Go Away, Darling - Alexis Anne Page 0,16

And over the course of dinner I actually enjoyed reliving the experience and getting someone else’s perspective. He whistled low. “Divorced with a kid? You’re sure you want to sign up for that?”

I thought about it a lot over the last week. All the “what ifs.” What if we go on a few dates and it turns out it was just infatuation? What if we date over the off season and then everything goes to shit when baseball starts up again? What if we date and fall in love and I have to grapple with an ex and a child who isn’t biologically mine?

A vision of making dinner with Linc flashed through my mind and I smiled.

“Yeah. I do. If she’s interested. Linc is a great kid. I have to believe a child who talks about his parents the way he did has to be in a good situation. And I can’t explain it, but I kind of fell in love with him just as fast as I fell for Liv.”

“Dude, you just said love.”

I backtracked over my own words and realized it was true. And ridiculous. And right somehow. “I don’t know what this is, but I do know I want to find out and I’m in for all of it.”

Scott studied me again, his eyes focused and serious, and then unfocused as his mind went somewhere else entirely. “I wish I had your confidence. Would you mind teaching me your ways?”

Scott definitely had something going on. Something that had him messed up and deeply unhappy. “I can try.”

5

No one looks good with bangs

Olivia

“Hey mom?”

“Yeah?” I yelled from the kitchen where I had just finished cleaning up and was now making some tea.

“Is that Chris?”

My heart stopped for a split second before I heard the roar of a crowd and realized he must be on the television. I picked up my mug and moved to the living room where I found Linc standing a foot from the screen, practically nose-to-nose with Chris before the screen flashed to a commercial.

“Yes. That’s Chris. Was he just called in to pitch?”

“Yep! They said ‘it’s an unusual move’ and then everyone got really excited.” Linc grabbed a few couch cushions and set up a cocoon on the floor under the TV just like he did when Beau was playing.

My kid thought it was perfectly normal for the people in his life to appear on television. Go figure. Watching football and your dad has a closeup? Just another Sunday afternoon. Baseball is on and your next door neighbor is about to pitch? Pass the popcorn.

We always had baseball on these days, usually to watch the Mantas, but we occasionally went crazy and watched the Waves. It was nice background noise since there was a game everyday for months at a time. Plus I thought Linc might have a natural gift for the sport and wanted to sign him up for fall ball, which I knew would go a lot better if he already understood the sport.

I had not planned on an expert moving in next door.

And I couldn’t help wondering how Chris Kaine was going to fit into our lives. Friendly neighbor? Absolutely. Baseball mentor? Possibly. Kissing partner? A shiver raced down my spine and I was suddenly very hot.

Very, very hot.

Especially when the game came back from break with a tight shot of Chris’s eyes. He stood on the mound leaning forward with his arm on one leg. His uniform was crisp white and his dark blue hat sat low on his brow. His eyes were totally focused on Wes Allen behind the plate and I imagined they had some sort of psychic connection because once they synchronized they always seemed to be unstoppable.

Chris had really nice eyes.

Really, really nice eyes. They were the shade of brown that resembled bronze but also gold. They crinkled in the corners like he smiled all the time. Except right now he wasn’t smiling at all. His jaw was set and ticked twice as he stood up tall, bringing his hands up near his chin. He stared down the batter on first base with a look that was downright scary, then went into his pitching motion, sending the ball to the batter for a swinging strike.

The announcers all started talking excitedly at once.

“It’s amazing how he can come into a game this late, with runners on the bases, and pitch like it’s the first inning.” The first announcer said.

“I agree,” the other announcer said, shaking his head