JACK POV:
I get home from practice, today's being especially tiring. I drop my things on the kitchen counter and grab a water from the fridge. I go through the mail and sort it a bit before walking into my room. I go to my drawers to take clothes out because I need a long shower before I attempt to be a human again.
Life has been rough lately, to say the least. My long term girlfriend and I called it quits two months ago, gossip sites have been having a field day and it certainly doesn't help that Sam has been posting non stop of the places she is sans me. Work has also been rough, coming back from a tough season reporters have been viciously pulling at every single thread, and with my breakup they are now pushing me into the have been list. It sucks and hurts like getting a 100 mph ball to the groins. But what is worse is I can't do shit to stop it, any of it. I can't control the gossip without throwing Sam under the bus, I can't respond to the assumptions made of me in the field because the season has not started and all I will be doing is throwing gasoline into the flame.
All the team has also been on my ass because I have been in a shitty mood, but it is not because of what everyone assumes. Being honest, I saw the breakup coming a few months ago, when she began to go out more and began telling me that going to see me play was not her way of fun. It was hard then, but I was mid season and had to be on my A game. So I took that hurt into the field and I poured it into the games to blow it off. My shitty mood has to do with more than that, but I just have to suck it up and keep going.
My phone dings taking me out of my head, its JJ and Tim asking if I plan to get on Lily is also on, I am the only one not. I replied saying I will take a quick shower then get on. JJ and Tim and this game really have been a pillar of my sanity these past months, and I am not ashamed to say it. On there and to them I am just Jack, not Jackson the baseball player whose face is plastered all over the city. Seeing my face staring back from a billboard makes me feel self conscious and makes me feel like an imposter.
I hop in the shower and order delivery so that I don't have to make myself anything. I have always had a lady, Patty, who has taken care of the house cleaning and making food, but she comes once a week and the closer to that day the less food I have.
I put on my earphones and connect to the party. "Hey I'll wait for next game, how are you guys doing?" I ask.
"Could be better man, but hey hanging on right?" Tim replies. Tim's wife left him last year and he has had good and bad days. It is nice to be a friend to someone who needs it. Per Tim he doesn't have many friends, and is an introvert, but on here he is a total ass. "I finally asked that girl from work out, she is apparently married but hey I spoke to someone else" He chuckled.
"Way to go man, now you can ask that gem of a lady that takes you lunch" JJ replies
"Dude, I already told you she is 63, I ain't gonna put her through that" Tim says laughing loudly.
"Ask her out and let her choose if she wants to be put any type of way man. She might be the woman you've been looking for. Hell she already feeds you" Lily chuckles into the microphone. Its strange to me to here a woman talk so direct so freely, I like that about her.
"Ah Lilz you too? A guy can't win for real" Tim replies.
"Dude just ask her out, I dare you." I add to the fire.
"Man, fine I will do it but you know what that's gonna do? It's gonna destroy my ego when she says no." Tim finally says.
We continue with small talk and play 3 games before Tim and JJ log out. Lily and I both decide to take a break from playing to grab some food, mine already cold is put in the microwave.
"So, tell me something about your day" Lily says as I hear her shuffling some items around. Her voice is sweet, and has a melodic tone to it that is not around when she is playing and joking around with us.
"Uh, nothing worth noting happened today" I say because I can't tell her about the conversation I had with coach about my performance, or with Scott who said all the guys are worried about me. I am not sure why they are worried but they are.
"I call bluff, come on. I'll go first since you are trying to hold back on me. I saw two humming bird this morning by that beautiful tree on the corner of my block. I stared at them dancing around so long that I lost the trolley and was late for work" she says to me.
"Why be late for looking at hummingbirds?" I ask genuinely.
"Why not? Hell my life has been shitty, I think I deserved to indulge in some hummingbirds staring once in a while." She replies softly.
Because I don't want to be an ass and not share anything, and because she's being so open with me, I decide to share keeping some details.
"Well, my boss and coworkers are apparently worried about me" I say trying to not let the knot that is forming in my throat escape.
"Should they worry?" she asks genuinely as I hear her serving herself something to drink.
"No- yes. Maybe, I don't know" I say honestly. She lets out a small silly laugh, she sounds like a little chipmunk.
"Well, do you want to tell me why?" she asks with food in her mouth, I can hear her chewing.
"I haven't been performing up to my norm, and people have been talking about it and it makes me feel more nervous and well it's a sick cycle" I say sincerely, why I don't know.
"Well fuck them, who cares what they think, the people talking I mean. Look, you can only do so much, and if someone thinks they can do better tell them to give it a shot or shut the fuck up. Simple as that. I will tell you what my nana would always tell me, people will always have shit to say, it is up to you to give them the power to affect you" she said matter of factly.
"Well your nana is a very smart woman" I say smiling.
"She was, she was always a give zero fucks kinda woman, I admired it and aim to be it though I still struggle with it. " she replies.
"I'm sorry about your nana, but I would like to point out you are kinda there" we both stay quiet for a bit, eating in contempt and silence enjoying the company. Company that I had not had in a while, even with Sam living here.
"So why Winnie in the gamer tag?" I ask after a few minutes.
"Because I love wieners" she says blatantly. I stay quiet because what do you say to that. She burst out laughing so loud I have to take my earphones off. "Because I had a dog named Winnie the Weiner dog. She passed last year, and since I didn't have anything else to occupy my sad time, I began playing COD." she says in a very raw matter, I can hear the pain of losing her dog in her voice and the love as well.
"Well WinnieLily, I am sorry for your loss, but glad it brought you into my life"
YOU ARE READING
Playing for Keeps
RomanceLily has been hurt, but when she gets an invitation from BBPADDYJACK to play Call of Duty, she is quickly sucked into Jack's world, where she will find herself fighting against herself. In the world of baseball, Jackson is the man of the hour. Outs...