Page 7 of Taking the Pitch (Love & Baseball #2)

CHAPTER SIX

judd

I fucking love the holidays. Yeah, I know, Halloween isn’t technically a holiday, but it really is like the kickoff that starts the entire season. This year’s Halloween looks a little different with me not going out, but at least I still get to dress up.

I hit the button to call the elevator up to my floor and check out my costume in the mirror in the hallway. Hudson chose the theme this year after watching Pirates of the Caribbean last month and I’m not mad about it. I adjust the parrot on my shoulder because what is a pirate without his salty parrot? The doors open and I walk in, hitting the button to the parking garage. As the doors close, I can’t help but wonder if Amelia is going out tonight too, and who she’s going with, and does she take Bruno?

Consumed with too many questions and no answers, I’m jerked out of my thoughts when the elevator dings and stops at the next floor. I look to see where we stopped, only to be slightly disappointed it’s not the floor I’d hoped it was. The doors open revealing a woman standing there with a princess and a Ninja Turtle. The mom gives me a warm smile as I move over to make room as she ushers them inside and hits the button for the lobby.

“What are you?” the Ninja Turtle asks. He has to be around six or seven, and I can see he’s missing one of his front teeth when he talks.

“Arrrgh, I’m a pirate,” I say, kneeling down so I’m at his level. “And what might you two be?” I ask in my best pirate voice. The princess hides behind her mom and peeks out to look at me, but doesn’t answer. Her brother, however, is much braver and answers me loudly.

“I’m Donatello the Ninja Turtle. My sister’s a princess,” he says, pointing to his sister.

“Inside voice baby, we don’t want to make everyone deaf,” she says, giving me an apologetic smile.

“Sorry,” he says, lowering his voice and dropping his chin like he’s embarrassed.

“Ah, it’s ok buddy. I’d be excited too if I had a costume as cool as yours,” I reassure him, giving him a wink.

He brightens up and points at my parrot. “What’s his name?”

“You know, I didn’t give him one. Do you think you could help me with that?”

The kid’s face brightens, and he turns to his mom like he’s asking permission. She nods encouragingly, and he turns back to me. “Can my sister help?”

“Of course, bud.”

He turns to his sister, and they whisper back and forth, not so silently, until they seem to agree on a name.

“We like Petey.”

I chuckle and nod. “Arrrgh, Petey’s a fine name for a parrot.”

The kids both giggle. “Why do you talk like that?” the boy asks.

“That’s how we pirate’s talk.”

The kids giggle again and the elevator dings indicating we’ve made it to the lobby. I stand and gesture for the mom and kids to go first when the doors open. She thanks me and ushers her kids out. They both yell “Happy Halloween!” at me as they leave the elevator.

“Happy Halloween! I hope you get lots of candy!”

I look around the lobby before the doors close and see it’s packed with kids and parents, all getting ready for an evening of mischief. I smile to myself as the elevator takes me down to the garage, at the memories of many Halloweens I enjoyed as a kid.

A level later, I’m out of the elevator and making my way to my blacked-out Jeep Gladiator. Kessler told me it’s one of the ugliest vehicles he’s ever seen when I came to their house after purchasing it to celebrate signing my contract with the Silverbacks. I told him it was a good thing I didn’t value his opinion on my vehicles, because he’s never liked any of my cars.

A beep of a car echoes throughout the garage as I’m walking to where my car is, and I look up to see my favorite little blonde bombshell making her way over to me. She hasn’t noticed me yet as she carries on a conversation with Bruno. She’s dressed in a pair of black workout pants that look like they were painted on, and a sweater that says, “There’s nothing I can’t do except reach the top shelf. I can’t do that.”

A laugh erupts from my chest, startling Millie. She looks up and her face morphs from startled, to annoyed, to…heated, once she lays her eyes on me. I look down to where she’s staring and notice my ruffled pirate’s shirt has gaped open more than I intended it to, showing off the top of my hard-earned abs. Instead of fixing my shirt, I leave it, liking the way her eyes rake over me hungrily. “Like what you see, Muffin?”

My voice breaks the trance my body seemed to have over her, and she wrinkles her nose. “Muffin? Ew, please don’t use that one again.”

My eyebrows lift in surprise. “Oh, so you do like the pet names I call you?”

“No, but out of all of them, that is the worst one so far. Come on Davis, you can do better than that.”

Challenge accepted .

Striding across the garage until I’m next to her, I lower my voice, “You’re right, I can do much better.” She visibly shivers at the suggestion in my voice before regaining her composure, a cool unbothered mask slipping into place.

“That’s yet to be proven,” she tells me before continuing her path towards the elevator. “Nice sword. by the way,” she shoots over her shoulder.

“Probably the nicest one you’ve ever seen,” I shoot back, liking this game we’re playing.

She shrugs and looks at me over her shoulder, giving me a playful smirk while she waits for the elevator to arrive. “I’ve seen better.”

Oh, I highly doubt that.

“Unlikely.”

The elevator doors open, and she steps in, turning around to face me. “Awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you, Davis?” she says, before pressing a button on the panel.

“You know it, Sweet Cheeks,” I tell her and she wrinkles her nose again and shakes her head before the door closes, telling me that one’s off the table too.

I laugh and head to my Jeep. Climbing in, I realize one thing I am sure about is that I’m one hundred percent committed to seeing if this playful banter between us is the start of something more .

I walk into Kessler and Lucy’s about twenty minutes later with a smile still on my face from the run in with Millie.

“Hey Judd,” Lucy greets me from the massive island in the kitchen. When Kessler had this house remodeled, he kept it a secret from Lucy and asked Lucy’s best friend, Kara, for help. Kara sent Kessler a link to Lucy’s Pinterest board that she had made over the years of what her dream house would look like, and even during their ‘break’, made sure every dream off of her board came true.

“Hey Luce, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, Judd. I wish everyone would stop asking me that damn question,” she snaps.

My eyebrows shoot up and I involuntarily take a step back, slipping my foot back into my shoe. I’ve never heard Lucy snap, ever, at anyone, in the six months that I’ve known her.

Sighing, she throws the dish towel she’s holding onto the counter and rests her elbows on the counter, propping her chin up with one hand. “I’m sorry, Judd, I didn’t mean to snap. These pregnancy hormones are no joke, and I have twice as many coursing through me. But I swear if your brother doesn’t back off a little bit, I’m going to be a widower before I can even say ‘I do’.”

I snort and finish taking my shoes off, setting them onto the rack. No need to have Lucy pissed off at me for not putting my shoes away. “Just say the word Luce, and I’ll marry you right now,” I joke.

“Quit trying to steal my fiancée,” Kessler grumbles, coming into the kitchen, dressed similar to me, sans the parrot and partially unbuttoned shirt. He rounds the island and places a kiss on Lucy’s temple. “Feeling–” he starts, and I stop him before he can finish.

“I wouldn’t finish that question if I were you!” I yell, startling him.

“Jesus Judd, why are you yelling at me?” he says, looking between me and Lucy, who’s laughing. “What did I miss?”

“I was just telling Judd that I might take him up on his offer,” Lucy says, smashing her lips together, trying to keep a straight face.

Never missing a chance to fuck with my brother, I join in on the fun. “Sorry brotato, I think I’ve finally convinced Lucy who the better looking, funnier, smarter brother is,” I say, walking into the kitchen and throwing my arm around Lucy’s shoulders, who to my surprise, snuggles into me and turns her face into my chest. I can feel her shoulders shake and I do my best not to break character by placing a kiss on the top of her head. I look up at Kessler, who is giving us a shocked look. Deciding to dig in a little further, I add, “Not to mention who has the bigger–”

“Ooookay, no,” Lucy says, moving out of my embrace and back into Kessler’s. “I don’t want to hear about my future brother-in-law’s dick.”

I hold my hands up in surrender. “Fair enough. I just wanted to see how far I could get before Kessler lost his shit.”

“Always the instigator, aren’t you?” she says, lightly backhanding my arm.

“Yeah, he’s always been a little shit,” Kessler says, pulling Lucy into him more.

“Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch, we were just messing with you. Actually, you should be thanking me,” I tell him, moving to the fridge and grabbing a bottled water.

Kessler snorts and turns both him and Lucy towards me, leaning his back against the counter. “For trying to steal my fiancée… again ?”

“No, for saving your marriage. Lucy told me if you don’t stop asking her every five minutes about how she’s feeling, she’s going to be a widower before she can even say I do,” I tell him and give him a pointed look. “Back off the little mama.”

Kessler looks over Lucy’s shoulder. “Is that true?”

Lucy sighs and leans back against him. “I know you mean well, but how would you have felt if I had known you when you first injured your shoulder and I asked you day in and day out, multiple times a day, how you were doing?”

“Annoyed,” Kessler mumbles.

“Exactly. Now, I know you’re doing it because you love me and these babies, but can we limit the amount of times you get to ask me that question to like three times a day? Is that acceptable to you?”

Kessler nods and leans down, giving Lucy a kiss. He moves his hand down to Lucy’s slight bump and she covers his giant hand with her much smaller one; her ring glittering back at me under the lights. I catch myself staring at them and feel like I’m intruding on an intimate moment.

“I’m going to go find our other deckhand,” I say, moving out of the kitchen and down the hall to give Kessler and Lucy some privacy.

“He’s in the game room,” Kessler calls to me.

Making a left instead of a right, where Hudson’s room is, I find him playing Mario Kart .

“‘Sup broski?” I say, plopping down on the couch next to him, jostling Petey around. I twist the cap off my water and guzzle down half of it.

“Hey, Uncle Judd,” he says, pausing his game to look at me. “Nice parrot.”

“Thanks. I felt like it was a nice touch.” I nod to the screen. “Wanna play teams until Kade gets here?” Kessler and I are taking Hudson and Kade Trick or Treating tonight, while Lucy and Kara stay home to have a girl’s night.

“Sure!” Hudson exits out of his screen, and I grab the other controller off the charger. We end up playing three rounds before Kade joins us in the game room and we turn everything off to head out.

Lucy and Kara take tons of pictures of us before shooing us out the door so they can start their movie.

We settle into Kessler’s truck and head off to one of the neighborhoods that apparently has the best candy.

“So,” Kessler starts, looking at the boys in the rearview mirror and seeing they’re occupied with their own conversation. “How was the thing at the library yesterday? Is it something you’re interested in?”

An image of a feisty Amelia pops into my head, and I smirk. “Very.”

Kessler cocks an eyebrow at me. “Why do I feel like you’re not talking about the foundation?”

I look over my shoulder and lower my voice. “I am…for the most part.”

“Fuck Judd. Please tell me you didn’t chat up one of the moms. That’s a conflict of interest.”

I huff a laugh. “Says the guy who pursued the coach of the Little League team he volunteered to help. Pot meet kettle.”

“That was different. I volunteered to help because she wouldn’t let me take her to dinner to thank her for getting me out of my batting slump. I was already interested in her before that.”

Kessler slows down and flips on his blinker, waiting to turn into the housing development just a few miles down the road from their house.

“You know, you never really told me what drew you to Lucy and how you knew she was the one.”

Finally, there’s a break in the traffic and Kessler turns down the street, stopping behind a line of cars letting kids out. Turning around, he addresses Kade and Hudson. “Boys, I’m going to let you out here so you can start. We’re going to go find a place to park and then we’ll come find you, okay?”

“Okay!” the boys parrot back in unison, both bailing out of the truck and slamming their doors. Kessler watches them for a second, making sure they both make it to the sidewalk before driving ahead, looking for a spot to park.

“I should have taken Lucy’s car. It’d be easier to park.” He whips his head to me and gives me a pointed look. “Don’t tell her I said that. She suggested it earlier, and I told her I’d be fine.”

I shake my head and chuckle as we slowly follow the trail of cars, who are probably also looking for spots to park.

“And to answer your question, there was an unexplainable energy that I felt when I touched her. Still is.”

“What?”

“You asked what drew me to Lucy.”

“Oh.” I think back to yesterday and the zap of energy I felt when Amelia and I shook hands. “That’s it? There’s just energy?” Not convinced that’s all it was.

He scrubs a hand down his face, scratching his beard. “No. When I was around her, every unsettled feeling I was having about baseball just…stopped. She calmed me, made me want things I didn’t think I’d ever have.” He chuckles. “Plus, she wanted nothing to do with me and what man doesn’t love a little challenge?”

I nod my head, thinking about how Amelia also wants nothing to do with me.

We make it another block before we finally luck out and come upon someone pulling out of their spot. Kessler puts the truck in park and turns to me. “So, is it one of the moms?”

I shake my head. “No, it’s the woman who founded the program. Millie, she–” I can’t help but chuckle. “She’s not really a fan of mine. Although we did have a better interaction in the parking garage today than at our first meeting.”

Kessler gives me a confused look and I decide to explain everything that happened leading up to today’s conversation with her in the garage.

“Oh shit,” Kessler says when I finish telling him everything.

“Yeah, I’m not sure where to go from here, but I do know she’s the first woman to catch my attention in a long while, and I want to explore that. I’m tired of the one-night stands and women who only want me for my status.”

“Aww, is little Juddy growing up?” Kessler asks, reaching over and pinching my cheek.

“Fuck off,” I tell him, slapping his hand away from my face and getting a laugh out of him.

“Don’t ignore that feeling though,” Kessler tells me, turning off the truck and pocketing his keys. “But don’t move too fast either.”

“Says the man who practically told Lucy a week into knowing her you loved her.”

“That wasn’t me, that was Mom,” he says, sounding a smidge defensive. “Anyway, why don’t you talk to Lucy when you come over for poker night? She might be able to give you some insight on how to proceed with this, get her version of things, and why she felt the way she did. I’m not saying that Millie has the same reservations as Lucy did, but she might be able to help you figure out where to go from here.”

I nod. That might not be a bad idea at all. I clap Kessler’s shoulder. “Thanks man, I’ll do that.”

He nods and we get out of the truck and start walking back towards where we left the boys. “Who gave you your advice when you didn’t know how to proceed with Lucy?”

Kessler looks at me, and a huge shit-eating grin breaks out over his face. “Duke fucking Keller.”

Duke? Color me shocked.