He pulls me close and thrusts his fist in the air, celebrating with his teammates. Not once does he let go of me. This is his moment, his achievement, and he wants me here with him. Clarity washes over me, and I know what I have to do. It’s something that I’ve been considering for a while, and this moment gives me the answer I’ve been searching for.
“I need to go shower,” Griffin says once the crowd has died down.
“Go. Do your thing. I’m going to find my way back to the bleachers and look for your parents.”
“They’re still in the same spot. Come on. I’ll walk you over.” Hand in hand, he leads me back to the dugout where Sam and Daniel lifted me over the wall. “Dad!” he calls out, and Gary turns immediately. Griffin waves him over. “I need an assist,” he says.
Before I know what’s going on, he’s gripping my hips and lifting me into the air. Gary takes over, lifting me from his arms and setting me on my feet. “You two are too much.” I laugh.
“Take care of my girl.” Griffin points at his dad.
“Go.” I shoo him away, laughing.
“Come on.” Gary laughs, placing his arm around my shoulders. “We’ll wait at our seats so he knows where to find us.”
Anna is still sitting in the same place, chatting with Coach Stone. I take a seat next to them, just as Griffin’s voice fills the stadium. My eyes move to the giant screens to see his smiling face in the locker room. Another reporter is interviewing him. He’s humble and praises his team.
“And what about your good luck charm?”
He smiles, and my heart melts. “She’s with my family, waiting on me.” The reporter opens his mouth to ask more questions, but Sam appears on the screen, jumping onto Griffin’s back, effectively ending the interview.
“Sounds like the two of you have something special,” Coach Stone comments from her seat next to me.
“Yeah,” I agree.
“Not many people can handle a long-distance relationship. Especially those as young as the two of you,” she says.
“Well, I guess when you know, you know.” I shrug.
She chuckles at my reply. “It’s easy to see that you both care about each other.”
“We do.” I’m not sure what her angle is. It seems to be a little weird to have her talking about my relationship like this.
“Well, I’m going to head out. It was nice meeting you all.” She offers me her hand, and I shake it. She then turns to Anna and Gary. “Your son is one hell of a ballplayer.”
“Thank you,” they reply.
With that, she turns and walks away. “She was kind of… weird,” I tell Griffin’s parents.
“How so?”
“She just kept talking about me and Griffin and how hard long-distance is, especially at our age. I don’t know. It’s almost as if she was up to something.”
“Some people are just nosy, even coaches.” Anna smiles.
“Yeah,” I agree. However, it seemed like more than that. I just can’t put my finger on it. I had intended to pick her brain about an idea I had but got sidetracked. Oh, well, I’ll find my answers another way.
CHAPTER 22
Griffin
It’s been three days since I put my girl on a plane back to Tennessee. Each time, it gets harder and harder to be away from her. My sheets still smell like her, hence the reason I’ve been staying at my parents’ instead of my dorm. Finals are next week anyway, so I’ll have to be moving out soon.
Baseball is over, and even though we didn’t make the playoffs, it was still one hell of a season, and I pitched a no-hitter with Peyton here to see it. That brings a smile to my face, something that only she seems to be able to do. A call, a text, even a thought of her brightens my day.
Which explains why it’s eight at night, and I’m lying here in bed at my parents’ place, gripping my phone, waiting for her to call. She had a study group tonight, getting ready for finals next week. I tried to study earlier, but it seems if we’re not on a video call while I’m doing it, I can’t concentrate.
My phone rings with an incoming video call, and my mood instantly brightens. “Hey.”
“Hi. Are you at your parents’ place still?” She squints to see the background. I move the phone so she has a better angle.
“I am.”
“Tired of the dorms already?”
“Yes, but that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh, no. Is something wrong?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.” I can see her sit up a little straighter, bracing herself for what I have to say.
“You’re not here.”
“What?” She tilts her head to the side as a confused expression crosses her face.
“You’re not here, but the sheets smell like you. This bed and this room remind me of the weekend we shared, and I can’t make myself go back to the dorms.”
“You need to marry that one.” I hear someone say.
“Where are you?” I ask. Just now realizing I didn’t pay close enough attention at the beginning of our call. I was just so happy to see her smiling face.
“I’m at Mom and Dad’s.”
The next thing I know, her mom’s face joins her on the screen. “Hi, Griffin.” Larissa waves.
“Hi, Mrs. Monroe,” I say, trying to remember my manners. Shit. Her mom heard all of that, and now she’s going to hate me.
“Congrats on the win,” Larissa says.
“Thank you.”
“We watched it on TV,” she confesses.
“Wow. Thank you.”
“All right, I’m heading to the store. I’ll be back.” She kisses Peyton on the cheek, and then she’s gone.
“She’s gone,” Peyton tells me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was there.”
“It’s fine, Griff. She knows.”
“She knows what?”
“About our weekend.”
“You told her?”
“Yes. We’re adults, and well, I’m close to my mom and my sisters.”
“And your dad?”
“I’m sure he assumes, but I don’t tend to have those kinds of conversations with him. In fact, none of us do. However, he always ends up finding out.” She shrugs. “It’s usually when he’s being all overprotective, and we’ve had enough, and one of us shouts something that will shock him into silence.” She laughs.
“Yeah, let’s keep that from happening. I’m trying to get the man to like me, not hate me.”
“Oh, he likes you. He’s been watching all your televised games. He’s also told me several times that you’re, and I quote, ‘A damn good pitcher,’ so I’d say you’re winning him over.”
“He might think I’m a good pitcher, but I still need him to accept me as your dad, not as a retired baseball player.”
“No one needs to accept you but me. And I love you.” She smiles. “But he does accept you. He likes you. Trust me. I know my dad. He’s just slow to let that out. He wants you to sweat a little. He did the same thing with Cameron and Holden.”