CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RACHEL
“Slow down,”I told my sister as she ran toward the field to join her friends. Her softball coach had called us to the field for a special announcement, and Taylor had texted with her friends the whole ride here, bouncing with excitement as to what it could be.
I’d splurged for a cab after a long workday, but I couldn’t muster any of Taylor’s revelry.
Sometimes, I envied my sister a little. She was a sweet, happy kid, despite the odd way she’d grown up. Our mother was in her life much less than she’d been in mine, and Taylor had been able to detach from her easier. I thought of it as a win, that just maybe all the effort I’d put into being a good parent, the polar opposite of the one we’d had, was working.
I usually did a much better job matching her energy, but it was hard when you had adult things to worry about, like how much this “surprise” would cost. Were they announcing one of the trips? Did it include airfare?
My mind raced with possibilities, but unlike Taylor, they were mostly bad.
“Hey, Rachel,” Hayley, one of the softball moms, called as she came over to me. “Any clue about the exciting news?”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “I feel like the girls are building it up to be something a lot more than what it probably is.”
As terrible as it was, that was my hope.
“I think,” Hayley whispered as she came closer, “the team got a sponsor. From the rumor I heard—” she held up her hands “—they’re going to covereverythingfor the girls this year.”
“What?”
I didn’t realize how loud my gasp was until a cluster of teen girls turned to gape at me. I mouthed asorryto my sister and turned back to Hayley.
“Like, everything?”
“Like,everything. Even getting them new uniforms with the sponsor logo, no matter that we’re a couple of months into the season. How cool is that? I mean, if it’s true…”
I clenched my eyes shut and said a two-second prayer to God and my grandmother to will it so. I’d planned to cover some of it with my next release payout, but if I didn’t have to, I could take Taylor on vacation or treat us to something fun if my book sold well. It was all an if at this point but more than what I’d had before we’d stepped out of the cab.
My chest tingled after what felt like a massive brick slipped off my chest. That rare but exhilarating feeling of relief coasted over me. I spotted the coach waving us over to the field and followed with considerably more pep in my step.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Taylor’s coach, Amy, said after everyone had quieted down. “But this was news I wanted to deliver in person. Our team has a sponsor for the season, and they’ve agreed to cover all expenses for the girls this year, including all fees, uniforms, and trips.”
“Wow,” Hayley breathed out next to me, her blond ponytail swishing behind her as she whipped her head toward me.
“Seriously,” I said, exhaling so much air, my shoulders slumped.
“And that’s not even the best part! Our new team sponsor is the Brooklyn Bats!”
Taylor snuck me a look over her shoulder, her eyes almost as wide as I was sure mine were, but she was a happy-excited, not shocked enough to forget to breathe or blink.
“Wow, that’s incredible,” Hayley mused next to me. “But why would a professional baseball team sponsor a girls’ softball team? I mean, I love that they did, but it’s rare, you know.”
“Yes, rare,” I replied, all that sweet relief from just minutes ago dissipating into what felt like a familiar panic. It wasn’t rare or a coincidence.
It was Silas.
Gayle had suggested local sports sponsorships in her overall PR campaign to spread the name around the various Brooklyn neighborhoods and get the residents to think of the Bats as one of their own. I hadn’t heard if the Bats management had taken her up on it. Sure, it could have been by chance, but it was aone-in-a-millionchance that the Bats would pick my sister’s team to sponsor this year.
I hadn’t been able to get Silas out of my head even before opening day. I’d sat in the stands as I tracked him on the field, so confident and sexy despite the trepidation he’d confessed to me.
He’d worn the shit out of that uniform, and I’d watched him instead of the game. Gayle had been up and down next to me, checking out parts of their stadium and telling all the ideas that had come to her. I’d nodded as my gaze stayed on Silas, his gorgeous face stoic and serious as he talked with his players, perched right outside the dugout for most of the game.
It had made me think of his easy smile that first day, even after I’d clocked him in the stomach. It was like we’d had our own secret, like I knew a side of him that no one else in thatentire crowd did. Even though I’d spotted signs from a few women requesting to know him a lot better.
When he’d told me to take off the jersey and slipped one with his name on it over me, I didn’t know if I was going to combust or melt.
