“Yeah, fucking right.”
He’s right about the smile, but I don’t have to admit it. It’s been nice getting to talk with him while he’s gone. I hadn’t expected him to make so much of an effort to be in touch, but he has. He texts when he can, calls when I’m free too, and our FaceTimes usually turn a little steamy. I freaking miss him.
“So, what’d you do today?” I ask before I take another bite of my food.
“Oh, the usual. Hit balls with a bat, caught balls in my glove, and was practically in a squat the whole day.”
“Riveting. You know, you could put a bit more excitement on that. Throw in a few details…dare I say, give me some gossip, just anything.”
Adam’s laugh has this tingly feeling coursing through my body. It’s such a sexy laugh, it’s ridiculous. “Alright, well, I did hit a homerun today. Much to Beck’s dismay—the fucker claims he’s going to get more than me this season, which is about as likely as Tripp and Emma admitting they actually want to be more than friends.”
I can’t stop myself from grinding my teeth at the thought. “Does it not just kill you guys to not say anything?”
“We all say shit. They’re sticking to their story.”
Christ, something will give eventually, I’m sure, but damn. “If we keep on them, I’ll get myself worked up again. What about catching? How’d sitting in a squat all game go? That’s got to be why your ass is phenomenal.”
Adam chuckles. “It was fine. The game today had Will pitching the majority of the time, we’ve played together so long there’s rarely any slip-ups between us.”
“At the risk of asking a dumb question, do you have issues with other pitchers?”
“Not a dumb question. You, especially, never have dumb questions, but we have one specifically that used to be terrible about ignoring signals or forgetting what they are, but he’s gotten better. He struggles the most during Spring Training since we try to use hand signals mixed in with the PitchComs just to keep us fresh on them if they give us issues during the season. He started with the system so anytime we do it old school…he’s not a fan.”
“Right, and PitchComs are?”
“Next time you watch a game, look at my right knee. I have a little remote-looking thing. I can press a button to tell the pitcher what to throw or send something to one of the players in the field if we have a pickoff. We all have this thing in our hat and helmet that has the wire we put in our ear.”
I hum as about five other questions run through my brain about pickoffs and how that voice in their ears sounds. “Dang it, since you’re all cute and I want to keep dating you, I’m going to have to learn everything about this sport.”
“You don’t have to?—”
“No, let me stop you there, All-star. I’m going to have to learn everything about this sport. Don’t question it.”
His laugh is sweet. What I wouldn’t give to be able to jump through this phone and magically appear right next to him. “As long as I get to teach you.”
Week four of Spring Training.
“Alright, Jen, you good?” I ask, passing through the bar after our lunch rush. It’s her last day, and with Adam being gone, I’m not looking forward to losing my favorite employee.
“Yeah, all good here. I think I just saw Lily pass through. I’ll give her the rundown, then probably take a fifteen-minute break.”
“Sounds good, I’ll be in my office for a bit, but holler if you need anything.” Passing around the horseshoe of the bar, one of my grandfather’s friends comes into view. “Hey, Harry, long time no see.”
He huffs a laugh. “Yeah, well, I heard through the grapevine that you’re officially taking over this place. Been here all week trying to catch you, but it seems you’re just as busy as your grandfather.”
A proud warmth comes to my chest. “You know, he and Dad trained me well. There’s always something to be done, isn’t there?”
“That there is, dear.”
A waiter drops off Harry’s club sandwich and he immediately picks it up. “I’ve gotten addicted to these things now. I think you’ll be seeing quite a bit of me for a while.”
“Good, don’t be a stranger, and have my staff let me know you’re here next time.”
He nods. “Will do, darlin’.”
On the way to my office, I stop by the computer and comp Harry’s bill. It was nice seeing him, even better to see that he seems impressed with the place.
I remember my grandfather always talking about Harry, but I didn’t meet him until my grandfather’s funeral. I want to say they grew up together, then Harry had moved away or something… I’ll ask my mom next time for more details to make sure I’m not mixing him up with someone else.
