He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “I know. But I’m taking this slow, and I don’t want to screw it up. She’s special to me. She’s ... different.”
His mother pulled away. “Different from the skinny little women who wear all the makeup I see you with on the covers of all those magazines?”
“I wasn’t really dating any of them. Not seriously.”
“Well, handle this one with care. I get the idea she’s treading the waters of love very carefully.”
“Yeah, I get that idea, too. I’ll be careful with her, Mom. I promise.”
MICK ENJOYED BASEBALL PRETTY MUCH LIKE HE ENJOYED all sports. But today was different, because he got to watch the game through Tara and Nathan’s eyes.
Nathan was wide-eyed when he led them to the box seats above the dugout. Thanks to Gavin, they had a great view of the game and the players. Gavin came out during warm-ups, spotted Mick, and waved. Nathan’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
Of course Mick had even more surprises in store for Nathan.
And Tara loved baseball, too, he discovered as she watched the game. The woman was a constant surprise to him. He figured—like with most of the women he dated—that he’d have to explain the nuances of the game to her. He didn’t. She understood innings and teams and balls and strikes and outs and positions from the pitcher to the center fielder and shortstop and what their functions were—in fact, she looked downright insulted when he started to explain what each player did.
She looked at him like he’d sprouted two heads. “I love sports, Mick. I know all about baseball, just like I know football. Don’t make me slap you upside the head with my hot dog.”
He promptly shut the hell up and let her watch the game.
Nathan, however, talked nonstop about Gavin and the Saint Louis team. He knew their standing in their division, who the weaker players were, what Gavin’s average was, and knew Gavin leaned too far inside the batter’s box and that’s why he walked more often, because he got hit by the ball more than the average batter, which was something Mick had told Gavin time and time again, despite Gavin telling him to fuck off and mind his own sport.
Nathan was pretty astute, and they spent a lot of the game dissecting the players and the plays as well as the other team’s strengths and weaknesses.
Fortunately, the home team won, and since it was a sold-out game, it was raucous, and Tara and Nathan seemed to have fun.
“Thank you, Mick,” Tara said after the game. “We had a wonderful time.”
“Yeah, it was awesome,” Nathan said as they watched the teams leave the field and waited for the crowds to head up toward the exits.
“Oh, it’s not over yet. I have a surprise for you.”
“You do?” Nathan’s eyes widened. “What is it?”
“It’ll take a while, though, so have a seat and be patient.”
They waited about an hour, then Gavin popped up from the dugout. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.” He turned to Tara and Nathan. “Come on. Let’s go down.”
“Holy crap.”
“Nathan,” Tara whispered. “Please watch your language, for the millionth time.”
Gavin put his arm around Tara. “I think he gets an excuse for excitement.”
They went down to the dugout, and Mick hugged his brother. “Good game. You didn’t suck.”
Gavin laughed. “Bite me.” He turned to Tara. “You must be the girl who’s dumb enough to date my brother.”
“I think I might have just been insulted, but yes, I’m Tara.” She grinned and held out her hand.
Instead, Gavin grabbed her and hugged her. “Nice to meet you, Tara, but I think you’ve lost your mind to date this loser.” He pulled away and shook Nathan’s hand. “And you must be Nathan.”
Nathan smiled. “Yeah. You played great today.”
“Thanks. We won, so it’s a good birthday present.”
“Happy birthday, Gavin,” Tara said.
“Thank you. So how about a tour of the place?”
Nathan’s jaw dropped. “Serious?”
“Serious.”
Gavin was a good host and took them all around the stadium, even to the locker room, which had been pretty much cleared out, so at least Mick didn’t have to shield Tara’s eyes from any naked players. And Nathan’s biggest surprise came when Gavin gave him an autographed jersey.
“Wow, thanks. And it’s not even my birthday yet.”
“Mick told me your birthday’s in a couple weeks. Fifteen, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Soon you’ll be driving, and your mom won’t sleep anymore.”
Tara laughed. “Don’t remind me.”
“You look too young to have a kid who’s going to be fifteen.”
“Thank you. You’re now my favorite person in the whole world.”
Gavin winked. “I need to head out. Got a few things to do before tonight. See you at the bar later?”
“Yeah,” Mick said. “Thanks, Gavin.”
“Anytime. Thanks for coming to the game.”
“WHO’S THE CHICKLET? ANOTHER MOVIE STAR?”