Chapter 30 #2
“Okay.” She laughs. “I meant I wouldn’t be this bold about someone else’s relationship, but he’s always been my favorite person, so I’m just going to say my piece on the whole thing.
” She turns to face me, so I give her my full attention too.
“I know he’s been lonely. He may never admit it because he keeps himself busy, but I see it.
I don’t remember what he was like with my mom, but he’s a completely different person than he was back then anyway.
Raising a kid on your own that you didn’t plan for and putting everyone else ahead of yourself will do that to you.
But he doesn’t look lonely when you’re around.
As an only child, that kind of means everything to me, you know? ”
The backs of my eyes burn in a way I’m wholly unaccustomed to. I don’t often cry, especially now. I’ve learned to overcompensate being a woman in a man’s field by trying to take the emotions out of most things.
But this little speech might just get me.
“And I hear you on the whole job thing,” she continues.
“I don’t know what that would look like for his career and your reputation.
But I used to base a lot of my decisions off what I thought was best for him too.
I used to travel for work all the time, constantly be on the go, because I thought staying away was the best thing for him.
I thought it gave him the space he needed to do his own thing and live his own life after giving it all up for me.
Then I realized that he just wanted me around. ”
She offers me a small smile. “I’m pretty sure he just wants you around, Reese. And if there’s anyone who deserves to get everything they want, it’s him.”
Well . . . shit.
I can’t imagine those words hitting harder than they just did, being delivered by the person Emmett loves most in the world.
I can’t tell her how scared I am to like her dad. Or how much I already do. If that’s something I were to ever admit, it’ll be to Emmett himself. But I also don’t think I can express to her just how much hearing her say that means to me.
But what I can say is, “He does deserve to get everything he wants.”
“Who deserves to get everything they want?”
It’s a deep, gravelly voice asking the question. One I’d recognize anywhere. One I haven’t heard all night.
My plan of grabbing a drink and returning to my grandfather is failing miserably.
Miller and I make eye contact, silently asking the other how we’re going to play this off.
“I do,” she says, covering for me. “Carrying this baby for nine months. Do you know how many restrictions there are during pregnancy? And of course you get to drink a beer.” She gestures to the glass in Emmett’s hand. “I’m going to go give Kai some shit for this. This is all his fault anyway.”
Miller takes off in a faux huff and her dad steals her spot next to me at the bar, eyes locked on her back in confusion.
“What was that all about?”
“Oh, you know Miller.”
Miller, who loves her dad enough to practically beg me to open my eyes and see him.
But seeing him is not the problem. Quite the opposite, in fact. Part of me wishes I could go back to the days when I was unaware of just how big his heart is. It made it a whole lot easier to keep from falling for him.
“You look . . .” His eyes trail down my body. “Fitting for you to wear black tonight. My heart practically stopped when you walked in, and here you are, already dressed for my funeral.”
There’s that unapologetic confidence again.
“You’re far too old to be joking about heart issues, Emmett.”
He brings his beer to his smiling lips. “I truly wish I were kidding.”
“Reese?” someone calls out. “No way. Is that really you?”
It takes me a moment to process who is standing in front of me, speaking as if they know me. Graying hair and wrinkled skin from too much time in the sun. I couldn’t have been more than ten years old the last time I saw him.
“Mick?” I study him for a second to make sure I’m correct before I go ahead and hug a complete stranger. When he doesn’t correct me, I set my wine down on the bar and open my arms. “Oh my God! It’s been so long.”
He gives me a tight squeeze. “Look at you, girl! You were just a kid the last time I saw you. I remember you used to always hang out in the dugout during practices. Didn’t we have one of your birthday parties in this exact room?
Me and all the guys went. And what was it that we all called you? Reese’s Pieces! That’s right.”
I exhale a small laugh. “It’s just Reese now.
” Shifting, I involve Emmett into the conversation.
“Emmett, this is Mick. He played second base for the Warriors for over a decade. He was a part of the team when I first started coming around with my grandfather and fell in love with the game. Mick, this is Emmett. Our field manager.”
The two men shake hands.
“So great to meet you,” Emmett says kindly.
“Wow.” Mick stands with his hands on his hips, shaking his head at me in disbelief. “So, you’re running the team now, huh?”
Oh.
A flush of embarrassment rushes my cheeks. He knew me as just a little girl obsessed with being a part of this team. He remembers me always hanging around and wanting to be included. If I were him, I’d also assume my grandfather passed the franchise on as a way to appease me.
“She is,” Emmett answers for me when I don’t respond quick enough. “And she’s doing a hell of a job.”
“Of course she is.” Mick smiles down at me.
“You were always sharp. I remember that. Knew the game better than some of the grown men who were playing it. And you loved this place more than anyone. You were just a part of the family. It wouldn’t make sense for anyone other than you to be running the team. ”
I can sense Emmett’s proud gaze boring into the side of my face, but I don’t have it in me to turn and indulge in it.
I feel a bit splayed out being described by someone who was around when I had the luxury of being na?ve about this business.
But I won’t lie, after a week of getting hell from the press, the words from an old player I adored back in the day mean more than he probably realizes.
“I need to go say hi to Arthur,” Mick says. “Congratulate him on his retirement. Emmett, it was great to meet you. And, Reese, it’s nice to see this team in the hands of someone who loves it so much.”
We say our goodbyes and Mick heads off, leaving Emmett and me alone.
“So,” he begins in a teasing tone. “Remember that time you told me that baseball is just a business?”
“Shut up.”
I smack him in the arm with the back of my hand, but he grabs my wrist before I can pull away. He’s close. Too close. Chest to chest with his long fingers wrapped around me, holding me softly.
“Dance with me.”
It’s a gentle plea and does something foreign and unpermitted to my chest.
“Emmett—”
“Dance with me.”
“You can’t just repeat what you said and expect me to change my response.”
He does his best to bite back his smile.
I look around the room again.
It’s packed with too many people who know exactly who we both are. Sure, everyone is occupied with doing their own thing, but still, someone would be bound to grow suspicious of a slow dance between the two of us.
“There are too many eyes,” I tell him.
“At this point, I’ve danced with my daughter, your grandmother, and Denise. I think people would find it more strange if I didn’t dance with you. We don’t want anyone thinking the owner and field manager aren’t getting along again, do we?”
“I think that might be a safer option.”
“Dance with me, Reese.”
His brown eyes are soft, his dark brows pinched together as he looks down at me. And when the song shifts and the live band begins to play the next one, I don’t have it in me to turn him down again.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“See.” A proud smile hitches on his lips. “Different response.”
“You’re awfully annoying when you get what you want.”
He pushes my wineglass off to the side along with his half-finished beer, then finds the small of my back to usher me out onto the dance floor.
We pass too many familiar faces. The dance floor is too crowded. Though, I suppose that might work to our advantage, hiding among the sea of bodies.
We catch the attention of many of our current players, but still Emmett doesn’t hesitate, leading me right to the center of the floor. Like he has no problem if those close to us realize there’s something going on here.
His recklessness has my nerves frayed. I should’ve never left my grandfather’s side.
Kai and Isaiah are huddled together on the perimeter of the dance floor, watching us with ridiculously giddy grins on their faces. But when they realize I’ve caught them looking, they quickly turn away and pretend as if they’ve been occupied with something else this entire time.
“The Rhodes boys have no chill.”
Emmett chuckles. “Tell me about it.”
Turning to face me, he slides one of my arms over his neck, holding the other out to the side. Then he places his palm at a respectable height at my mid-back, and for that split second, I let myself believe others will find this perfectly professional.
This could be okay.
I smooth my hand over his shoulder, keeping my voice low. “You look handsome tonight.”
He grins lazily. “Thank you.”
“And you and Miller looked sweet together on the dance floor.”
“Crazy to think that the next time I’ll be dancing with her will be at her wedding.”
The mental image has me smiling, but it drops the same time Emmett’s hand sinks an inch lower on my back.
“So, what were you two speaking about earlier?”
It’d be a lot easier to lie to him. To make something up so we don’t get into that kind of conversation here—while on the dance floor. In front of the entire Warriors organization, both past and present.
But he’s always honest with me, so I don’t how I couldn’t be the same.
“She thinks you want me around.”
I’m hesitant to look up and meet his eye, but when I do, I find that he has no issue watching me in the same way.