Page 17

Chapter 17

Callie

I curse myself for not grabbing my umbrella as I sprint through the rain around the building to the front of the complex. This is my first time at this training center, so when I told my Uber driver to drop me off at the first door I saw, I never expected to find it locked.

Cold rain hits my face, and I squeal at the feeling. I’m rather thankful Adam got me a new, fancy, waterproof backpack for all my camera stuff. It was his late birthday gift to me. I think he felt bad letting Will do all the grunt work for the party.

It’s the end of January; shouldn’t it still be snowing? Here’s my thing—if it’s going to be this cold, I need to see pretty snow. Winter rain is the worst and instead of being able to hide away from it in my cozy apartment, I’m racing into the Blues training facility because today is my first official day as the team photographer. And boy, is it going to be a busy one.

It’s shocking how little I’ve paid attention to this sport. I know the rules and how to play from watching Adam, but all this background stuff has thrown me for a loop. Apparently, this is Mr. Olsson’s first year as general manager and the changes he’s been making haven’t exactly settled well with the fans.

A few days after the new year, Mr. Olsson called a meeting with me and his assistant, Shannon, to come up with a marketing strategy, from brand deals to an all-out media campaign.

I let Shannon take the lead on organizing the brand deals. I can lend a hand in the photos, but all that corporate stuff is what I ran screaming from earlier this year. I volunteered to run the Blues’ social media and revamp the website. I’m shit out of luck in the love department so might as well fling myself into my job.

I let out a sigh of frustration as I make it inside the complex. I take off my backpack, strip off my wet rain jacket and gently dry my face with my hands. So much for trying to wear my hair down today. I pull my frizzy strands of red hair into a bun.

I hear the door behind me open and I turn, thankful that someone can show me the way and I won’t have to call Adam who headed over here earlier. “Hi?—”

My words die off at the sight of Will.

It’s been nearly a month since my birthday, and I think we’ve spoken less than a hundred words max to each other and that’s extremely concerning for me, considering my penchant for monologuing. Will would deliver my tea a couple times during the week, but the timing just never worked out for us to hang out. He’d bring it by and he’d either need to head off to practice or I was headed to a meeting with Shannon and Olsson.

“Hey, Callie. Did you jump in some of the puddles?” His tone is soft and there is a hint of a smile on his face. Will takes his hood off and runs his hand through his hair. “I can take your bag if you want.”

He reaches for it at my feet, but I scoop it up first.

“I got it,” I snap, but flinch at how snippy it sounded. “I mean I don’t mind carrying it.”

He gives me a small nod. “Okay. I think we’re starting in the main room in the back. It’s this way.”

I let him lead as I press my lips together. I’ve been a little anxious about how working together might go. Do you know how hard it is trying to stay in the friendzone with a guy who does boyfriend shit? To Will, delivering my tea is nothing. Just a neighborly gesture. But to me? To me, it’s a boyfriend gesture—a small thing like bringing your girlfriend chocolate because you know she likes it. Same goes for carrying my bag. If we’re going to be friends, then I’ll be carrying my own things.

“If you have something to say, Blaze, just say it.” Will glances back at me with a small smirk.

“No, nothing to say. Just trying to remember where we’re going, so I can find my way next time.”

He hums quietly in front of me. “Are you going to be here all day?”

Do you want me to be here all day?

“Um, yeah. It’s my first day on site. I haven’t been around the full team since that night at the bar, so I’m a little nervous.” The vulnerability comes out before I can stop it. I'm known to ramble and have no problem engaging in conversation. But never about my insecurities. Except with Will.

He stops abruptly, causing me to run straight into his muscular back that’s still wet from the rain. “Will,” I squeal.

I take a small step back as he turns to me and places his hands lightly on my shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay to be nervous. But everything’s going to be okay. I’ll”—he lightly shakes his head—“Adam will be here if you need him.”

“And you?” My question takes us both by surprise. Weeks—it’s been at least three weeks since we’ve truly been around each other. Maybe we just needed more time to find some common ground.

“Yeah, Callie. I’ll be here too.” His sighs and just when I think he’s going to say something else Shannon walks up to us. I’m honestly surprised I missed the clicking of her heels approaching us.

“Oh, Will…Callie. You’re still out here? I was afraid I was going to be the last one here.”

Will’s hands drop from my shoulders and he takes a small step back.

I’m still trying to decide if Shannon likes me or not. There are times when I think she might but more often than not, she’s treating me like a child who can’t function on her own. I get that she’s older than me and has been in this industry longer, but I’m also not an invalid.

Will glances at his watch. “We’re still ten minutes early, so no worries. We can all head in now.”

“Actually, you head on in.” The smile she gives Will causes knots to form in my stomach. “I need to run some stuff by Callie before we get started.”

Will simply nods. “See you in there, Callie.”

Listen, I’m a girl's girl, I swear. But him leaving Shannon out of that little line made all those knots come undone. Even if we’re sticking to this friend status.

When the door closes and we’re completely alone, I turn to Shannon, mentally preparing for whatever tasks we need to discuss. The condescending look on her face tells me this likely won’t be work related.

“A little FYI, there’s no sleeping with the players. I thought Mr. Olsson made the importance of our standards for this team pretty clear but to reiterate, that won’t be tolerated.”

“Hmm, well, thank you for the reminder.” I put on my best fake smile for both her and my sake. I knew image was a big deal to Olsson, but I didn’t really think about this being an issue. It wasn’t ever brought up during my onboarding, but I could have zoned out during that part. I guess I should be grateful that it gives me a reason to shut the door on the idea of a relationship with Will. But why does it also feel like my heart is in my stomach?

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Mr. Anderson and I were just talking about today’s agenda. I have no interest in fraternizing with the players.”

…Kind of.

“Great!” Her nose and eyebrows crinkle for a moment at my dramatic response. Maybe I'm in the wrong here, but it wouldn’t have killed her to choose her wording differently. A simple, “Hey, as employees we’re not allowed to date the baseball players on this team. Just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page since this is your first day.” But no, this is precisely what I mean. Condescending.

“Should we go in now?” I ask.

Blinking away her snarky facial expression, she smiles politely. “Yes, I’m glad we cleared the air.”

“Me too!” I say at an usually high pitch. We’re off to a great start.

Letting Shannon go in front of me, I take a deep breath to mentally prepare myself for this day one last time.

I can do this. I can do hard things.

We walk into the massive space with black turf flooring. In the back, large nets are pulled out to form batting cages. Off to the side there is an area that mimics a bullpen, then there’s this big open space that has lines and bases—as if this were a real field—where all of the players are warming up now.

Finding Will out of the twenty-six players is easy. Not because I’m looking for him, but because he’s warming up a good ten feet away from everyone else. Okay, I might have been looking for him. A little. His gaze connects with mine, so I turn away quickly, looking for a good place to set my stuff.

Up first on today’s agenda is getting some good behind-the-scenes content for our social media and photos for our website. I’ve spent the past two weeks deep-diving fun ideas and researching ways to make the fans feel more connected to this new team.

“Hey, look who’s here.” Beck’s chipper voice comes from behind me.

“It’s almost like they pay me to be here.” I chuckle. The cocky first baseman appears to be a flirt, but really I think it’s just his M.O. to be personable and happy. Plus, there’s no real attraction there between us. With his red hair, he looks more like my brother than Adam does.

“It’s about damn time we hired someone decent for this position. We needed another redhead on the team.”

Playfully rolling my eyes, I sit down on the turf and pull my bag in front of me. “Especially one without your ego.”

“You wound me. Here I was thinking this special connection would get me extra publicity time.”

“If anyone’s getting extra time, it’s me,” Adam says as he comes up, plopping down in front of me.

“I’m pretty sure that would be grounds for nepotism.” Tripp comes to the other side of Beck and now all three are sitting across from me.

I start pulling out all of my stuff to get organized. “Okay, you guys know I’m not the team’s publicist, right?”

My brother cocks an eyebrow. “Aren’t you, though? You’ve been researching ways to make our online presence more appealing. I’ve barely gotten you to look up from your computer for three weeks.”

Okay, that’s fair. “My job is technically just to take photos of you guys. The website and social media are part of that, but it stops there. You guys can talk to Shannon about any extra media time.”

“But talking to you is way more appealing,” one of the team’s new rookies says as he sits next to Adam.

Adam smacks his shoulder. “Um, hello, she’s my sister.”

I want to say the rookie’s name is Charlie—left fielder, maybe. This is his first season in the major leagues if I’m placing him correctly. I’ve tried to remember the roster, and I think I have the “starting nine” nailed down but some of the guys I still get confused.

“It was a compliment!” possibly-Charlie responds.

“Does this mean we can’t talk to your sister, Reyer?” another player says walking up. “Can’t you separate work from personal life?”

“Doesn’t matter. You guys are all wasting your time. Cals and I have this connection. I’m going to be getting the most camera time.” Beck smirks and gives me a wink.

I fear my eyes might roll out of my head today—fucking men. Looking around, I see I’m surrounded by them. More than half the team is now circled around me—sitting and standing, and all talking about me.

“Callie knows what the people want. Let her decide who’s best for the fans.”

“I’m her brother, she’ll take the best pictures of me.”

“Can we hire her for personal sessions?”

I try to tune out the guys and start rifling through my bag pulling out my things, so I’m not exactly sure who’s saying what at this point. I know they are all just messing with Adam and the comments aren’t necessarily making me uncomfortable, but I would be lying if I didn’t say this was a little overwhelming. I came over here to get ready and get my nerves under control, but now I’m drowning in testosterone.

I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn to see Shannon. Oh great, am I getting another “you can’t sleep with any of them” speech?

“Callie, there’s a delivery guy here with a drink for you.”

A delivery guy? “I…I didn’t order a drink?”

“He said your name.” Shannon shrugs.

I turn back to the guys for a second and they’re all still talking away. Pushing off the ground to stand up, I start walking toward the front where Alex, the delivery guy from Spilled Tea, stands with a sealed bag in his hand.

“Hey, Callie. Got your lavender tea with honey.”

He holds out the bag and I reach for it slowly with creased brows. “Thanks. Don’t judge me, but I don’t think I ordered this. If I did, I don’t remember and if that’s the case, don’t tell me.”

Alex gives me a small chuckle. “No, you didn’t?—”

“Hey, Alex,” Will says casually as he walks up to us.

“Hey, Will!” Alex looks elated. He even gives Will that weird handshake-hug thing guys do. What is going on? “I put yours in the same bag. I think it killed my mom a little to ice your green tea. She won’t admit it, but I’m pretty sure she froze green tea ice cubes last night because she couldn’t bear the thought of it being watered down.”

Will smiles while he laughs and then if things weren’t weird enough, he starts asking Alex how his changeup is going. What is happening right now? Has he been giving pointers to the teenage delivery guy at the tea shop?

I watch this interaction with complete amazement because Will doesn’t socialize. This man was just standing ten feet away from his teammates two minutes ago.

“Listen, thanks for bringing these. I know this was out of your delivery range.” Will hands the kid some cash, but he doesn’t take it. Alex is downright starstruck right now.

“Are you kidding? The team is literally right there! This was a freaking dream come true. Please, call the shop anytime and I’ll bring whatever, wherever.”

“I will. I’ll see you Thursday.” Will holds the tip out again for Alex to actually take this time. Alex nods eagerly and looks around again like a kid in a candy shop before walking out.

Will turns to me shaking his head, reaching for the bag with our drinks.

I move it out of his reach. “Oh, I have sooo many questions right now.”

Will takes his focus off the bag and his warm brown eyes meet mine with a small smirk on his face. “I know you can talk fast, so rapid fire them, Callie. I think Olsson just got here and I want some of my drink before we start.”

Ugh, why is this man—who I can’t date even if he did want to date me—so cute? Maybe some of his answers to my questions will help bring down my need to beg this man to put a ring on my finger.

“How are you on a first name basis with the delivery guy at Spilled Tea?”

Will shrugs. “I go there. A lot. Alex’s mom owns the tea shop. She talks while I wait, and she said her son pitched for the high school team.”

Okay, nothing too crazy there. “Why will you see him Thursday?”

“I offered to help him one-on-one with some of his pitches before the season starts.” Will tries reaching for the bag again, but I pull it out of reach again.

“You’re coaching him?” I’m swooning. This is a real-life swoon.

Will sighs like he’s annoyed but there’s a small smile there. “You can call it that if you want. Can I have my drink now?”

“One more question. Why did he say one of the drinks was mine?”

Will pinches his eyebrows. “Because one is yours. You love their tea, you’re the one who got me hooked on the damn place to begin with. I thought you might not have time to get one this morning, and lavender tea has no caffeine and it’s good for nerves.”

“You know what it’s for? How did you know that?” My mouth gapes slightly.

“I might have made an assumption about the nerves, but it seemed like a safe bet. I remember you saying that there were different benefits with tea, so I looked it up.” He shrugs. “Any more questions, Blaze?”

Are we sure about being friends?

“Um, no.” I hold out the bag so he can get his drink out.

“Anderson! Callie! Come over here,” Mr. Olsson calls. “We’re getting started.”