"You stink!"

He could have sworn one of his teammates said that to him, but they needed to be man enough to say it to his face.

"Who said that?"

He looked around the locker room as the guys were changing after their big loss. Nine to two. There was nothing he could have done to stop that bleeding. And it was not just him. Even after he was pulled, the relief pitchers did not do any better. None of the other players could do enough to overcome that loss.

There were a few chuckles from some guys, but no one stepped up to say anything.

"Fucking cowards," he said to them.

"I guess having that hot girlfriend here wasn't enough," someone said.

He still did not see who said that. He slammed his locker shut. "Say what the fuck you mean!"

Tyrone, who got to start in tonight's game, moved closer to him and stood right up in his face. "I said it. Your big hot-shot girlfriend keeps you up all night long? That's why you're fucking throwing like a pussy now? Because you got a little pussy?"

He was about to swing on him but felt someone hold him back. It was Anthony, he grabbed his arm while it was in midair and held him back.

"He's not worth it bro, cool off. He's not worth you fucking yourself up."

"Yeah, fuck him!" Tyrone shouted out.

"But I can still play without that hand," Anthony said then punched Tyrone in the jaw with force he flew back and hit the floor.

All the guys in the room shouted out and laughed it on, but he saw red right now. He didn't want to deal with a bunch of assholes blaming him for the loss or using Tika to anyway insinuate it affected his play.

They may be right, but he did not want to hear it.

Anthony pushed him out of the way before Tyrone got up from the floor and came after them.

"Come on bro, let's go cool off. Fuck that clown."

Anthony and he walked away from the rest of the guys in the locker room, even though he had not fully changed. He only wore jeans and no shirt. Anthony was dressed and had another t-shirt in his hand and handed it to him.

"What was that all about?" Anthony asked him. "You know he was just clowning on you and you were about to fuck up your pitching hand. The golden hand. The red hot hand. Your money maker."

"I don't care."

"Now I know you're on something. I know how much you love the game and I know how much you have wanted this. To be here. The big game. Everyone calling out your name. The starting pitcher for the mother fucking Cardinals."

"It's one fucking game we lost, not the end of the world," he said, putting on the shirt. "And last I remember, this was a team sport, not a one-man sport. If I fucked up, I get it, but they need to be looking at themselves as well."

"Yo, is this really about Tika?"

He turned to his friend with fury in his eyes. He was not about this shit. He already knew Anthony was going to rag him for dating Tika because he wanted Tika for himself. He didn't know what happened when he tried to get with Tika at the listening party, but he knew Tika did not like Anthony.

Surely he came on too strong for her liking. What if she had not turned him down and had a one-night stand with Anthony? That's all it would have been because Anthony had never had a serious girlfriend in the almost three years of knowing him.

"I'm not discussing her with you."

Anthony raised up his hands in defeat. "Hey! I get it. I knew you had a thing for her and I should have not made a move on her that night. But look, the universe did its thing, and look at you now. You have the girl. Congrats bro."

There wasn't much to congratulate at this point. Tika was mad at him. She came to his game anyway, and he played the worst ever. She had to see him that way. Maybe now she would cut her losses and move on to a guy that was more her speed.

"I'm happy for you, bro. You deserve all the things you can have with a girl like that. Because I know you're one of the good ones and not like me or those other clowns in there."

He could not believe Anthony was talking with some intelligence.

"But something is on your mind because I know you well enough to know the difference between an off day and a bad day."

He did not know how much he wanted to share with Anthony. He was the only friend he really had on the team. He still felt leery telling him about Tika and his relationship. But he was all he had.

"Man, it's just a lot dating someone like that."

"I can see that."

"And she's always so busy, and you know how my schedule is. And then she has a kid! And don't get me wrong, Autumn is awesome. But I'm not the father, you know. I can't step up and be that because you know, I'm just the boyfriend. And then..." He was really letting loose right now. "There are all the people always around her, wherever she goes, there are people with her, so you know, alone time is limited. And then...the media. They won't leave her alone. If we go out anywhere her fans would recognize her and start a mob."

There, he said all of the feelings he was feeling lately. The things he wanted to say to Tika about their relationship but couldn't.

Now what?

"Yo, that's a lot, but you're talking to the wrong person about it."

"Who am I supposed to talk to about it? My brothers and sister wouldn't understand. My parents? None of the fuckups on this team."

"No, you need to talk to her. You and her just need to get all that shit out there," Anthony said. "But hey, what do I know, I never want a girlfriend."

He could not believe he was getting dating advice from Anthony. Advice that actually made sense.