"Why did you waive your no-trade clause for Chicago?"

"I want a ring."

"Bullshit. What's the real reason?"

Mike hesitated before responding. "It's gonna be hard to answer without talking about the thing you don't want to talk about."

Now it was Ginny's turn to hesitate. She looked at her phone and saw they were less than an hour from the Padres Spring Training facility. She sighed. "Fine. Let's get it out in the open. I'm tired of the weird vibe between us."

Mike considered with uncertainty the best place to start. "I've been attracted to you since the first day we met. The way you stood up for yourself when I slapped your butt showed you weren't just a pretty face. I started thinking about you all the time. I figured it was just a crush. It happens when you spend a lot of time interacting with a beautiful, intelligent woman." Ginny blushed, but Mike didn't see. He kept his eyes firmly on the road. "I figured it would eventually fade away. Infatuation does that if you don't pursue it, and you made it clear pursuing it would be useless. You don't date ballplayers. Then, one night I had a dream."

"Are you sure you want to tell me about this dream? 'Cause I'm not sure I want to hear what you dream about me."

"What? Oh. No. This was not that kind of dream."

Ginny noticed his word choice. Mike did not deny having erotic dreams about her, he just claimed this wasn't one. Her brain filed the observation away for future reference as he continued.

"In the dream we're married. We're in the living room of my house. You're sitting in the comfortable chair reading a book and I'm on the couch trying to find something on TV. Our kids are playing in another room and we hear them laughing. I know it sounds mundane. What made it intense was the feeling accompanying it. It felt right. It felt this was the way my life was supposed to be. It felt like home."

The reverential way he said "home" struck a chord in Ginny. They both grew up in dysfunctional environments; Ginny with two parents who hated each other, Mike with a single mother in way over her head. Mike's tone suggested something else entirely. He meant love and togetherness; the kind of home you read about and fantasize about as a small child.

"I couldn't shake the memory of the dream. Every time I saw you it reminded me of that feeling. I've never had that feeling in my real life. Not with Rachel, not with anyone. Being around you every day without doing anything about it became more and more difficult. I had to get away from you or I'd go crazy. That's why I approved the trade. That night, when it looked like a done deal, I wanted to see you. I wanted to be as close to that feeling as I could get. When you were about to leave, I called your name because I wanted to confess it all. Then you turned back to me and I knew I didn't have to say anything. I saw in your face that you saw it in mine."

Ginny nodded, but Mike didn't see. He still wouldn't look at her, for fear he might never look away again. He stopped talking, because the next words were too painful. He didn't kiss her that night even though he wanted to more than he'd ever wanted anything. He held back because he could see she didn't feel the same way.

They rode for a while in uncomfortable silence. Ginny didn't know what to say. After a few interminable minutes, she started talking anyway. "You're right. I did see it in your eyes that night. No one ever looked at me like that before. It scared the hell out of me, but it was also compelling. I liked it. I'm just glad your phone started ringing before we did something we'd regret." Ginny paused, giving Mike a chance to end the conversation before it was too late.

Mike considered trying to lighten the mood, maybe making a joke about how women never regretted sleeping with him, but decided against it. He wanted to hear the rest of what she had to say.

Ginny continued, trying her best not to hurt her friend and mentor. "Look, Mike, I was pretty drunk. I had wine at dinner before beers at the bar. I was also pretty horny. It had been almost a year since I'd been with a man at that point. Put it all together and I had a moment of weakness. I was ready and willing to take advantage of you and your feelings. It would have been a fuck for the ages. But that's all it would have been. I've been on the other side of the equation. I know the pain and resentment of being used. I thank God every day your phone interrupted us. You deserve better."

Mike had gotten off the interstate while she talked and they pulled into the parking lot as she finished her monologue. He parked and turned the engine off.

"Are we good?" She wanted this settled before they got out of the car. Mike nodded without turning in her direction. "Look at me, old man." He finally met her gaze. "Are we good?"

"We're good."

"We're not going to let any of this affect us on the field."

"It's not going to affect us on the field."

"Anything else before we go in?"

"Just one thing."

"You don't have to..."

"I love you, Ginny."

"I know. And I'm sorry." She got out of the car and headed for the building.