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Chapter thirty-six

Griffin

T he energy of the locker room is one part nerves to three parts excitement.

It’s opening day.

We’re lucky to have our first series at home, which means it’s also our home opener for the season. Kansas City fans show up ready to tailgate the minute the parking lot opens, and a lot of people take the day off of work and pull their kids out of school in order to attend the afternoon game.

Unfortunately, Danae and Jason are not taking off of work and school in order to be here today, which means my own energy is in reverse proportion to the rest of the team’s.

I’m so ready to get back out on the field in our own stadium, to hear the roar of the Crowns fans—I only wish the two individuals who have skyrocketed to the top of my “most important people” list could be here.

When Danae was weighing the decision of whether or not to skip school today for the opening game, I convinced her not to.

They’ll be here for the games on Saturday and Sunday, where they’ll get to meet my parents, which is way more important.

Expecting Danae to play hooky for me would be unreasonable, especially after the media fiasco last week and the ensuing catastrophe with her parents.

Did I find out where they live and casually drive by to scope things out ?

I plead the fifth.

It’s the right call to not make her come today. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.

My vision suddenly goes dark as the visor of my baseball cap tips down to cover my face.

I know without seeing that it was Adrian’s doing, so I flail a fist to make contact with his body as I pull my hat up.

He feigns serious injury for a split second before breaking into a grin and plopping down next to me.

“Ready for the day, West?” he asks.

I nod.

“Head? Shoulder? Heart? All ready?” he asks, uncharacteristically serious.

No, I’m absolutely terrified. Scared that my shoulder could give out. Scared that I’m not going to play up to snuff, despite a great training camp. Sad that the woman I love isn’t here to watch me play. Nervous that my mind is too distracted by her to play my best.

Forcing a grin, I smack his visor down. “Readier than you,” I say. “Let’s get out there.”

As I rise to follow Adrian out of the locker room, I hear the ping of a message notification from my phone. When I check the screen, there’s a new voice memo from Danae. My fake grin becomes genuine as I hit play.

“Hey, Griff. I assume you’ll be heading onto the field soon for warm-ups, so I hope I catch you in time.

Please ignore the squeals in the background.

I’m hiding in the library storage room while the first-grade class plays at centers.

I just wanted to tell you good luck and that I wish I could be there to hug you before the game.

You’re going to be amazing, and I can’t wait to talk to you tonight. I love you.”

Although the rest of the team has filed out of the locker room, I take an extra minute to listen to the memo one more time. When I make my way to the field, I have a lot more pep in my step.

The starting position players do our typical dynamic stretches and warm-up throwing routines.

Smiles are big as we watch the stands fill in and fans hold up homemade signs with our names.

Drew points out a giant cutout of me giving Adrian a piggyback ride off the field last week, and we laugh until we get yelled at to focus .

As we head to the dugout after warm-ups, Adrian jogs next to me. “Sam’s here, but not Danae and Jason?” he asks.

“Yep,” I say. “Con of having opening day be an afternoon game on a Thursday. But Danae sent me a good-luck voice memo, so I know she’s thinking about me.”

“Yeah, it sucks that they can’t be here,” he agrees. “You know she’ll be watching at home, though, once they get out of school.”

Huffing a laugh, I say, “Actually, I don’t know that she’ll be watching at home. She still hates baseball.”

“She seems to love you, though. That’s gotta count for something,” Adrian says, face serious. In the next second, his goofy grin is back. “Besides, you know that Jason is going to demand she turn it on as soon as they get home from school. The nickname Fireball suits him for more reasons than one.”

Chuckling, I clap Adrian’s back. “You are not wrong, my friend.”

“Let’s go out there and have some fun,” he says, eyes twinkling.

I take a second to look around the stadium.

The grass, the red dirt, the white lines.

The mass of individual bodies dressed in blue and white.

The laughter, the chatter, the music playing over the speakers.

I inhale the earthy scent of the field, the buttery aroma of popcorn, the salty smell of sweat.

I feel the leather of the baseball mitt on my hand, the comforting squeeze of how the material has molded around my fingers over time.

Exhaling, I smile over at Adrian. “Let’s go have some fun.”

“It was the best catch ever!” Jason practically screams into the phone, and I can’t hold in my laughter any longer.

“I’m glad it’s that easy to impress you,” I say. The kid has broken down practically every play of the game, but he’s taken extra time to gush about one particularly tricky catch I made in the eighth inning.

I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t made my heart double in size .

“No way, it was just that good. A total Wizard of Defense move!” Jason says. “I can’t wait to watch in real life on Saturday!”

“Yeah, I’m excited for you to be there, too, Fireball. Make sure you save a few chicken tenders for your mom, okay?” I say. “Can I tell her hi real quick?”

“Oh, okay. I’ll give her the phone. See you Saturday!” he chirps before yelling, “Mom! Mr. Griffin wants to talk to you!”

I’m not sure how Danae doesn’t break down crying every time he calls her “Mom,” because that’s certainly the response I’m fighting every time I hear it.

“Hey, babe,” Danae says softly a few seconds later.

“We’ve officially moved to ‘babe’ territory, huh? Have you alerted Kara?” I tease.

“Ha ha,” she says. I imagine Danae rolling those beautiful hazel eyes and kick myself for not starting this as a video call.

There’s a smile in her voice when she continues.

“I will gladly call you ‘babe,’ Griff, and whatever other terms of endearment come with the ‘I love you’ territory. But never will I ever call you ‘Wizard of Defense,’ so strike that from your expectations.”

“I think I can handle that,” I say. “Remind me again why I didn’t drive straight to your house right after the game tonight?”

“Because Jason is getting into bed right now,” she reminds me.

“Seems like all the more reason for me to be there,” I say, dropping the octave of my voice.

“ And it’s a school night,” she adds, but her tone sounds flustered now.

“Whatever you say. I’m looking forward to dinner tomorrow, though,” I say. “You okay if we sit at the bar instead of at a table? I want to catch up with Jeff a little bit.”

“You just want easy access to bottomless cranberry lime sodas, don’t you?” Danae says, and the teasing tone in her voice makes me want to drive straight over there and kiss her. For a long time.

I smile at the ceiling instead. “You caught me. I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”

“Love you too, Griff.”