Page 16 of Stat: Love In Scrubs

I walked over to Doc and tipped my head back. He quickly obliged and kissed me before I rushed off. I jogged around the gate to stand next to my dad, who was now wearing a frown.

“Don’t be fresh because you think you’re grown now.”

I chuckled and ran to my position at first base. The game went on for another ten minutes before Todd, one of my dad’s old friends, twisted his ankle trying to run to first base. Gerald walked over with a smug smirk.

“You might as well just forfeit the game, Leo. You don’t even have enough people on your team to keep playing.”

A couple of our teammates were helping Todd off the field. Doc walked over to stand beside me.

“You need another man?” he asked my dad.

I could tell my dad was caught off guard, but he damn sure wasn’t going to turn Doc down. He couldn’t stand Gerald’s old ass.

“You’re in.” My dad said.

Gerald looked like he wanted to talk shit, but he just stumped back to his dugout like a petulant child. My dad turned to face Doc and held his hand out to shake his, to which Doc returned the gesture.

“You know how to play kickball, right?” he asked.

I almost burst into laughter because my dad was extra confident moments ago.

“Yes, sir. I think I still have my memories from when I was a child.” Doc answered.

They stared at one another, not breaking contact for a moment, before my dad nodded and walked away.

“I hope you can actually play. My dad takes this really seriously.” I told him.

“Just your dad? Baby, I saw you talking shit to the ref just moments ago.”

I rolled my eyes and switched off, then smirked over my shoulder in his direction. It was our turn to kick, and my dad glanced at Doc, telling him he was up first. I knew it was just a test. He wanted to see what he could do in this moment.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Let me go handle this for my father-in-law.”

I rolled my eyes and nudged his shoulder. He smirked at me, then jogged up to the plate. A moment passed as their guy rolled the ball towards Doc. He reared back and kicked the ball to the outfield. He raced to the first base, just in time before they tried to toss the ball his way.

The team shouted and jumped around as I stepped up to the plate after him. I couldn’t fuck this up. Not after Doc had given us a good start to getting a few more points on the board.

I watched him settle onto first base, all confident and relaxed, like this wasn’t his first time jumping in on a game with folks he just met.

And then, of course, it was my turn to kick.

Because the universe is petty. I exhaled, stepped up, and swung my leg.

The moment my foot connected with the ball, I knew two things.

One: it was the best damn kick I’d ever made in my life.

Two: it was headed straight for Doc’s chest.

“Wait!” I shouted, but it was too late.

He turned to run for second and Boom; the ball nailed him dead in the stomach, full impact, like I’d lined him up on purpose. His whole body folded and dropped to the ground.

Gasps erupted around the field.

“Oh, my God!” I yelped, already sprinting.

My dad was jogging from center field, half-concerned, half-laughing. “Damn, girl! He’s supposed to be your man! Yet, you’re out here knockin’ him on his ass like it’s dodgeball!”

“He’s not my—ugh! Stop!” I dropped to my knees next to Doc, who was flat on his back, eyes squeezed shut, and a big-ass grin creeping across his face.

“You good?” I asked, lightly patting his chest.

He wheezed. “I’m thinking you’re going to need to wear a warning label, baby. Damn.”

“I swear I didn’t mean to!” I said, trying not to laugh even as tears stung my eyes from holding it in. “I was aiming for right field!”

He opened one eye. “You missed by a whole grown ass man. In a minute, I’m going to think that was a little payback from the time I had to cancel our date.”

My dad leaned over us, hands on his knees, grinning widely. “Son, you sure you still wanna talk to my daughter? Next time, she might knock out a tooth.”

Doc chuckled from the ground. “At this rate, she gon’ take more than a tooth, more like my whole ribcage.”

I nudged my dad’s leg. “Don’t listen to him. He’s fine.”

“I’m not fine,” Doc said, groaning as he sat up. “I’m injured. I think I need mouth-to-mouth.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“You’re lucky I like violence,” he shot back, wincing a little as I helped him up.

Maria was back on the bench with Esa, shaking her head but laughing. Esa clapped when he stood, like he’d just won a WWE match.

He turned toward her and waved like he was still dazed. “I’m okay, baby…”

“You’re not okay,” I muttered under my breath, still holding his arm.

But the truth was, neither was I. Because this man just got laid out by me , made jokes about it, and somehow still made my heart skip like I was the one catching a damn ball to the chest. I was definitely in unknown territory.

Mickey’s Pizzeria—After Game Celebration

After the small situation on the field with Doc, he got back up and continued playing. Throughout the game, I kept checking in on him because I felt so damn bad. I don’t know why I became so damn clumsy when he was around. I think he made me nervous, and that was just the effect of it.

By the end, we beat Gerald’s team by five points. To say my dad was over the moon was an understatement. Not to mention, my dad was practically tied to Doc’s hip. At some point, they walked off alone and talked. I don’t know what they said, but it made my dad come over to me and kiss my temple.

Esa and I had been playing arcade games before Doc finally joined us. It was crazy how natural this all felt. It didn’t feel like we were playing a part but like I was right where I was supposed to be.

We’d had enough of the games and went back to the table to eat more pizza. Maria and my dad were talking to each other.

“Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom,” Esa said.

“I’ll take her. If it’s okay with you,” Maria offered, but looked in Doc’s direction to wait for his response.

“That’s fine. Thank you,” he told her.

Esa stood up and reached out to hold Maria’s hand, before my dad followed in their direction, saying he might as well go to the bathroom as well. I knew what they were doing.

“Let me guess, they figured we needed some alone time?” Doc spoke up.

I glanced in his direction with a small smile.

“That’s exactly what they’re doing. But I wanted to apologize again. I did not mean to do that earlier.”

Doc leaned forward and brushed the loose curl that dropped in my face behind my ear. Then leaned in to place a kiss against the corner of my mouth, then the other side, before tentatively kissing my lips. He was in no hurry or concerned about a single person seeing how tender he was being with me.

It only made my heart leap for joy and gave my mind another reason to give this a chance. The more time I spent with him, the more it showed me that maybe I could trust him with my heart. He made my worries go away, even if only for a short while.

“You’re good. I’m not made of glass, and you didn’t do the shit on purpose. At least, that’s what I choose to tell myself.” He cracked with a smirk.

I nudged his shoulder and chuckled along with him.

“So, you want to tell me what you talked about with my dad?” I asked.

“Nah. Just know we’ve come to an understanding, and we’re on the same page. Your dad is dope as fuck, and we have plans to do our own shit without you.”

I waved him off as he chuckled. “Oh, please.”

“Facts are just that, baby.”

I rolled my eyes and turned to continue to eat my pizza. If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.