Chapter 3 Olivia
THREE
olivia
Nate gave us space so Austin and I could talk on the bleachers. I kept an eye on him as he cheered for every single kid on Cooper’s team.
“Is that Nate Reaves?” One of Cooper’s teammates asked, and I worried that Nate would be ambushed.
“Nah, but he looks like him, huh?” Cooper said. That little shit lied straight to his teammates’ faces.
“Come on, it’s him.” Another kid jumped in. “He plays with your uncle, and Austin is sitting up there next to your mother.”
“Why wouldn’t you be straight with me?” The first kid asked, slapping his hands in his glove with frustration.
“Maybe it’s because I thought you’d act like a little fangirl. He’s here to watch me, not blow kisses to you.”
Austin chuckled next to me. “He’s got some age-appropriate shit-talking. Good job, kid.”
I rolled my eyes. As much as I wanted to discourage the shit-talking, I was proud of Cooper for giving it right back to these kids. The hell that their mothers put me through—let’s just say I wished I had his balls.
“Okay. Dish,” I said, nudging my brother’s knee with mine to get him to focus on our conversation.
“You read it, right?” he said, referring to the news that had exploded on the Boston sports gossip sites.
“Yeah, but what part of the media coverage was truth, and what part was bullshit?”
“Oh, she slept with Milligan. And I beat the shit out of him.”
“So, all of it.”
“Sounds about right.”
“And why did you leave the house?” Ashley hadn’t contributed financially to their household; in fact, her contributions mostly drained the bank accounts. I bit my tongue; there was so much I wanted to say after years of dealing with my sister-in-law.
“She refused to leave. And I couldn’t be around her.”
Fuck. How does someone just refuse to leave? “And will you get the house back in the divorce?”
“Doubt it. I don’t fucking want it.”
We’d had the entire hushed conversation while staring at the baseball field. It was only when he looked at me that I could see the pain in his eyes. I hadn’t liked my sister-in-law, but Austin had loved her. “Are you okay?”
“Today? Right this second? Yes. But it comes in waves. You know what the worst part is? It’s not the first time she’s cheated.”
I swallowed hard, my tell. The twin telepathy failed me, and he knew that I’d kept it from him.
“Fuck, Livvie. You knew? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would you have believed me? Or would you have assumed it was because I didn’t like her?”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” He asked, with a slight smirk on his face.
Ashley and I had years of tumultuous history behind us.
It started when her best friend “accidentally” excluded me from her bachelorette party, using the excuse that she thought I wouldn’t be able to get a sitter.
And when she “lost” the last invitation to Cooper’s birthday, I was done trying to establish any sort of relationship with her.
“I did mail Cooper’s invitation to you.”
“Yeah, I believe you now. I think that’s my biggest regret, you know? You’re supposed to support your spouse, and I was all in with her. I just didn’t realize that she didn’t return the sentiment.”
“How did you end up with the kid?” I asked, gesturing towards Nate.
“I don’t know; we just got along. Yes, he’s a rookie, and his life skills are exactly what you’d expect from a 19-year-old, but he’s wise beyond his age.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, aside from the fact that it was Nate who talked me down from killing Milligan, he just finds a way to get everyone in the dugout to settle. He’s got us meditating before each game.”
“What?” My voice carried, and Nate looked back at us. His gaze lingered a little too long on me until the sound of the bat connecting with the ball ripped his attention away. He shouted as Cooper fielded the ground ball and fired it towards first base.
“Yeah. I like the kid. You know what he told Ashley as she was screeching at us when we left the house?”
I shrugged, waiting.
“He told her to get to sucking that bag of dicks, she needed to get some practice in if she ever hoped to land another man.”
“Oh, man. And she took that well, I’m sure.”
“Well, it’s why his belongings are just shoved in boxes. She made a mess of everything he owned. And he doesn’t have much.”
“Interesting. You’d expect a kid his age to blow a bit of that signing bonus.”
“From what I can tell, he’s spent nothing. I suspect he’s sent some money back to his mother. They’re close, and I don’t think she has much.”
Austin quieted as we noticed Nate’s approach.
“Damn, Aus, he’s good!” As Coop’s mother, I thought the same thing. But when I’d barely been able to get his father to more than a couple of games, I wondered if it was because of a personal bias.
“You think?” I asked.
“Yeah. His arm is strong, and the ball he fielded could have ended up in the outfield if he’d misjudged it.”
I smiled proudly at my son. “Do me a favor?” I asked Nate.
“What?”
“Be very careful when you compliment him. I don’t need him to get a big head because the hot new MLB rookie told him he was good. He might not work so hard.”
Dumbstruck, Nate just stared at me.
“You okay, Nate?” Austin asked.
“Yeah. But your sister just called me hot.” A faint blush crept up his face.
“Um, I was talking about your playing status.” Oh God, was Nate Reaves hot physically? Of course he was. But I was at least five years too old to ogle the man respectfully. Fuck, Olivia. Ogle the boy. Not lost on me was the fact that he was ten years younger than me and ten years older than Cooper.
Nate picked his jaw off the ground, and Austin gestured for him to plant his ass on the bleachers.
“Has Jason been better about showing up for Coop?” Austin asked.
“What do you think? He canceled on him his last weekend. Claimed he was traveling for work. Not exactly what his Facebook profile showed.”
Austin let out a huff of frustration. “You really should disengage from him on social media.”
Jason and I had never married, and while his check was never late, small as it was, he could never manage to physically show up for our son.
I could cover for him when Cooper was younger, but he was dying to have a dad cheering for him in the stands.
And that wasn’t something Jason would ever be capable of doing.
“I don’t want him to get the satisfaction of ever thinking it bothers me.”
“So instead, you swallow every bitter pill he lays out for you.”
“Well, it’s not all that bad. I did get Cooper out of the deal.”