“Give the boy some time, Aubry. Your father can be more than a little intimidating. Heaven only knows what he said to Tucker. It might take him a while to come around. But based on what I saw of the two of you together, I don’t believe for one second that Tucker plans to walk away from you forever.”

She wished she had as much confidence in Tucker as her mother did. Unfortunately, she had all the proof she needed. He hadn’t stood up to her father, and he’d deliberately backed away from her.

It was over.

She only wished she was over him. Unfortunately, her heart hurt, she was crushingly disappointed in him and she couldn’t sleep at night. She wanted to lay all the blame at Tucker’s feet, but she couldn’t.

The worst part of it all was he’d never once talked to her about any of this. Other than the night she’d showed up at his place to vent her feelings, and that conversation had been decidedly one-sided. She’d walked out and they hadn’t really talked things through. So she had no closure.

Not that it would help if she did. It was still going to hurt, but maybe they needed to have a sit-down, rational, two-sided conversation. An official end to their relationship.

Then, maybe, she could start to heal.

TUCKER SAT IN HIS LOCKER AT THE BALLPARK, THINKING more about Aubry than about pitching tonight.

He’d spent as much time as he could with his parents, because he didn’t see them often enough. He left for the airport early this morning to catch his flight back to St. Louis, giving him plenty of time to make it to the ballpark for warm-ups.

But before he went out there, he needed to make contact with Aubry. He sent a text message.

I’d really like to see you. I’m pitching tonight. Can you come to the game?

He figured she was probably at work, so he didn’t expect an answer.

Except his phone buzzed.

I don’t know.

He stared at his phone for a while, at the answer she’d given him.

Yeah, he deserved that. He deserved worse than that.

He typed a response.

Please.

He waited, and she responded right away.

I’ll think about it. Gotta get back to work now.

It was the best he could hope for, but at least it wasn’t an outright no. And that gave him some hope, which was a lot more than he expected.

He’d hang on to that and hope like hell she showed up for the game.

If not, he’d go over to her place after the game tonight and beg her to take him back. On his knees, if necessary.

After he told her he loved her.

But for now, he needed to get his head—and his pitching arm—ready for tonight’s game. His curve still hadn’t been working like he wanted it to, and that needed to be his number one priority. He’d been working on it with the pitching coach, and he was hoping to get the kinks out of whatever it was in his curve that had been kinked lately.

It was bad enough he’d totally fucked up his personal life. He at least needed to get his professional one back on track.

Grant had texted and told him that he and Katrina and the kids were coming to the game, so he’d at least have family in his corner tonight.

And right now, that counted for something.

AUBRY REFUSED TO LOOK AT THE CLOCK. THEY’D HAD several emergencies come in, she’d been running from room to room, and time had gotten away from her. She and Katie barely had time to exchange looks of utter agony as their hands were filled with broken bones, cuts and abrasions from a multi-vehicle accident.

Fortunately, there were no fatalities. By the time they had everyone either discharged or admitted, she was exhausted. She grabbed something to drink and stepped into the break room, where a couple of the attendings and some of the residents had tonight’s baseball game on television.

Tucker was pitching. It was the top of the fifth inning. She was still torn about going to the game.

What was he going to say to her that hadn’t already been said?

Or, rather, not said? He’d made his feelings and his choices abundantly clear to her. And despite the pain in her heart, deep down she understood.

Career came first. It had to. He was building his career, and she had gotten in the way.

Of course she first and foremost blamed her father for interfering in her life, but when push came to shove, the decision had been Tucker’s.

But then again, she wanted closure, and maybe that’s what Tucker was looking to give her.

The official breakup conversation.

No. He wouldn’t do that at the stadium. He’d come to her house to break up with her. She might not understand a lot of things about him, but she knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t officially break up with her at the Rivers’ stadium.