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forty-seven

Rory

Cole and I make sure we leave the conference room separately since we can’t be sure we won’t run into somebody. Since he needs to get back to the clubhouse, he leaves first. I wait about five minutes before I leave myself to make sure there’s enough time between our exits that no one will tie us together.

And thank fuck I do because as soon as I turn into the hall leading back to Lucia’s office, I run right into my dad.

Like, run into him.

We both stumble, but he catches me before I fall and helps me stand up straight.

“Hey, Dad,” I say warily, brushing myself off. “Didn’t see you there.”

“Where have you been?” he asks. “I stopped by Lucia’s office, but you weren’t there.”

“Oh,” I reply nervously. “I was just walking around.”

“Without Sage?”

“Yes. She was sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake her up. I just needed some time to clear my head.”

“Why did you need to clear your head?”

I level him with a disbelieving look. “Why do you think, Dad? I haven’t seen you in three days for a reason.”

He sighs and shakes his head. “Are you really going to keep this up, Rory? You’re going to hide forever?”

“I’ll hide as long as I need to,” I say, defiantly crossing my arms. “I don’t want to be controlled.”

My dad pinches his brow in frustration. “I’m not controlling you. I’m looking out for you.”

“By controlling who can and can’t be with me. Do you not realize how shitty that is?”

“Why is this so important to you?”

“Because I want to control my own life!” I shout louder than I intended.

“No, it’s because you’re seeing one of my players. I know you are.”

My heart sinks. “What? No, none of the guys are interested in me, Dad.”

“Bullshit,” he chides. “I’m not as young as I used to be, but I’m not stupid. You’re seeing one of my players, and I’m going to find out who.”

I hang my head in defeat. “Please just let us be,” I say, so softly it’s almost imperceptible.

“I want you to be happy, but you deserve to be treated right. None of those guys are going to do that for you. They’ll hit up some random woman as soon as we travel to the next city.”

Anger floods my veins. “Then you don’t know your players as well as you think. The only thing I’m worried about is how you’ll react if you figure it out. But I’m not worried about him at all. He loves me, and he would never do anything to hurt me.”

“You’re being naive. I know baseball players.”

“So do I!” I shout. “I’ve grown up around baseball players. It’s not the eighties anymore, Dad. People can keep in touch now. It’s easy to stay in contact with your partner when you’re not in the same city. Most of those guys in the clubhouse right now wouldn’t even dream of cheating on their partner. But you wouldn’t know that because you have it in your head that nothing has changed in forty years.”

“Then let’s hope you’re right. I don’t want to see you end up heartbroken over some guy that isn’t worth it.”

I take a deep breath, calming myself down so I don’t make this worse than it already is. With the most gentle voice I can muster, I say, “He’s worth everything, Dad. He’s not ‘some guy.’ He isn’t like you think, and I hope you’ll finally see that one day.”

My dad sighs as I stalk past him.

The clock is ticking, and it’s going to be absolute hell when he finds out.

“Everything okay, Rory?” Harlow asks as I slide into my seat. Cole got her and their parents season tickets right on the first baseline. Since there are four tickets and their parents don’t get to many games, I usually join Lo right here. Lucia sits with us when she can, but she’s still working when she does. Ella likes to stay back, but she’s joining us out here today.

I sigh and sink into my chair. “Just had a fun argument with my dad. The usual.”

Sage climbs into my lap as Ella looks at me in concern. “What happened?”

“Well, he knows I’m seeing one of the players for starters.”

“Oh, shi-… shoot,” Lucia says. “How did he figure that out?”

“He said that’s the only reason I would care so much about him controlling my love life. He still doesn’t know it’s Cole, but how much longer can it possibly be before he realizes it? He knows it’s a player. That narrows it down to the twenty-six guys on the active roster. Half of them are married or in serious relationships. That just narrows it down further.”

Harlow leans over and drapes her arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry it’s all happening like this. My brother is a great guy, and I hate that your dad is insinuating he’s not enough for you.”

“The funny part is that he told me specifically that Cole is the only guy on the team that isn’t a complete pain in his ass. But that’s still not good enough for his ‘baby girl.’”

Lucia places a hand on my arm reassuringly. “I know this is tough, ricitos , but everything will work out somehow. He might be angry at first, but he’ll come around. And if he doesn’t, I’ll tell him exactly what I think. In Spanish. That way, he can be irritated over the fact he has no idea what I said.”

I laugh lightly. “I love you girls. Sorry, I’m not trying to ruin the mood.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, babe,” Ella says. “You’re going through a lot right now—we’re here to help.”

The fans around us start cheering, and we look over to see the guys taking to the field for warmups.

Cole doesn’t come over to talk to us like Knox and Josh do, but I think that’s for the best. We don’t need to give my dad any reason to believe we’re together.

He does smile at me, though.

And he does so a few more times during warmups.

And again, when he’s in position between second and third base, watching Knox pitch a 1-2-3 inning to start off the Stars’ season.

After that, the guys head back to the dugout, getting ready to bat in the bottom of the first.

My dad made some changes to the batting order this year, namely that our newest acquisition—Ari—is batting leadoff. He ends up with a full count on five pitches before he sends the ball into the shallow outfield, flying just over the tip of the Chicago Windjammers’ second baseman’s glove.

Lane bats second, ending his at-bat with a pop fly in center field.

Josh is next, and he makes it to first base when the third baseman bobbles the ball as he scoops it up from the ground.

That leads us to today’s clean-up batter—Cole.

I nudge Harlow’s arm. “Did Cole tell you he changed his walk-up song for this season?”

Lo bites down a smile. “I’m aware of that fact, yes. I inadvertently helped him pick the song.”

“What does that mean?” I question, eyebrow raised.

“It means I told him about a song, and he decided it would be a great walk-up song. You’ll love it.”

“That’s what he said, too. He picked this song for me, didn’t he?”

Harlow doesn’t respond; she just smiles softly as the music starts playing when Cole moves from the on-deck circle to begin his at-bat.

And when the song I’m hearing registers, I gasp, clasping my hands together over my mouth.

“Cole picked a Taylor Swift song?” Lucia says. “That’s unexpected.”

Ella adds, “What’s it called again?”

“Starlight,” I reply, tears pricking the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over. “This song is called Starlight.”

“I knew about this, and I still can’t get over how cute it is!” Harlow squeals.

“That’s a really random choice,” Lucia remarks.

The first tears fall down my cheeks, and I wipe them away with the back of my hand. “Starlight is his nickname for me. He’s been calling me that for months.”

“And now he’s using it as his walk-up song!” Ella smiles.

Cole now stands in the batter’s box, getting into position for the first pitch.

Before the pitch is thrown, though, he looks right at me and smiles.

A smile that, in a stadium full of people, is meant only for me.

Cole takes two strikes before knocking the third pitch over the wall in left field, putting the Stars on the board with three runs.

For the rest of the game, he’s on fire, going five for five batting today and knocking in six runs in the Stars’ victory over the Windjammers.

True to his word, this is the best game of his career. He’s never had better numbers than he does today.

But all I can focus on is how much I love him and how much he loves me.

My dad can think whatever he wants, but when Cole changed his walk-up song to one that’s a direct reference to me, even if most people don’t realize that, I know for a fact that nobody will ever love me more deeply than he does.

And I’ll defend him to my dad with everything in me.