But here I was, gravitating toward the person I should have been keeping my distance from.
I rooted around in my bag for my lip balm, my mouth suddenly dry from too much truth, when I noticed a new notification on my phone screen.
Lee
How are the seats?
He must’ve sent that before he jogged out onto the field. I waited until I saw him head back to the dugout before I replied.
Stella
Great, thank you! Bailee said she’s never been close enough to see the players’ faces.
Lee
Let me guess. She’s looking for Nate.
Stella
Not now, but she will. And Silas.
Lee
Like every other woman in the stadium today. Well, tell her to enjoy.
Stella
When I look for Nate on the field, that’s for Bennie, not me.
Lee
Thank God.
A smile ran across my lips. Before whatever was going on between us, I would have taken that as his relief that I wasn’t another Nate Becker fangirl, but maybe that was a little jealousy peeking out.
And if it was, as much as I liked it, I couldn’t entertain it.
“Oh my God. He’s texting you from the dugout, isn’t he? I can tell by the shit-eating grin,” Bailee said as she burst out laughing. “You live together and probably had breakfast together this morning, and he’s already texting you from a hundred feet away.”
I shoved my phone back into my bag.
“He just wanted to know how the seats were.”
“Right.” She pursed her lips. “He’s probably making sure his batting coach friend hasn’t put the moves on you again.”
“I’m sure he’s not,” I said, straightening in my seat to avoid Bailee’s skeptical gaze.
Deacon had given me a polite hello when I’d met Lee by the locker rooms at last Sunday’s game, not asking any more questions about my love life after being so interested the day before.
For the rest of the week, we hadn’t talked about Deacon or what we had or hadn’t seen in the hallway on Saturday morning. Just the usual back-and-forth we’d always had as we took care of Bennie together. It felt as natural and normal as it did surreal.
“I think what’s happening,” I started, my gaze still scanning the field, trying to keep it away from the dugout, “is a proximity thing. Being in the same house, in the same space, all the time. It plays tricks on you.” I tapped my temple.
“Did it happen with us when you stayed with me for two weeks while you had that assignment in Manhattan, before I was married and was living in a one-bedroom?” She narrowed her eyes, tapping her chin. “I mean, I think you’re great and all, but I don’t remember this tension you keep bringing up between you and Lee.”
“No, but that was different.”
“Good observation.” Bailee shifted toward me. “How was it different?”
