“I’d lost everything. I had no home, no family, my boyfriend had denied the love he swore he felt for me. It felt like the end of the line,” Cody continued. I couldn’t begin to imagine how painful that was. “I dropped out of school rather than face everyone. I gave up. And I spent the next few months wondering where my next meal would come from, what was to become of me, and sometimes, whether I’d live through to see the next day. But then, something amazing happened…”

He paused, whether for dramatic effect or because of how hard the story was to tell, and then continued. “One morning, I woke up and there was a guy standing above me. Okay, so at first I was scared shitless, but then he handed me a paper sack. Inside, there was a sandwich, a bag of chips, an apple, a banana, and a bottle of water. There was also a note. It said ‘There’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.’ and it had the address for the center where I met Bryce and Drew.

“That day changed my life. I was terrified when I walked inside, thinking I’d face the same judgment I’d been running from. Then, the guy at the front desk welcomed me and invited me to eat lunch with him. That night, I slept in a real bed and didn’t have to worry about my bag being gone when I woke up.”

This was the type of marketing you couldn’t pay for. Cody was raw and real, and everyone in the room felt his pain as if it were their own. “In a single word, that center became my hope. It became a symbol of everything I’d forgotten I wanted. And I thought I’d stay there until I left for college. That’s what I’d been told.” Cody shrugged. “But just like the time before, that hope was yanked away from me one Monday morning. I felt myself spiraling downward, but this time, I picked up the phone and called Drew. By the time we got home from him picking me up at school that day, all of this had been started. And for once, I know that I have two things everyone wants in life: security and hope.”

My fingers dug into Eric’s forearm. He looked over to me and I could see his eyes glistening. “That’s it,” I whispered to him.

“What are you talking about?” He responded. A few people glanced in our direction but quickly turned back to Cody.

“Secured Hope.” Two simple words that changed everything. It was what everyone who walked through the doors needed. They needed security and hope in an uncertain world.

“You’re right, it’s perfect,” Eric agreed. He took my hand and led me toward the edge of the room, where Drew and Cody were swarmed by people wanting to talk to him about his experience. I nodded to Drew, letting him know that we were headed outside. “So tell me, did you ever think this is what would have come from your first trip out here?”

“No, but I’m not surprised,” I admitted. “My mom always told me there was strength in numbers, I just didn’t realize how true that was.”

“Come on, let’s go home,” Eric said, reaching for the keys in his pocket. “You can text them on the way, maybe see if Cody would like to go to the hotel with Drew’s parents for the night.”

“I like the way you think.” I let Eric lead me down the street to where he’d parked. Milwaukee wasn’t a homerun for me, it was more of a grand slam.

Epilogue

Spring training wasn’t as awful as I expected it to be. If anyone other than Mark held a grudge about the last game of the playoffs, they didn’t show it. In fact, life was pretty damn good. Tonight, everyone was coming to our place for a bit of a celebration.

Secured Hope had opened the week we had to report to Arizona, so there hadn’t been time to party then. Plus, our report day happened to be the day after the live finale of A Cut Above. While we’d partied as hard as we dared after watching Cam win the entire fucking show, he hadn’t been there with us. But he would be tonight.

It was also Asher’s birthday. The little shit was giving new meaning to the term terrible twos. I tried telling Sean that was the result of spending too much time at home with Mason.

And as if all that wasn’t enough to celebrate, Cody had called me a few days ago to let me know he’d secured yet another scholarship. I’d told him he didn’t need to stress, that we’d cover whatever he wasn’t awarded, but he was determined to make it on his own. He’d even gotten a job at the clubhouse so he had his own money. I couldn’t have been prouder of him if he’d been my own flesh and blood.

“Hey, Jackson!” Jason yelled across the locker room. “Cam just texted and asked when we’d be out of here. You about ready?”

Hell yes. Eric and Bryce had caught a later flight than I’d have liked so Cody wouldn’t miss an important test at school. All of our lives now seemed to revolve around the schedule of an eighteen-year-old kid, but that was okay.

“Yeah, just give me a minute.” As I leaned over to shove a few last things into my duffel bag, someone rammed into my side, knocking me off balance.

“Fucking fairies everywhere around here now,” Mark bitched. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, remembering what Sean had told me about not antagonizing him. If I ignored it, maybe it’d go away. Besides, I’d probably still be pissed if our roles had been reversed and I cost him the game. “I heard the office is working with Disney to see if they can change the mascot to Tinkerbell wearing a motherfucking cowboy hat.”

“Let it fucking go, man,” Riley Anderson scolded him. He pointed directly at me. “That man has done more for this team than you ever will. The only reason you’re still here is because your contract hasn’t expired and the suits can’t pay another team to take your sorry ass. I like pussy just as much as most of the guys in here, but there’s only one dick I can’t stand. And that’s you.”

The entire room fell silent while Riley went off on Mark. Slowly, a few of them started mumbling encouragement to Riley and a few hurled insults of their own to Mark. He shrank back and gathered his shit as quick as he could.

I noticed one of the rookies hanging back, away from the altercation. Today was his first day working out with the Mavericks and we’d made a really shitty first impression. Not only that, but he had the potential to fuck us all. His dad was a fucking legend, someone we all dreamed of as starry eyed kids hoping to make it to the big leagues someday.

“Hey Stone, you coming over tonight?” The kid looked up at me and his eyes were so wide I thought they were going to pop out of his head.

“Me?” He pointed at his own chest.

I rolled my eyes. It was hard to believe it’d only been two years ago that I’d been in his shoes. “Yeah, you. Get your shit together and meet me outside. Unless you’d rather head back to your hotel room and veg in front of the TV all night.”

That sparked the rookie pitcher into action. He damn near stumbled over his feet trying to get to the door. “Thanks, man. Sorry, but I’m not used to guys treating me normal. They find out who my old man is and either try to crawl up my ass to get closer to him or they steer clear, figuring I’m his little snitch.”

I eyed him warily, mostly to give him a hard time. “You’re not, are you?”

“Fuck no!” he answered bitterly. I couldn’t imagine how tough it was to be him.

“Good, because I have to warn you, you may see some crazy shit tonight.” That was an understatement with our crew. “I’d hate to have you texting him pictures of what we do in our downtime.”

“Even if I was a snitch, it wouldn’t be you guys I’d rat out,” he told me, glaring toward where Mark had been dressed down in front of everyone. “Why do you put up with that shit? The league has policies to prevent that.”

“Yeah, but eventually you’ll learn that some things work better on paper than they do in reality,” I informed him. “The league has come a long way and Stu is good about keeping the bullshit to a minimum, but it takes time to make real change.”