Page 20

Sam

C arlos cornered me during our pre-game warm-up and prep and tried to get the story on Kelsey.

“I have so many questions and don’t know where to start. If you were any one of these other assholes, I’d think maybe the kid was yours.”

“He’s not.”

When I said it out loud, I realized that my answer was tinged with disappointment.

When Kelsey returned to the table at breakfast this morning, she had missed me clumsily, fumbling with the straps in the stroller as I pulled Crew out to soothe him.

But damn if I didn’t melt when that little guy smiled at me.

I had always thought that I would have my career, and then afterward, I would move on to my second stage and maybe have a family.

Watching Kelsey as she put all her plans on hold and handled Crew with grace, without even a hint of resentment, made me question almost everything I knew.

“She must be incredible, then. I know nothing about your personal life because I suspect there is nothing to know. Then you show up with this smoke show with a baby…I don’t know what to think. How did you meet her?”

Carlos stared at me incredulously as I relayed the story, including our first interaction in the Uber. “So, you aren’t interested in her?”

“I’m not interested in disrupting her life if I can’t promise everything to her. She doesn’t need complications.”

“Yet you asked her to drop everything to fly to Minnesota with an infant to help you win a stupid ballgame?”

“When you put it like that, thanks. I sound like a dick.”

“Where is the kid’s father? He’s okay with him jet-setting all over the place?”

“He’s not in the picture.” I was already annoyed with the question and could imagine how frustrating it was for Kelsey as she explained it over and over again.

“Oh, this just keeps getting better. If I were a betting man, you’d be a goner.

For what it’s worth, Avery thinks she’s genuine.

” Avery was known for trusting her first impressions.

The only time she had ever ignored them was with Chloe Cole, and she’d been right.

I respected both Carlos’s and Avery’s opinions.

When I took the mound at the top of the first, I scanned the crowd for where I knew they would be.

Crew was strapped into his carrier, and they both wore their Minutemen hats.

I didn’t expect Kelsey to catch my eye and turn around so I could see her jersey read number nineteen.

She gave me a giant smile and a thumbs up, and for the first time, I wanted to win the game not to pad my stats but to make her proud of me.

When I struck out the side, Carlos patted me on the back on the way to the dugout. “Are you trying to make history with back-to-back perfect games? ”

“Nah, I don’t really care about history. She’s wearing my jersey.”

“Lots of women wear your jersey,” Carlos stated the obvious.

“I can’t explain it. It hits different.”

I didn’t pitch another perfect game, but watching her cheer as I broke Ramon’s home run streak and left the game in the seventh with a nice little lead was almost as good.

I spent the rest of the game on the bench, trying to figure out how to get her to follow me everywhere.

For the first time in a long time, I looked forward to life outside baseball.

The sport was a means to a good life, but not my entire life.

With the All-Star break approaching and a week in Texas, I wanted to bring her with me, even though the game was more exhibition than real.

I had this overwhelming need for her to meet my family.

Josie would be at the game, and I’d see her while I was in town.

During my post-game shower, I fine-tuned a proposal that would hopefully make Kelsey’s life a little bit easier while she traveled with me for the rest of the season.