Page 3

CHAPTER 3

GUNNAR

T wo days later, I’m sitting on the plane, heading to Florida to meet the team at their spring training facility. We only have two more games left on the schedule before the team heads back to Nashville. I study the headshots and bios of the entire Tennessee Terrors coaching and baseball operations staff during my flight in hopes that reading about them and seeing their photos will help me become more familiar with my new team. Once I feel confident that I’ll be able to recognize who they are in person, I move on to examining the team’s roster. I’m pleasantly surprised to not only see some familiar faces, but also a couple other “old-timers” like myself. I’ve known Max Murphy, one of our pitchers, for a long time. Not only is he older, but he’s also a single father. Knowing I have some things in common with a couple of the guys eases my nerves.

The two-hour flight breezes by and before I know it, we’re landing. I turn my phone on when the plane touches down and immediately text my parents and brother about my arrival. We arrive at the gate and with the team putting me up in first class, I make my way out of the plane quickly and head to baggage claim.

Doing my “homework” on the plane immediately pays off when I notice Peter Kelly, Director of Travel Operations, waiting there before he recognizes me. Peter is only twenty-nine years old, but no stranger to baseball since both his father and uncle were famous players.

“Hey, Peter,” I greet as I approach him and he startles, not expecting someone to be calling out his name.

“Fuck, you scared me!” He chuckles and shakes the free hand I offer him. “Welcome to Florida, Gunnar. Your flight okay?”

“On time and smooth, just the way I like it.”

He laughs. “Those are the best kind of flights.” He nods over to the baggage carousel and asks, “How many bags are we waiting for?”

“Two.”

He gives me a questioning look. “That isn’t very many.”

I shrug, not thinking it’s a big deal. “We can just buy whatever we need once we’re settled in Nashville.”

I don’t plan on selling my house in Austin, and fortunately, Gavin has a rental house that just became open. Izzy and I will live there until I can find another place. He also has an extra car that I can borrow, which helps me put off car shopping for a little bit longer.

“When will your family be joining you?” Peter asks and I smile at his choice of words. Clearly, he has done his homework and discovered I’m not married.

“My parents and daughter will be arriving the day before Opening Night. They’ll stay until we leave for our first road trip. My parents will take Izzy back with them to finish packing up her things and then she’ll join me permanently a week later.” This will be the longest Izzy and I have been apart. I’ll probably handle it worse than she will.

“We have a referral to a nanny agency that a lot of the guys use when they move here. It’s listed for you in your welcome packet back at my office.”

“Perfect.” With my brother helping me out with a place to live and a car, finding a nanny is now my number one priority.

After a couple more minutes of small talk, my bags come into view and make their way closer to where we’re standing. We grab them off the carousel and I follow Peter to his car in the parking garage. We put the bags in his truck, get in the car, and drive out of the airport.

“We have a pretty full day planned for you. When we arrive, I’ll escort you to meet with Billy and Declan first. Next, human resources will meet with you in my office to go over all the paperwork you need to sign. Fortunately, we got your medical records from the Scorpions’ team doctors, so you don’t need to have another physical. Afterward, I’ll give you a tour of the offices and ballpark. We’ll then head to the locker room where you can unpack your stuff, meet the rest of the guys, and get warmed up for practice.”

“Sounds great,” I respond, happy to hear I’ll get a lot accomplished on my first day as a Terror. “I’ve got a question. Who will help me secure season tickets for my family? I need to pay for four tickets minimum for the season.”

“Your brother called as soon as the news broke about your trade and purchased a suite. He told our Director of Ticket Operations that your seats will be with him.” I chuckle and shake my head at this news. “No doubt we will have to beef up security for the games he attends, which he has offered to pay for.”

My chest swells with pride for Gavin. A lot of people change for the worse when they become famous and start making a lot of money. Not Gavin—his generosity knows no bounds and he’s always trying to do the right thing. I know his wife, Aly, has played a huge part in helping him navigate ways to give back to the community. My parents have always tried to keep us both humble and grateful that we get to live such extraordinary lives, since we’re both making money from doing the things we love.

Before I can ask Peter more questions, his phone starts to ring. “Sorry, I need to take this,” he tells me and answers his phone. While he talks, I stare out the window, taking in the scenery that is Florida. Spring training for me used to be in Arizona, so if I’m here next year, this will be another new adjustment to get used to.

My time in Florida is limited due to spring training being almost over, so I’m not going to dwell on being in a foreign place. I’ve got a job to do and if I want the Terrors to sign me to a new contract, I need to work my ass off this season.

* * *

T wo days later, I have my first spring training games with the Terrors under my belt and we land back in Nashville. I’m waiting outside the player’s entrance of Music City Park for my brother to pick me up. I put his name on the security list and texted him the code to the gate. As I’m scrolling through my phone, I hear my name being called.

“Hey, McNeer!” I look up to see Max Murphy strolling over to me. “Where are you staying tonight?”

“My brother lives in Nashville, so he’s picking me up and I’ll spend the night at his house.”

“Nice. I didn’t realize he was done touring.”

“He’s in between show dates. Gotta catch him while I can.” Gavin has one more big leg of his tour to complete and then he’ll be home for a while to be present for the birth of his second child and to chill before he starts recording a new album.

“No doubt. Let’s plan a night to grab a beer or something.”

“I would like that, Murph.” Max is a native Tennessean, so I would love to hear his perspective on schools and family life here in Nashville.

A horn honking has us glancing in the direction of a black truck with tinted windows pulling up in front of me. “See you around, McNeer.” Max waves goodbye and walks to his car.

Gavin puts the car in park and jumps out of the driver’s seat. “I can’t believe you’re fucking here.” He walks around the front of the hood and as soon as I reach him, he pulls me into a tight hug and attempts to lift me off my feet.

“Don’t hurt yourself, old man.” I joke as he puts me down and releases me. Gavin is two years older and people say the resemblance between us is strong. We both have our mom’s sandy colored hair and the famous McNeer green eyes. His face is more chiseled than mine with different bone structure. Gavin is also leaner whereas I’m bulkier with muscle, but we’re both in good shape due to our love for working out and being outdoors.

I chuckle as he scoffs at my “old man” comment. “You’re light as a feather compared to what I bench press nowadays.”

“Oh yeah?” I check out the parts of his biceps that I can see from his short sleeve shirt while we load my bags in the trunk. I can definitely tell Gavin’s put on some muscle, but there’s no way I would admit that to him. He was the more popular, charming brother, who let all the attention from the ladies go to his head. I always took great pleasure in serving him up a big ol’ piece of humble pie. Even though he’s not as conceited and cocky as he used to be, it’s still my job as his younger brother to bring him down a notch. “Can’t wait to see you prove that in the weight room.”

His head turns in my direction, narrowing his eyes in skepticism. “You doubting I can do it?”

“I know you can’t do it.”

“Want to place a friendly wager on it?”

“You know I do,” I confirm with a smirk.

“All right then, what am I winning?”

“Times haven’t changed, Gavin. You know exactly what you’re buying me when I win the bet.”

He closes the trunk and looks over at me. “A big bag of chew?”

I nod, happy to see that he remembers. “Only the best kind of chew out there.”

Our parents wanted us to be well-rounded kids, so we tried every sport imaginable until we both fell in love with the game of baseball. We learned quickly that chewing gum was a rite of passage while playing ball. There was nothing better than getting our weekly allowance from doing chores around the house and going to the store to buy a bag of Big League Chew. We felt like we were the coolest kids ever, smacking our gum in the dugout, pretending to be our favorite baseball players. We would have contests amongst our teammates to see who could blow the biggest bubbles. We even became competitive with who could acquire the most bags of chew. So naturally it became a tradition that anytime we made a bet against each other, the person who won would get a bag of chew.

We get into Gavin’s car and put our seat belts on. “I haven’t chewed that gum in years. Can’t wait to prove you wrong.” He winks at me, and I chuckle at his confidence, but in reality, I secretly hope he does win. Seeing him with the chew will only bring out his competitiveness to wager another bet—who can blow the biggest bubble. He knows I will beat his ass in that category since I still use Big League Chew to this day during every game. It has become a part of my game day ritual. I won’t chew it any other day but on game days.

Gavin puts the truck into drive and turns toward the road. “So, tell me how your first trip went with the new team.”

“It went really well. The front office seems like a solid organization. Everyone welcomed me with open arms, and I felt that excitement buzzing around the coaches and players that I haven’t felt in a very long time. The facilities are nice, and I think Izzy will really like the kid’s room.” The room set up for families has intricate murals on the wall, tons of toys, and lots of arts and crafts that I know my kid will be playing with every time she’s there.

“Speaking of Izzy, how did she take the news?” my brother asks, his tone becoming serious.

Izzy’s reaction immediately springs to my mind and I sigh. “She cried at first, but then asked if we could go get ice cream and everything was right in the world. It’s good that she’s only five, because right now, her life isn’t going to drastically change except for not seeing me as much as she’s used to these next couple of weeks.”

“When are you bringing her here permanently?”

“A week after our first road trip. I need some time to get things unpacked, and I want her room to be all set-up and ready to go. You letting us use one of your rental properties takes a lot of burden off my shoulders right now, so thank you again for that.”

My brother shrugs as if it was nothing. “The timing was perfect with our tenant moving out. Besides, I’m happy that the place will be looked after.”

“Will you at least let me pay you what your tenants were paying?”

“Fuck no. You’re my brother—your money's no good to me. Spend it on my adorable niece.”

“That’s not hard to do,” I grumble because I have no willpower when it comes to saying no to Isabella. All she has to do is bat those long eyelashes over those green eyes and I’m a goner. “Seriously, Gav, I truly appreciate you doing this.”

“You’re welcome, but don’t get too appreciative yet. You might not like the house or the area.”

“Why? I know you wouldn’t have an investment property in a bad neighborhood.”

“No, of course not, but it’s Aly’s old house and it’s near the colleges. Not the most kid-friendliest of neighborhoods. Nor does it have a gate for privacy. I worry that once people know you’re living there, you’ll get some unwanted visitors.”

“I’m not too worried. Nashville isn’t the biggest baseball town like Austin is from what I’m told, so maybe I’ll go undetected.”

Gavin laughs like I’ve said the most outlandish thing in the world. “There you go again, thinking you aren’t a big deal or anything. This town has been buzzing about signing you since it was made public. Trust me when I say, plenty of people here will know who you are.”

I groan, hoping he’s wrong and that I can go undetected for a long time…like forever.

“The nice thing about Nashville is that the locals are used to celebrities amongst them and for the most part, they leave us alone. It’s the tourists, especially these bachelorette parties that have taken over downtown, that you have to watch out for.”

“I don’t plan on going out at night, Gavin.”

“Oh, c’mon now, little brother. You most certainly need to experience what the nightlife has to offer from time to time.”

“No, thank you. I’m perfectly fine staying at home with my little princess.”

“Gunnar, you can’t stay single forever. Aren’t you interested in meeting someone? Someone that might be a good influence on Izzy?”

“Nope.” I’ve thought long and hard about maybe putting myself back out there, and at this stage of my life, I don’t feel it’s worth it. Dating nowadays is way harder than it was when I was younger. I don’t want to bring someone around Izzy who might not have the right intentions and is looking for their next meal ticket in the form of a baseball player—exactly what my ex-girlfriend did.

I met Tasha at a party for one of my former teammates. It was lust at first sight and after that night, we were inseparable. Our relationship was on warp speed, and she moved in with me after only a month of dating. She acted like the perfect girlfriend; making sure I was well fed, helping me take care of personal things while I worked, supporting me by coming to every home game, and even surprised me at some away games. She was wild in and out of bed and at the time, I was addicted to that personality. It was the exact opposite of who I was. But when she started talking about getting married six months into our relationship, for some reason, the idea spooked me. I chalked it up to just not being ready yet. Tasha wasn’t happy and took it upon herself to stop taking her birth control. She got pregnant on purpose and when I asked her how she could’ve gotten pregnant, she blamed it on the antibiotics she had taken for a cold. Thing was, Tasha wasn’t the type who liked to take medicine when she was sick. I was suspicious of her answer then, but was still blind to the fact that she might not love me for the right reasons. Tasha assumed that because she was pregnant, I would do the “honorable” thing and propose to her, but I still had this nagging feeling about us. Our relationship was still so new, and I was curious as to how she was going to be as a mother. The first six months of Izzy’s life were rough. It was obvious Tasha was suffering from postpartum depression. I tried to help out as much as I could when I was home, but I felt a lot of guilt every time I was on the road for work. I hired a nanny to help Tasha out and both of our families pitched in whenever they could. Yet despite all the help, Tasha grew distant. She seemed unsatisfied with her new life and missed her old, carefree ways. She started leaving Izzy alone with the nanny and my parents more often than I liked. Her late-night outings became more frequent and one time, she didn’t even come home. When I confronted her the next day, she told me she slept at her friend’s house because she was too drunk to drive home.

I kept believing all her lies, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt that she was just going through a hard time being a new mother, and that she just needed to get things out of her system. It wasn’t until I came home early one day to surprise her that I found her having sex with one of the local professional football players—with our daughter sleeping in the other room. I immediately kicked her out of my house and told her she wasn’t allowed to take Izzy. Tasha had developed a drinking problem, and I had the good sense to write down every instance of her being drunk around Izzy. I hired a lawyer right away and because of the evidence I had against her, I was able to get full custody and Tasha could only see Izzy under supervised visitations. She didn’t even try to fight me on it—she was much more interested in her new life as a football player’s girlfriend. When her boyfriend was traded to a new team out in California, Tasha went with him and her only contact with her daughter has been through the phone. Izzy’s only form of a “mother” comes from her nanny and her grandmothers.

As Izzy has gotten older, she’s been asking more and more questions about why her mother doesn’t come visit her. It breaks my heart every time we have the discussion, and that’s when I start to have doubts about me staying single. I don’t want to just have any kind of woman in Izzy’s life. She deserves someone who is going to step up and be the mother she doesn’t have, and that’s going to take time to find that right person. Time that I am just not willing to sacrifice right now. I still have emotional scars from Tasha—they’ve just started to finally fade. Izzy is my number one priority, and I want to make sure she gets every single second of my time when I’m not working.

“It’s a miracle your dick still even gets hard. When was the last time you used it besides with your hands?” Gavin gives me a side-eyed smirk, and if he wasn’t driving right now, I would punch him in the balls.

“None of your business,” I tell him just as we pull into the driveway of his rental. It’s an old, two-story, brick house that has recently been painted all white on the outside with navy blue doors and shutters. It has a white fence in front of it with a little green space on each side of the walkway.

“Please tell me you’ve at least hooked up while being on the road?” Gavin asks as we get out of his car.

I shut my door and follow him up the walkway to the front entrance. “No, Gavin. I don’t hook up on the road either.”

He puts the key in the lock and turns. “God, you sound like a lonely, grumpy, old man.”

“Show me the damn house, Gavin!”

He opens the door, and I push him through the entryway. I walk in and am pleasantly surprised at how spacious it is. The house has been completely gutted and remodeled to be more modern, yet has a cozy charm to it.

“This place is beautiful.” I walk toward the updated kitchen with all new stainless-steel appliances and beautiful white herringbone tile backsplash between the cabinets and the countertops.

“Thanks. This was Aly’s baby, and she poured her heart and soul into the new design of it all. She could sell this house and make a shit ton of money, but Aly has an emotional attachment to it. It was the first house she and her sister bought from their parents as an investment and they both lived here during college and sometime afterward.”

“I agree with her. I wouldn’t sell this place, especially now after all the work you guys put into it. It’s a great rental investment.”

The house is deceivingly larger than its outside appearance. The living room is huge, and I can picture Izzy and her toys taking it over. The bedrooms are good sized and I especially love the screened-in back porch with a fenced in yard. The house is perfect for us.

I walk into the room that I designate for Izzy and look around. “I can’t wait to get Izzy’s room set up. Do you think Aly would help me with that?”

He gives me that " Are you shitting me ?” look as if I’m a moron. “She would be offended if you didn’t ask her for help. You know she loves that kind of stuff.”

I sigh in relief because I know Aly will make Izzy’s room look like something out of a home decor magazine. “Awesome. Hey, are you sure you guys are fine with us staying here for a bit? Since you refuse to take rent, I feel bad that you’re missing out on making money.”

He rolls his eyes and groans. “Stop annoying me with this subject. The house is yours for however long you want to stay here.”

I nod and a lump of emotions forms in my throat. I quickly swallow it down and find my voice again. “Thanks, Gav. I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me anything. You would do it for me if the roles were reversed. You can do me a favor though.”

I tilt my head to the side, intrigued to hear what kind of favor I could even do for him. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“You can start thinking of dating again or at least, letting yourself have some unadulterated fun.”

Now it’s my turn to groan and be annoyed with the revival of this conversation. “I’ll think about it when I’m ready, Gavin.”

“When you’re ready? That could be when Izzy’s in college.”

“Precisely.”

“What if Aly and I create an online profile for you on that rich people’s dating app? We will screen the women for you and meet them first. If we don’t approve, then we won’t make any introductions.”

I bark out a laugh at the absurdity of his idea. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m being serious. I think it’s a genius idea. That or one of Aly’s friends. I’m pretty sure some of them are ladies in public and freaks in private.”

I point my finger at him and give him a stern look. “Do not try to hook me up with any of Aly’s friends. Just leave me alone and let me focus on Izzy and baseball.”

Gavin holds up his hands in surrender. “All right, all right, but we are going to have a Welcome to Nashville/Baby shower party this summer. Lots of beautiful ladies will be there for you to meet.”

I scoff in exasperation. “I just told you I don’t want to be set up with anyone!”

“Maybe it won’t be setting you up with anyone. Maybe you’ll just casually meet a stranger at this party who you think is beautiful and want to get to know her better.”

I laugh at the look of innocence he is feigning, because he’s anything but. “I love you, but no to it all.”

“You have no choice in the matter. We’re having a party and that’s final.”

“What if I don’t show up?”

“You want to purposely piss off my wife? It was her idea.”

Fuck, he’s got me. “Fine, Izzy and I will be there, but no setting me up, Gavin. I mean it!”

He looks down at his watch, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. “Okay, I won’t try to set you up with anyone, but there will be no denying my wife if she decides to play matchmaker.”

I groan and throw my head back. I can control my brother, but my sister-in-law is another story. When Aly gets an idea in her brain, she is relentless, and her thinking she can set me up with someone would consume her during what little free time she has. I’ll have to tell her tonight at dinner that I have no interest in dating anyone. I just have to pray she’ll listen to me.