Pacey unlocked the door to his hotel room, and immediately headed for the phone on the bedside table. He quickly dialed a familiar number and waited impatiently. Glancing at the clock, he discovered it was after eleven, and frankly, he didn’t care.

Andie sighed turning on the lamp on the nightstand, her pale lilac comforter falling to her waist. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly and reached for the phone beside the clock on the table. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Pacey greeted her softly, falling back on his bed.

She brought a hand to her mouth to mask a small yawn. “Pacey? Is something wrong?”

“Can’t I call you just to see how you are?” He wondered, “Must you assume something’s wrong?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Do you know what time it is?”

“After eleven. Sorry, I just got in.”

“If there’s nothing wrong couldn’t this have just waited until morning.”

“So, how are the kids?”

“Sleeping.” She settled back against the headboard.

“I should hope they’re all sleeping this late.” He said, avoiding the reason he was calling.

“I had hoped I’d be sleeping at this time, so if I were you I’d just start talking before I hang up.”

“Can’t I just want to hear your voice?”

She smiled. “It sounds much better in the morning after I’ve had some sleep.”

“It sounds pretty comforting to me right now.”

She sighed tiredly. “What’s wrong?”

He groaned, “You don’t let up do you?”

“If I let you go on, it’d be at least two hours before we get around to the real reason you called,” she answered logically.

“How did you get to know me so well?”

“Hey, you don’t marry someone without knowing a few things about them, so spill.”

“You know...if I could tell you the exact source of my problem, then I’d be able to find a way to fix it.”

She yawned. “I’m too tired for this.”

“Okay, so...” He stood up from the bed and tugged at his tie, “It kinda has something to do with Joey Potter. You know, the reporter from the Globe.”

“She’s causing more trouble?”

“In a way...”

“What happened?”

“Okay, so when we left, I could barely stand her right?”

She nodded. “Right.”

“Well, that’s pretty much the opposite of how I feel now.” He paced the room as he slowly got undressed. “I can barely go an hour without thinking about her.”

Andie’s green eyes widened in surprise. “How did that happen?”

His brow furrowed, “I don’t really know... One day she’s annoying the crap out of me, and the next I’m teaching her how to throw a baseball.”

“It must be really serious then.”

“Andie, don’t patronize me.” He grumbled, tossing his jacket on the couch. His nimble fingers worked on releasing the buttons of his shirt. “This is really starting to bother me.”

She adjusted the phone on her shoulder. “Why is it bothering you so much?”

“Because...because she’s a reporter,” he said insolently as he pulled his shirt off. “And she’s stubborn as a mule. And she’s...she’s always biting her lower lip.”

Andie began to laugh.

“Ugh, Andie, stop it. You’re not helping.” He grumbled, unzipping his pants and folding them. “I can’t stop thinking about her. When she’s not around, I want her to be. And when she is, I never want her to leave. When I kiss her the rest of the world just falls away. And you laughing at me is *so* not helping matters any!”

She stopped her laughing. “Wait a minute...There’s been kissing?”

He let out a long sigh, “Yeah...”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing.” He fell back on the bed. “Why would I do anything?”

“You’re the one that called me.”

“Yeah, I called you for support. Advice. Something.”

“Okay, my five minute assertation, which will mean nothing in the end anyway, is just do whatever you feel is right.”

“How can being with her be right, Andie? Cause that certainly feels right. But I can’t subject her to my life. That’s the whole reason we didn’t work out, because I played baseball.”

“The important question is if you want to be with her.”

He sighed, “I do.”

Andie smiled softly. “Then the rest doesn’t matter, Pacey.”

“Sure it does. Do you remember what we went through trying to hold our marriage together, Andie?” He shook his head, “I can’t subject her to that kind of strain, that kind of heartache.”

“It’s different now though.”

“Besides, who’s to say she’s even interested in me. I mean, the woman couldn’t stand the sight of me in the beginning. I’m probably just getting a head of myself.” He groaned, “You know, I don’t even know why I bothered you. It’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” Andie said knowingly.

“Then what’s it sound like, Andie?” He said in frustration.

“It sounds a lot like something to me.”

He grunted.

“Just think about it,” she said with a sigh.

“Whatever you’re thinking, Andie. You’re wrong.” He insisted, “I just...like her. And I mean...that’s understandable. She’s the only woman I have any sort of contact with these days. And-and she’s pretty--beautiful, really. She does this thing with her lower lip that...That’s beside the point,” he said grumpily. “I’m sure it’s just a passing infatuation.”

“Okay then, fine. That’s all it is.” She yawned. “Can I got to sleep now?”

“Sleep? How can you sleep when I’m...I’m completely and utterly...captivated by this woman. This is the kind of thing you’re supposed to rub in my face and say I told you so.”

She smiled sleepily. “I told you so.”

He frowned, “You’re such a big help, Andie.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say here.”

“You’re a woman. You’re supposed to understand matters of the heart.”

“I understand that I want to sleep and you’re not letting me.”

“If you wanted to go, you would have hung up on me ten minutes ago.”

“Just do whatever you feel is right.”

He sighed and pitched the bridge of his nose, “I told you what felt right, you’re supposed to talk me out of it.”

“Well, I’m not so just find someone else to bother at this time.”

He grumbled, “Yeah, good night, Andie. Sleep well.”

“You too,” she said sweetly.

“Yeah, right.” He sighed, “Bye.” He dropped the phone on his bed, and fell back across it. He rested his hand over his stomach and stared up at the white paint of the ceiling.

Andie wasn’t much help. Not at all. She just told him to do what felt right. The last thing that had felt right to him was marrying Andie, and look how well that had turned out. He was only twenty, she nineteen. It lasted not quite two years. She hated he was on the road three months of the year, and the other three spent on the field. He hated that he wasn’t enough for her.

They fought more and more, made love less and less. It tore him apart to be the cause of her growing misery. Even working with children hadn’t seemed to make his absences bearable for her. The divorce had been a mutual decision, though it was the hardest he’d ever had to make.

He sighed; love and marriage seemed to come so easily to the other guys on the team. Somehow, they’d found a way to balance family and baseball effortlessly. Part of him allowed that he and Andie had been young, even if he wasn’t a baseball player; the chances of such a young marriage working out were slim. Another part of him allowed for the fact that Andie was hard person to love, not because she was unlovable, but because she gave so much of her love to others, she needed just as much in return. And when they went days without seeing each other...it just wasn’t enough for her.

But, for Pacey, those felt more like paltry excuses than reasons for his failed marriage. The deepest, most sacred part of him, way down in the depths of a scarred heart, he feared that there wasn’t any part of him worth loving. That was why his marriage to Andie failed. That was why he turned to the welcoming arms of his English teacher, only to have her throw him away when she had satisfied herself.

That was why, at the tender age of six, he joined the Boys and Girls Club softball team. Baseball was his father’s favorite sport, the only sport worth playing. The day he stepped onto the field, his father had smiled at him with pride, for the first time in his life. And the last time.

Pacey vowed that day to become the perfect baseball player and he’d earn his father’s love. It wasn’t until he was twelve and playing in the Little League World Series that he realized he’d fucked everything up. It had been years since his father had smiled at him, and that day, as he ran to him after the game--the game his team had won--he finally realized that look he’d been receiving for three years wasn’t indifference. It was jealousy.

Pure and raw jealousy. Laced with a glimmer of hatred. Sheriff John W. Witter was jealous of his youngest son who was achieving the dreams he’d dreamt for all of his fifty-two years. His father wouldn’t even look at him again the rest of the day, he treated it like any other day, it had been just like any game (the few that he’d been to), and he pointed out all of Pacey’s mistakes, just like he had been since his son was six years old.

That day, the day that should have been the happiest of his childhood, was the worst. It was the day he realized his father hated him for being a success where he’d been a failure. Only, now it was too late to back down, he’d fallen in love with the game.

So he played, and he played hard. He was a coach’s dream, always early to practice, always staying a little late. He volunteered to go first, or last, filling in where no one else wanted to be. He played when he was hurt, when he was tired, when his other teammates wanted to quit. He spent hours watching games, learning the history, learning the plays, the tricks, the intricacies that made a player good. He had a drive to succeed in the game that was unmatched by any.

He loved the game and he gave it everything he had. It had been a part of his life for almost twenty years. It had been his solace, his escape, and his passion.

Pacey shook his head; there was only room in his life for one love. Hadn’t his marriage to Andie proven that? This whole thing with Joey was just an infatuation. Nothing more than that. She’d be out of his life in a few weeks anyhow and when she was gone, there’d be baseball.

There’d always be baseball.

But...there wasn’t any harm in having a little fun with her while she was here, was there? He knew there wasn’t even a chance of her loving him, but...she felt it, didn’t she? That connection whenever they touched. She had to.

The corner of his mouth turned up, there were still three weeks left of Spring Training. As long as they were careful, they could spend it together.

~*~

Joey settled on her side on the queen-sized bed and she adjusted the covers, and fluffed the pillow before she lay back down. She released an exasperated sigh and turned onto her back. The lights were off in the room and the silence was unsettling. She only wished that were the problem though. She couldn’t get her mind off Pacey Witter and what she felt when they had kissed earlier. Before she could have just chalked it up to hormones, but now that she was spending more time with him and actually getting to know him it was just getting worse for her. She frowned and turned back onto her side one last time trying not to think about it before she finally pushed the covers off and flipped on the lamp on the bedside table. She reached for the phone by her alarm clock and began to dial. She needed some perspective.

“Hello...I’ve been waiting for you.” Jen Lindley’s sultry voice came through the line, her low whisper hinting at promises that obviously weren’t meant for Joey.

Joey sighed too tired to take time correct her. “I really need an outside opinion.”

“You’re not Patrick.”

“I know that.”

Jen chuckled in slight embarrassment as she shifted on the couch. “Joey?”

Joey nodded forgetting Jen couldn’t see her and leaned back against the headboard. “Yes, it’s Joey.”

“Hey, so how’s the life down in Florida?”

“It’s fine,” Joey said bringing her knees up to her chest.

“Hmmm, something tells me you’ve got something weighing on your mind.” Jen said knowingly.

“I’m sorry if I’m calling too late,” Joey apologized.

“No,” Jen shook her head of curls, “As you can see, I’m wide awake.’

“Waiting for Patrick to call?”

“Yep,” she nodded, “But it may be a while.”

“Oh...” She glanced down at her peach quilt covered knees.

Joey nibbled on her lower lip, she wasn’t exactly sure how to put it. “I’m in need of some advice.”

“Okay, never count your chickens before they hatch and don’t cross the street without looking.”

She clicked her tongue behind her teeth. “This is serious.”

“So is crossing the street without checking the traffic.” Jen smirked, “But fine, I’ll be good. What do you need advice on?”

“It’s about Pacey.” She had lowered her voice conspiratorially as if someone might overhear.

“Really? What’d you find out?” Jen’s ears perked up at the thought of a good piece of news.

“He’s really not as bad as I thought he would be,” she admitted reluctantly.

Jen bit back an ‘I told you so’. “Then man does have...certain attributes. It took you this long to notice?”

“Great attributes.” There was a long, overdrawn sigh.

Jen chuckled, “So, what’s the problem? You want to jump him, is that it?”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not? He’s there, you’re there...Or do you think he’s uninterested?”

“I can’t sleep with my subject!” Joey protested a little too loudly. She lowered her voice. “It creates a conflict of interest.”

Jen shrugged, forgetting Joey couldn’t see her. “So don’t let anyone find out. Even if you sleep with him once and people find out...they can’t fire you for something like that.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It’s not?”

She shook her head adamantly. “No, it’s not. Sex can only complicate things.”

“Well, yeah, if there’s more going on than sex. But sex in and of itself is just sex. A pleasurable experience, hopefully, for both partners and no more.”

“But I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Well, then what have you done?” Jen asked, careful not to sound condescending.

She bit the inside of her cheek. “I just don’t have much experience when it comes to sexual relationships.”

“Are you a virgin?”

For some unknown reason that question made her blush. “No.”

“Well, that certainly makes it a little less complicated. Forgive me for getting blunt, but Joey, how many times have you had sex?”

Her face colored even more. “Um, at least three times.”

Jen tried to hold back her surprise. Joey wasn’t particularly ugly, a little dowdy at times, but certainly pretty enough for more than one guy to be interested in her. “And how was it?”

“Well, the first two times were okay.”

“And the third?”

She exhaled sharply. “It was nothing like the first two.”

“Better? Worse?”

“Better than I imagined sex could be,” she divulged with embarrassment. “Not that the other times weren’t good but this was...wow.” She couldn’t believe she was actually telling Jen all this but she figured she needed to be honest if she wanted Jen’s advice.

Jen smiled, “And what happened to the guy?”

“I uh,” she coughed. “I got stuck writing an article about him?”

Jen was stunned into silence. “So, let me get this straight. You’ve already slept with him, and it was mind blowing...and now you’re reluctant to do it again?”

“Before it was different. I thought I was never going to see him again and he thought I was you.”

“And now...what? He knows you’re you and doesn’t want you now?” She found that hard to believe.

“No...”

“Then why not sleep with him again? You already know it’s gonna be good.”

“It’d just complicate matters, wouldn’t it?”

“It shouldn’t. You’re both professionals. What happens between the sheets at night shouldn’t affect either your work or his.” She said logically.

“Are you sure about that?”

“If it’s just sex...”

“Right...just sex,” she nodded unsurely.

There was a drawn out pause, and Jen’s voice was soft when she spoke again. “It’s not just sex, is it?”

“I’m not sure if it can be.”

“Forget about can be’s, would be’s, should be’s and whatever other be’s there are. Is it?”

“I don’t know!” she exclaimed in frustration.

Jen bit her lip, saddened by her friends obvious upset. “Let’s face the facts here, Jo. One, if you start a relationship with him, you run the risk of losing your job. Not that it’s a huge risk, because frankly, I don’t think Kyle would care as long as you do your job, but there is a risk. Two, once this assignment is over, you come back to Boston and get an assignment more suited to your tastes, and he goes back to playing ball twenty-four/seven. Lastly, Pacey Witter gave you the best sex of your life.” Jen paused, “Given all that...what are your options?”

Joey nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t start anything.”

“No,” Jen shook her head. “I didn’t ask what you should do, I asked what your options are.”

“That’s the only reasonable option.”

“Forget about reason, Joey. What are your *options*?”

“Let’s just stick to reason. It causes less trouble.”

Jen let out an exasperated sigh. “You said you wanted my opinion, right? Then listen to me and tell me what your goddamn options are!”

Joey picked an imaginary piece of lint off the blanket. “I’m not exactly sure what my options are.”

“Okay, fine. Let’s see...there is option number one: Reason. You could completely ignore the fact you’re attracted to him, ignore the fact he’s the best sex you’ve ever had,” she said, ignoring the fact that her friend had only had sex three times. “Go the safe route, not adventure, not danger, no challenge. Extremely boring.”

“Then...there’s option number two. In which you hang up on me, strip your clothes and go to his room, and jump him one last time. One more night, and you have a memory to last you forever. Virtually no risk to your job in that. It may make working with him a tad bit difficult. But then, maybe not as difficult as working with him day in and day out suppressing the urge to bone him. Of course, you’re left with that tiny piece of him when I really know you want the whole thing.”

“Last but not least, there’s option number three. My personal favorite.” She twirled a lock of blonde hair around her fingertip. “In which you take a chance in your life, risk, however small the chance is, that you could lose your job. And go over there and take what you want, what he’s probably already offered you in so many words, and run with it for as long as you can.”

Joey rolled her eyes. “I like the way you reduced my life to options one, two and three.”

“As opposed to reducing your life to one, and only one, option?”

“I think all that sex has rotted your brain.”

“You know, there is more than yourself to think about here. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Pacey involved in this too?”

Joey looked confused. “What’s your point?”

“Well, what he wants has some bearing here too, doesn’t it?”

“Oh...”

“So...?”

“But it’s not really that important is it?”

“Yeah, It is.”

“Oh.”

“Well...?”

“I have to think now.”

“If you ask me, Joey, and I know you didn’t, you think to much. For once, just go and do what feels right. Take a risk.”

“Much easier said than done.”

“Anything worthwhile isn’t going to be easy.”

She released an exasperated breath. “Fine.”

Jen snorted, “Please, Joey. Don’t base your decision on anything I say. You know how you feel, you know what you want, and you already know what you’re going to do.”

She released a soft breath still unsure of what to do. “Okay.”

“Just one more question,” Jen said with a reporter’s finesse, having a hunch what Joey’s answer would be, “Do you love him?”

“Isn’t it kind of too soon to tell,” Joey answered evasively.

“You can always tell, Joey. Either you do, or you don’t.”

“I don’t know.”

“Then you don’t...yet.” She smirked to herself, “There’s always the potential.”

“I should let you go then. It’s late.”

“Oh, yeah.” She smiled, “And I was waiting for a call.”

“Right and I wouldn’t want to keep you from that.”

“Goodnight, Joey. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“I guess that doesn’t leave much.”

“Nope, that’s the idea.” She said cheekily.

Joey rolled her eyes. “Night, Jen.”

“G’night,” She smiled as she hung up the phone.