Page 86 of Rain Delay

I follow behind her, grabbing her arm and pull her into a hallway. “One thing,” I say, voice low.

“Hmm?” she hummed.

“If anyone asks where you got the jersey?” I undo the top button. “Tell them my closet.”

Chapter 31

Eliana

I KNEW PLAYOFFS WERE APPROACHING based on the way Wyatt was acting.

The boy was on edge more than ever. He had been in the gym every morning, sometimes for a couple of hours, and then would stay after games to get extra batting practice in.

I wasn’t really sure how to handle him in these types of situations. I never saw Wyatt in a playoffs mindset, but something told me it was regular Wyatt just on steroids.

This Wyatt also hated any kind of press. Especially when the media was relentless and didn’t stop until they were able to get their Wyatt Mitchell fix.

As we walked into the ballpark together, Wyatt’s eyes were glued to his phone. He refused to acknowledge anyone. Was he getting in his zone? Or was he purposely ignoring the world?

“What’s so entertaining there?” I ask him, finally getting his attention.

“Hm? Oh, I just don’t want anyone to talk to me right now,” he replies, looking back at his phone. “My agent is making me do pre-game press and I would rather eat a bag of rocks than talk to them .”

I laughed, looking ahead as we approached the clubhouse. “Well, that’s something.” I look over at him once he’s stopped in front of the doors. “I need to go and edit some things before you take batting practice. Text me when you get pulled for media.”

“I need you in there,” Wyatt states, grabbing my hand again. “Go edit your stuff in the media room. Like, go sit at the top. I know they’re going to want to ask dumb questions, I want you there.”

The times he would do media, he’s never asked me to be in there. Most times, I was in there to get some pictures and B-Roll, but this time it sounded like I needed to be in there.

I nodded. “I’ll be there, I promise.” I link my pinky with his.

He smiles small, bringing our hands to his lips, kissing them gently. This was the first time he’d ever shown any sort of public affection without being scared of what others were going to say.

MLB and the team were aware of our relationship. Wyatt had told me all about the conversation he had with his coach. I was surprised MLB never reached out to me about this. According to Wy, the team was willing to make an exception and allow this to happen without any repercussions.

Normally, I would’ve lost my job over this. However, since it was the Crafters’ top player, they were apparently willing to bend some of the rules.

Once he walked into the clubhouse, I made my way into the media room across the hall, climbing up the stairs before taking a seat in one of the back row chairs. There were a couple of rows full of long tables and chairs where members of the media would sit and hound the players and coaches both before and after the game.

They always asked the same, dumb questions.

“How are you feeling going into this series?”

“Do you think so and so will be ready to go for the game whatever?”

“Walk us through that play. What was going through your mind when they made that error?”

No wonder the guys got annoyed so easily – The questions were redundant. Some of these guys had it down to a script, though. They knew what to say and when to say it. They knew what made the reporters happy, they knew what would lead into more questions. The team gets little media training, but most of the team handles themselves professionally when it comes to the press.

I watched as reporters started to file into the room, there were more than usual – local and even national for the playoffs so they could get in and get their headlines.

About five minutes later, the door clicked open, and Wyatt walked in with his coach and his agent. I could hear the sounds of phones starting to record as Wyatt took his seat.

He was wearing his post-warmup hoodie, his face set in that rigid, unyielding mask the media always loved to call the “focused look.” He pulled the microphone an inch closer, looking out to the sea of reporters that sat in front of him.

I could tell he was nervous – He hated doing this. Especially when he didn’t have a clue on what they could ask him about.

“We’ll start with some questions for Wyatt,” the PR director announced.