Free Free Agent by Roz Lee

said he’d sign anything in order to stay. He hadn’t sunk that low. Yet.
    Doyle turned his head toward the plate glass window spanning the back wall of his office and overlooking the playing field below. He was quiet so long Todd began counting his heartbeats just to make sure he was still alive. The fact the answer wasn’t an automatic no gave him hope.
    Doyle spoke to the window. “Do you want to tell me why you’ve changed your mind?”
    Not really . He hedged. “Several of the players have asked me to stay.”
    Turning back to face him, it was clear Doyle wasn’t buying his explanation “Okay, so you don’t want to tell me, but before I go back to the head office with this, I have to know. Will we get one hundred percent from you for the life of the contract, or will you be wishing you’d jumped the fence?”
    “I’ll give the Mustangs one hundred percent. If I thought I wasn’t capable of that, I wouldn’t ask you to keep me on.”
    Doyle nodded, his gaze searching Todd’s face. The man was good at reading people. He refused to look away, letting the older man see his sincerity.
    “I’ll call you.” Doyle stood, and he followed the manager’s lead. “I don’t expect there will be a problem, but don’t take your house off the market yet.”
    “I never put it on the market,” he said. And if that wasn’t a sign he never wanted to go in the first place, he didn’t know what was.
     
    ***
     
    Patience was something Todd usually had plenty of. He made his living waiting for the right pitch and watching for gaps in the other team’s defense. The trait carried over to his private life as well. Taking the time to build a sub’s orgasm, one thin layer of sensation at a time, never failed to pay off in the end.
    Waiting to hear from the Mustangs regarding his contract felt like a slow motion ride through hell. But underneath the hellish uncertainty was a layer of peace he gripped tighter than a baseball bat. No matter what the team’s decision, he would be happy with it. For the first time in his life, baseball was just a game. It was an odd feeling seeing the sport he had loved since he was five years old and swung his first real bat at a real ball on a tee, from a different perspective.
    Baseball had ruled his life for almost three decades. When he’d turned nine, his entire family had moved, so he could play in the best Little League organization in the area. He’d chosen his high school based on their baseball program and sought out the most competitive of traveling teams in the off seasons. Baseball had paid his way through college and, as a pro, given him the means to do as he pleased.
    He would give the Mustangs one hundred percent on the field if they chose to keep him, but for once, baseball didn’t seem like the most important thing in his life. He’d made the mistake of letting the game hold that position for too long, and like every other workaholic, it had cost him his happiness.
    Never again. Brooke had shown him the source of his unhappiness, and he owed it to both of them to see if what they had together was enough for a lifetime.
     
    ***
     
    Brooke’s pulse raced as it always did when her master arrived. She tracked his movements with lowered eyes. He wore the black leather pants she loved so much. His feet were bare, and probably his chest, too, but she couldn’t quite see that high unless she cheated and peeked when he turned his back. He always smelled so good, like summer grass with citrus undertones. She’d committed his scent along with so many other details, to memory, knowing the day would come soon when he would leave.
    The unwelcome reminder of the finite nature of their relationship made her reckless. She didn’t want to be punished, but anything was worth the risk if it added to her store of memories.
    He turned, and the grating sound the zipper on the bag he carried his ‘toys’ in filled the room. Her gaze darted up the length of his legs to his firm ass,