If they won today, they would have the first pennant in Brooklyn Bats’ history. No one had expected them to get this far, and even if they lost today, they’d had a fantastic season with a lot of new fans filling the stands.
But I really wanted them to win. They deserved it. And so did my boyfriend.
My live-in boyfriend, as of this month.
Since he’d returned from Boston, he’d been staying over at our house almost every night, other than when he had to go back to his apartment for his bills or the small amount of clothes he still had there. Parking his truck in our neighborhood wasn’t aseasy, but he’d insisted it was worth the hassle to come upstairs to me at night, no matter how far he had to walk from whatever spot he’d find.
Coaching and living in Brooklyn had heightened Silas’s popularity, but instead of being treated as a legendary celebrity, he was just one of us. That gave us some privacy on a local level, and we were able to have dinner in a restaurant without anyone bothering us, most of the time.
“This is a nice stadium,” Ben said from his seat next to Taylor. “If a little clean and too modern.”
“Why? A ballpark has to be dirty to be authentic?” Maryanne asked. They were both in full Brooklyn Bats gear. Maryanne wore a scarf and Silas’s dad wore a baseball cap.
“Yes, lived-in. Sticky floors.” He swiveled his sneaker. “In time, I suppose.”
Silas’s parents were as excited as we were, but not as tense, as they’d been to plenty of play-off and championship games throughout Silas’s career.
To me, even though I hadn’t been there with him at that time, this was different. He’d been a baseball star for his entire life, and now he was on the verge of success from the other side. Killing it at a job that he’d been so afraid he wouldn’t be able to do.
One of my favorite things about him was how he could be endlessly humble while being so damn exceptional.
“Rachel!”
I swiveled my head to a fan in a Jones jersey under her puffy jacket. I guessed she was about my age, her brown hair blowing in the fierce breeze, clutching my latest paperback in her hand. The one that had led me to Silas, or I liked to think of it that way.
I’d even changed the dedication in the book to him, although no one knew but us what I meant by signing it, “All my love, Slugger.”
“I’m sorry to bother you, but could you sign this? My seats aren’t really here, but I took a chance.”
“Of course,” I said, grabbing the book from her hands. “I take it you’re a Jones fan too?”
“Well, honestly, I bought the jersey after I heard he was your boyfriend. I am now, but I found him through you.”
I popped my head up. “That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard, and I can’t wait to tell him later that I got him a new fan,” I whispered.
She laughed, muttering a thank-you and scurrying off when she noticed security checking tickets.
It was a new experience to be approached to sign a book outside of a bookstore or signing. I was still riding the viral wave, more videos popping up every day, along with the occasional candid shot of Silas and me. We were careful to take the heavy PDA behind closed doors now, so whatever shots someone was able to get of us were cute, not scandalous.
I was almost surprised my mother hadn’t contacted me after seeing all our newfound semi-fame, but Silas had scared her pretty straight when she’d barged in and tried to take Taylor. A restraining order had been served to Jared’s New Jersey apartment, and we hadn’t heard a peep from her since.
Taylor had stopped asking if she’d reached out, and the relief I’d witnessed once it started to sink in that our mother really wasn’t going to pop back into our lives when we’d least expected it anymore was palpable and mutual.
As Silas had said, sharing blood didn’t always mean sharing a bond, and relatives were better off out of your life if they were toxic.
Even if they were supposed to be a parent.
Sometimes, a local restaurant would get a jump in business if Silas and I were photographed there, so everyone, everywhere, was always happy to see us.
It was the good side of his popularity, unlike the occasional comment of what a guy like him was doing with a girl like me. But jealousy and cruelty didn’t bother me because I was too busy being in love and so happy my cheeks ached.
Gayle had offered me my job back a couple of days after Silas got home from Boston. It hadn’t been a very boisterous offer, and I didn’t want to ruin any of the good memories I’d cultivated while working for Gayle by agreeing to come back when I hadn’t really been wanted. Working at a job that was given to me under duress wouldn’t be conducive to my best creative work.
I should have come clean from the beginning and accepted the consequences rather than continue to violate the rules by sneaking around.
When a large payment hit my bank account, large enough to cover my salary for three years, I’d called the agency’s HR, sure there had been a mistake. I had been dismissed for cause and didn’t qualify for severance, and I totally didn’t buy it when the HR rep said that it wasjust procedure.
That was when Silas told me about the role the Bats had played in our social media mess.
