Sweet Spot: Homeruns #4 Read Online Free Page B

phones and ask me to stand by the door for pictures, I’m bailing.”
    It wouldn’t be the first time they’d done it. I swear, the day I started college, Bryce took more pictures of me getting ready than most parents do the day their kids start kindergarten. He swore I’d thank him someday, but I had no clue when that day was supposed to come, because it was still embarrassing as hell.
    “You won’t run away,” Eric challenged me. I wondered if this was the year he wouldn’t get all morose about Drew getting on a plane for spring training while he stayed home. Most of the time, I believed him when he said he didn’t miss playing, but every February we went through a rough patch. I felt sorry for Bryce because this year he was going to have to deal with it on his own. “Besides, if Bryce wants pictures and you don’t humor him, he’ll tell Drew to embarrass you by documenting your walk into the training complex tomorrow morning. And you know if Bryce threatens to withhold sex, Drew will cave instantly.”
    “Damn, it’s bad enough I have to hear you guys going at it, I really don’t need to hear about how you use sex as a manipulation tool,” I groaned. While it was great to live in a house where I didn’t have to hide who I was, there were times I wanted to buy them gags and myself earplugs. They were very vocal about what they wanted from one another. “Come on, I thought we were going to be late.”
    When Eric and Bryce dropped us off at the airport, I accepted their quick hugs and good luck wishes and quickly made my way into the terminal to start checking my bags. I didn’t need to be around for them saying goodbye to Drew. It wasn’t that I worried about them trying to check his tonsils right there on the sidewalk; they were smarter than to let their guards down in public. No, it had everything to do with feeling like the extra wheel. Seeing them together was a reminder I was still pining over an asshole who had ditched me in an empty parking lot four years ago. My inability to move on was why I was alone and no one would miss me while I was gone. Life sucked sometimes.
    “You ready for this?” Drew asked when he joined me in line. Either we were flying out at a shitty time or everyone in the state was trying to flee the bitter cold snap we’d been having for the past few weeks.
    “Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked. It wasn’t as if I was going down there to play baseball. Yeah, it was the opportunity of a lifetime, as everyone kept reminding me, but it was what I was meant to do. When I had a camera in my hands, I didn’t feel like the awkward kid without a place in the world. It was as if the camera formed a barrier between me and the rest of the world. I was able to lose myself in thinking ahead, figuring out what shot I wanted to try for, adjusting the various settings, and then waiting for the moment to come. It was familiar and kept me grounded.
    Drew seemed nervous, as if he was trying to avoid telling me something. We inched forward in the line and I studied him as he had some sort of argument with himself. I couldn’t hear the words, but his lips were moving and he kept shaking his head. When he looked up at me, he appeared worried. “Okay, I’m just going to say it. You do know how spring training is structured, right?”
    “Um, yeah,” I responded sarcastically. “I might’ve been clueless a few years ago, but I’ve learned a thing or two since then. Is that what you’re worried about? Do you think I won’t know what I’m doing and I’ll look like an idiot?”
    Drew shook his head again. “No, I know you’ll be fine with the work,” he assured me. “It’s just…you haven’t come down with Eric and Bryce the past few years.”
    “Because I couldn’t take time off from school,” I reminded him. “It was one thing when I was still in high school, but my professors wouldn’t have been cool with me taking two weeks off every spring to come and hang out in