But I had no clue where to take us from here.
TWENTY
STELLA
“This is sweet,” Bailee said, scanning the field as we found our seats. “I’ve never sat this close at anything.”
“Usually, I’m behind home plate.” I pointed to the full rows of seats in the exclusive section. “But they’re all taken today for some corporate event, so the first base line was all they had.”
“All they had?” She scoffed. “We’re practically sitting on the field. You can see right into the dugout. Usually, I can’t make out faces on the field unless they’re on the big screen. I’m not used to this VIP treatment.” She nudged my shoulder with hers as she adjusted the Bats cap she’d bought on the way in over her shoulder-length auburn hair. “Is that Lee?”
I followed Bailee’s finger to the dugout, where Lee was checking out one of the players. I couldn’t see who he was working on, but I’d know that profile anywhere, along with the muscles working in his back that, to Bailee’s point, we were close enough to see.
“It is,” I said, my forlorn sigh giving me away, but I didn’t have to hide it in front of my best friend.
“Remember what I told you the day you moved in? He’d be the one with the crush when you left?” She dipped her head to meet my gaze. “Just want to call it that I was right.”
“I don’t know if it’s a crush,” I said, not totally denying what she’d said because it wassomething. The jealous fury in his eyes at Deacon and the heat simmering in his gaze that morning we’d run into each other half naked were impossible to reason away.
“Then what is it?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “Because all of what you’ve told me sounds like he’s got the hots for his nanny.”
I burst out laughing because even though all the little moments painted that exact picture when you pieced them together, it still didn’t make sense to me.
After I’d pined after him for most of my teenage life, and a good part of my adult one too, the thought of Lee having the hots for me was too ridiculous to consider.
Lee stepped to the edge of the dugout, smiling when he caught my gaze. I waved before he turned around and disappeared.
“So you didn’t catch the way his eyes lit up for you just now? Please, Stell. Don’t be that girl.”
“What girl?”
She scowled at me as she let out a long groan.
“The one from all the books and movies who is so oblivious to how much the guy likes her that you just want to reach in and shake her.”
“I’m not that girl. You don’t have to shake me.”
Lee jogged out of the dugout toward the catcher, shooting me a quick grin before he crouched in front of him on the dirt.
“Yeah,” Bailee said, shaking her head at me in my periphery. “I think I do.”
These seats were great, but the ability to stare at Lee all day didn’t help my scrambled brain. Lee was everywhere, even when he wasn’t.
His house. His daughter. The bedroom furniture he’d built just for me. The mundane moments in the mornings and at night we spent together when he was home that were exhilarating because they were with him.
I’d known this would become a problem, but I’d never thought it would be a problem we’d share. Or probably shared.
Even with all the evidence I’d seen and Bailee’s confirmation that, yes, it sounded like something was happening between us or on its way to happening, I still didn’t totally believe it.
Even if I wouldn’t admit it, I wasthatgirl.
Bennie was with Lee’s mother today for grandparents’ day. It wasn’t the official day on the calendar, but they’d planned an afternoon of music and games and food for residents and their grandkids. Bennie was excited to spend the day with her grandmother, and Mrs. Orrico had missed her granddaughter so much, she’d teared up when I dropped her off.
My mother’s only grandson was across the globe and unable to make it to the party. She’d made plans to see a Broadway show with friends from the center instead.
She’d texted me after they’d all piled on to a bus like it was a senior field trip. Mom had sounded excited, but I hated that she didn’t have a grandchild to enjoy today.
Since I was on my own, I’d made plans to spend the afternoon with Bailee. I’d offered to take her to a game, but I could have suggested something else. Something not related to Lee.
