He blinks hard, returning to the conversation from wherever he drifted off to in his mind. "Yeah, Mage Hollow isn't far. It's definitely been easier."
"Good," I say matter-of-factly. "Hold onto that. Because trust me when I say, there's gonna come a time when the game starts fading away, and you'll need other legs in your life to keep you standing."
Jace narrows his eyes, nodding slowly as if he's digesting my words, then meets my gaze. "I think that's why I've been so interested in what you're planning to do after. I just can't picture it."
I huff out a breath and shake my head.That actually makes sense."I can't either, honestly," I admit.
"Is that why you're finally dating now?"
I cock my head back. "Excuse me?"
He smirks knowingly, his hands lifting in surrender. "I'm sorry, I just… I saw you talking with your nanny earlier."
My chest tightens as heat creeps up my neck—not because I'm embarrassed by Tessa but because I'm defensive of her. Of us. I knew people saw us together outside the bus. I knew Jace was watching us talk—that's whyI stopped myself from taking her hand. Why I didn't kiss her goodbye like I wanted to.
So how does he know?
"And?"
He nibbles on his bottom lip, eyes flicking away almost… respectfully? Like he knows what he's saying might be just out of bounds, and he's trying to ease the weight of it. "And it seemed like maybe it's more than…" He opens and closes his lips a few times as if he's testing out different words on his tongue before committing. "Professional?"
My gaze darts around the room, confusion replacing the sensitivity I'd felt earlier. "How could you possibly think that just from watching two people talk? You were a hundred feet away."
"Yeah, I know." He shrugs nonchalantly. "But I'm good at reading lips."
I roll my eyes, playing along, but his simply bounce back and forth between mine. When his expression doesn't waver, my mouth drops open as my brain rapidly races through my and Tessa's conversation.
What did we say?
What could he know?
But then I stop myself.
Why does it matter?
"Yeah," I answer honestly.
Jace turns his lips down in casual surprise, and I inhale deeper than I have in weeks. Relief slips out in the form of a laugh, and he chuckles back in response.
"Yeah, actually it is," I say again, this time for myself. "I mean, I think it's different for me as a dad. Ruthie has never been a choice—she always comes first. And that's a huge reason why, besides her, I just focused on work. But when you invest as much of yourself into something as we have into the game, it's really easy for that one thing to become… everything."
He nods, listening, his face serious like he's drinking in every word.
"But it's also really easy to lose yourself in it—or to start believing all of your worth boils down to a ball." I swallow the lump forming in my throat. "Somewhere along the way, like a lot of us do, I forgot that I still exist outside of the uniform—outside of fatherhood, even. And I don'tknow exactly what the world looks like without baseball or this team, but I do know that having other legs in my life that matter—"
"Like the girl?" he cuts in, a gentle humor threaded into his voice.
I huff out a laugh. "Like my kid," I say, pointedly.
Jace arches a brow, and I suck in a breath.
"But also the girl," I admit, then shake my head. "They're the things that'll keep me going when it ends."
"And that's why you want to step away from baseball after you retire? Because you want to make time for other things that matter?"
"Because I don't want to wake up one day and realize that it's the only thing I let myself have."
His gaze falls to the table as he rolls one thumb over top of the other as if he's considering everything I've said. Before he can respond, my phone buzzes on the table. Both of our eyes move toward the sound, and without even having to actually read it, my mind recognizes the name.
