Wicked Game | Grayson Dolan

11

Grayson

I can tell that there's something bothering Sam this morning. She seems tired, and kind of sad. Usually she's more talkative when it comes to traveling, but she's been quiet all morning. Even while we were waiting in the terminal at the airport. She was just texting with Natalie the entire time.

We're finally getting on the plane when she asks, "Can I take the window seat?"

"Of course," I say. "Anything that makes you comfortable."

Sam sighs as she sits down and gets settled, pulling her kindle out from her purse. She reads a page before putting it away and looking out the window. She takes a shaky breath, which is the number one tell-tale that something is actually wrong.

"Sam," I say. No response.

"Samantha," I say. Another dud.

"Kettering," I say.

She looks down at her lap.

"Hey," I say, gently. "Look at me."

Finally, Sam looks up. She's got tears in her eyes. I wanna kill whatever asshole hurt her feelings.

"What's wrong? Why are you about to cry?" I ask.

"I'm just getting bad separation anxiety from my sister," she says. "It's nothing, don't worry."

"Is she okay? Did something happen?" I ask.

Sam turns towards me now. "Okay, but you can't mention this to Ethan or Indy. They'll freak her out more."

"What is it?" I ask.

"Natalie and I were at her apartment last night, just making cookies and hanging out. All of the sudden she bursted into tears. She said she just felt sad and didn't know why she was crying. I'm really worried about her. That's really out of character. I just feel in my soul that something's going on."

"Oh, geez," I say. "Maybe we can pull some strings and have the team fly her out for a weekend while we're gone."

I smile. "You think they'd let that happen?"

"If they didn't, I'd pay for it," Grayson says. "You two have always been family to me, I care about your well-beings."

"That's very kind of you, Grayson," she says.

I cover her hand with mine. "Everything's going to be okay. I'll make sure of it."

Sam doesn't pull her hand away, which makes me feel like we're making progress. We still haven't talked about our kiss, but I think that's a subject for a different day.

Once the plane takes off, I listen to music while Sam reads her book. I always listen to the same playlist on the plane--it's one that Ethan made for me in high school. It's my personal hype playlist, and always gives me energy. Another reminder that Ethan is always there for me.

Mine and Sam's hotel rooms are adjoining to one another, so she tells me to knock on the door if I need anything. I tell her the same. Knowing she's on the other side of the wall from me is going to be torturous these next few days, because what will stop me from knocking if I can't sleep?

Ethan isn't here to keep me in check. I bet he'll try, but we're all the way in Seattle right now. Plus, he has Jack. He's got other priorities than being my fucking babysitter.

Even though the air conditioning is on, it's hot in my hotel room. So, I take my shirt off and chuck it onto the chair in the corner. I turn on the tv to see if there's any current baseball happening, and I find a Detroit game going on. They're playing the Cleveland Guardians, which is one of their rival divisions.

I've always liked Detroit. It was in my top five on my list of hopeful organizations when I got drafted to the major league. I've always enjoyed the city when we play against them, and they have a lot of history as a team. I'll still never forget meeting Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell at the same time. Two of Detroit's most legendary players who led them to win a World Series in 1984. They're complete icons in baseball history, and I still have the baseball they signed for me.

As I'm mindlessly watching the tv and waiting to see if the Tigers will pull off a grand slam, Sam knocks on the door in between our rooms.

I get up and open the door, and Sam smiles and shakes her head. "I should've known."

"What?"

"The first two hours were here and you've already stripped down."

"For comfort," I say. "It got too hot in my room."

"Jack must've got that from you," she says. "That boy is always running around in his diaper."

I chuckle. My nephew is a funny kid.

"Anyway, did you need something?"

"I was going to grab dinner, if you want to tag along."

"Okay," I say. "Do I have to put my shirt on?"

"Now you're getting a little douchey," Sam says. "Get dressed and we'll find a place."

-

We end up eating at this quaint, family-owned restaurant that also happens to be a sports bar. It's not very busy, so I don't have to worry much about people coming up to us while we're trying to have dinner.

Although the waitress does mention that her husband is a huge Mariners fan. When you're a professional athlete, people are almost always going to know who you are.

Just last week a little four year old boy asked for my autograph at the grocery store. It warmed my heart because kid fans are always the most wholesome.

I'm almost twenty-eight. Ethan had Jack. Sometimes I wonder when I'm going to have children. Some of my teammates have families, and it honestly makes me want a family even more.

However, the one person I'd want that kind of life with is sitting across from me right now, and she's simply just warming back up to me after our breakup in college. We're friends, but it's complicated. Especially because we never talked about the night that we kissed.

There's a lot of things we haven't talked about, which is why there's still a wall between us. However, every time I make Sam smile and laugh, I know that the wall is coming down. Even if it's brick by brick.