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fifty-two

Lane

After an early morning workout, I flop onto one of the clubhouse sofas. Ari sits down next to me.

“It’s too early,” he groans.

“Go to bed at a normal fucking hour, and it wouldn’t be so bad,” I chuckle.

Cole laughs from his stall area. “I think it might kill him to go to bed before midnight.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ari chides. “I’ll be better.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Knox says under his breath.

“Heard that, dick.”

Josh stretches out his arms in front of us. “You know it’s true.”

“What the fuck did I do to get shit on right now?” he grumbles. “I had more hits than all of you yesterday.”

“I don’t even bat,” Knox states, “so of course you had more hits than me. I didn’t even play yesterday.”

Changing the subject, I look at Knox. “You and Lo still watching Sage tonight?”

“Yeah, Lo might leave me if we don’t,” he laughs. “She can’t wait to have her over.”

“Appreciate it, man. It’s hard to find alone time with Olive when I have a kid.”

“After what Sage said on Friday,” Josh says, “it sounds to me like you and Olive have a kid.”

I can’t help but smile at the thought.

Imagining Sage as our daughter.

Imagining Sage with a mom.

This is all I’ve ever wanted for her, and I’m so fucking happy that we finally found it.

“I really like Liv,” Cole adds. “She seems sweet, and Rory tells me how great she is with Sage.”

“My girl absolutely adores her,” I grin. “And it’s mutual. They both love each other.”

“And you love both of them,” Ari snickers.

But it’s not like I’m going to deny it.

“I do,” I admit. “I know I love Olive. I’ve told her that.”

“Holy shit,” Josh states emphatically. “You’re in love with her.”

“Figured that was obvious by now,” I chuckle. “I’m fucking obsessed with her.”

“I knew that from the beginning,” Ari laughs. “You had fucking hearts in your eyes when we met her.”

The clubhouse door cracks open, turning our attention toward it. “Please tell me everyone is dressed.”

“Come on in, Luc,” I yell, and we watch as she strides inside.

And she is pissed right now.

“Whoa, what’s wrong?” Cole asks, hands up, as Lucia continues as if she’s on a warpath.

“What’s wrong is that men named Matt are the scum of the fucking Earth,” she gripes, anger seeping out of her.

“What did he do?” I ask cautiously.

“Stuck his dick in his coworker, that’s what he did.”

Lucia takes a deep breath as we all gape at her.

“He cheated on you?” Josh questions.

She nods solemnly. “I stayed with him last night and left when I came into work this morning. But I forgot my phone, so I had to circle back and grab it. And when I did, I found him balls deep in his fucking coworker. The same bitch he told me he had no interest in after she kept blatantly flirting with him.”

“Are you okay?” Knox’s tone is gentle, trying to help bring Lucia down.

“I’m fine,” she says quickly, refusing to let any emotion show. “I don’t cry over pricks that don’t deserve my tears.” She turns her attention now to Ari. “Go ahead, Morgan. I know you have shit you want to say. Let it out. Tell me how wrong I was.”

Ari just looks at her with sympathy. “I’m sorry, Lucia. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Oh,” she says softly. “Um, thanks, Ari.”

I don’t get to process that amicable display between those two before Lucia is gesturing for me to stand up.

“What are we doing?” I ask.

“Conditioning,” she answers, walking ahead of me toward the training room. “Don’t forget you’re old now.”

I roll my eyes, but I let her have it.

She’s been through enough right now.

Being in the media room after a win is always fun.

It’s even more fun when you hit the walk-off double to end the game before extra innings. Since Josh is the one I sent home with that hit, he’s here in the media room with Skip and me.

“Fisher,” a reporter in the back says. “How are you feeling about the start of this season right now?”

“I feel great,” he smiles. “We have a 5-1 record, our pitchers have low ERAs, and we’re getting plenty of runs. I couldn’t ask for much of a better start than what we’ve had so far.”

“Garro,” a different reporter chimes. “What was going through your mind before you hit that double in the bottom of the ninth?”

“I was thinking about how I needed to get on base,” he laughs, and the room joins in.

“I try not to overthink it and just focus on the moment. I wanted us to win without the stress of extra innings, so I tried to stay laser-focused on the ball, and that worked out tonight. I was counting on Brooks here to back me up.”

“You know I’ve got you,” I chuckle.

A female reporter in the front speaks now. “Brooks, who is the woman you were speaking to before the game?”

She must be talking about Olive. She came to the game with Lo, Rory, and Sage today, and they sat in the Pierce season ticket seats off the first baseline.

“That was my girlfriend,” I smile. “She was out there with some of our friends and my daughter.”

A different reporter pops in. “Is that the woman you interacted with the other day? I believe you blew her a kiss, made heart hands, and sang a song to her.”

I laugh heartily. “You’ve got a good eye. Yes, that’s the same woman. It was her first game, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I was excited to have her here.”

“Who is she?”

Skip scrubs his hand down his face. “Can we stick to baseball, please? My players’ personal lives are just that— personal.”

The same reporter speaks again. “Was your girlfriend impressed with your walk-off double tonight?”

Josh and I laugh hysterically as Skip grumbles about how that doesn’t really count, but I answer it anyway. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet, but I’m sure she was.”

“How long have you been together?”

Skip stands up now. “And that’s enough for today. If you can’t respect my wishes, we’re finished with this. We’ll see you all back here after our next game on Tuesday.”

The three of us exit the media room and head down the hallway toward the clubhouse. We find the girls with Lucia right outside of it.

“Hey,” I say, striding up right behind Olive. “How are you doing, Luc?”

“I’m fine,” she sighs. “But I’m ready to get out of here, drink a bottle of wine, and forget all about how terrible a person my ex-boyfriend is.”

“We’re all here if you need us.”

“Thanks, guys.” Lucia takes a deep breath. “I’m heading out now. Dr. Coltrain said Logan could handle the few things left to do without me.”

She waves at us as she walks out of the hall and disappears around the corner.

“I can’t believe he turned out to be so terrible,” Harlow states.

“Ari always had him pegged as that kind of guy,” I shrug. “Sucks that he was right.”

“He didn’t get all smug about that, did he?” Ella asks.

“No, come on. He’s not a bad guy. He told Lucia he was sorry it happened and she didn’t deserve it. They may not like each other, but he’s not like that.”

“Sorry,” Ella says softly. “I know he wouldn’t. I’m just so upset for her right now.”

“On a happier note,” Harlow chimes, now looking at Liv and me. “I get to have Sagie for a sleepover!”

“Sweepover with Aunt Wo!” Sage claps excitedly. “And Uncle Nos?”

“Yes, Lovebug,” Lo states, pinching her cheek while Sage giggles. “Uncle Knox will be there, too.”

“Mommy and Daddy are going to spend some time together tonight,” Rory says in a sweet voice, her gaze teasing as she looks at us.

“Oh,” Sage replies. “Have fun, Daddy and Mommy!”

Olive’s smile is so bright, and it pulls at my heart.

I love the way she loves our daughter.

“Have fun tonight, sweet girl,” Liv states, kissing Sage’s cheek. “We can’t wait to see you again tomorrow!”

I spin her around now so she’s facing me. “Let me shower really quickly, and we’ll be out of here, Ballerina. I’ve got a fun night planned for us.”