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Tristan and I nod and then Darlene comes back for our food order, and most of us get the burger basket except for Damon who gets the breakfast platter. They sell a lot of those here. It is their best-selling item.. I’ve had it so many times, it’s starting to get old.
“Well, we were going to ask if you were interested in doing some lessons with her. You pitched, so maybe you can help her get the hang of it. We’d pay you, of course,” Tessa says.
It’s never crossed my mind to offer lessons, but maybe it’s something I should consider. Although, with my work schedule, and now taking over the team, it might be hard to find time to be able to do that.
“Yeah. I’ll try to find some time to work on that with her. But no need to pay me.”
Raquel uses a fork against her glass to get everyone’s attention and thanks us for coming. She hands Jeremy a big wrapped present and everyone’s waiting as he unwraps it.
“I had no idea what to get you, but when I saw the idea of this, it seemed perfect.”
Jeremy’s eyebrows tilt and he begins to tear up. I stand up and it’s a picture of Hazel, him and his dad.
“I couldn’t find a recent photo of you guys, so I had someone put three separate photos together for a family portrait. We can hang this above his urn to honor him.”
It’s an emotional moment and everyone stays silent for a couple of minutes while Raquel hugs Jeremy and he stops crying. Once everyone starts to talk again, Tristan jumps right into softball again.
“Y’all have been around on this team for a couple years. Who do you think has catching material?”
They shake their heads, and there’s a bit of a pause.
“No idea. Maybe Addilyn,” Damon says.
Tristan starts talking about how practice went, and then Vanessa comes up. Why would he even mention her to Damon? Is he trying to make himself sound like a creep?
“She has this fuck you attitude, and it just makes her that much hotter,” Tristan says.
First of all, Tessa comes to every practice. If he is saying this so that she will mention it to the other moms, but he needs to be careful what he says. Why is it so hard for him to keep his head in the game?
Tessa starts laughing. Apparently, she thinks it’s hilarious. He isn’t exactly the type to pick up women. He has no game, and hasn’t been on a date in at least a year. He might try to come off as a ladies man, but we all know better.
Damon leans back in the booth, and extends his arm across the back. “Are you kidding me? One practice and you are already hitting on the mom’s? Dude, no. You are asking for trouble.”
He isn’t wrong. We aren’t there to screw the mom’s. This is supposed to be about helping the team. Keeping his head in the game this season might be harder than I thought.
“It’s not like I asked for her number. Jesus. Besides, it wasn’t just me. He was staring at her, too,” he says, pointing at me.
Of course, he has to bring me into it. Sometimes, Damon and Tristan act more like brothers, and Tristan just wants to impress him. The thing is: he’s married with a kid on the way and I’ve never seen Damon glance at another woman like he does Tessa. He’s committed and Tristan might learn a thing or two from him. Plus, I’m doing a favor for Damon, and there is no fucking way I’m going to try to get with one of the mom’s. That would be an epic disaster. Not to mention if anything were to go wrong, we would have to see each other twice a week for the rest of the season. Tristan might be okay with taking those chances, but I’m not. The other moms are going to be watching me, and they can have me fired from the league. No need to screw myself before I even get to the first game of the season.
“Okay, she’s nice to look at, but I know boundaries. Unlike you.”
Tristan swipes at the air. “Man, whatever.”
Do I think she’s attractive? Definitely. Do I think about pushing her up against the wall? Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to act on it. There are boundaries that we need to follow and I know how things like this work. My reputation with the league might be damaged, and I plan to grow with this team. So, the only way to do that is to keep my sights on getting through the season.
Plus, she reminds me of my high school girlfriend. She turned out crazy, so I’d rather not take any chances. So much attitude is portrayed from her eyes which leads me to believe someone has hurt her badly, and she wants to take it out on everyone else.
It’s not to say I won’t enjoy sneaking peeks at her this season, nothing wrong with that, but Tristan is dumb enough to try to hook up with her, and that’s what has me worried.
Vanessa would eat him alive.
7
VANESSA
The conversation at Lee’s house has had my stomach in knots. Sherrie didn’t want to come home today, and it makes me wonder if she is going to keep this up. I won’t keep her from him, but she is supposed to be living with me. This break-up is going to be hard for her, I get that, and I don’t want to push her, but she needs to understand that what happened between her father and I isn’t going to affect their relationship.
The house is silent without her here, and I keep the TV on as background noise. What if she decides she does want to live with Lee? How am I going to handle that? I don’t want to have to go to court and put her through that. A custody battle is not what she needs right now. She would hate me, and it isn’t like he is a bad parent. Lee is great with her, and she would be taken care of well over there, but she’s still my daughter. She should be with me, but Lee should get time with her, too. It's a hard pill to swallow, and us being civilized almost makes this harder.
