Chapter 14
Remi
The crack of a bat rings steady and clear;
But meeting the arctic, I stumble with fear.
“Hey you,” I said, balancing my basket carefully so I wouldn’t drop my milkshake.
Roman got to his feet and grabbed the food from me.
“Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.” I set the shake down in my cup holder, then took the basket from him and picked up the burger.
He had a tablet tucked under his arm and a Braves hat on his head. There was something incredibly elegant about his features, and paired with his muscle mass, the intense bronze of his skin in the sunlight, and the smile he offered me, he was downright heart-stopping.
“It’s nothing,” he replied, then nodded toward my food. “I can’t believe you paid those outrageous prices.”
I glanced at the people who were combing the dirt on the fields in preparation for the game. With a smirk, I held up a metallic blue debit card. “I’m a good pickpocket.”
Reading the name on it, he laughed. “No wonder you get on his nerves.”
“Little old me?”
“I think you know that.” Leaning his elbow on the armrest, he studied me. “How are things with you guys?”
“Things are fantastic,” I answered a little too brightly. “This trip has been really good for us, I think.”
As I took another bite of my burger, he smiled. After a second, he burst into laughter.
“What?” I asked.
He dropped his voice. “I know about the ruse, man. You don’t have to pretend.”
“Oh.” With a frown, I kicked my feet up on the seat in front of me. “Can I pretend anyway? It’s a lot more exciting.”
“Yeah, go ahead. Oh, I saw the interview you did the other day. It was great,” he said before I could respond. “You two bounce off of each other like you were made for it.”
“I’m good at adapting.” I nodded toward his tablet. “What were you drawing?”
His eyes darted to the black screen, and he cleared his throat. “Nothing I’m going to show you.”
I waggled my brows. “Top-secret or for his eyes only?”
“You already know too much.”
When I looked knowingly at his lap, he shoved my arm with a laugh.
“Fine,” I said. “But show me something.”
He unlocked the tablet and exited out of his project before I could see anything. As he scrolled through the files, I watched the small-version images pass by.
“Wait.” I grabbed the tablet, ignoring his protests. I clicked on the one I wanted and it opened to full size. “Bro.”
“Shit, sorry. There’s nothing wrong with yours,” he added quickly. “I just tend to mess around with things.”
“This is incredible.”
I studied the logo he’d created around my name. It was intricate, but at the same time, it was incredibly simple. It definitely beat the sign I had hanging in the bar.
“I’ll pay you for this.”
He laughed lightly. “No.”
“Seriously, I love it.”
“I’m glad, but I’m not selling it to you. It’s yours if you want it.”
I looked at him with wide eyes. “What? Why?”
“Because you look happy. Seriously, I was only doing it because I saw the sign in that picture of you guys and I was bored.”
“If this is what boredom is supposed to produce, I’m gonna have to toss my Xbox in the dumpster. Not the PC, though. It was too expensive and I’m in the middle of a really good game.”
“If I’ve learned anything throughout my journey, it’s to never compare yourself to others. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
“Sounds like something someone with an assload of talent would say.”
“You run a successful business, which is something I would never be able to do,” he said. “Amir couldn’t pitch like Travis in a million years, and Travis doesn’t hit a ball the way Amir does. Although, he’d say it’s only because they don’t let him bat.”
“Could he guard a base as well as Amir?”
“Oh, hell no. He’d be so distracted, they’d run right past him every time. The man’s got the attention span of an untrained puppy. On that mound, though—that’s where the whole world stops for him.”
“I’m excited to see it in real time,” I replied. “Regretfully, I’ll have to bet against him on this game. For appearances and all.”
“Of course. I remember saying the same to Amir at one point.”
“Did you guys . . .”
“He tried to shoot his shot, but not really in a serious way. As soon as he saw me around Travis, he knew that I was pining.”
“Looks like you got what you wanted.”
He stared fondly down at the field where the teams were taking their places. “Yeah, I really did.”
“Science needs to get its shit in order because if you two could create offspring together—” I blew out a raspberry while I shook my head. “You’d make little godlings.”
“Speaking of offspring . . .” He stared past me. “I didn’t know they were coming.”
I turned and saw two people I didn’t recognize—one big and one small. The woman had blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders. It bounced as she walked down the steps. Dark sunglasses covered her eyes and brought attention to her sharp cheekbones.
The girl beside her held a notebook to her chest and kept her eyes lowered.
I was never around kids, so it was hard for me to guess her age.
Given her wavy chocolate-brown hair, golden skin, and her bone structure, my logical guess would be nine.
And seven months. Couldn’t forget that. The Red Sox jersey with the number sixteen on it was another giveaway.
When someone sneezed, she turned around, and I saw that the back said DARYA.
This was bound to be awkward.
As they came down the row, I fought through my chaotic thoughts.
I had no idea if Avery knew about our situation.
Did she think this was real, or was she in on it like Trav and Roman?
I’d have to play around with my words to figure it out.
I wanted to believe he’d tell her the truth, but we’d never talked about his wife or daughter.
There wasn’t much information about them online, so all I really had were their names.
There were few things that could really make me nervous, and I hadn’t expected this to be one of them. Maybe it’d be best if I just dipped, feigning nausea or something.
“Hey, Avery.” Roman leaned past me to give her a quick hug.
“We saw you from up there,” she said. “Do you mind?”
“Of course not.” With a smile, he looked down at Mal. “You drawing anything cool lately?”
She tucked her notebook closer to her chest and kept her head down.
“I’ll show you one if you show me one,” he offered.
Mal looked toward the field. She used her pinky to trace across her lip, one way, then the other. “Okay,” she said after a second.
He patted the chair on the other side of him. “You can sit by me.”
“Thank you,” Avery said quietly.
He smiled at her. As he scrolled through the images on his tablet, Mal waited with one of her drawings ready. It might have been a car, but from my spot, I couldn’t see it clearly.
Since it was rude not to acknowledge her, I looked at Avery. She was watching an unfamiliar Braves pitcher ready himself on the mound, but after a second, she glanced over at me. Realizing there were people behind us, she quickly sat down beside me, which I didn’t think could be a good thing.
I straightened in my seat and drew in a breath. “Hello, I’m Remi.”
Holy hellfire, that sounded ridiculous.
‘Hello, I’m Remi’—Christ, what a flop;
Might as well have led with, ‘I eat ass till I drop.’
I cleared my throat.
She perched her sunglasses on her head, revealing arctic-blue eyes. “Avery,” she said. Politely, she held out her hand. I shook it and made sure not to grip it hard.
She was polished, much like Amir was. He knew how to dress down, though. At first glance, I wasn’t sure that Avery had a ‘casual’ button. There was something decidedly proper about her, and I had to wonder what set her apart in a way that made him once consider her his best friend.
“Amir didn’t tell me you’d be here today,” I admitted.
Her smile was soft. Not underhanded like Clara’s, but not altogether forthcoming. “Mal wanted to surprise Amir. And she wants to see Trav pitch.”
“A big fan, huh?” I looked over at Mal, but she didn’t pay any attention to me. She was locked on to the tablet while Roman sketched some crazy-looking car with flames in the background. As if it was the easiest thing in the world, he added her in the driver’s seat, and her cheek twitched.
Avery reached over to Mal. Her hand hovered, drawing the girl’s attention, but she didn’t touch her. “Dad’s up.”
Mal stood and peered over the heads in front of her.
Amir was on base, adjusting his stance with practiced precision.
When he swung, she rose on her toes, but he didn’t hit the ball, and she dropped back down.
On the second pitch, there was a crack. She stayed on her toes this time as her dad raced for first. He was fast, as always, but the ball landed right in the center fielder’s glove.
She dropped to her heels again but stayed standing.
As Amir walked back to the dugout, he looked over at me.
Still on the field, he froze and swept his gaze across the four of us.
I smiled, though I doubted it did any good.
Avery gave him a little wave, whereas Mal just started rising and dropping on her toes.
Amir’s teammate said something to him, snapping him back to the game. As he continued off the field, he waved at his daughter with a bright smile, then made heart hands before he ducked out of sight.
That was adorable. Did my stomach sort of somersault? Possibly. I didn’t know if that was an omen of what was to come, but all I could do was keep on keeping on.