AJ was actually proud of how far he’d come. A few years ago he might’ve been cussing under his breath and talking shit about Bigsby too. At that moment, he couldn’t care less about the guy’s smartass remarks. All he could think of was Addison.
Clair was on him as soon as he reached the other side. AJ could only assume the wide-eyed little guy next to her, using his inhaler, was Harrison, and he’d been right.
“Harrison, meet AJ Romero, Padres catcher extraordinaire,” she said as soon as he reached them.
AJ greeted Harrison as did Sabian. The little dude was pretty much what AJ expected, except he didn’t wear glasses like AJ had pictured. But he was wearing a yarmulke with the team’s SD logo in place of a ball cap, and the baseball glove on his hand looked brand spanking new. AJ had to smirk because the kid looked anything but athletic. He’d probably never played catch in his life. He’d bet his life the kid’s interest in baseball had everything to do with his adorable new best buddy.
Addison once again was nowhere to be seen, and AJ had just about given up hope of seeing her yet again. Then Clair pulled him aside as Harrison got busy with some of the other players who were signing his glove.
“Harrison’s birthday was last week, only he didn’t get a party on account of his religion and all.” Luckily, they were in a noisy ballpark so whoever wasn’t supposed to hear probably didn’t because, for someone so little, she whispered pretty loudly. “I still think he needs to celebrate; only I can’t tell him it’s what we’re doing because he’s a terrible liar. If I tell him and his mom gets an inkling, he’ll sing like a canary when she questions him. So he doesn’t know why, but my mom’s taking us to Galaxy Pizza after the game. You wanna come with us?”
It was such an unexpected invitation, and AJ was still chuckling about Harrison singing like a canary he barely had time to let it register. AJ wasn’t sure how to respond. He doubted Addison knew Clair would be inviting him. He was still trying to think of a way to turn her down nicely when she added the clincher.
“She said I could invite whomever else I wanted, but my grandparents can’t come, so she’ll be all alone while Harrison and I play all the video games and stuff.”
“You sure about that?” AJ asked, remembering her date last night.
“Yeah.” Clair nodded, glancing back in Harrison’s direction. He was still busy with the other players. “She said she’d be fine alone—that she’d just work while we played—so I asked her if that meant she was bringing a date. She laughed when I told her why I’d think that and said she really was working last night and Papa’s just silly. She’s bringing her laptop to Galaxy Pizza to keep her busy, but I still think it’d be better if she had company.”
The only reason AJ didn’t jump all over that with a hell yeah was because Clair also mentioned her mom was actually there at the game. She was sitting with her grandmother in their family suite, which meant one thing: after weeks of not seeing or hearing from him, she’d had no interest in coming down to the field to see or say hello to him. Just like last night AJ had begun to feel like a complete idiot. Clearly, everything he’d built up in his head about the day they spent at Niagara Falls was exactly that.
All in his head.
The best he could do was give Clair a noncommittal, “I’ll see if I can.” Despite the blatant “not interested” signals Addison was sending, he still couldn’t bring himself to flatly turn down the opportunity to keep Clair’s mom busy. Clair’s response was a thwarted nod. It was at that moment that he began to think maybe having allowed himself to get this close to his little buddy was not such a good idea. Taking her up on her invite might make it worse.
Chapter 7
Addison
Going down onto the field had been beyond tempting, but Addison hadn’t been able to risk it. Clair had really wanted her to go down too so they could show Harrison around together. Just like last night she had to force herself to stay away. Thankfully, she’d dodged that bullet when her dad happily agreed to show Harrison around himself. Addison would’ve stayed home altogether again today, not just off the field. But she’d promised Clair earlier in the week she’d come to at least one of the games this weekend and that she’d take her and her new best buddy to Galaxy Pizza. So she figured she’d kill two birds with one stone today.
It sucked that her mom’s thrombophilia was acting up, but it’d come in handy. Her mom needed to stay off her leg as much as possible. For once, Addison was grateful for her mom’s stubbornness. If her dad had been able to convince her to bring her wheelchair, Addison might’ve been forced to go down to the field with them. Instead, she’d been able to convince Clair that she didn’t want to leave Nana all by herself in the suite.
So far, the evening had gone well. The Padres won, and they’d be out of there soon enough. Addison and her mom waited in their family suite for her dad and the kids. She knew today would likely be a bit longer than normal because Clair was still giving Harrison the grand tour.
They’d only been sitting there waiting for a few minutes after the game when Clair and Harrison rushed in. “We can go now,” she said, smiling big. “And we don’t have to go back to Papa’s to get your car either. We can go straight there.”
Addison sat up, but she and her mom exchanged confused looks. “I thought you guys had that banquet in Highland tonight.”
“I thought so too,” her mother said, looking back at Clair. “Did Papa say we’re not going after all?”
“No, you’re still going,” Clair said with a big gap-toothed smile. “Papa said to tell you he’ll be up to get you in a minute. But we can go now, Mom.”
Sitting back, Addison smiled, shaking her head. “And how do you propose we do that, silly girl? We all came in one car, remember? Papa has to drop us off so I can get my car.”
“AJ’s taking us.”
Addison nearly spit out the sip of water she’d just taken but managed to keep it in. “What?”
“You said I could invite anyone else I wanted, so I invited AJ. He said he’d take the fastest shower ever and for us to meet him in the players’ parking lot in fifteen minutes. It’s about that long of a walk from here, so we gotta go.”
With her heart already pounding, Addison stared at her daughter’s face, trying not to appear as astounded as she felt. “You invited AJ and he agreed?”
“Yeah.” Clair nodded, smiling big.
“Does he know Papa’s not gonna be there?”
“Yes, Papa’s the one who suggested we just go straight there with AJ.” Clair tugged at Addison’s hand impatiently. “Let’s go. Harrison’s mom wants him home before ten. So there’s no time to waste!”
Addison barely had enough time to wrap her head around the fact that she’d soon be in AJ Romero’s car and then spending the evening out with him. Good God. She’d known it ever since the day of Clair’s birthday, and then it was absolutely confirmed in Niagara Falls. It didn’t matter how many high-profile athletes she’d been around her whole life; the excitement of being around AJ was an entirely other level. It’d taken her almost the entire day in Niagara Falls to calm her heart and just enjoy her time around him. She wasn’t ready to do it again and without warning. Her heart was already racing wildly.
“Let me just use the ladies’ room real quick,” she said in a panic as she casually scanned what she was wearing?
Thankfully, she had prepared for the off chance she might run into him today, so she’d worn an outfit similar to the one she wore last time: a jersey with a tank underneath, shorts, and high wedge sandals. She’d just changed up the colors a bit and admittedly worn her hair down in a more done-up do than her usual.
Addison had seen the way his eyes had taken her in even way back on Clair’s birthday. At Niagara Falls, he’d done so again—many times. Even when he’d attempted to be discreet about it, there were still the other moments she wondered about. The ones when she’d caught how his smoldering eyes swallowed her up. It was as intense as all the times she’d watched h
im get so fired up on the field. The thoughts of what else he might do with such silent passion had been endless ever since. Just thinking about it as she smoothed her lip gloss with her finger, had her closing her eyes and sucking her own finger in anticipation. She reminded herself she shouldn’t be anticipating anything because it was too big a risk to open up her heart to anyone but especially to AJ.
One thing was for sure. She was going to have to have a long talk with Clair. Just because he was her best buddy didn’t mean she could just up and invite him out with them without even consulting with her first. Then she had a thought and nearly gasped. What if Clair made it sound like Addison was the one inviting him?
As satisfied as she was going to get with her hair and makeup, she rushed out to the hallway where Clair and Harrison were waiting.
“Yay!” Clair said when she saw her. “Let’s go.”
“Clair, honey,” Addison asked as she took her daughter’s hand in one of hers and Harrison’s in the other. “What exactly did you say to AJ when you invited him?”
Clair looked up at her with a shrug. “Just that you were taking us to Galaxy Pizza and you’d said I could invite whoever I wanted. Don’t worry. I didn’t say you’d asked me to invite him or anything. I wouldn’t embarrass you like that, Mom.”
Addison let out a breath of relief and smiled back at Clair. There’d been plenty of times she almost wished Clair wasn’t so smart and perceptive. It was hard to get anything by her. Today she was grateful for it.
They reached the players’ parking lot, and Addison was glad when both Clair and Harrison spotted AJ immediately. He was standing at the open door of his Mercedes, talking to another player. The usual mob of fans was waiting outside the fenced parking lot. Not surprisingly there were more screaming girls than she remembered there ever being. Between AJ, Sly Sabian, Nick Travis, and the other two outfielders, the Padres were becoming the boy band of the big leagues.
Addison and the kids rushed over to him. She concentrated on focusing straight ahead and felt as relieved as she did breathless when he smiled at her from over the hood of his car and told them the doors were all unlocked. She’d barely greeted him before rushing into the passenger side of his car and closed the door. The kids were in just as fast.
“You guys starving or what?” AJ asked as soon as they were in the car and he slipped on his sunglasses.
“No,” Clair chirped from the backseat. “But Harrison turns into a pumpkin at ten, and we want to get as much playing time as possible.”
Addison saw AJ’s eyes glance down at his dash clock. It was only six-thirty. He glanced up at Addison, making her breath catch, and she shrugged. “Kids and their playing time,” she said, relieved once again for her daughter’s quick response.
AJ turned on the radio and hit the button that had the music playing louder in the back seat.
“It’s nice to see you again,” he said as they drove past the security stand at the parking lot’s gates, and he waved at all the chanting fans but then turned to her again. “I like your hair down. Looks good that way.”
“Thank you.” She breathed in deeply, trying to calm her insides. “It’s nice to see you too.”
Not everything had to have an underlying meaning. He was just being polite. Making small talk. Not admitting he was attracted to her too and that he’d been dying to see her as much as she had him.
“Not that you didn’t look just as good last time with it up. It’s just different.” He turned to her and lifted his glasses as if to get a better look. Those smoldering eyes were at it again, and then she was locked in them. “Very nice.”
“Thank you,” she said again, her voice a little softer this time.
Bringing the glasses back over his eyes, he brought his attention back to his driving. “I didn’t realize you worked Friday nights.”
Addison turned to him, but he was staring straight ahead as the traffic began moving. “I don’t.”
She saw the brow lift just above his sunglasses. “Clair said that’s why you hadn’t made it to the game last night.”
“I, uh,” she said, clearing her throat.
He seemed oddly tense. Every one of his comments and inquiries seemed to have a purpose, and it was making her nervous. She wondered now if Clair had mentioned what her father had said her working meant. Even his making the radio louder in the back seemed to have been calculated now.
“I often work from home,” she said, fidgeting nervously with the buttons on her jersey. “Or anywhere I can get a Wi-Fi signal. Last night it was Starbucks for a little while then back home in my jammies while I watched Tombstone.”
“Alone?” he asked, still staring ahead.
These questions were definitely calculated. “Yes,” she said as the butterflies in her stomach began fluttering.
That seemed to ease his entire demeanor, and he even smiled. “Tombstone, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s one of my all-time favorites.”
He turned to her with a strange smile. “Really? Mine too.”
Clair said something, and he was forced to turn the music down. The rest of the way to the pizza place and even once they arrived they talked of stats. Tonight’s stats. Even Harrison got in on it, putting in his two cents. The baseball talk moved on to Harrison’s chess accomplishments. When they were done eating, the kids ran off to play, and AJ ordered another round: a mug of beer for himself and an iced tea for Addison.
“Harrison seems like a cool kid.” he said, observing them from where they sat.
“He is.” Addison glanced up at where the kids were both now sitting behind steering wheels in front of a monitor, getting ready to virtually race each other. “He’s a sweetheart. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that she finally made a friend that actually gets her. I was beginning to think it may never happen.”
“Were you like that growing up?” he asked, peering at her.
“Yeah,” she admitted as she took a sip of her tea. “It’s been kind of a consolation that she picked up on her papa’s and my love for the game of baseball and keeping stats and all. It was what kept me from ever feeling depressed or like a loner. I didn’t have many friends either. Like with Clair, the players were my friends.” She stopped and took another sip of her tea as the memories resurfaced. “I was never bullied or anything though, and I make real sure Clair is always open and honest, so she’d tell me if she ever was. But I admit it was one of the reasons why I wanted her in such an academically elevated magnet school. I figured the kids there would be less likely to bully her. Though she has been in quite a few of what she calls debates.”
AJ chuckled, glancing over at Clair again. “I can’t imagine her not winning all of them.”
“Oh, if you ask her, she’ll insist she wins them all. In some cases, she says she let them think they won, but secretly she knew better.”
“Yep, I’m pretty sure she’s done that to me a few times.”
Addison laughed as that strangeness in her belly started up again when his eyes met hers and his smile flattened slowly. “So what’s your story, Addison?”
“My story?” she asked, straightening out a bit.
“Yeah.” Unlike her, instead of the change in subject making him uneasy, he leaned over on the table and searched her eyes, making no qualms about his interest in her story. “I know you said Clair’s dad isn’t part of your lives, but I’m surprised no one else has snatched you up. Or am I making assumptions? Is there someone in your life you haven’t told Clair about?” He started to bring the mug to his mouth then stopped. “Not that I’ve asked her, I just figured as much as she talks she would’ve mentioned it by now.”
Swallowing hard, Addison attempted to appear as unperturbed by this subject as it made her. “There’s no one now,” she said, but didn’t want to sound too pathetic. Clair was seven now, and while she hadn’t had any serious prospects all this time, she had dated a few times. “I’ve dated here and there, but I’m paranoid about having her meet anyone I date. She
might be better at understanding things in general than most kids. I know firsthand it doesn’t matter how smart you are; your heart is still fragile and vulnerable.” She smiled. “Not sure if you’ve noticed, but once she decides she likes someone, she really becomes attached.” That made the intense expression soften a little and he smiled. “I really had to think about it when I decided if I’d be moving in with my parents for a while before getting my own place out here. You’ve seen how they spoil her, and it’s not just with monetary things either. As you’re well aware, my father takes her to every home game I let him. And I’m not sure if she told you, but she has big plans for the summer. Since I won’t be able to use the “no games on school nights” excuse anymore, she plans on being at every single home game, weeknight or not. My parents have both already agreed to take her along on many of the road trips too.”
“She did tell me,” he said, his eyes shining as if that made him happy. “I’m looking forward to it. I missed having her around while I was on the road.” Something else flitted in his eyes and then he added. “Missed seeing her.”
Something about the way he said it made Addison’s heart flutter. There was more to that statement; though she dared not over think it. He’d missed his little buddy and that warmed Addison because she knew Clair would be happy to hear it. She’d lost count of how many times Clair had said the phrase “I can’t wait until Papa and AJ get back.”
“Will you be joining her in the summer?” he asked, taking a drink of his beer.
Again he was just curious, so she shrugged as casually as the inquiry had been made. “I’ll try to make it a few times. More than likely to some cities I like visiting most, but mostly because I don’t want my parents taking on the brunt of having to travel with her alone each time.”
That seemed to please him because his eyes did that smoldering thing they did so often in Niagara Falls, the same unnerving gaze she still couldn’t quite put her finger on. “The summer just keeps sounding better and better.”