beer to the cooler?” Dylan asked from his position over by the largest cooler. It was filled with ice and a variety of bottles and cans.
“Sure.” Will handed him the two six packs of craft brew he’d brought. “They’re up for grabs if anyone wants to try them.”
The conversation flowed easily enough among the teammates. Ryan held his own, blending in surprisingly well with the athletes. It turned out he’d played ball in high school before entering the military.
Which Will had to pretend to know already, of course.
Over the next hour, the crowd steadily grew. Will identified any newcomers to Ryan, either subtly when no one was paying attention or through direct introductions. Katie clung to Jasmine’s side for the first twenty minutes. Then a few other kids arrived, including a little girl named Lisa who turned out to be Eddie’s niece. She latched onto Katie much like Makayla had at the Family Fun Day event. It wasn’t long before Katie was hopping in the pool with her.
Will saw Jasmine taking photos of them with her phone. At first it made him smile. Then he wondered if she was taking them to collect evidence of Katie experiencing a “normal” activity in case they needed to provide proof in court.
The reminder of Carol Ann threatened to ruin the day for him, so he forced himself not to think about it.
Everyone was in good spirits. Most of the team made an appearance, even players without kids. They ate an abundance of food, enjoyed a few drinks, and talked about nearly anything but baseball.
A few guests were players’ relatives Will hadn’t met before. Several of them asked about the YouTube video and what it had been like to meet Archer.
Guess that’s not going away any time soon, he mused.
It seemed their kids had also seen the video. About two hours into the party, they were trying to coerce Katie into teaching them the dance so they could do it too. They stood in a shaded area under some trees not far from where Will was talking to Javy and a couple other guys.
The last thing Will needed was Katie getting recorded doing that dance again and it ending up on YouTube. It would completely negate what they hoped to accomplish by bringing her to the party in the first place.
Jasmine obviously had the same thought.
“Hey boys and girls,” she said, coming up behind Katie. “I’m Katie’s dance teacher. Do you all want to learn some of those moves?”
A resounding, “Yeah!” had heads turning from around the pool deck.
“Okay. Come on over here.”
While all the kids followed the direction she pointed, she leaned down and whispered something in Katie’s ear. Katie nodded and turned around, skipping over to Will. Jasmine looked up and caught Will’s eye, giving him a wink before turning to do what she promised.
“Do you want to swim some more?” Will asked Katie when she reached him.
She nodded.
“Okay. Hang on.” He reached into the bag Jasmine had brought along and produced more sunscreen. After he got a fresh layer applied, he said, “Go for it.”
She grinned and hurried along the pool deck, leaping right into the deep end. Will turned back to the guys standing beside him so they could return to their previous conversation. Instead, he found them all watching Jasmine.
“She’s a dance teacher?”
Will glanced at the guy who asked the question. They had just met a short while ago. His name was Marco and he was somehow related to Tony Descalso.
“A ballerina,” Javy replied before Will could, his eyes focused on Jasmine. “It breaks my heart that she’s still puttin’ up with you, Campbell.”
“You’re outta luck, Rios.” Glancing at Marco, Will said, “Jasmine is also a dance teacher.”
She’d finally had a conversation with him about her new goal of opening a dance studio a couple days ago. He felt like shit for monopolizing their time together with all of his family drama since he’d returned from his road trip, but she said she understood.
“If you really feel bad,” she had said, “I know a way you can make it up to me.”
Since they were in his bed at the time, his body perked right up at that. Reading his mind, she laughed and shoved at his shoulder.
“No,” she said. “I mean you can help me find a space to rent or lease. I hear you’ve got some experience with that stuff.”
“I’d be happy to,” he said, glad he could do something for her.
His attention returned to the current conversation