“She told me you texted her that you had a friend in her section today,” Stella said, peering up at me, her lips curving up. “She gave me the scoop on how to enjoy the good seats. Thanks for the upgrade. Again, good flex.” She pinched my bicep. “You didn’t have to cover my food and drinks, though. The seats were enough.”
“What kind of VIP treatment would that be if you had to pay?”
“Hi, Stella,” Silas said. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too. I enjoyed hanging out with your wife today.”
“She’s one of my readers too,” Rachel told Silas in a loud whisper, smiling at Stella.
“Is that right? So am I,” he said, kissing the top of Rachel’s head.
Rachel wrote romance as R.M. Dioro, but her pen name had been blown along with her real identity when compromising pictures of her and Silas had hit the internet. They’d been trying to keep their relationship private because the company where Rachel worked at her day job had done PR for the Bats at the time, and she’d ended up losing that job when they were found out.
When all the chaos had settled, getting caught had let them be together out in the open. I was thrilled to see my friend finally happy, thrilled enough that it almost muted the ache of loneliness that got to me whenever I was around them both.
“Hey, everyone,” Nate said, strolling out of the locker room and wiping the back of his neck with a towel. “Nice to see you, Rachel. And nice to see you again, Stella.” He flashed Stella a wide grin when he met her gaze. “Hope you enjoyed the game.”
“Yes. Congrats on the win.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. “‘Would it be weird if I asked you both for your autographs for a friend of mine? I can’t brag about being behind the scenes without a little proof.”
Stella met my gaze with a grimace, chewing on her bottom lip. The movement of her mouth distracted me for a second before I nodded, pushing a smile across my lips as Iblinked away whatever the hell had come over me to fixate on my friend’s mouth.
“Absolutely,” Nate said, taking the paper from her and leaning it against the wall to scribble on it. “Here, Coach,” he said, handing the paper to Silas while he drew his shoulder back with a groan.
Silas and I shared a quick look as he took the paper from Nate’s hand. I worked on Nate all the time and he seemed to be in great shape after his shoulder surgery last season, but both of us watched him like a hawk to make sure he wasn’t pushing through pain.
“I’m fine,” he said, breathing out a sigh. “Going in the sauna tonight, and I promise to do all my stretches.” He held up a hand.
“We didn’t say anything,” Silas said, handing the paper back to Stella.
“Nope. I think you’re paranoid,” I joked, searching his face for any winces of pain.
“You two need to get better with the telepathy.” Nate waved his finger between us. “It’s a little obvious.” He rolled his eyes. “I’d tell you if anything is wrong, I swear.” He shook his head and turned to Stella. “Again, pleasure to meet you, Stella.”
I took a protective step closer to Stella on instinct.
Gary and I would get in between Stella and jerks who tried to hit on her in our younger days, but she hadn’t needed our misguided protection.
I wasn’t sure what had made me get between her and Nate now, the same as I couldn’t figure out why I had taken such an interest in whatever her teeth had been doing to her lip a minute ago.
I pressed my temple as if that would reset my warped brain.
Stella smiled back at Nate, unaffected by either of us.
“It was a great game. Three for four and two home runs,” Rachel said. “Nice to have you back, Nate.” She wrapped her arms around Silas’s torso. “My sister told me to tell you hi if I saw you.”
“Thank you. And tell her I said hi back.” He winked. “I will recover tonight and enjoy my day off tomorrow. You all have a good evening.”
He shifted toward the locker room, throwing me a smirk over his shoulder before he went back in.
“Nice guy,” Stella whispered to me. “A little cocky, though, right?”
“You should have seen him last year,” Silas said, exhaling a long breath. “But I’m thankful he’s back, cocky asshole or not. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take my wife home and enjoy my day off tomorrow. Make sure you do the same.” He nodded at me before leading Rachel down the long hallway toward the offices.
“I have to admit, VIP treatment is pretty cool.” Stella swept her gaze over the hallway.
“If you’d come to visit me in Washington, I could’ve set you up the same way. Wayne Field was built a few years ago, so everything is a little more high-tech. And the seats behind home plate are extra-luxury here. New York has nothing but the best, and this place has a billionaire to fund it all.”
She nodded. “I can see that. I’m excited to live here again. Or I will be when I figure out where exactly I’m going to live.” She let go of a long sigh and shrugged.
