Worth the Trade. Kristina Mathews

      “Why don’t you come by tomorrow morning and take a look. If you want it, it’s yours. Through October. This team has come too far to go home at the end of September.”

      “Sounds like a good deal.” Marco leaned back in the seat. Having a place to live was only part of his problem.

      “Anything else I can do to help you settle in?” Johnny asked. The man must have noticed Marco’s lack of concentration.

      Marco leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “So how do you keep your head clear? Your concentration is legendary.”

      “Well, to tell the truth, a lot of it was not having anything else to think about. I didn’t have anything else to care about.”

      No woman getting under his skin.

      “Well, you’ve got a lot now. A new wife, a teenager, and a baby on the way.” Marco was surprised by the little stab of envy. “You still manage to keep your head in the game.”

      “Now I’ve got even more reason to keep my focus.” Johnny’s face lit up with the mention of his family.

      Again, Marco felt like he was missing out on something. Not that he was looking to get married any time soon. But he thought he’d want a wife. A couple of kids. Someday. When he had a long term contract. When he could offer security. Stability.

      He knew he wouldn’t want to uproot a family every couple of years. He’d done enough of that growing up. He’d always hated being the new kid. Having the teacher assume he didn’t speak English because he was one of those migrant worker’s kids. Sometimes they wouldn’t even bother to check his birth certificate to see that he was, in fact, here legally. He was born in Texas, just like two former presidents.

      “I need to find my focus,” Marco stretched his legs out in front of him. “Otherwise, I won’t need to bother unpacking my bags. My contract is up at the end of the year. Then I’m a free agent.”

      “So you want to make sure you finish strong.” Johnny knew the game. The whole game, both on and off the field.

      “I want to help the team finish strong.” What he really wanted was a long-term contract. “The postseason bonus would be nice, too.”

      “Not to mention make you more marketable.”

      “Hey, maybe if I get my act together, they might want to keep me around.” Marco threw it out there as a joke, but yeah, he’d like that. He’d like that a lot. “It seems like a good organization. A team that’s only going to move forward.”

      “Yeah. I’ve loved playing with these guys this year. More than being a collection of all-stars, it really feels like a team, you know?”

      “I haven’t quite felt like one of the guys yet.” Marco had never had trouble fitting in with his teammates. But not this time. Mostly because he felt like he was letting everybody down. He didn’t want to be the reason they didn’t make it to the postseason.

      “You will. You’ve been with the team, what, a week?”

      “Ten days.” Ten days and he hadn’t done shit. Other than hit on his new owner, struggle at the plate and keep to himself. Yeah, that was a good way to fit into the clubhouse.

      “You’ll feel like one of us by the end of this home stand. They traded for you for a reason. I’m sure you’ll be a key member of this team by the end of October.”

      “Easy for you to say. You’re The Monk. You’re sure of everything.”

      The other man just laughed.

      “What looked like confidence on the outside”—Johnny turned and gave him a serious stare—“was just a way of covering up my fear. For most of my career, I was too scared to get rattled. Afraid if I let up for one game, one pitch, the whole world would find out I was a fraud.”

      “You’re hardly a fraud.” Marco had a hard time picturing future Hall of Famer Johnny Scottsdale as having any doubts. “You’re practically perfect.”

      “I was perfect. Once. For nine innings. I got over it.” Johnny also had two Cy Young Awards. “Besides, I still had to come out to the ballpark week after week. Play my game, even though I knew I wasn’t going to be perfect. I knew I’d make mistakes. And it wasn’t until I realized that I didn’t have to be perfect that I was able to relax again. I just have to go out there and be the best I can be on that day.”

      “You know, that’s probably the best advice anyone’s ever given me.”

      “Anytime.” Johnny stretched out his legs, leaned back in his seat, and tried to relax a little.

      “How’d you do it all those years?” Marco needed to know about the non-baseball stuff. “How did you stay a monk off the field?”

      Johnny chuckled. Shook his head and pulled his legs up so he could rest his elbows on his knees.

      “It was actually a lot easier than you’d think.” He gave Marco a sideways glance. “For me, anyway. I could resist temptation because there was really only one woman for me.”

      “Your wife.” Envy shook Marco like a blast of turbulence. “How did you know she was the one?”

      “I just did. It’s hard to explain, especially since she married my best friend right after I left for the minor leagues.” Johnny leaned back, stretching out again. “But it was already too late. She had me the first time we met.”

      “And you never even looked at another woman?” Marco was starting to understand what that felt like. There had been women on the road trip who normally would have caught his eye, but he wasn’t interested. Not now. He could tell himself it was because of the slump, but he’d busted out of slumps before with the help of a little female companionship.

      “You ever play any other sports?” Johnny asked. “As a kid?”

      “Sure. I played soccer a couple of years.” Marco wasn’t sure what this had to do with his question. Maybe Johnny was just tired of the whole monk thing. “But after a while, I gave it up.”

      “Were you any good at it?”

      “Sure. I was fast. Aggressive. Could kick the ball pretty hard.”

      “So why did you quit?” There was something in Johnny’s voice that made Marco think he was leading him somewhere.

      “I didn’t love it.” Marco shrugged, still not sure what soccer had to do with his problem with Hunter. “I knew baseball was it for me.”

      “But you could have kept playing soccer, right? You might have been really good.”

      “True. But why take a spot away from someone who really wanted it?”

      “Why be with a woman if she’s not the one you really want?” Johnny asked.

      Okay, he got the picture now. Mostly.

      “I don’t know, man. If I got cut from the baseball team, I might have taken up another sport. How’d you do it knowing you couldn’t have her? It would be like if you’d quit after throwing your perfect game, knowing you’d give up a hit again.”

      Johnny folded his hands behind his head. “I guess you could say I gave up on women, but I never really gave up on Alice. My secret, or whatever, was to channel it all into my game. The night I threw the perfect game? It would have been her tenth wedding anniversary.”

      “Really?” Marco was even more impressed now.

      “Yeah. So I did the only thing I knew how to do, I pitched my heart out.” Johnny chuckled. “Good thing I had some of it left when I found out she was no longer married.”

      “I think I will take a look at your apartment tomorrow.” Marco felt a little like he’d walked in on a private moment. Johnny’s very public perfect game had a personal meaning behind it. “But call me when