Brigham had to ruin it. “I like her.”
“Nope,” I replied with a smack to his head. “Nope.”
“You hitting that, Titan?”
Anger shot through me and I wanted to punch him, but Tate read the situation with the ease of a natural leader and stepped in. “Brigs, keep it in your pants. Teenagers, man. Come on.”
“Shit, you’re right. I just liked her attitude. The sassy ones are always more fun.”
“Yeah. Are you staying for the whole game? Maybe watch from the stands?”
Tate gave me a small smile before nodding. “Yeah. We’ll catch up with you after. It’s good to see you, man. You look happy here.”
“I am.”
He led Brigham to the bleachers and I sighed in relief when Fiona joined me a minute later. Her floral scent met my nose and a calm flowed through me. She was with me, not them. “I hope that’s okay I put Big Al in. I heard him talking to Brigham—”
“I trust you, CFD. It was a good call.” I jutted my chin over to Cory and pride filled my chest. The kid cheered on the smaller player, slamming his fists against the fence when Big Al scooped up a routine grounder. “You did that.”
“No. We did.” She hit her hip against mine and gave me one of her smiles. Her blue eyes turned into pools of water, swirling with secrets and hope, and I was gone. She had me completely. My pulse quickened when she reached over me to grab a bag of seeds and a sliver of her skin showed. Questions flew through my mind.
Do I love her?
Do I want this to last beyond the season?
What will she say if I tell her?
“Gid, did you hear me?”
I stared at her, not really hearing anything besides the rushing of blood into my ears. I had to blink a couple of times before focusing. “Hm?”
“You’re such a boy. God, I was just asking. Never mind.” She made a goofy face at me and walked away, completely unaware of the turmoil going on in my head. I hoped she hadn’t said anything important because my world had shifted.
Not to be dramatic, but it felt like how I imagined earthquakes would feel. I stumbled a bit to the bench, taking a long drink of water and channeling my game-day focus.Baseball.
That was my life.Baseball.
The sounds, the sweat, the swings.I didn’t have room for love, did I? No. That was silly…so it shouldn’t bother me when my teammate asked about her. Nor when Fiona stated we had five weeks left of the season.
God, I’m a shit liar.
* * * *
“God, you guys are fucking gross,” Fiona shouted across the high-top table later that night. We’d won the game and Brigs and Tate had demanded we get a beer to celebrate. It’d annoyed me because I much preferred to be alone with Fiona…since we only had five more weeks together. But she’d gladly accepted their invitation.
“We’re athletes. It’s what we do.”
“Uh, I’ll check with my boss’s brother. He either shielded me from this sick side of being a professional, or you’re nasty. Throwing used jockstraps at the newbies? Monsters. Did you do that, Gideon? Please say no.”
I sucked my lip into my mouth, unable to prevent a smile. She threw her hands in the air and let out a drawn-out groan. “Sorry, Barbie. It’s true.”
“I need to go wash my hands or something. Anyone need a beer?”
“I’ll go with you. I’ll get the next round,” Brigs replied and got off the bar stool so fast I didn’t have a chance to protest. I clenched my jaw to prevent a negative comment from coming out, but Tate remained behind. His easygoing smile reminded me of our unfinished conversation all those weeks ago and I calmed myself down. I wasn’t jealous. That would be ridiculous.
“Do you think you’ll be ready by February? I’m counting on you being on the field, man. If Brigs gets moved to short, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
I snorted. “He’ll never move there. He’s a headcase.”
