Maybe that’s why he’s so upset with me.
But for me, I felt myself getting too close. I felt myself realizing I liked things about him I swore I never would.
Sure, of course, I find Emmett physically attractive. Just take a second to look at the man and you’d understand. But it’s what’s inside I thought I was safe from. His personality was what I believed I couldn’t stand. Unluckily for me, his heart is now the thing I find most attractive about him.
Or is it? Because my view during this game has been unreal.
Emmett’s got his baseball pants on today as per usual, but instead of the uniform top, he’s wearing a white team-issued shirt made from a thin athletic material. It’s practically see-through in the way it clings to his wide back and rounded traps. He’s held the same position the majority of the afternoon,standing at the edge of the dugout and leaning his forearms over the railing, pants stretched over his thighs and ass.
“You know who’s been asking about you?” my grandfather asks, and holy shit, I forgot he was here.
Am I drooling? My freaking grandfather is next to me and I’m drooling over my employee.
The picture of professionalism, I swear.
“Reese’s Pieces,” he says, almost singing my name to gain my attention.
“Sorry.” Shaking my head, I focus on him and not on the man in the dugout. “Who?”
“Ed’s son. Michael.”
“Asking about me how?”
My grandfather’s bushy brows lift, as does that knowing smile on his lips.
“Okay, matchmaker.” I chuckle. “You know I’m not looking to date anyone.”
“Yeah, yeah. And I don’t believe you.”
This sweet old man has a hard time fathoming that his granddaughter could be happy and content all on her own.
“I enjoy being single,” I remind him. “It’s nice not having to think about anyone other than myself.”
“But wouldn’t it be nice to have someone thinking aboutyou? And trust me, honey, you wouldn’t mind the right person occupying all your thoughts. It’s quite nice, actually. You just need to meet someone new.”
My grandfather, bless him, has been on about me finding someone since I became single. And granted, he knows a bit about that. My dad’s mom passed when I was a baby, and a handful of years later, my grandfather met the woman I now refer to as my grandmother. He spent some time alone but now has been happily married for almost thirty years. But not everyone is so lucky to get a second chance at love.
Some people only get one. Like me.
I’ve been on my own so long now that I couldn’t tell you what it feels like to have someone think about me. There’s no one around to witness my every day—my mundane moments or my biggest accomplishments. I only have me, and though others might find that discouraging, to someone who’s been with the wrong person, it’s rather hopeful. Sure, I may be alone, but at least I’m not questioning anyone’s motives for being in my life anymore.
As if he could read my mind, my grandfather adds, “They’re not all Jeremy, you know.”
Maybe. But why risk finding out?
My focus drifts back to Emmett in the dugout.
This week, I had a hard time ignoring that comment I saw online. The one about him getting close to me so I’d renew his coaching contract at the end of the year. It’s hard to fathom it being true, but I’ve been wrong before, and keeping a distance between us not only keeps rumors from circulating, but it also takes that concern off the table.
It’s the bottom of the seventh and we’ve got Harrison Kaiser on second with two outs, when Isaiah Rhodes strikes out at bat. Down 4-1, with two innings to go, we’re not playing our best today.
Blame it on the heat. Blame it on the travel. Blame it on any one of the million possibilities there could be to having an off game. It’d be impossible to play a perfect 162.
What I don’t expect to blame it on is player dynamics, but two of them are practically getting into a fight on their way back to the dugout.
Harrison is in Isaiah’s face, saying something to him, which I assume is about Isaiah’s not so pretty at-bat or the fact that he couldn’t bring Harrison home. Isaiah shakes his head, continuing to the dugout and trying to shrug him off, butHarrison doesn’t let up. He keeps talking shit, pushing his chest against Isaiah’s shoulder.
I can tell you right now, he picked the wrong fucking guy. And not because I think Isaiah Rhodes is going to do anything about it. He’s laid-back and just wants everyone to have a good time. But his field manager views him as part of his family, and I know how Emmett gets when someone he cares about is disrespected.
