Page 60 of Point of Contact

“He was Riley’s favorite player, right?” Jesse asked as they strolled along the concourse in the general direction of their seats.

“Yeah, he was.” Trevor told him the story of batting practice and Riley’s jersey. “That was such a fun day.”

“Sounds like it. Hey, want a beer?” Jesse indicated a refreshment line that wasn’t too long yet, and Trevor shrugged.

“Sure.”

While they waited, Jesse said, “We got into more than one argument over who was better, Todd Helton or Chipper Jones. It was fun to piss him off.”

“Did you go to games with your dad, Jesse?”

“I did.” Jesse smiled fondly. “In fact, that was one of the last things we did together before he died.”

Whatever Trevor might have said was lost when the counterperson called out, “Next!”

“What kind of beer do you want?” Jesse called as he strode toward the open register. Trevor hurried after him.

“You don’t have to buy my beer,” he protested, and Jesse gave him a mock glare.

“I invited you, so I pay.”

“And you drove us all the way up here,” Trevor retorted, “so I’m buying dinner after the game.”

“Deal.” Jesse grinned at him. “You walked right into that one, Estes. Now I’ll have to think of a good place to get steak and lobster.”

Trevor was bemused when Jesse not only bought each of them a beer, but several hot dogs and a bag of peanuts, too. “I really hope you’re hungry, because I can’t eat all that.”

“You’re gonna eat at least one hot dog. No arguments.” He handed Trevor his beer. “I’ll eat the rest.” Grabbing a handful of condiment packets, he stuffed them in his pocket, and Trevor snagged some napkins before following him down the concourse to their seats.

“Wow, not bad,” Jesse said in satisfaction, gazing around. “My buddy has season tickets and he couldn’t use them today, so he asked if I wanted them.”

“He couldn’t use them on opening day? That sucks.”

“I know, right? He’s in nursing school, had—what do you call them—clinicals or some rotation shit this weekend.” Jesse unwrapped a hot dog and handed it to Trevor, who regarded it dubiously.

“There’s just something about a ballpark dog,” Jesse mumbled, his mouth full, and Trevor watched in fascination as he polished one off and started on another. He managed to eat half of his before wrapping it back up and dropping it to the floor underneath his seat.

He settled back to people-watch, enjoying the excitement in the air as the pre-game festivities hit full swing. Players were down on the field stretching and warming up, and the mascots were on top of their respective dugouts amping up the crowd.

Jesse cheered as the Braves’s starting lineup was introduced, the announcer’s voice smooth and subdued.

“And now...the starting lineup for your Colorado Rockies!”

The entire ballpark went nuts as the names of the Rockies players, accompanied by loud, pumping music, were shouted over the loudspeaker. Caught up in the enthusiasm, Trevor clapped and hooted along with the crowd, letting the energy carry him along for the ride.

“Play ball!”

The game was good, the two teams evenly matched, and it wasn’t long until Trevor was completely caught up in it. Jesse, despite being deep in Rockies ‘enemy’ territory, celebrated each Braves victory loudly and enthusiastically, which attracted the interest of a group of young women a few rows ahead of them.

Trevor got a huge kick out of watching them vie for his attention, especially the way they got up several times to parade past where Jesse was slouched in his aisle seat, long legs splayed wide, one knee jiggling up and down. They would pause next to him, wait for him to notice them, and when he didn’t, would try again a few minutes later. Finally one of them managed to drop her purse at his feet, and he leaned over, picked it up and handed it back to her without even a glance in her direction.

“God, you’re oblivious,” Trevor exclaimed when the clearly disappointed girl had no choice but to move along.

“What?” Jesse looked over at him, mystified, and Trevor laughed, thinking how different it’d be if Riley was the one sitting next to him right now. Or rather, not sitting next to him because Trevor knew without a shadow of a doubt he’d have been ditched at Riley’s earliest opportunity.

“Oh, nothing. Something just struck me as funny, that’s all.”

With a shrug, Jesse went back to eating peanuts and drinking beer, to all appearances enjoying himself immensely. At the seventh inning stretch he cajoled Trevor to his feet and draped his arm around his shoulders, forcing him to sway back and forth with him as he sang the traditional words endearingly off-key right in Trevor’s ear. Trevor couldn’t resist the temptation to wrap his arm around Jesse’s trim waist in return, the feel of his warm body so close to his sending that pesky little tingle through him again.