Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re dangerous, you know that?”
“Yeah, I do.”
And I believed that she did. The girl was going to be a terror when she grew up, but as long as she was on my side, I was all for it.
Cassie laughed at her daughter’s admission before standing up to give me a hug. “I’m so glad you two worked things out,” she said quietly in my ear before sliding over one seat, so I could sit between her and Jacey.
“Me too.”
“I really hoped that you would,” she offered with a smile, and it made me feel so good.
Knowing that Chance’s mom liked us together was a big deal to me. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want her approval. I absolutely did.
“I almost called you,” I admitted as she sat down, and I followed suit while Jacey still stood, looking around.
“You should have!” she practically shouted before slapping a hand over her mouth. “But really, you can call me anytime. Especially about that kind of stuff.”
“I wanted to, but I didn’t want to put you in the middle or make it weird.”
I really had thought about calling her multiple times. She knew what it was like to date and eventually marry a professional athlete, and after searching online, I learned way more about her and Jack’s relationship than I had ever meant to. Sunny had been right; there was a book written about them, but it seemed wrong, reading it, so I refused to order it or give in to my curiosity. I’d promised myself that if there was anything I wanted to know about their relationship, I’d ask them myself. Going about it any other way didn’t feel right, like I’d be going behind their backs somehow.
“It wouldn’t have been weird. You were looking for answers, and I could have given you some. But I understand why you didn’t. Maybe it felt like I wouldn’t be able to be unbiased?” She was genuinely asking.
I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t that. The baseball part was just for information purposes mostly. I was more concerned with figuring out a good work situation. And no one could help me with that part until I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
“I heard. Congratulations, by the way,” she said, and I realized that Chance must have reached out after we worked things out to give her an update.
I loved that they were so close. Some girls hated having boyfriends who were mama’s boys, but in Chance’s case, I thought it was sweet. Cassie wasn’t competitive, so she never made me feel like I was less than or beneath her. I was grateful for the way she had raised him and for how she treated me—like family.
“Are you two going to talk about this the whole game?” Jacey asked.
“Probably not the whole time,” I teased, and she groaned. Oh, to be a teenager again and bored with everything around you.
“Maybe I’ll go walk around campus and check it out. Can I, Mom?”
Cassie contemplated the question, like she was unsure if she should let Jacey out of her sight or not.
She must have waited too long because Jacey said, “Never mind. I’ll just stay here,” and Cassie visibly relaxed before her eyes widened.
“I almost forgot. Your cousins are coming,” Cassie said, and Jacey perked up.
“Yay! We can walk around campus together then, right? So, I won’t be alone?”
“I’ll ask your aunt when they get here,” she said, and Jacey moped only momentarily before sucking it up.
That was one more thing I loved about Chance’s family—that they all came to watch him play. I enjoyed being a part of it.
“Ask me what?” Aunt Melissa suddenly appeared behind us, and I stood up to tell her hello. She pulled me into a hug across the stadium seats, her wavy, dark hair sticking to my eyelashes. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Thank you. You too.”
“Your cousins are in line at the snack bar,” she informed Jacey.
“Already?” Jacey asked before standing up and running over to find them.
“Where’s Dean?” Cassie asked, and I had just wondered the same thing.
“He’s watching some kid play in Alabama.” She stuck her finger down her throat and made a puking face before looking at me. “Sorry. Inside joke from a hundred years ago.”
“You two hate Alabama. Noted,” I said, pretending to check it off an imaginary list. “Does your husband travel often to watch guys play?”
“Yeah. Dean always wants to meet any kid he’s thinking about signing first. He doesn’t believe in doing everything online. He wants face-to-face meetings. And he wants to see what kind of person they are.”
“I think that’s smart,” I said. There was something different about talking to a client in person, as opposed to online. It was more personal, and I believed it led to a better relationship, one that was more trusting.
“It is smart. But I miss him when he’s gone,” Melissa said, and Cassie pretended to throw up. “Oh, please, you’re one to talk.”
“I know; I know.” Cassie waved Melissa away as the announcer’s voice broke through the hum of the crowd and our conversation.
He ran through the lineup for the visiting team before music started blaring, and he introduced our players. The crowd went wild. I’d been to a few games before, but I swore that it was louder today than it had ever been.
As each name was announced, the high-pitched squealing and shouts from girls filled the air. But none compared to the sound of the screaming and cheers that could be heard when they announced Chance’s name in the lineup. The entire stadium erupted, and I added to it, cupping my hands around my mouth as I yelled for my man. I felt nothing but pride as I watched him strut out onto the field in his catcher’s gear with his helmet in his hand. He stood behind home plate, and looking at him from behind was a sight to behold. I couldn’t stop staring. He must have sensed it because he glanced behind himself and gave me a grin that made my entire body melt. At least, I hoped that smile was for me; otherwise, I was about to feel like the world’s biggest idiot.
“He never looks in the stands,” his mom said with a wicked grin. “He likes you,” she teased, and I felt giddy inside.
We stopped talking as the national anthem played, and the crowd sang along. And just like that, the game started, and the three teenage girls reappeared, carrying more food than I knew they could eat.
“Did you buy one of everything?” I asked Jacey as she sat down next to me.
“Pretty much.” She shrugged before shoving a cheese-covered chip into her mouth. “Want one?”
“Hell yes, I want one,” I said before taking the chip with the most cheese on it and eating it. “Thank you,” I tried to say, and she laughed.
Everyone seemed to be invested in the game while I was solely invested in Chance. He was the only one on the field I cared about, so my eyes stayed firmly glued to his body and actions. Every once in a while, I’d get lost in a fantasy, remembering what those hands could do to me and how they made me feel. I wanted to be the baseball every time he gripped it, his fingers rolling and moving it around like it was an extension of him. He commanded that ball the same way he commanded my body. Knowing what he looked like underneath all that gear was a blessing, and I was definitely blessed. I couldn’t wait to get him home later.