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“Hell of a ballplayer.” He looked at his wife and wrinkled his nose. “You like that? Really?”
“Honey, all women like that. He’s sexy and muscular. What’s not to like?” Vika asked.
“You got sexy and muscular right here.” Tyson flexed his pec muscles and grinned at his wife.
“I know I do, but Kia doesn’t have that at home, so she has to look elsewhere because it’d be weird if she ogled you.”
Kia stuck her finger in her mouth and pretended to throw up. “Gross, could you two get any more nauseating?”
“I’m sure we could.” Tyson picked up the TV remote. “Cool if I turn this on?”
“Yeah, of course.” Kia waved her hand. “Max and I are going to take off anyway and go make dinner.”
“You don’t want to stay?” Vika asked.
“Nah, but thanks.” Kia stood up and her sister followed.
“So, what are you going to do about Jeff?”
Kia blew out a breath. “No idea. Tell him, I guess, and go from there.” She looked at her sister. “Wish me luck.”
Vika pulled her into a hug. “Good luck. Keep me posted.”
“Yeah, will do.” Kia walked over to the back door and pulled it open. Stepping out onto the back deck, she watched Max and Alex running around with Nerf guns while Katya sat quietly playing by herself in the tree fort. This was why she’d moved to San Diego, to give Max a chance to grow up with family. Sure, it meant building up a clientele almost from scratch again, but it was worth it.
Finally, after a year, everything felt like it was coming together and now this. Max’s bio-dad appeared out of nowhere. And their perfect little world would never be the same. Hopefully, for the better.
Chapter Three
Thefollowingafternoon,Saskiatook a deep breath and walked into Kidsplay. She stopped at the front counter and scanned for someone who worked there. After several minutes, an attractive blonde wandered down the hallway.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was out here. We really need to get a buzzer or something on the door,” the blonde gushed. “What can I do for you?”
“This is probably a bit weird. Um, my son Max comes here on Tuesdays for T-ball.”
“Okay, right, I thought you looked familiar. I’m Peyton.”
“Kia.” She opened and closed her fingers as her palms began to sweat. If it was this hard just to ask for Jeff’s number, how the hell was she supposed to tell him he was Max’s dad? “Um, my son really loves Jeff. I mean Smitty, as a coach.” She shifted her weight. Everything about this situation was so incredibly uncomfortable. “I was wondering if it would be possible to get his phone number.”
Peyton coughed, then covered her mouth. “Sorry, you want Smitty’s phone number? Unfortunately, I can’t give you his number. I’m sure you understand.”
“Oh shit, no, I’m not like some weird stalker mom or anything like that.” Kia held up her hand. “I just need to talk to him about Max.”
“You need to talk to him about Max? Is everything okay? I run the center, so if there’s anything I can help you with, I’d be more than happy to chat with you.”
Kia winced. How the hell was she supposed to say no, it’s got to be Jeff without making Peyton think she really was some crazy mom? “Thank you, I appreciate that, but I was hoping to speak to Smitty since Max talks about him all the time.”
Peyton smiled. “Smitty is a favorite around here.” Peyton glanced out the front window, then pursed her lips. “For obvious confidentiality reasons, I can’t give you Smitty’s phone number but um… since you’re a parent here. I can tell you he’s here on Tuesdays after school to play T-ball with the little guys and he’s here around four till six or so on Thursdays working with a group of teens. That’s the best I can do.”
“That’s great, thank you. I’ll stop by tomorrow and see if I can chat with him when he’s wrapping up. I’d like to talk to him before Max is back on Tuesday.” So much for getting this over with today. Now she was going to have to reschedule a client tomorrow so she could come by again. But she needed to get this done. The sooner she told Jeff he was Max’s dad, the sooner she’d know exactly what she was dealing with.
Kia looked at her shaking hands and took several deep breaths. She could do this. Everything would be fine. So why did she feel like she was going to throw up?
She stopped at the edge of the ball diamonds and scanned the fields to look for Jeff or ‘Smitty’ as her son had affectionately been calling him. Peyton had said he was working with the older kids today, but every diamond had teenagers on it. Which one would he be on?
Drawn to the far diamond, she watched as a group performed an elaborate celebratory cheer. The volume and enthusiasm growing with each chant. When they parted, she instantly saw Jeff’s muscular frame in the middle of the group of teens. At the first sight of him, her heart did a little stutter step she quickly tried to squash. She could do this.
Slowly making her way down the sideline toward the far diamond, she tried to quell her nerves. When she’d seen him two days ago, it had been a shock. She’d been blindsided, but today? Whole other ballgame. Today, she was purposefully seeking him out after all this time. God, what if he didn’t believe her, or didn’t care? She didn’t think he was that kind of person, but how the hell did she know? She’d spent one night with him six years ago. She didn’t know anything about the guy.
