I chuckle, picking him up. “Good try, Bug. We’re getting there.”
Miller stands by the door, all warm and glistening from the sun she got, and suddenly an overwhelming urge to kiss her rolls over me. She’s so pretty and so ridiculous sometimes but seeing her with Max today, and knowing she brought him so I could have the two things I love in one place, has me feeling far too attached to the girl that only a couple of weeks ago I wanted gone.
“Meet in the lobby at eight,” Cody announces. “Monty, close your ears,” he adds, directing his words to my coach who just walked in. “We’re getting drunk tonight, boys. Maybe a few of you might even get lucky. We’re going dancing and we’re not going back to the hotel until the sun comes up.”
“I know nothing,” Monty says, plugging his ears before tossing a quick kiss on his daughter’s head and ducking into the adjoining office.
“Kenny, you coming?” Isaiah’s voice holds so much hope.
“No.”
“Cool. Cool.” He looks up to Miller. “Hot Nan—”
His eyes meet mine, and I don’t even have to say anything for him to know that if he finishes that sentence, I’ll kick his ass.
“Miller,” he corrects. “You in?”
Miller’s attention darts to me. “Are you going?”
I nod towards my son, letting that speak for me.
She turns back to my brother. “I think I’m going to stay back.”
I like the idea of that far too much, that she wants to stay in because we are. But she’s twenty-five years old and I’m sure this summer away from work is nothing like she had envisioned. The last thing I want is for her to resent us.
“You should go. All you’ve done this summer is chase around my fifteen-month-old.” I nod towards my brother. “This wouldn’t be much different.”
“Fuck you very much.” He adds two middle fingers for dramatic effect.
Max laughs at his uncle.
“Great,” I deadpan. “Can’t wait for him to add fuck to his limited vocabulary.”
“That’s okay. I’ll help you get Max down for the night,” Miller says.
“I got him. You should go.”
“Listen to Ace,” Travis pipes up. “You should come out with us, Miller.”
My head jerks in his direction, not liking the way he said her name, all soft and wistful like that. Travis is a good guy, a good teammate, but I don’t need him talking to Max’s nanny that way. I don’t need him looking at her like that either, as if she might be the prettiest girl he’s ever seen.
She is, but he shouldn’t be noticing.
My attention then finds my brother, wearing the most devilish smile on his face.
What the hell is that look for?
Miller turns back to me. “You sure you don’t mind?”
Fuck.
I swallow down the regret. “Yeah.”
“Kennedy,” she says. “Are you sure you don’t want to go?”
Kennedy hesitates, which is surprising. She’s never once gone out with the team, not wanting to blur the lines between work and fun. Something not a single one of the men on staff has ever had to worry about.
“I’m going to pass,” she eventually decides. “Thanks for the invite though.”
Isaiah scoffs. “I always invite you and you never thank me for the offer.”
Kennedy completely ignores him.
“You’re going too, Ace,” Monty says, strolling out of his office. “I’ve been wanting to hang out with this little guy and tonight seems like the perfect opportunity.”
“Nah, it’s cool. I’m going to head back with him.”
Monty lifts his brows as if he were silently reminding me of the conversation we had earlier today.
Find the balance. Enjoy it while you still have it.
I look from him to his daughter.
There’s a naughty tilt to her lips. “You should come.”
I choke on my own saliva because Miller is fucking Miller and said that with so much innuendo, it’d be impossible not to pick up on the alternate meaning.
“Fucking gross,” Monty mutters.
“Let’s stop cussing in front of my kid.”
“Yeah, stop fucking cussing, Monty,” Isaiah calls out.
Monty shoots him a dangerous look.
“I mean . . . you should say whatever you’d like, sir.”
My coach takes my son from me. “I’m hanging out with Max tonight whether or not you go out and have some fun.”
Watching my kid fully content with the man who has adored him since he came into my life, I look back to Miller. Her green eyes are lifted and expectant, waiting for my answer.
For once, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything because I got to have him nearby all day. I don’t feel guilty for wanting to go have fun with my teammates. The only guilt I have is due to my coach’s daughter occupying a bit too much of my brain space lately.
“Okay,” I say, looking right at her. “I’ll come.”
That sly smile lifts.
“Let’s go!” Cody pipes in. “Daddy is coming out! Fucking finally!”
There’s a shit ton of noise and cheers, being far too hyped for a team that just lost the final game of a road series, but I haven’t been out with the boys since last summer.
The energy in the training room is wild as the guys get their things together, wanting to get back to the hotel as soon as possible, but I keep my eyes on Miller, who stands there, infinitely proud of herself for getting me out for the night.
Chapter 13
Kai
My hand itched to knock on the door between my room and Miller’s, wanting to walk down to the lobby with her, wanting to show up in front of my teammates together in hopes they’d understand she’s off-limits for tonight.
She’s off-limits always.
For them and for me.
Instead, as soon as Monty was settled in my room to watch Max, I headed down to the lobby alone, forcing myself to wait for her there while pretending to be entirely unaffected by the prospect of having a night away from the house or hotel with the girl I, annoyingly, can’t stop thinking about.
The entire team seems to be down here already, drinking pregame beers and all too excited to have a night off without needing to be at the field tomorrow. I find Isaiah on a couch and as soon as my ass hits the cushion next to him, he’s holding out a fresh beer, top popped already.
“Never thought this would happen again,” Isaiah says, clinking his bottle to mine. “You coming out with us.”
“It’s a one-time thing.”
He doesn’t say anything, simply brings his beer to his lips, but I can feel the unspoken words he’s dying to say swirling around us.
“What?”
“I just find it interesting that the night you decide to join us is the same night Miller is.”
“There’s nothing interesting about that.”
“Really? Because I thought it was especially interesting how suddenly, after Travis invited her, you were in too.”
I find our catcher hanging out with Cody and a few other of our teammates. I like Trav a lot, he’s a good guy and a good baseball player. He’s also twenty-six years old, a lot closer to Miller’s age than me, and doesn’t have someone else that he revolves every minute of his day around.
I’m not surprised that he might be interested in her. Hell, I think anyone would be interested if they knew her, but I hate that if Travis’s interest was reciprocated, it’d make a whole lot of sense.
“He into her?” I ask as casually as possible, taking a pull from the bottle.
“Would it bother you if he were?”
I shoot my brother a side glance. “Answer the question.”
“You answer mine.”
Rolling my eyes, I stare straight ahead once again. “It would only bother me because she’s here for Max. I don’t want it to get in the way of her taking care of my son.”
My brother barks out a laugh. “Oh my fucking God. You’re so full of shit.” He scrubs a hand over his face to hide his disbelieving grin. “Don’t put this on Maxie. I saw the way you were looking at her in the stands today.”