He paused for a minute, his thoughts going to Sheila. What would she think of him going out with her sister? She’d been polite to him, if not slightly friendly today. There were definitely sparks between them when there weren’t any walls to smother them, but she didn’t do anything to encourage them into flames.Shehadn’t touched his arm.Shedidn’t linger near. In fact, she’d taken off as soon as she had the chance to get away from him.
“We have a series of late games starting tomorrow, but after next Wednesday I’m wide open.” The end of the season was coming up fast. Every guy on the team was trying not to talk about it. You played ball until there was no more ball to play. Kept your focus. But he knew many of them had booked trips to Europe with their wives to make up for all the time they were away during the season. Juan was taking his daughters to Florida theme parks for two weeks.
“That works for me.” She pulled out her phone, and he did the same so they could exchange numbers. “I’ll text you.”
“Great.” They said goodbye, and he left with a bounce in his step. Dating a doctor could be amazing. Kelly was unlike the women in his past who had come on strong and left fast. She had a stable job, money of her own, and a life—all that told him she was looking for a stable relationship and not a trophy date.
Julia bumped him with her shoulder. “Look at you scoring a date with the hot doctor.”
Brock laughed. “Hey, she asked me.”
Julia giggled. “I noticed.”
They were halfway down the hall when Sheila came out of a room and almost ran into them. “Oh. Sorry!” The wagon hit the back of her legs, and she fell into Brock with a grunt. He grabbed her arms to keep her up. “Sorry,” she said quietly. Her white hair fell over one eye, and she flipped it aside with a jerk of her head.
Brock glanced behind her and saw the mother of the baby with jaundice holding a teddy bear over the crib. The bear wore a Redrocks jersey. The baby was slowly calming as his eyes focused on the toy and his head cocked toward the sound of his mother’s soothing voice.
Brock stared down at Sheila, holding her arms. She’d snuck off to give a baby a teddy bear? His first thought was to tease her about making the baby a fan for life, and wasn’t that starting them off a little young? But there was something in her eyes—a panicked look that she’d been caught. A fleeting glance over her shoulder said she didn’t want anyone to make a big deal out of this. Like she hadn’t done it for ratings or marketing or community outreach purposes. She was just being kind because she was in a place to do so.
He crushed her to his chest in a giant hug and rocked side to side. Man, she felt right against him.
“Uh, Brock?” she asked, her face mashed against his pec.
“Yeah?” He loosened his hold slightly so she could look up at him. A nurse walked by, her eyebrows raised.
“You’re squishing me. And people are looking at us funny.”
He dropped her immediately, and she stumbled. This time, he righted her with a hand to her elbow. “Sorry. I was just …”Just what?Excited to find out there was a real person behind the agenda? He couldn’t say that. Not if he wanted to make friends with Sheila. And he did. Want to make friends with her.
Sheila mock glared at Julia. “That had better not end up on our feed.”
Julia laughed. “No way. Although a little love triangle would shoot our likes through the roof.”
Sheila’s brows puckered. “What do you mean?”
“Lover boy here has a date with the hot doctor.” Julia winked.
Sheila looked at him for a moment. Shock mixed with loss swirled in her eyes before a mask dropped over her face. It wasn’t a real mask made out of plastic or anything, but it was a mask all the same, and the way it shut Brock out was like a bucket of ice-cold Rev-Aide sports drink to the face.
“She asked me,” he hurried to explain, as if that would make things better. He needed her to know that he hadn’t initiated the date, that he hadn’t pursued her sister. Gag! That sounded so much like a player. He wasn’tthat guy,but now she thought he was. He could tell by the way she leaned back from him.
“I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Kelly’s amazing.” She said the right words, but they came out flat, like she didn’t have enough air to pump them up. “Thanks for coming today, you two. I’ll see you in the office, Julia.”
Sheila set off without waiting for them to reply. Her wagon trailed behind her, the wheels bumping over each seam in the tile.
Brock shook his head. He’d messed that up pretty badly.
Julia glanced down at her phone and then back up at him. She grinned brightly. “That was fun.”
His eyebrows shot up. Had they been in the same room for the last five minutes? “Yeah, the kids were fantastic.”
“Can you give me a quote to use with the post?”
He thought for a minute. “I’m always impressed with the kids and teenagers who live in St. George. They’re good people who make me want to be a better person too.”
Her thumbs flew over her phone as she walked away. “Epic.” She finished and tucked it away. “Good luck in the game tomorrow. I hope we kill ’em.” The last part was thrown over her shoulder as the door slipped shut behind her.
“Me too.” Brock waited a beat before he left the building. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes until they adjusted.
