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“Rather you than me.” He grinned, while sipping his coffee.

Yes! That’s what else was wrong. Coffee. I needed coffee.

“Thanks for the support.”

“Anytime, Mama Bear.”

“Okay, I need to get dressed and I need one of those coffees you’re drinking.” I picked up the phone and carried it through to the closet. “Kick some ass tonight, I’ll see you later.”

“I want a play-by-play of family time.”

“Count on it, buddy,” I replied. “I’ll be texting you hourly.”

“I’ll look forward to each and every one. Love you,” he added before the screen turned blank.

Pulling on a pair of the jeans Holiday had ordered in every single color, and one of Tanner’s Lions sweaters, I headed into the kitchen. From the smell, someone had already been making breakfast—saliva pooled under my tongue—and I prayed it was my mom’s pancakes.

I could definitely eat some pancakes.

I was in luck—I found a plate of them next to one of the smoothies Tanner had left, along with Holiday sitting on one of the stools, looking as fresh and chic as she always did, even as she chewed through a giant mouthful of pancakes.

Her blonde hair was so straight and glossy, it would be impossible to believe she hadn’t spent three hours getting ready if you didn’t know she woke up like that. I couldn’t wait for the day my cheekbones returned.

“Good morning.” She grinned, pointing a fork to her plate. “Your mom makes awesome pancakes.”

I nodded. “She does. It was our Saturday morning breakfast growing up. Where is everyone?”

“Radley went to class, and your mom went to meet your brothers, she was leaving as I arrived and told me to help myself. The coffee machine is on, by the way.”

“Amazing.” Grabbing a coffee cup, I stuck it underneath and pressed Go, then put the pancakes in the warmer.

“I know. I wish I could eat pancakes every day.”

“You’d get bored of them.”

“I don’t think I would.” She shook her head. “How’s the bump this morning?”

“Kind of achy,” I replied, rubbing my side where it hurt.

Maybe it didn’t feel as bad as when I woke up. It was hard to tell if it had stopped only to start again because I’d remembered it.

“Ooh, shall we go for massages? I can book some for this afternoon.”

The first sip of coffee had me thinking I’d imagined the pain, because I suddenly felt so much better. “We can’t, we have the lunch, remember? How come you’re up so early, anyway? I thought you’d be taking the opportunity to sleep in.”

Holiday had finished filming part two of her New York movie epic and had a couple of weeks off before all the promotion properly began for the first release.

She was using the time to rest, before the grueling schedule started up again, and only the other day informed us that under no certain terms would she be getting out of bed before lunchtime, especially as the World Series games went on late.

“I’ll have a nap later,” she said, swiping through the maple syrup on her plate with the last bit of her pancake. “But my parents are arriving, and I forgot about what happened last year in the NLDS, so I came to prepare you.”

“Prepare me?” I put down the coffee cup and turned to her. “What? What happened?”

Pushing her plate to the side, she laced her fingers together and leaned forward. “Matching shirts.”

“Matching shirts?”

“Yep. With Tanner’s face on the front and a letter from his name on the back. It spells out SIMPSON. We’re required to wear them.”

“Oh.” I breathed out, my heartbeat returning to its normal rate after a momentary panic. I needed to remember how dramatic Holiday could be, it would be better for my overall health. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Just wait.”

S o they weren’t bad bad, but let’s just say they attracted a lot of attention.

Tanner’s mom had been featured by ESPN and FOX Sports, and was now making her way back from the field after being interviewed on the Lions TV network during the changeover.

And no one had gotten out of wearing one, even Radley and my brothers.

I was wearing the M for obvious reasons, Tanner’s mom, Shelley, had an S , his dad, Pete, had the P , and so on.

There were enough for everyone. Holiday had decided to recycle last year’s shirt, which still had Tanner’s face but his whole name on the back instead of a letter.

It was a vibe to say the least, but truly one I was thoroughly enjoying. It was impossible not to like Shelley, she was just like Tanner—constantly smiley and happy—from the moment she first walked into the apartment and wrapped me in a hug.

She was the right side of intense and had been so sweet that I was only too happy to wear her T-shirt.

“Have fun down there, Shelley?” I asked as she sat down in the seat next to my mom.

Yeah, did I mention they’re now besties who suffered from the same affliction of literally trying to shop until they dropped? This baby now had enough clothes to see them through until graduation.

“Oh, honey, that was so fun.” She beamed out, patting my leg as she sat down. “How are you? You feeling any better?”

I nodded. “A little, I think I’m probably just tired. ”

“That baby has to be a boy, they suck the energy right out of you,” she said with a heavy eye roll.

“And it never stops,” added my mom, glaring at my brothers.

I rubbed across my belly. “Well, we’ll find out soon enough. Just a couple more days.”

Whatever Shelley’s reply was got drowned out by a deafening roar from the crowd, another one. The sixth inning changeover was complete and the Yankees were at bat. The energy at Yankee Stadium was different from yesterday’s—the fans weren’t so happy at their loss and were making it known.

Every fumble and foul ball, or questionable umpire call toward the Lions was being cheered loudly enough it could be heard for miles around. It didn’t help that the Lions weren’t playing quite as well as they had in their home ground.

“Ooh, there’s my boy, come on, Tanny,” yelled Shelley when Tanner’s face popped up on the jumbotron as he made his way into position.

“My mom thinks Tanner can hear her,” muttered Holiday.

It didn’t look like he’d heard. His eyes were narrowed above the antiglare swipes while he aggressively chewed on gum. He’d missed a catch this game that had resulted in the Yankees getting three players safely home, and he’d still looked pissed.

Doing my best to ignore the dull ache in my side, I watched as Ace pitched his first ball. The Yankees batter hit a line drive straight to Tanner, who snatched it up and threw it out to Sawyer James on second base, who caught it a split second too late.

“Nice play, Tan,” yelled Tanner’s dad, his hands cupped around his mouth. “Keep it up.”

“This is a harder game than yesterday,” said Radley, turning to Holiday and me.

“It’s just the Yankees’ first game in front of a home crowd, is all. It’s bound to be harder. Tanner said Jupiter Reeves thinks the Lions will win in game five.”

“That means if the Yankees win this one, the Lions can’t lose any more.”

I nodded. “Yep. They need to make it count.”

“ D id you call Doctor Humphries yet?”

“Yes, she said I could take Tylenol.”

“Okay, and have you?”

“ Yes ,” I replied, trying not to grimace as I pulled on a pair of sneakers because I knew I’d never hear the end of it.

But, man, I was super uncomfortable.

Tanner would also tell his mom to come and take care of me, and between her and mine I’d barely been able to lift a finger the past couple of days. If he wasn’t already at Yankee Stadium, he’d be over here in a flash to march me down to the doctor’s office.

I may have made the mistake of telling him the ache in my side hadn’t gone. It also hadn’t gotten better.

Personally, in my opinion, beyond the twinges still radiating through my body, I was totally fine. I hadn’t slept properly since Tanner had been away, and I knew that was all it was—a couple of bad nights.

Plus the stress of watching the games.

They should be handing out Xanax with the hot dogs, because my heart rate was definitely not at the level my doctor would be happy about. The Lions had lost the second game and won the third. Tonight was the fourth, and no one had any chill about it.

Therefore, I was not adding to it with some stupid ailment that would go away in a couple of days.

“And did it work?”

“Mmm, yeah, kinda. It’s not worse, put it that way.”

“ Mills —”

“When did my boyfriend become such a worrier?”

“When it comes to you, I worry.”

“Babe, we’re having our ultrasound in the morning, and we can check then. I’m not wasting the doctor’s time with a pulled muscle.”

“It’s a pulled muscle now, is it?” Tanner tutted, though I could tell he was getting kind of pissed at me. “I’m going to have our PT come meet you when you arrive here and then he can diagnose.”

I shook my head. “No, he’ll think I’m so dumb. It’s nothing, really.”

“Millie, if you’re sick or the baby is sick, we need to go to the doctor.”

“The baby’s fine, this ache is in my side. It feels like I’ve just done a really intense yoga session. And I’m not sick, I don’t have a sniffle, I don’t have a temperature, and I’m not bleeding. I’ve pulled a muscle. If I thought it was the baby, I’d go. ”

“ Millie— ”

“Tanner, you have a game to win. Please just concentrate on that. One game and then tomorrow morning we have our scan, then tomorrow night is game five and you guys will win and lift the trophy. Then we can book a vacation, you still want to go to the Bahamas?”

A grin spread on his face, before dropping again. “Yes to the Bahamas, but don’t think I didn’t notice you changing the subject.”

“Nothing gets past you, does it?”

“As long as it’s not a ball, we’re all good.” He winked. “But promise me if it gets worse you’ll call Doctor Humphries again.”

“I promise.”

“ O oh, jeez.” I groaned as I slowly rubbed my belly. “This heartburn is no joke. Don’t let me eat any more stadium food.”

“Mills, heartburn isn’t in your stomach. That’s indigestion.”

“Really? You think this is from three days of stadium food? Hot dogs and popcorn slowly killing me from the inside out. Could it be the baby protesting my lack of vegetables lately?”

“Doesn’t Tanner’s smoothie have vegetables in it?”

“Yes, but maybe it needs more to balance everything else out,” I reasoned. “That makes sense, right?”

“Sure,” Radley replied in a tone that didn’t have me convinced. “Mills, are you sure you’re okay, you don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine. C’mon, Tanner’s batting next and we’re doing so well. All we have to do is beat the Yankees tonight.”

She grumbled something inaudible but turned back to the field, though I could tell her eyes were sliding in my direction every thirty seconds or so.

Tanner marched up to home plate, bat gripped firmly down by his side. Getting into position, he shifted his weight from left to right, lifted his bat, and waited for the ball.

I must have stood up too quickly, because suddenly the stadium was spinning. I barely registered the crowd cheering his hit, for my entire right side had exploded in pain. It was all I could do to grab Radley and stop myself from falling over.

“What happened?”

I tried to shake my head, but even that hurt. “I don’t feel so good.”

“ Shit .” She turned to my mom. “Kirsty, Millie’s really sick.”

“Sweetheart, are you okay?” She pushed past Radley and pressed her hand to my forehead. The coolness of her palm made me realize how hot I was. “You’re super clammy.”

My grip got tighter. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

“Okay, let’s get you out of here.” Her eyes darted along the row, figuring out the best exit, “Boys… boys? You stay, when Pete and Shelley get back tell them we’ve taken Millie home. We can message Tanner. ”

“Sure, sure, feel better.” They waved me off, their eyes never leaving the field where Tanner had reached third base, and Jupiter Reeves was walking up to the plate.

It kind of made me feel less bad about puking on them before I passed out.

After their cries of disgust, and my mom’s calls for a medic, the last thing I heard was Tanner’s voice shouting my name.

And then it all went blank.