Chapter Text
Max’s sharp features are even more obvious in the late afternoon light.
The fans had long since left Steinbrenner, taking the noise and hope for 2026 with them. Carlos had signed more memorabilia than she could begin to count, head fuzzy by the third girl who asked how her elbow was feeling.
It’s good to be back. Good to reestablish herself in the clubhouse, let the growing pains fade as Max makes eye contact with her across the mound. She stretches her arms over her head, lazily talking about pitch types with Austin. Carlos pretends not to notice, arms folded firmly across her chest.
Dinner had been tossed around the team half-heartedly, though she knows she never planned on going to the same Italian restaurant they picked every year. She’ll go back to her apartment, contemplate a cigar, text Max, fuck Max. Typical away game routine, though she supposes they’re home for now.
Max’s hair is longer, and curls out from underneath her cap. Carlos had just trimmed hers, though her head swims with the possibilities of what Max will look like out of uniform. She’d lived off of memory for the entire offseason while Max’s sorry excuse for a boyfriend carted her around Europe.
She was beginning to get antsy.
She watches Max roll a ball between her bony fingers and decides she’s done for the night. She politely excuses herself from her conversation with Matt and Cam, beginning the long trek towards a cold shower and even colder clubhouse.
Her post-game routine hasn’t changed much since her debut. Scream if needed. Strip. Shower. Contemplate.
There’s always room for modifications, though, when she hears another pair of cleats enter the locker room.
“You don’t want to get those wet.”
Carlos can all but see the smile on Max’s face when she says “Me? Or the cleats?”
Carlos lets the spray soak her hair, purposefully keeping her eyes closed. She can’t let Max get close, lest she push her against the tiled wall until she cries.
“Thought you’d want to throw more,” Carlos says, testing the waters. She hears Max’s belt clink as it drops to the floor, and she inhales slowly through her nose.
“Not today.”
Despite the fire in her nerves, Carlos pulls the curtain closed behind Max.