“You two have a great son. He’s one hell of a talent. I loved catching for him.”
My dad’s eyes widen as he shakes Roddy’s hand, probably because my dad has one of his jerseys at home.
“Thank you for dealing with him,” my mom says, hugging the sweaty, dirt-soaked catcher.
Roddy chuckles as he points to my mom over her shoulder and meets my gaze.
“I like her,” he says.
“Yeah, I figured you would. You can commiserate over dealing with my know-it-all attitude, I’m sure.”
“Meh, you were easy to break. I just had to let an All-Star hit a homer off you, and you got right in line,” Roddy says, recalling our first outing at the start of the season.
My body is tingling with excited energy, and I practically skip my way out of the locker room to where Renleigh and her sister are waiting in the administration lobby. The smile plastered on Renleigh’s face seems caught between something real and a forced expression. My parents probably clued her in on what was coming. I wish I could have given her a better warning. I didn’t want to jinx it, though. Plus, sometimes my head tells me a story that isn’t really rooted in facts. I felt as though the winds were shifting. My agent told me to be ready the moment Riggs went down for a shoulder injury in Texas. But still . . . there were a lot of options besides pulling me up early. It’s rare for a rookie to get the call before the All-Star break.Veryrare.
“Holy shit, Hunter!” Lindsey says as I pull her sister into a hug, smashing her face against my chest.
“Yeah, I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around it all,” I say.
“Bullshit. This is the dream. Boy’s gonna be a legend!” Roddy shouts as he passes by, his gear bag slung over his shoulder as he heads out to his beat-up truck. I know the man’s a multi-millionaire. And as prickly as he is, I hope I can be a lot like him with this ride.
“Congratulations,” Renleigh says, her voice muffled against my shirt.
I drop my hands to cradle her face and meet her wide eyes. She’s freaked out, and the rush of her reaction crashes into the excitement bubbling in my chest so hard my heart stops for a second.
“I don’t leave until the weekend. We can talk about this, how it works. It’s going to work out. I promise,” I say, dropping a soft kiss on her lips.
She nods, her mouth moving against mine as she utters, “Yeah.”
I don’t believe her, but there really is time for us to talk. We just need to get out of here.
The rest of the team spills out of the locker room, and I take turns shaking hands and hugging a lot of the guys, but I make sure my free hand is always tethered to Renleigh’s. She doesn’t pull away, which means she’s open to fighting for this little thing we just started. And I do intend to fight.
“Let’s celebrate, brother! Come on, Roddy said he’s buying,” Jayden says as he slings an arm around my neck. I duck just as he nearly pulls me away from Renleigh, and his gaze shifts to her. “You’re coming too, right? I mean, you deserve to enjoy Earl’s from our side every now and then. You in?”
“Hell, yeah, we’re in,” Lindsey says, despite the frantic darting of Renleigh’s eyes.
“I don’t know. I should get home,” she says, pulling my hand closer to her.
I step in and drop my head lower to give us a small private space amid the rowdiness around us. She shakes her head, her smile more of a straight line as her eyes flit from focusing on mine to the rest of the world around us.
“My dad had in-home rehab today, and I’m sure he’s tired. I don’t know, I just?—”
“Mom is there,” Lindsey says, stepping into our space. Renleigh winces, and I want to push her sister away, but also, I’m on Lindsey’s side. The relationship between their family is complicated, but Renleigh owes it to herself to have her own life. And maybe this timing is the universe’s way of giving us a shot.
“Just one drink. I won’t drink at all, and then I can take you home. I’m too excited to drink anyway. I want to keep feeling this natural buzz. What do you say?” I sway in my stance, drawing her eyes to mine, and finally she nods and lets her mouth break into a faint smile.
“Yeah. You’re right.” She glances to her sister. “I’ll come. For a little while. I want to.”
“Good! Now, let’s go order some expensive shit and make Roddy pay for it,” Lindsey says, looping her arm through her sister’s and leading her out of the building.
“I’ll be right there,” I say, noticing Brooks finally trailing out of the locker room. He’s been so quiet lately, and while he was never the crazy, wild guy in high school, he wasn’t a hermit, either. I feel bad that I haven’t spent a lot of time with him since we both landed here in Sweetwater.
“Hey, you hear the news?” I say, pulling his gaze up from the ground. He has a massive duffle bag slung over his back, which is weird for a guy who isn’t a catcher.
“I did. Wow, that’s . . . I knew you’d be the first to get called up. Good for you.” He lifts his chin and the corners of his mouth turn up slightly, and I swear he might be jealous. He’s going to get his shot. He’ll be in Texas with me next season for sure. Maybe even for a few games this year if he keeps raking at the plate.
“We’re going out to celebrate. I’d love to catch up with you before I go. Let me buy you a beer,” I say, nudging his bicep with my arm.
