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CHAPTER ELEVEN

Evan

Chase makes the last out at third, and we cheer for the win of our first game.

Before I gather my things, I sit in the dugout and take it all in.

Jake hits my arm as he walks by. “Congrats on your first game.”

I nod my head. “Thanks, man.”

I take in a deep breath and stare out at the field, just wanting to live in this moment for a few seconds more.

“It will be here tomorrow too,” Diesel teases me.

“And the next and the next,” Carter joins in. “You do realize you basically live here now, right?”

I take the empty cup sitting next to me and throw it at him. “Yes, I know that. And my locker is bright pink now, thanks to you.”

Carter laughs out loud, walking away, heading back to the locker room.

I stand and gather my things, going to do the same when I notice some kids running around the bases. I hurry back to the locker room, where I left my phone, and call Samantha.

“Baby brother!” she exclaims. “What an amazing game!”

“Thank you, but, hey, where are you guys?” I ask, walking back out to the field and turning around to see them up in the suite still.

“We’re walking down to the field, hoping to see you.”

“Good. Bring the boys so they can run the bases. And Christy is still with you, right?”

“Yes, she is,” she singsongs. “And I like her even more now.”

I laugh out loud. “Okay.” I match her tone. “I’m standing next to the gate at home plate, so come down here, and I’ll get you guys on the field.”

“Will do.”

We hang up, and I wait for any sign of them. When Tyler, Liam, and Nolan come racing down the stairs, my entire world lights up when I see their excitement.

“Uncky!” Liam yells, waving like crazy.

“Liam!” I yell back at him, mimicking his movements.

I open the door, and the three boys jump into my arms, knocking me to the ground.

We laugh as I make sure everyone is okay.

“Great, just what we need. The new starter on the team is hurt after the game when a group of little boys mauled him on the field .” Samantha lowers her voice, pretending to be a male sportscaster.

I stand, wipe myself off, and give her a hug. “Nah, I’m good.” I lean down and tickle them all. “It will take more than three little monsters to take me down.”

After making sure they are all tired from giggling, I hold my hand out to Mike to say hello, then give my dad a hug.

“Glad you made it, ole man.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” he responds, tapping my back.

“Though he almost did, having to drive straight to the game because God forbid he fly anywhere,” Samantha teases.

Dad dismisses her words away with a chuckle. “I made it, so stop making a fuss.”

I turn and see Christy standing there, and something inside me makes me walk to her, wrap my hand around the nape of her neck, and kiss her hello. Once I do, this ache I had in my chest from the sight of her instantly melts.

I make it a lingering kiss for only a few seconds, then place my forehead against hers. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for having us,” she replies, and I freeze.

“I’m so sorry I just kissed you in front of your son. I should have?—”

She looks around me, and I turn just my upper body, keeping my lower half in line with hers. We see the boys running the bases, not caring about what we are doing one bit.

She places her hand on my chest. “It’s okay. I appreciate you caring though. We’ll figure out how this works from here.”

“Uncky, come run with us,” Tyler yells.

A silly grin covers my face as I look at him, then at Christy. “I’ll be right back.”

I take off after the little guys running the bases, chasing them down, yelling, “Don’t let me catch you!”

Of course, I’m able to catch them with ease, and I pick them up, Liam first, then Nolan. Realizing I don’t have enough hands when I get to Tyler, I lean down and hold all three of them as one for a brief second, then put them down, not wanting to strain my back any more than I already have.

“We’re free! Keep running,” Liam yells, making me laugh.

“Uncky needs a break. You guys have fun.” I wave to them and head back to where my family and Christy are standing.

The other players with children all hang out, watching the kids play, while the rest of the players are, I’m sure, getting changed and heading out for the night.

“Did you guys get settled in at the place?” I ask Samantha.

“Yep. We’re good to go. The home is so cute. Thanks for setting that up for us,” she replies.

I shrug. “I did nothing but told the woman who handles all of the travel to find you an Airbnb.”

She slaps my arm playfully. “Gee, thanks for all the effort.”

I hold up my hands with a chuckle. “Hey, it’s her job. Why should I try to figure it out on my own when she does it all the time? She already knows of the best spots.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that.” Samantha turns to Christy. “What about you? Are you far from here?”

Christy shakes her head. “No, not really. Maybe fifteen minutes to get across town since, hopefully, we will have missed the crowd to get out of here.” She checks her watch. “On that note though, I should probably get going and get Nolan to bed. It is a school night after all.”

“Are you coming to tomorrow’s game?” Samantha asks.

“Oh, no.” She shakes her head. “Just this one.”

“You’re welcome to come.” I speak up. “Getting you tickets is no problem.”

“We’re actually sitting in the stands since it’s a day game. You should come.”

She shakes her head some more, this time also holding her hand up to wave. “I can’t. Thanks though. I have clients, and Nolan has school.”

I reach out and take her fingers in mine. “We’ll have plenty of home games for you guys to come watch.”

She grins at me, and I love the way her smile makes my chest hurt in the best way possible.

“Come on. I’ll help you round up Nolan.” I nudge her toward the field, then let go of her hand to not make anything obvious to Nolan.

“Grab mine too,” Samantha yells out. “It’s always easier to get them when everyone is leaving.”

“On it!” I yell over my shoulder to her.

“I hope Samantha didn’t talk your ear off the entire time,” I say with a smirk, hoping she knows I’m only half kidding.

“She was fun. We had a great time. Thank you again for inviting us.”

“I’m glad you guys were able to come.”

“They even came to the suite to interview your family for your first major league game, so that was cool.”

“Did they ask you anything?”

She laughs out loud. “No, I’m not family, remember?” she teases. “They did get video of Nolan though, and he thought that was the coolest thing ever.”

“Glad to hear.”

“Nolan, baby,” she calls out to him once we get closer. “It’s time to get going. Come say goodbye to Evan.”

Nolan stops what he’s doing and runs toward us. “Evan! You did so good. When I watched you hit that ball into the outfield, I jumped up and down.”

Christy laughs at how animated he is. “He totally did.”

I squat down to his size. “You want to know something?”

“What?” he asks, his little eyes getting so big.

“I wanted to jump up and down, too, but I couldn’t, so I’m glad you did it for me.”

“Why couldn’t you?” he asks so sincerely that I have to hold in my laugh.

“Because I had to run the bases, silly.”

Nolan raises his arms in the air, then slaps his forehead. “Duh!”

Christy and I both laugh, and then she places her hand on his shoulder. “Thank Evan for inviting us.”

I’m still squatting, and to my surprise, Nolan jumps into my lap, wrapping his arms around me.

“Thank you!” he squeals in my ear.

I hug him back. “You’re so welcome, buddy. You’ll have to come watch again.”

He pulls back from our hug and turns to Christy. “Can we, Mom? Can we?”

She grins my way. “I’m sure we can make that happen.”

I wink and love the way she blushes when I do.

“Let’s get going. You’ve got school tomorrow,” she says, running her hand through his curly locks.

“I’d walk you out, but security doesn’t allow us to leave the stadium through the main gates. If you want, I can get changed real quick and drive you around to your car.”

She shakes her head. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be just fine.”

“Actually,” I say, holding up my pointer finger, “let me get our security guy to give you a ride.”

I take off running before she can protest and head to the gate where they entered the field, asking the guy watching the entrance to radio to someone in the parking lot. By the time he’s contacted him, Christy and Nolan are at the gate too.

“It’s all set,” the security guy says. “There’s a cart waiting at the entrance for you.”

“Thank you,” she says.

“Yeah, thanks, man.” I pat him on his back.

“Well, see you later,” Christy says, waving her goodbye. “Thanks again.”

It takes all of my willpower to just stand here and wave and not take her into my arms one more time before she leaves.