Page 195 of ClickBack

“My bag’s clean.”

“How many bottles?”

“Two.”

“How many have anything in them?”

Zion takes the ball back.

Giselle opens her arms. He groans before going to her, like twelve is old enough to get out of being hugged by his grandmother. She holds him anyway.

When he gets to me, he has the ball under his arm and his face under control.

“You saw my double?”

“I saw you trying to dig a tunnel to second.”

“Man.”

I hold out my fist. He hits it, grinning.

“Good game, Z.”

“Thanks for coming.”

I pull him in against my side before his teammates call him away. He goes back to them. I spend the next twenty minutes at the fence, signing what I promised to sign.

The little girl has a softball. She tells me she doesn’t watch basketball, but her father does, and this is for him.

“What’s his name?”

She looks at the man standing behind her. “Daddy.”

“He probably got another one.”

“Marcus,” he says, laughing.

She watches every letter I write to make sure I get it right.

By the time the last kid leaves, Giselle is waiting near the gate. I check my watch.

“The car is still coming at six,” she says.

“And dinner is at nine. I know how New York works.”

“Then stop looking worried.”

“I made plans.”

“With me. I’m aware.”

Byron comes over before I can take her hand.

“Meet-and-greet finally wrapped up?”

“What is it?” Giselle asks him.

He looks toward Zion, who is arguing with Jeremy about carrying his equipment bag.