I sat down between the two most important women in my life. Danika was on my left, and my mom was on my right. I knew that everyone else in the room was rotating between staring at me and the TV, but all I could do was stare straight ahead.
Looking at the television screen, I willed it to say my name while trying to pretend that I wasn’t nervous as hell as the baseball commissioner appeared. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red light come on the camera, and I knew that they were filming. There had been talk that I was a top ten contender, but no one had ever claimed that I’d go in the number one spot, so I wasn’t expecting it. That had been deemed for some kid from Florida, and just like the experts had said, they were right. His name was called first, and I imagined how excited he must be as his family suddenly appeared on the TV. They were jumping up and down, screaming and yelling, and I couldn’t help but be happy for the guy.
We didn’t have to wait much longer as my imagination turned to reality at the sound of my own name coming out of the TV speakers. Our hotel room erupted. So did the rooms around us, where I knew my teammates were.
“Holy shit,” I said to no one in particular, but Danika was at my side, kissing my face and telling me, “Congratulations,” at the same time as my mom was hugging me, shoving her phone in my face so I could see Gran’s and Gramps’s partial faces.
“Congratulations, Chance!” they both said.
I told them, “Thank you,” even though I was pretty sure they couldn’t hear me.
“I love you. I’m so proud of you,” Danika said into my ear, and I turned to kiss her like no one else was in the room, not even her dad. I’d gotten past thinking that he might murder me at any point just for existing … at least for the most part.
“I love you too,” I said, the grin feeling like it took up my entire face.
No matter what anyone had said to me in the past, this hadn’t been a sure thing until it actually happened. And it was a much different experience from when it had happened in high school. I’d gotten drafted then, too, but it hadn’t felt anywhere close to this. It wasn’t in the first round, and no one was filming my reaction to the news. To be honest, I wasn’t even watching the draft in the first place. I’d heard the news from one of my teammates on my summer ball team, and I’d been totally caught off guard.
This couldn’t have been more opposite.
“Son.” My dad was suddenly standing in front of me, his hand extended. I reached for it, and he pulled me up. “I couldn’t be prouder. I’m so happy for you. You deserve this.”
“Dad”—I felt myself getting emotional—“I’m going to be a fucking Met,” I said as it all started to sink in.
The New York Mets had drafted me. Getting the chance to play on the same team that my old man had made this even more fulfilling. I would have played anywhere, of course, but this made all the dreams I’d had as a little boy who worshipped his father come true.
“Ain’t that something?” Ralph said, and I looked at him before taking his hand and shaking it as well. “Can’t believe I have to root for the Mets again. I’ll never live it down,” he pretended to grumble with a grin.
“Another Carter jersey to hang on your wall,” I said hopefully. I wasn’t in the Major Leagues yet.
“Proudly, son.”
Shit. Ralph had called me son. This day could not get any better.
“I can’t believe you’re going to be on the same team as Dad was.” Jacey threw her arms around me and hugged me tight.
“Pretty cool, huh?” I asked, hugging her back.
“You’re happy, right?”
“So happy.”
“I can’t believe you’ll be in New York before me. I’m definitely coming to college there now,” she said, her tone more excited than I’d ever heard it before.
“You’re only fifteen. You might change your mind by then,” I said, not meaning anything by it, but I could tell that I had offended her.
My little sister was strong-minded and determined, and no one told her what to do with her life, least of all me.
“I’m not a little kid, you know.”
“I know. Guess I’ll see you in New York then,” I said, if only to appease her, but the smile on her face told me that I should know better.
She’d already made up her mind about where she wanted to go to college, and I would definitely be seeing her in the city at some point.
God help Manhattan.
“Can I interrupt?” Uncle Dean stood between Jacey and me, and I gave him a nod.
“What’s up?” I asked as Jacey walked away from us and back toward our parents.
“Obviously, we can talk about the specifics later, but they’re offering a five-point-two-five million dollar bonus,” he said, and I wanted to laugh at how unbelievable that was.
The fact that I’d not only get to play baseball for a living, but they also wanted to give me millions of dollars on top of it just to sign with them was insanity. So many other people in different jobs deserved that kind of money more than I did, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to take it. I wanted to live a comfortable life. I wasn’t interested in struggling, but maybe Danika and I could start a charity.
“You good with that?” my uncle asked, and I wondered if he’d been talking to me that whole time while I’d been talking to myself. “It’s more than your dad got,” he added.
I’d already known that. My dad had gotten a five-million-dollar signing bonus.
“Not by much, but it’s still over the top,” I said.
“Welcome to the world of being a professional athlete in America.” He slapped my shoulder before giving me a hug. “Congratulations, Chance. You’ve worked hard for this. And you’ll continue working hard every single day for as long as you play. You deserve to be paid well for it. This isn’t a normal nine-to-five job.”
I knew all of that. It was just a weird feeling, was all—to have this money being basically tossed at me when, yesterday, I’d had none of it.
My uncle threw me a hat, and I caught it easily. Looking at it, I noted the Mets logo and smiled.
“Don’t put that on yet,” he directed, and I firmly placed it on my head. “Rebel. Just like your sister.”
“Chance.” It was Mac.
I had no idea why I was so anxious to look at him. We’d both been with Cole last year when he got drafted, and there were no hard feelings. But then again, neither one of us had been eligible to get drafted yet.
“Holy shit, man. You did it! I told you!” He seemed genuinely excited.
“Thanks.” I gave him a hug and felt like I’d hugged more people in the last ten minutes than I had in my entire life. “You good?”
He blew out an uncomfortable sounding breath. “Yeah. Totally. Draft’s not over yet,” he said.
I knew that he was still holding out hope for himself. And I did the same.
“No, it’s not,” I agreed before reminding myself to ask my uncle if Mac was on anyone’s radar or not.
“Chance, we need you,” the camera guy shouted over the chaos, and I looked toward the wall where they’d set up a white sheet for filming.