A Complete Game (Washington DC Soaring Eagles #3) - Aven Ellis Page 0,9
would want to get down and run free with him. So I gently stroke the area under his cheeks—that’s Petey’s sweet spot—and watch the interview with interest. Juliette asks the basic things, like why did he want to participate, how did he end up with ferrets, etc. Once she finishes, people begin leaving the infield, except for a few team media relations people and Elisa.
“We’re officially done,” Chris Davies, the social media manager for the Soaring Eagles, says. “You’re free to go, Brady.”
“Thank you so much for participating, Brady,” Elisa says. She turns to me. “You can go home after this if you like. It’s been a busy day.”
“Thank you, Elisa,” I reply. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Chris, can we let the ferrets run on the field for a little bit?” Brady asks. “I mean if Addison is okay with that? They seemed to love it.”
“Sure. But leave before they lock up the stadium, okay?” he jokes.
Brady smiles. “Will do.” He turns to me. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” I say, putting Petey down on the grass. Brady does the same with Willy, and they take off, scampering once again across the grass.
Elisa walks off with Chris, and now I’m alone with Brady. The vast stadium is now empty and quiet, yet he stands very close to my side. I’m so aware of him, how tall he is, the scent on his skin, how the wind keeps blowing an errant curl across his forehead, and how he keeps pushing it away.
“Thank you for getting them some free time,” I say, smiling at him. “Look at how happy they are.”
“They did a great job today. Besides, I need to hear them dook again. May I offer you a seat?” Brady asks, waving his hand at the grass around us.
I smile and kick off my shoes. I sink down into the grass, feeling how the sun has warmed it now, and tuck my legs up underneath me. Brady lowers himself to the ground next to me, and we sit side-by-side, watching Willy and Petey play.
“So, how do you find Washington?” I ask, trailing my fingertips over the perfectly cut grass.
Brady leans back on his elbows, lifting his face up toward the sun. “The team or the city?”
“Both.”
A smile flickers across his face. My heart flutters the second I see it.
“I like DC. It’s so different from San Diego, where I grew up. Or Palo Alto, where I went to school, or even from the minor league teams in the Chicago farm system. This is the heartbeat of the nation. There’s a serious, professional, powerful vibe that I’ve never felt anywhere else.”
“I’ve lived very few places,” I say. “Born and raised in the Philadelphia area. College at the University of Virginia. Now DC.”
“So you aren’t a native,” he says.
I shake my head. “No, I’ve only lived here a few years. I’m still learning things about it. And I haven’t seen one-tenth of all the things I want to see.”
“What are some of the things you want to see that you haven’t?”
I pick a blade of grass and twirl it between my fingers. “The Library of Congress, for one. It’s the largest library in the world.”
“But isn’t it just for Congress?”
“No. You can get a library card and use it,” I explain. “But they also have exhibits you can see, like a replica of Thomas Jefferson’s book library or one of three original Guttenberg Bibles. And there is a reading room in the rare books and special collections division that I would love to sit in to peruse some of the old books. They even have medieval manuscripts, can you believe that? I’m dying to see it.”
“Wow. I just assumed it was a research library for Congress,” Brady says.
“It is, but it’s also so much more. And the architecture is supposed to be incredible. But the idea of being around all those people with access to those incredible books—I need to see it. I love books. Kindle books, printed books, old and new, it doesn’t matter. They are a weakness of mine. I buy them all the time. It’s about as bad as my habit of buying scented liquid soaps, which I’m also obsessed with.”
“What?” Brady laughs. “Did you just admit to loving liquid soap?”
“I have this problem with scented soap. If I see a unique scent, I can’t pass it up. Or when the seasonal ones come out, I have to get those. And at the end of the season, when they’re on sale,