plane ride? Or the car ride back to the house?”

“Tell you what,” he said. I was becoming more awake by the second, which stoked a flicker of annoyance in me. “We have a serious conversation now, and tomorrow I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.”

Well. Now I was more awake for a different reason.

“I already have that privilege,” I said as a test. He liked my confidence. It turned me on that he did.

“I thought of that,” he said. “Which is why I, um, bought a few things.”

I stood a little straighter. “What kind of things ?”

“ Conversation first , remember?”

I closed the single-step gap between us and forced him against the wall.

I planted a delicate kiss on his lips and held his face in my hands.

“I’m in love with you and I want the world for us.

My home is now yours, just like my heart.

We’ll take every new step together toward a future that will be filled with more love and joy than I can fathom.

I’m yours, Cody, in every sense that those words could possibly mean.

Call me your boyfriend, partner, whatever.

Tell the world. I really don’t care. So long as you’re still in it and I belong to you. ”

I stepped back. His mouth had dropped open.

“That what you were looking for? Good.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom. “Because I’m awake now and only you know the best way to get me back to sleep.”