Page 177 of The Fall Classic

“Maybe one day. When you retire.”

I wince. “Don’t say the r-word. You know I hate it.”

She pats my back. “Sorry, bro. We don’t need to talk about that, but you should at least try to enjoy your offseason. Why don’t you travel somewhere cool? Rojas is down in the DR with his family. I bet he’d show you around. And that new guy—Matayoshi—is in Japan. He seemed to like you.”

“I’m not a world traveler. I travel for games. That’s it.”

“Then date. And I don’t mean hitting on other celebrities over social media or answering DMs. Someone real. Maybe someone who recently got bangs⁠—”

“Don’t,” I say.

“She can’t stop looking at you.”

“That’s part of the problem.”

Scottie sighs and pulls me to face her, gripping my shoulders more like one of her brothers would. “Jake, I love you, bro, but you will never be happy until you choose to let yourself be more than what you are on the field.”

“Ugh. I hate when you say smart crap. You sound like an idiot.”

She laughs. “I hate you.”

“Love you, too, Scot. Thanks.”

“Stay out of trouble,” she says, walking backward a couple of steps as she waves.

“I’ll stay far away,” I tell her.

Liv’s gray eyes flash into my mind again.

Far, far away.

Jake has spent a lot of books causing trouble, but he’s finally met the woman who’s going to be trouble for him.