“Hey there, Mr. Top Ten Plays of the Day,” she says as her hello, her voice more cheerful than normal.
“Are you watching sports news now?” I ask, surprised to hear.
She laughs out loud. “No. Sorry. But my brother-in-law, Jamie, has been very excited to fill me in on all your accomplishments today.” She pauses. “In live play-by-play text messages throughout the day.”
I can’t help the loud laugh that escapes my mouth at her annoyed tone. Today is where she moved her clients from when she helped me buy everything so I know she was at work all day. Considering she wears an Apple Watch, it must have been going off quite a lot.
“I’m not sure if I should apologize for having a good game or …” I leave that last part hanging.
Her giggle puts an even bigger smile on my face. “No, I’m just kidding. He’s a firefighter down at Station 47, and today must have been a slow day because he didn’t miss one second of the game. I had fun though, knowing how you were doing. Congrats.”
“Thanks. Yeah. We all had a good game. Two more to go, and then I’ll be home.”
“What do you do until then?”
I fluff the pillows behind my back, then let out a comfortable sigh. “Tonight, I’m just going to hang out in my hotel room and crash for the night. We have a night game tomorrow, so I can sleep in a little bit, and then I’ll meet the team for lunch before we head to the field.”
“Is this what it’s like on the road? A lot of just hanging out in a hotel room?”
“Yep. Pretty much. Some guys go out, but I’m not trying to get that label as the newbie on the team. It’s safe in my room.”
“Are you one who gets into a lot of trouble when you go out?” she asks.
“Nah, I’m more the quiet guy in the corner with a beer. Some guys can get the newbie to do some pretty stupid shit. I’ve seen my fair share, so I know when to just stay back.”
“Evan, the responsible baseball player. Who are the craziest guys on the team?” she asks with mischief in her voice.
“Are you trying to get me to spill the tea on my teammates?”
“Maybe …” She giggles.
“Well, I’m still getting to know a lot of them. We do carry a forty-man roster after all. There seems to be a little of everyone. Some guys are married with kids, some have pretty steady girlfriends, and some are a little on the wild side.”
“Do you all sit in your little corners on the bus or airplanes?”
“Do we what?” I ask with a laugh.
“I mean, is it like married guys over here and single guys stay to the back, away from the married ones to keep them out of trouble?”
Now I’m really laughing. “No, it’s not like that. We all pretty much mix together. But Gunnar did get up from sitting next to me today when he saw I was texting you. He acted like me being in a relationship was going to rub off on him, and he said he wanted no part of it.”
“So, is that what this is? Are we in a relationship?”
“I know I’ve only known you for, what, maybe a week? But I’d like to get to know you more, and I hope it is a relationship we both feel like exploring.”
“I’d like to explore with you,” she says, melting my heart.
“I have quite a lot of me that you can explore more when I get home,” I tease.
She lets out a sharp laugh. “Oh, really now?”
“Sorry, I had to go there. I’m serious though. I get home in two days, then have a three-day stretch that ends with a day game, so I’ll be home in time for dinner. We’re still on to hang out, right?”
“That’s, um …”
I can tell she pulled her phone away from her ear to look at a calendar, so I do her one better and text her.
“Here, I just texted you a copy of our playing schedule. This way, you’ll know where I am on any given day.”
