I kiss her and love that she doesn’t hold back when she lifts up to straddle my waist, showing me she feels the same way about me that I do her.
We arrive at Nolan’s game, walking up together, holding hands, when a mom stops us.
“So, that was you in the photo? I told my husband I knew she was in our baseball program, and he didn’t believe me. He will die when I tell him I was right.”
“I, um …” Christy looks back and forth from me to her.
I hold out my hand to the woman. “I’m Evan Parker. Nice to meet you.”
She shakes it. “I’m Danielle. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Danielle, it was very unfortunate that someone caught us in what we thought was a private moment and posted it for the world to see. Can you imagine if someone did that with you and your husband?”
Her face gets red as she stands there with a shocked expression. “I-I’m sorry. God. I didn’t even think about that. It’s just … you see pictures online and?—”
“And it sucks that a lot of those pictures are real people who maybe didn’t want them out there.” I lean in. “So, if you can just forget about the photo and let us watch her son’s game, we would really appreciate it.”
“Oh, yes.” She waves her hands in front of her. “I totally get it.” She pretends like she’s zipping her lips. “You won’t hear another word from me about it.”
“Thank you.” We start to step away, and I call over my shoulder, “It was nice to meet you.”
“You too.” She waves.
Christy slaps my chest with the back of her arm. “Nice to meet you? No, it wasn’t.” She laughs.
I take her hand in mine and bring it to my lips to kiss. “You learn how to politely tell someone to shut the fuck up when you’ve been doing this long enough.”
She laughs even harder. “Yes, that was a very polite way to say that.”
I kiss the top of her head before we step up the bleachers to our seats.
When Nolan gets up to bat, I notice something so familiar that I feel like I could guess his next move when Christy turns to me.
“He’s been watching your at bats closely.”
I smile so big that it hurts as I watch him do the same moves I do when I step into the box before every pitch.
“I’m honored he wants to copy me.”
In this moment, a wave of pride comes over me that I’ve never experienced. To know this little boy has watched me that closely that he nails exactly what I do is more special than anything I’ve ever felt.
This must be what it feels like to really be a dad …
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Christy
I’ve learned there is one drawback to dating a professional athlete—they are gone a lot.
He was on a two-city, seven-day trip, and though he got home late last night, he came to my house as soon as he arrived.
Waking up in his arms is better than I would have imagined.
We decided since Nolan already declared he was good with my relationship with Evan, he could stay the night without fear of Nolan finding out, and it’s the best decision we’ve made so far.
“Good morning,” he whispers, holding me tighter and kissing the top of my head.
“Good morning.” I pause, not wanting to get up just yet but then remember. “What time does the barbecue start today?”
