long over, Will stood in the distance among some of the other dads watching their kids get a ballet lesson from Jasmine. Aside from the few players or trainers he knew, most of them were strangers.
They didn’t know he was Katie’s dad, so when he heard them discussing how talented Katie was, he knew they meant it. It made his chest puff out with pride.
They also didn’t know he was involved with Jasmine, so when he heard them talking about how hot they thought she was, he glowered in their direction.
Granted, they were right. Among the many females walking around dressed in short shorts and skimpy tank tops, Jasmine stood apart in her floral skirt and coordinating sleeveless top. The top just barely met the waistband of the skirt, which meant when she lifted her arms to teach the girls pirouettes, a teasing strip of her taut abdomen was revealed. He was torn between wanting to go over to her and tug it down…or drag her off the field and tug it up.
“Ballet lessons for the kids. Now why didn’t I think of that?”
He looked down at the sound of Caroline’s voice. The team’s owner had stopped beside him and was now watching the group with Jasmine and Katie.
“The lesson seems to be going over well,” he said.
“It sure is. Your girlfriend might have managed to overtake the bouncy slides as this year’s favorite activity.”
He smiled. His girlfriend. He really liked the sound of that.
“Thanks for hosting this,” he said. “It’s the first event like this that Katie has willingly attended with me. She’s having a blast.”
She returned his smile. “That makes me happy. I look forward to hearing everything she enjoys most about it before we start planning next year’s event. I’ll definitely have to approach…Ms. Li, is it?”
The team’s owner knew everything about her players, whether or not her players shared their personal details with her.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ll have to approach Ms. Li about offering lessons next year. She should be paid for providing her services. She’s not just entertaining these children, she’s teaching them useful skills. I can already see that my granddaughter will insist on lessons after this.”
The statement implied that Jasmine would be attending the following year. He hated not knowing if that was true.
Unsure how to respond, he merely nodded.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” she said, briefly placing a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Have fun with Katie.”
“Thanks.”
While the girls were all shuffling around attempting pirouettes, Will’s attention shifted to the section of the infield closest to where he stood. He was partway up the first base line. A near-constant stream of kids was taking turns circling the bases. For some reason, the kids squealed like they were being stuck with needles as they ran. The smaller they were, the louder they got. Most of the parents were steering as clear of the area as they could.
That was what made seeing Evan Dorsey standing along the baseline giving high fives to all the kids the most surprising.
The gruff third baseman was wearing his son, Noah, snugly against his chest in a black baby carrier. The baby appeared to be sound asleep. Considering the chaos going on, that was almost more baffling than Evan’s smile as he encouraged the kids around the bases.
Who would’ve thought Dorsey had that kind of soft touch in him?
Shaking his head, Will turned back to watch the dancing. It appeared the lesson was coming to an end. Some of the moms had moved closer and were talking with Jasmine. He debated whether to approach, unsure what he might interrupt.
Beside Jasmine, Katie was giving Makayla a hug. It looked like Makayla and her parents were leaving.
That made the decision easier. He headed over to Katie’s side.
“You taking off?” he asked Ruby.
“We are,” she said, reaching for Makayla’s hand. “We’ve got a birthday party to get to after this. It was so nice meeting you, Will.”
“You too.”
Seeing Katie’s crestfallen expression as she watched her new friend leave, he reached down and chucked her gently under the chin. “Hey, there’s still plenty to do around here and tons of kids to hang out with. There are at least twenty running the bases right this minute.”
She looked over at the bases. The sorrow left her expression.
“You want to try it?”
She nodded.
“You got it. Maybe I’ll run them too. Lord knows I’ll never get the chance otherwise.”
She grinned, though he doubted she understood that relief pitchers very rarely got at-bats.
He glanced back at Jasmine and