“Did you have fun with your uncle?”
“Mmm, yeah,” Max says, using a new word he learned last week.
“Oh, man.” Kai exhales an audible breath, and I can’t see them, but I can picture him holding his son tight to his chest. “I missed you so much, Max.”
I look at my reflection again, but all I see is a woman who is completely soft over a little boy and his dad.
Isaiah laughs. “You were that bored without him, huh?”
Kai remains silent.
“Why do you look like that?” his brother asks.
“I don’t look like anything.”
“I almost forgot you had teeth, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you smile like that.”
“Stop.”
“Oh my God, did you . . .” Isaiah drifts off. “Hot Nanny! Why is my brother smiling like an idiot?”
I hear his footsteps charging towards my door, so I get my ass in gear and race to it. I lock it just in time for him to jiggle the knob. “Miller Montgomery, are you responsible for this?”
I slap a palm over my mouth, not wanting Isaiah to know I’m in here.
He tries the door again.
“Isaiah, stop,” Kai laughs.
“You’re laughing. Why are you laughing? Why are you in such a good mood?”
“I’m not . . . I’m just glad Max is back.”
“You got laid, didn’t you?”
Kai doesn’t confirm or deny.
“You did! Fucking knew it!” There’s so much excitement in Isaiah’s voice. He knocks on the door. “Hey, nice work, Miller!”
“Okay, you’ve got to get out of here.” From the sounds of it, Kai is pushing his brother out of his room. “Thanks for watching him last night.”
“If I knew I just had to babysit for Daddy to get laid, I would’ve done it fucking months ago.”
“Language.”
“Yeah, language,” Isaiah deadpans. “Because my language is the most inappropriate thing to happen in this room in the last twelve hours.” There’s a smack of a kiss, most likely on Max’s cheek. “Thanks for hanging out with me, Bug. Kai, I’m so damn proud of you.”
“Please shut up.”
The door closes, but I can still hear Isaiah in the hall. “Miller, I know you’re in there, and I’m proud of you too, girl!”
The team bus parks in the private lot of Fenway. It’s mid-afternoon and the game doesn’t start until seven, but there’s plenty that needs to happen beforehand.
Typically, Max and I would stay back at the hotel when the Warriors are playing an evening game, but Kai wanted to show his son one of the most iconic parks in the league before he takes the mound.
Lingering back, I watch as the two of them take their time getting off the bus. Now that Max is walking, he’s adamant about being on his feet at all times.
Max’s backwards hat matches his dad’s, and his little jersey shares the same name and number as the one Kai will be wearing tonight.
Kai’s tall frame is bent to hold his son’s hand, Isaiah on the opposite side holding Max’s other. Travis and Cody are chatting and giving each other shit, but also walking so incredibly slow, as if it were second nature for them to move at Max’s speed now. In fact, no one is left behind. The entire team is moving at the pace of a sixteen-month-old.
An unfamiliar burn pricks the back of my eyes. I don’t know why I would get emotional over it, but this group is so good to each other. They’re so good to Kai and his son.
After spending so much time in kitchens with majority male staff, I was hesitant to spend my summer with another group of guys, but these ones proved me wrong.
I’m going to miss them all when I go.
“You all right?” My dad swings an arm over my shoulders as we keep pace behind his team, taking our time getting inside.
“Allergies, I think.” Clearing my throat, I swallow whatever the hell is going on with me.
My dad’s eyes bounce from me to Kai to Max. “Yeah,” he says. “Sure.”
“How do you feel about the game tonight?”
“Good. I always feel good when Ace is starting. Not to mention he seems to be in an exceptionally good mood today.”
“Is he? I hadn’t noticed.”
My dad chuckles and it’s knowing and annoying. “You, on the other hand, seem entirely in your head. What’s on your mind, Millie?”
“Trust me, Dad, you don’t want to know what’s on my mind.”
“All right. Well, did you have fun last night at least? Where did Kai take you?”
“To a bakery in the North End. He took me in hopes I’d get some inspiration for work since I can’t bake while we’re on the road.”
My dad slightly shakes his head. “He’s a good one.”
I find Kai again. He’s wearing a proud smile, looking down and watching his son walk into Fenway with him. All eyes are on him tonight as he takes the mound, but he’s only got eyes for Max.
“Yeah,” I exhale. “He is.”
I can feel my dad’s stare burning into the side of my head. “Do you know what you’re doing there?”
“Yes. I’ve got it handled. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt him. We have rules in place to make sure of it.”
He squeezes me tighter. “And what about you? Are you going to get hurt?”
I huff a laugh. “Of course not.”
“Of course not,” he repeats dryly. “Because you, Miller, don’t let yourself get attached enough to get hurt, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, for both your sakes, just be careful, yeah?”
A week ago, he would’ve left me out of that statement. He would’ve told me to be cautious for Kai. Now, he sees it as clear as I do.
There’s potential for me to be in as much trouble as his pitcher.
With the team in the clubhouse, Max with his dad, and my dad in a coach’s meeting, I wander the maze of the visitor’s side of Fenway until I find the training room.
And when I open the door, my shoulders sag in relief to find it empty minus the one person I’m looking for.
“Kennedy, I need to talk to you.”
She’s organizing the tape, each one labeled with which player it’s for, because of course they all have a unique tape preference.
She peeks over her shoulder, her copper ponytail swinging. “You okay?”
“Yes.” I frantically pace the room. “No.”
A single brow raises as she turns around, arms crossed over her chest, leaning back on a massage table. She’s in her typical uniform of a Warriors polo, black yoga pants, team-issued sneakers, and topped with a make-up-less face, showing off her freckles.
“Look, I know we don’t really know each other, but I don’t have anyone I can talk to about this. And you’re the only other woman on the road and—”
“Miller, do you want to be friends?”
I pause in my tracks.
“Is that how it works? You just say it like that?”
Kennedy pops her shoulder. “Hell if I know. I’ve spent almost every day of the past three years with a bunch of dudes. I don’t have many girlfriends.”
A smile ticks up on my lip. “Same here.”
“So . . . friends?”
I hop my ass on a training table. “Friends. Now, I need to tell you something.”
“You fucked Ace.”
My mouth drops as Kennedy takes a seat on the table across from me.
“How did—”
“Oh please. That guy is walking around here today like his shit is made of gold. It’s obvious something happened between you two. Besides, he’s been pining after you since you got here.”
“Uh, not exactly. He wasn’t all that excited when I first showed up.”
She laughs and it holds no humor. “Yeah, well, I’m sure he wasn’t all that excited that he wanted to sleep with Monty’s daughter knowing how close the two of them are, but we all see how he looks at you.” She checks her nails as if this is the most mundane conversation of all time. I like that. I feel less frantic with how undramatic she is about it. “So, what’s the issue?”
What is the issue?
“I . . . I don’t know.”
“Was it bad? Is it small?” Kennedy’s eyes widen, leaning forward, finally invested. “Oh my God, does Ace have a micro penis?”