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CHAPTER TWELVE

Christy

I walk into work the next day and am instantly bombarded by Roxie, one of our other hairstylists at the salon, when I enter our back room area.

“Did I see Nolan on TV last night?”

I chuckle under my breath. “That you did.”

“And wasn’t it during an interview with the family of one of the players?” she asks in a sneaky tone, like she’s waiting for me to spill the beans on what’s going on, making it hard for me not to laugh. “A player who looked very much like a guy who had come in here the other day, leaving with a Terrors hat on. Hmm …”

The hmm gets me, and I laugh out loud. “Yes. Evan Parker was a client of mine the other day, and he invited us to the game.”

I continue to put my stuff away. When I turn to face her, she’s standing there with her arms crossed, waiting for me to tell her more as she raises her eyebrows in a well fashion.

“What?”

“A brand-new client of yours invites you to sit with his family on opening day? There’s more to this story, and I’m dying to hear it.”

“His sister is who set up the appointment for him. We hit it off over the phone, so he invited me to sit with her.”

“His sister?” She squints her eyes in confusion.

I wrap my apron around me, replying nonchalantly, “I guess he’s moved a lot, and she does hair, too, so she helped him find a new place since it looks like he’s staying here for a while.”

“How did she find you?”

“She said she was looking up salons, then found me on Instagram.”

“You mean, she was looking for someone to hook him up with. A little matchmaking maybe?”

I don’t know why, but that thought didn’t cross my mind until right this second, so I drop my head to my chest with a giggle.

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

I take a deep inhale and raise my head to look at her. “You’re totally right. That has to be exactly what she was doing. We talked for way longer than it should take to schedule an appointment. She said his life was crazy busy and the only thing constant was his haircut, so she literally scheduled out his next five months with me, never telling me he was a ballplayer though. Then, at the game, all she wanted to know about was us.”

She leans down, putting her elbows on the table. “So, you’re saying there’s an us ?”

I feel my face flush. “Maybe …”

“Girlfriend!” She stands and rushes to my side to give me a hug. “He is fine!”

I laugh and hug her back. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I haven’t dated since Nolan’s dad.”

“But obviously, he knows about Nolan. And”—she pulls her phone from her pocket and swipes on Instagram, then searches for my page and flips it around to show me—“your page is full of pictures of Nolan. She knew you were a single mom and chose you. That says something about this guy that only she knew.”

My heart melts at the thought. “She was a single mom with two little boys. She is remarried now, and Evan says her husband is a great guy.”

“And she thinks Evan could be your great guy,” she says, her shoulders sagging in sweetness at the thought of Samantha picking me on purpose for that reason.

“No, stop.” I wave my hands in front of my face. “I can’t go there. I can’t get all excited when I have no idea where this is leading.”

“It’s leading somewhere though. Just enjoy the ride. In the words of Bebe Rexha, ‘ If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be. Baby, just let it be ,’” she sings the tune as she walks away. “I’m happy for you, sweetie!”

“Thank you,” I respond, trying to rid my thoughts of what could be and go back to starting my day.

All day, I thought about Evan. I wanted to talk about him to all my clients, but I didn’t. I don’t want to tell people how excited I am to have met this guy until I know for sure that we’re going somewhere.

Knowing he was playing this afternoon made my day go a little better; otherwise, I would have been tempted to check my phone every twenty minutes to see if he called. I did catch myself checking the score of the game a few times too many though.

As I pull up to my sister’s house to get Nolan, I get a text from him.

We’re all going to dinner. Can you join us?

The rush of excitement that races through me is something I haven’t felt in years, and I’m not going to lie; I‘ve missed it. I respond probably faster than I should, but I don’t care. I’m past the playing-games part of my life.

Sure. When and where?

He says they’re meeting at a kid-friendly place that Nolan loves, which makes me even happier, so I tell him I’ll see him there and hop out of the car, anxious to tell Nolan where we’re going.

I enter my sister’s house and yell out, “Hello!”

“I’m back here,” Sasha replies.

I follow her voice to the playroom, where she’s cleaning up for the day. The smile on my face is impossible to hide, so I enter the room and just start helping her, waiting for her to call me on it.

It takes only a few seconds, and she’s standing, grabbing my arm to stop me from picking up any more.

“What’s this face all about?” she asks with a tilt to her head.

“Evan invited Nolan and me to join him and his family for dinner at the Tailgate Oasis tonight.”

“Yay!” She wraps her arms around me, then pulls back to look at me. “This guy isn’t playing games. You’ve seen him, what, every day this week?”

“There was one day I didn’t see him.” I shrug with a grin on my face.

She smacks my arm and goes back to organizing the room. “Nolan’s going to be excited. He loves that place, and he said Evan’s nephews were fun to hang out with yesterday. Where do they live?”

“In Texas. I think they go home tomorrow.”

“I’m happy for you. Really, I am,” she says in a soft voice.

“I’m just trying not to get too ahead of myself. It’s only been a few days.”

She stops what’s she’s doing and waves her hand like she wants me to follow her. “Let’s go get Nolan. All of this can wait.”

Nolan was over the moon when I told him we were going to Tailgate Oasis, and then when I told him who we were going to meet, I swear he almost pulled a muscle, jumping up and down the way he did.

Before I put the car in park, I turn to him. “I know they allow you to play in here, but you still have rules you have to abide by.”

“I know, Mommy. No running and no yelling.”

I give him a thumbs-up, and he does it, too, melting my heart. He’s such an amazing little boy, and I thank the Lord above for giving me him every day. Even though I’m by myself, I know it was meant to be me and him against the world.

I put the car in park, and he quickly unbuckles, but I stop him before he can exit the car.

“You wait right there for me.”

“I will.”

I walk around to his side of the car, and he hops out. I hold his hand, and we head into the restaurant—well, I use the term restaurant loosely. The place is like an outdoor bar with turf covering the entire area. Picnic tables line the restaurant, and the outer portions are filled with cornhole, life-sized chess, and other games for people to play.

Evan spots us right away and stands to come greet us. “Hey. Glad you guys could make it. High five, little man.”

Nolan jumps up to give him a high five.

“Right this way.”

Nolan takes off, and Evan turns to me.

“So, if I tell you how bad I want to kiss you hello, does that make it kind of like actually doing it?”

I laugh, then shake my head.

“Yeah, saying it out loud made it even worse. Don’t be surprised if I follow you and sneak a kiss when you go to the restroom or something.”

I feel my face flush as I giggle.

“This is going to be fun, like we’re in high school and sneaking behind our parents’ backs.”

Now I really laugh. “Our parents then, a seven-year-old boy now. Yeah, sounds about the same.”

He winks, and I swear it does things to my chest that should not be okay with me, but it really is. It makes me want to pull him into the restroom and pretend like we’re kids again with no jobs, no worries, and especially no kids.

I take a deep breath, pushing the desire down as we approach the table where everyone is already sitting. They all stand and give me a hug hello.

We talk about the game the Terrors won and a diving catch Evan made in the outfield.

“I’m sorry I missed it,” I turn to say to Evan.

He places his hand over mine, and just the touch of his skin against mine sends tingles down my spine.

“It’s okay. I know you have clients during the day.” He lifts his hand, and I instantly wish he had left it there.

We place our orders, and the boys hop up to go play a game of cornhole while we wait.

I excuse myself to go to the restroom before the food arrives, letting Nolan know where I’m going. The way he blows me off like he couldn’t care less where I am makes me chuckle. He’s got his new friends and a cornhole game, so life couldn’t be better for him right now.

I do my business, wash my hands, and make sure my hair is still semi-decent for being the end of the day, then open the door, only to see Evan leaning against the wall with a small grin on his face.

“Hi there,” I say sheepishly.

“Hi.”

He steps to me, runs both hands through my hair, and pulls me to him, spinning me around to press me up against the wall while kissing me. When he opens his mouth and sweeps his tongue against mine, I instantly melt in his arms.

Before we get carried away, he pulls his lips back from mine, but keeps his body pressed up against me. “Don’t worry. My sister is on lookout duty. I just had to steal a kiss,” he says breathlessly before doing exactly that again.

“I’m glad you did,” I respond once he pulls back.

The gorgeous smile that covers his face from just the words I said hits me in the same spot in my chest once again, and I have to stop to breathe the incredible ache away.

“I play again tomorrow, and then we’re on the road. I’ll be gone for three days, and then I come back and have three more games here. The last game on Friday is a day game so I have the night off. Please tell me you can get that Saturday off, too, so we can spend the day together before my flight leaves.”

I look into his eyes and see nothing but sincerity. “I try not to work weekends anyway because of Nolan.”

“Oh, thank God.” He leans in to kiss me again. “I’m not going to pretend this will be easy. I’m gone a lot,” he deadpans, making me laugh. “I’m serious though when I say I want to see where this goes.”

I nod. “Me too.”

That gets me another kiss, and then he grabs my hand and walks me back out to where everyone is, dropping it once we’re in view of Nolan.

“I feel like you just asked me to go steady with you,” I tease.

“Because I did.” He gives me a cheesy smile.

I look out to where Samantha is watching us approach and see her giving us a little cheer, clapping her hands while she bounces in her seat.

When I get back to the table and sit, I can’t help myself when I ask her, “You were trying to set us up, weren’t you?”

She picks up her drink, acting innocent. “Who, me?”

Evan holds up his hands to prove he’s innocent. “I swear I had no idea she was doing it either. I honestly thought I was just getting a haircut.”

“So, what, you researched me, then called me to talk? Was that like an interview?” I laugh out loud, realizing now that it totally was.

“Tell her how many you called,” Evan shouts out.

I place my hand on my hip and turn to Evan, who’s sitting next to me. “I thought you said you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t! But when she kept asking me about you, I knew she was up to something.” He pauses with a slight smirk. “Then you showed up at batting practice.”

“Like it was meant to be!” Samantha chimes in, making us all laugh.

I narrow my eyes at her. “How many did you call?”

She brings her beer to her lips as she says, “Seven.”

I slap my hand on the table dramatically. “You called seven hairstylists before you called me?”

She nods with a cheesy grin. “I told you I was taking this very seriously. I know my brother. His schedule is crazy, and for years, the only consistent thing in his life was him getting his hair cut every two weeks. I figured at least he’d have a friend to talk to, if nothing else.”

Evan picks up his beer and holds it out to his sister. “You did good, sis.”

“Thank you,” she responds with a firm nod of her head, clinking her drink with his, making my face flush even more.

We spend the rest of the night laughing and having a great time. Evan gets up to play a few rounds with the boys—three against one, of course. He’s so good with these kids, but the best part is seeing how he genuinely has just as much fun as they do.

Samantha leans over to me. “This is the real Evan—or Uncky, as my boys call him. They absolutely adore him.”

“I can tell. It’s too bad you guys live so far away.”

“Yeah, but it makes these moments that much more special.”

“Well, I can tell Nolan is in heaven, and it’s kind of nice to enjoy just hanging out again.” I smile her way.

She raises her glass to mine. “Amen to that.”

We clink and drink while we watch our boys climb all over Evan as he playfully acts like he’s falling to the ground and they are overtaking him.

As the night winds down, we gather our things and head out to our cars.

I give Samantha, Mike, and John all big hugs. “It was so nice to see you all again.”

“I’m bummed you guys live so far away,” Samantha says with a pout. “Mike, we might have to move now,” she says over her shoulder.

“Not a chance in hell,” Mike replies without a second thought, making us all laugh.

I get Nolan tucked in his seat.

“Bye.” He waves to everyone, leaning down so he can still see them as Samantha and the rest of her crew head toward their cars.

Once we’re out of view from Nolan completely, Evan leans in and gives me a quick kiss. “Good night.”

“Good night. Good luck tomorrow.”

He holds my hand as he walks away, only letting go when he’s too far. “Thank you.”

I climb in the car and look at Nolan in the mirror. “Did you have fun?”

He nods. “I did. When can we come back?”

I chuckle under my breath as I start the car. “We’ll have to see.”