At Deuces Brady noticed that Michael was more quiet than usual and he drank a lot more than everyone else. He wondered if Michael still had feelings for Jane. He hoped not because what was going on between Brady and Jane wouldn’t be messed with. Brady knew he found the woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with and nothing could mess that up.
Brady’s phone beeped on his way out of the apartment, he looked down at his phone. It was a message from Jane.
Jane: Hey handsome, just thinking of you. Hope you made it back alright. Thank you so much for one of the best weekends ever.
Brady’s whole body went warm. Yea, nothing would break them up. Hopefully while he was gone she would go over to his house and start to make herself comfortable there. He really wanted her to start to move her things in there but he knew that might be moving a little fast for Jane. When he got back to Atlanta he would go buy some of her favorite products, a tooth brush and maybe some spare clothes for her so she didn’t always have to have an overnight bag. He sent Jane a message back.
Brady: Hey sweet thing, I had the most amazing time. I miss you. I’m headed to practice now. I’m hoping to catch Michael after and grab a bite to eat.
Jane: That should be nice. He has been weird lately. I hope everything is ok.
Brady: I noticed the same thing that is why I wanted to take him out.
Jane: You are a good guy Brady Matthews.
Brady: I try to be. I will call you later tonight. I love you
Jane: I love you, handsome.
Brady headed to his car to drive to the ball park and had just placed his phone in his pocket when it beeped again. He got in his car and cranked up the air conditioning. It was surprisingly very warm in Florida for the time of the year. He pulled his phone back out of his pocket and hoped Jane sent him a picture of her or maybe a naughty text. When he saw a strange number again, he swore under his breath.
Brady boy, you have not gotten back to me. I am going to find out where you are and just jump your bones myself. Come on baby, I know you want me.
Brady was about to throw his phone when he received one last text message. Fuck! It was a picture of Laney, completely naked holding a bat as it rested on her shoulder. He instantly deleted the message.
He was shaken from the erotic picture that popped up on his phone, not because Laney was a hideous looking person but because if Jane ever knew Laney sent that picture to him, he could possibly lose her forever. He needed to remind himself to block that number.
Holy hell if Jane knew about that picture he would be in a lot of trouble, then that reminded him. He never told Jane about the texts from Laney. Crap. They had such a good time he didn’t want to ruin it with a conversation about his deranged ex-girlfriend. He needed to remember to tell her when he got back from training. He decided he wanted to tell her in person so she did not flee on him.
***
Jane went to work that morning feeling refreshed. She was so happy she got to see Brady, even if it was just for a little bit. She had a hard time saying bye to him when he left, she even cried like an idiot which she knew tore Brady apart from the inside out. He told her he would call her every night and they even planned to Skype. Something she had never done before. She didn’t know how she felt about seeing him and not being able to touch him all over, if she wasn’t careful she might start humping the screen of her computer.
Jane told Patty to come in a little later than normal so she could get ready for her. Jane set up a desk at the front for her, equipped it with all the necessary supplies and a brand new laptop as well as some fresh flowers. It was always nice to have fresh flowers around; it always put Jane in a good mood. Jane’s phone beeped. It was a text from Brady. Her heart flip flopped. When would that stop?
Brady: Baby you were right! Marc just asked me about Patty. He asked if she was available. What should I say?
Jackpot! Jane knew it. Marc was looking Patty up and down the whole time they were talking outside of Mossimo’s. He should have been a little more discreet but knowing him he wanted Patty to know his interest. She sent Brady a message back.
Jane: I know she is not attached to anyone but I don’t know if she wants a relationship, she said she just wanted to focus on her career.
Brady: Sounds to me like you hired a miniature Jane.
Jane knew she hired Patty because they had the similar values. It was going to be easier to work together knowing they thought the same way about things.
Jane: Yea and look at what happened to me. I’m caught up with the likes of you!
Brady: Just admit it pip-squeak, I’m the best thing that has ever happened to you.
Jane knew Brady was joking around with her but when she sat back and thought about it, Brady really was the best thing that ever happened to her. He made her feel, loved and needed again. He truly brought her back to life. Jane replied.
Jane: You are the best thing to ever happen to me handsome and I mean it. Now I have to go, have a good practice. I love you.
Brady: Good luck with Patty’s first day. I love you too and P.S. you are by far the greatest thing in my life past, present and future.
Jane got choked up when she read Brady’s text message. Where the hell did he come up with one-liners like that? Did he have a book of them or something? There was no way a man was that romantic.
Jane was just checking her eye liner in the mirror for any smudges when Patty walked in. She looked fantastic wearing a nice pair of black dress pants and a cranberry colored blouse, it really brought out the red highlights in her hair.
Jane greeted Patty and showed her around the office. She showed her the ins and the outs of the business as well as described her expectations and Patty’s different responsibilities. They went over the pharmaceutical event they had this weekend. Patty jumped right in and tossed some ideas around with Jane. To Jane’s surprise they were all great ideas and would help make the event run smoother.
They braked for lunch and Jane ordered salads from the place around the corner. They delivered which was perfect because Jane wanted to talk to Patty for a little and get to know her better. Maybe even question her about her interest in Marc.
Jane paid for the food when it arrived and asked Patty, “So why is a pretty thing like you deciding to be single?”
Jane saw Patty sigh. “Well, since we will be spending a lot of time together, I might as well tell you.” Jane was intrigued. Patty continued, “Back in New York I dated a guy named Gino. He was ruggedly handsome, Italian, very loud and very proud of his job. He was into selling bonds and what not, I didn’t really know all the details, all I knew was that he made a lot of money. We started dating in high school, made it through college together and then into the real world. He was always very opinionated with me and made sure I always took his opinion because ‘he was always right.’ It didn’t faze me at the time because we had so much fun together it didn’t matter.”
Patty took a sip of her water and continued. “It wasn’t until he started making more money that he started to get verbally abusive toward me. He would call me stupid, useless, pathetic, a worthless excuse for a woman and I just took it all in. By then I didn’t know any different, I had been with him since high school. It seemed normal to me.”
Jane knew exactly how Patty felt, trapped in a man’s wrath. She went through the same thing with George and it could be incredibly hard to remove yourself from the situation when you had been living in it for so long. Jane grabbed Patty’s hand and urged her to continue.
“When I got home one day from my internship, Gino was furious. He had a bad day at work and lost a bunch of money. He took his anger out on me, physically. He beat me pretty good that night. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to do. I have always been a strong woman thanks to basketball but Gino took over that girl and made her weak and feeble. It wasn’t until the fifth time he beat me and he cracked one of my ribs by kicking me continuously until I couldn’t breathe that I realized I needed to get out of t
here. I called my friend April and removed myself from the situation and have not looked back since.”
Jane teared up. She could not imagine what it was like to be beat by the person she thought loved her. Patty was even stronger than Jane could ever be. Jane gave Patty a huge hug and thanked her for sharing her story.
To lighten the mood Jane said, “Well you are doing great now. You can go brag to Gino and tell him you have a major league baseball player interested in you.”
Patty’s face went bright red and asked shocked, “Who?”
Jane couldn’t help but laugh. “Marc Sullivan girl. Are you blind? He couldn’t take his eyes off you the other day and he even asked Brady about you.”
Patty’s mouth hung open. “Marc Sullivan, catcher for the Atlanta Braves, asked about me? You are kidding right?”
Jane shook her head and said, “Nope, he asked if you were seeing anybody. I told Brady you weren’t. I hope that was ok?”
Patty was silent for a second. She played with her left over salad and looked up at Jane. Her face was stiff and not as welcoming as before. “Well that’s fine that you told him that but I don’t plan on getting involved with anyone. I am done with men.”
Chapter 22
Michael was thankfully at practice but he was very quiet and kind of out of it. His swing was off which was uncommon for him. It was like someone sucked all the energy out of him leaving only a corpse of a body walking around. After practice, Brady pulled Michael to the side in the training room while they were iced off their abused muscles.
“Michael, hey do you want to go get a bite to eat after this?”
Michael looked a little annoyed at Brady. What was that about?
“Uh, I don’t know Brady. I’m really not in the mood for company.” Michael replied. Brady just watched him as he iced off his shoulder. Michael would not look him in the eye.
Brady grabbed Michael’s shoulder and made Michael turn toward him. Michael shoved Brady away from him and pushed Brady into the ice machine.
“What the fuck, dude?” Brady yelled.
Michael looked like he was about to rip someone’s head off. Marc and Austin appeared as if out of nowhere and made sure no one would get hurt or into any trouble. The organization didn’t like players getting in fights with each other.
“Just back the fuck off Brady. I don’t need your charity.”
Charity? Why would Brady treat Michael like he was charity? Brady thought they were friends. What the hell? Something must be really bothering Michael. Brady decided to push Michael a little farther to see if Michael would open up more. Michael wouldn’t get over whatever was bothering him until he got it all out in the open.
“I thought we were friends Michael. Are you being a complete dick right now because you are still in love with Jane?”
Next thing Brady knew he was on the ground, Michael was on top of him with his arm cocked back, fist clenched, ready to punch Brady in the face. Austin and Marc grabbed Michael instantly and pulled him off of Brady. Brady was pissed.
“Don’t stop him.” Brady said to Austin and Marc as he got up. “Let him punch me, let me be his punching bag for whatever the fuck is bothering him. God forbid he should actually talk to us about it.”
Austin and Marc let Michael go. Michael just stood there as he breathed heavily; rage burned in his eyes. He stood up straight in front of Brady, inches from his face. Brady just whispered, “Do it, you know you want to.”
***
Michael could not help himself. He punched Brady square in the jaw. His hand stung like hell but for a moment it felt so right. For just that moment all his problems faded into black and there was instant gratification from the punch he threw at Brady. But it was just temporary.
Shit, he needed some more ice. Brady took the punch like a man and then asked for more. What was his problem? Why did Brady want to fuel his fire? Michael went to go punch him again and Brady grabbed his hand, twisted his arm and turned him around so his back was against Brady’s chest.
Brady wrapped his arms around him and whispered in his ear, “Go ahead, try again.”
Michael lost all control. His mind went black. He could kill Brady right now he was so mad. Why did Brady get Jane and he got stuck with Kelly who turned out to be a giant hooker? Brady didn’t deserve Jane. He was just a good looking guy who swept her off her feet. Michael was the one who had an emotional connection with Jane; he was the one who deserved to be with her.
Michael elbowed Brady in the chest, Brady buckled over and Michael was about to punch Brady in the head when two sets of strong arms came around him and pinned him to the wall.
Austin and Marc.
Fuck. He started to flail his arms around and kick whatever was in his range but no matter how hard he tried he could not connect with anything the relieve the pain that was flowing through his chest. Austin and Marc pinned him to the ground and told him to calm down.
Michael shouted, “Don’t tell me to fucking calm down. Let go of me. You are not the ones with a wife who is cheating on you with some guy named Dayshon. You don’t even deserve her Brady. You are just some pretty boy who always gets what you want. You don’t have a connection with her like I do and you never will. If it weren’t for me you would have never had a chance at being with Jane. You’re just some lucky fuck who landed a girl that is too good for you.”
***
Brady stood next to the ice machine hunched over and gasped for air. Michael definitely knocked the wind out of him with the quick jab to his stomach. Fuck him.
Brady listened as Michael spilled his guts. His wife was cheating on him? That explained Michael’s piss poor attitude, sulking and inability to make contact with a bat and ball during practice. Brady actually felt bad for Michael until he said Jane too good enough for Brady and that he didn’t deserve her. That crossed a line.
Even though Brady didn’t want to talk to Michael at the current moment, Brady did need to set him straight.
“Michael I’m sorry about your wife but you have no right to talk about my relationship with Jane like that. I know you’re hurting but that doesn’t give you the fucking right to make me feel like I’m not good enough for Jane. Both you and I know that I have done nothing but help Jane get through her problems she accumulated while dating that jackass George. Now if you want to actually talk about what is going on in your life and stop blaming me for your problems, I’m ready to listen, until then you can fuck off.”
With that Brady grabbed an ice pack and left the training room. Michael seriously could fuck off. Yes, Brady was lucky that Jane gave him the time of day but it was not like he came in and swept her off her feet. No he worked his ass off trying to prove to her he was a good guy and helped her realize that she was amazing and deserved to be treated the way he treated her. It hadn’t been easy, George really screwed her up but Brady worked hard to eliminate all the damage George created.
Brady was beyond pissed and his jaw became really tight from clenching his teeth so hard. He grabbed his phone and typed in Jane’s number.
“Hey handsome” Jane’s excited voice rang through Brady’s ears and instantly calmed him. Her voice was so sweet. He wished she was with him so he could hold onto her and be wrapped in her tender embrace.
“Hey baby, God I miss you.” Brady tried to sound normal but he came off as weak and needy.
“Brady, are you ok? You sound upset.”
She knew him too well. “Michael and I got in a fight. I let him punch me so he could let some anger…”
Jane interrupted him. “You what?! Where did he punch you? Are you ok? Oh my God, I’m going to kill him.”
Brady couldn’t help but chuckle. Jane was five foot nothing and Michael was all muscle and towered over her. She didn’t stand much of a chance.
“I’m fine, babe. He got me in the jaw…”
“Oh my God! He punched your face? Don’t worry I will catch the next flight out there.”
Brady laughed out loud this time then
was interrupted by Jane. “I don’t find this very funny Brady Matthews. So I don’t understand why you are laughing when I’m over here about to either cry or have a panic attack.”
Great, now Brady felt like a giant ass. He didn’t want to worry Jane he just needed to hear her voice. He was not feeling too hot and he just needed some reassurance about their relationship. Although it was nice to hear that she would jump onto the next flight just because he got punched in the jaw.
“Aw baby I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Michael just said some things that made me feel a little off and I needed to hear your voice.”
“What did Michael say to you and don’t tell me not to worry about it. I want to hear exactly what happened, Brady. I don’t like that my boyfriend is fighting with one of my best friends.”
Brady exhaled. He should have known Jane was going to want to know everything. He didn’t want to tell her what Michael said but Lord knows she would find out at some point. Brady took the next couple of minutes to relay everything that happened, why he pushed Michael into getting physical and why he let Michael punch him.
He could tell Jane was not happy because she was dead silent on the phone when he finished.
“Babe, please say something.”
***
If Brady was in her view right now she would punch him right in the gut then kiss him all over. Why would he provoke Michael to punch him? She never would understand why guys had to be all macho with each other. They might as well have pulled their pants down and compared the size of their wieners.