“Nate’s my favorite.” Her lips twisted as she peered up at Adrian. “But it’s okay. I can be your friend too.”
“Yeah, poor Adrian doesn’t have to embarrass himself.” Nate lifted Bennie up as Adrian shook his head. “But that is pretty cool of him to give you an official ball from a great game.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to take this to school!”
“Bennie is pretty lucky to have ballplayers fighting over her,” Stella whispered to me. “Between them and you, her standards will be nice and high when she starts dating.”
“Please, Stell. Thanks for the compliment, but don’t keep me up at night.”
Any more than you already are.
“Good game, guys,” Deacon said, coming up to Adrian and Nate. “I was biting my nails for a little bit toward the end of the seventh.”
Deacon was an old friend of ours from Washington and had been with the Bats since the beginning of the season as a batting coach. He’d been well-known in his playing days, but he hadn’t had legend status like Silas.
“Yeah, it sucks,” Adrian said. “Maybe next time.”
“Nothing sucked,” Silas said. “Getting that close is a huge accomplishment.”
“For as long as Silas and I played, I can count the no-hitters we’ve seen on one hand,” Deacon said. “So, like he said, a huge accomplishment even to get close.” He smiled, stilling when his eyes landed on Stella.
“Nice to see you again, Stella.”
“Again?” I looked between them.
“We met when he was visiting his parents in our section,” Stella said.
“And she told him that she doesn’t have a husband, so she can live with us for the season,” Bennie added, rolling her baseball between her palms.
“Speaking of competition…” Nate sang in a low whisper, biting back a smile as he set Bennie down.
“How…how did that even come up?” I asked, clearing my throat when I caught the edge in my voice.
Bennie shrugged, still focused on the ball.
“He asked Stella if her husband or her boyfriend was mad that she was living with us, and she told him she didn’t have any and asked him if he was asking her if she was single.”
Stella clenched her eyes shut as rage thrummed in my veins. What the hell was wrong with Deacon that he was hitting on Stella in front of my kid? And why was Stella playing along? If she was playing along.
I rubbed at the vein pulsing on the side of my head.
“Doc’s gonna blow,” Adrian whispered to Nate, both of them watching me.
“Or he’s gonna lose his back teeth.” Nate snickered.
“Stella, can you hold my baseball while I go to the bathroom?” Bennie asked, bouncing back and forth on her feet.
“How about we put it in my bag until we get home? Come on, I’ll take you.” She took the baseball with one hand, shoving it inside her purse, and grabbed Bennie’shand with the other. “I think I saw a bathroom down the hall.”
“Yes, right before the exit,” I said slowly, trying to keep my voice even and not scare my daughter. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Sounds good,” Stella said, rushing with Bennie down the hall as if she were trying to escape.
Silas murmured something to Rachel as she nodded, both of them squinting at me as if I’d lost my mind.
They’d be right.
Stella was taking care of Bennie when I was away. When I was home, she could do whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted. If Deacon wanted to take her out, I had no say or claim to her, and I shouldn’t have wanted to punch a friend for simply asking her if she was single.
