“Does he know Papa’s not gonna be there?”

“Yes, Papa’s the one who suggested we just go straight there with AJ.” Clair tugged at Addison’s hand impatiently. “Let’s go. Harrison’s mom wants him home before ten. So there’s no time to waste!”

Addison barely had enough time to wrap her head around the fact that she’d soon be in AJ Romero’s car and then spending the evening out with him. Good God. She’d known it ever since the day of Clair’s birthday, and then it was absolutely confirmed in Niagara Falls. It didn’t matter how many high-profile athletes she’d been around her whole life; the excitement of being around AJ was an entirely other level. It’d taken her almost the entire day in Niagara Falls to calm her heart and just enjoy her time around him. She wasn’t ready to do it again and without warning. Her heart was already racing wildly.

“Let me just use the ladies’ room real quick,” she said in a panic as she casually scanned what she was wearing?

Thankfully, she had prepared for the off chance she might run into him today, so she’d worn an outfit similar to the one she wore last time: a jersey with a tank underneath, shorts, and high wedge sandals. She’d just changed up the colors a bit and admittedly worn her hair down in a more done-up do than her usual.

Addison had seen the way his eyes had taken her in even way back on Clair’s birthday. At Niagara Falls, he’d done so again—many times. Even when he’d attempted to be discreet about it, there were still the other moments she wondered about. The ones when she’d caught how his smoldering eyes swallowed her up. It was as intense as all the times she’d watched him get so fired up on the field. The thoughts of what else he might do with such silent passion had been endless ever since. Just thinking about it as she smoothed her lip gloss with her finger, had her closing her eyes and sucking her own finger in anticipation. She reminded herself she shouldn’t be anticipating anything because it was too big a risk to open up her heart to anyone but especially to AJ.

One thing was for sure. She was going to have to have a long talk with Clair. Just because he was her best buddy didn’t mean she could just up and invite him out with them without even consulting with her first. Then she had a thought and nearly gasped. What if Clair made it sound like Addison was the one inviting him?

As satisfied as she was going to get with her hair and makeup, she rushed out to the hallway where Clair and Harrison were waiting.

“Yay!” Clair said when she saw her. “Let’s go.”

“Clair, honey,” Addison asked as she took her daughter’s hand in one of hers and Harrison’s in the other. “What exactly did you say to AJ when you invited him?”

Clair looked up at her with a shrug. “Just that you were taking us to Galaxy Pizza and you’d said I could invite whoever I wanted. Don’t worry. I didn’t say you’d asked me to invite him or anything. I wouldn’t embarrass you like that, Mom.”

Addison let out a breath of relief and smiled back at Clair. There’d been plenty of times she almost wished Clair wasn’t so smart and perceptive. It was hard to get anything by her. Today she was grateful for it.

They reached the players’ parking lot, and Addison was glad when both Clair and Harrison spotted AJ immediately. He was standing at the open door of his Mercedes, talking to another player. The usual mob of fans was waiting outside the fenced parking lot. Not surprisingly there were more screaming girls than she remembered there ever being. Between AJ, Sly Sabian, Nick Travis, and the other two outfielders, the Padres were becoming the boy band of the big leagues.

Addison and the kids rushed over to him. She concentrated on focusing straight ahead and felt as relieved as she did breathless when he smiled at her from over the hood of his car and told them the doors were all unlocked. She’d barely greeted him before rushing into the passenger side of his car and closed the door. The kids were in just as fast.

“You guys starving or what?” AJ asked as soon as they were in the car and he slipped on his sunglasses.

“No,” Clair chirped from the backseat. “But Harrison turns into a pumpkin at ten, and we want to get as much playing time as possible.”

Addison saw AJ’s eyes glance down at his dash clock. It was only six-thirty. He glanced up at Addison, making her breath catch, and she shrugged. “Kids and their playing time,” she said, relieved once again for her daughter’s quick response.

AJ turned on the radio and hit the button that had the music playing louder in the back seat.

“It’s nice to see you again,” he said as they drove past the security stand at the parking lot’s gates, and he waved at all the chanting fans but then turned to her again. “I like your hair down. Looks good that way.”

“Thank you.” She breathed in deeply, trying to calm her insides. “It’s nice to see you too.”

Not everything had to have an underlying meaning. He was just being polite. Making small talk. Not admitting he was attracted to her too and that he’d been dying to see her as much as she had him.

“Not that you didn’t look just as good last time with it up. It’s just different.” He turned to her and lifted his glasses as if to get a better look. Those smoldering eyes were at it again, and then she was locked in them. “Very nice.”

“Thank you,” she said again, her voice a little softer this time.

Bringing the glasses back over his eyes, he brought his attention back to his driving. “I didn’t realize you worked Friday nights.”

Addison turned to him, but he was staring straight ahead as the traffic began moving. “I don’t.”

She saw the brow lift just above his sunglasses. “Clair said that’s why you hadn’t made it to the game last night.”

“I, uh,” she said, clearing her throat.

He seemed oddly tense. Every one of his comments and inquiries seemed to have a purpose, and it was making her nervous. She wondered now if Clair had mentioned what her father had said her working meant. Even his making the radio louder in the back seemed to have been calculated now.

“I often work from home,” she said, fidgeting nervously with the buttons on her jersey. “Or anywhere I can get a Wi-Fi signal. Last night it was Starbucks for a little while then back home in my jammies while I watched Tombstone.”

“Alone?” he asked, still staring ahead.

These questions were definitely calculated. “Yes,” she said as the butterflies in her stomach began fluttering.

That seemed to ease his entire demeanor, and he even smiled. “Tombstone, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s one of my all-time favorites.”

He turned to her with a strange smile. “Really? Mine too.”

Clair said something, and he was forced to turn the music down. The rest of the way to the pizza place and even once they arrived they talked of stats. Tonight’s stats. Even Harrison got in on it, putting in his two cents. The baseball talk moved on to Harrison’s chess accomplishments. When they were done eating, the kids ran off to play, and AJ ordered another round: a mug of beer for himself and an iced tea for Addison.

“Harrison seems like a cool kid.” he said, observing them from where they sat.

“He is.” Addison glanced up at where the kids were both now sitting behind steering wheels in front of a monitor, getting ready to virtually race each other. “He’s a sweetheart. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that she finally made a friend that actually gets her. I was beginning to think it may never happen.”

“Were you like that growing up?” he asked, peering at her.

“Yeah,” she admitted as she took a sip of her tea. “It’s been kind of a consolation that she picked up on her papa’s and my love for the game of baseball and keeping stats and all. It was what kept me from ever feeling depressed or like a loner. I didn’t have many friends either. Like with Clair, the players were my friends.” She stopped and took another sip of her tea as the memories resurfaced. “I was never bullied or anything though, and I make real sure Clair is always open and honest, so she’d tell me if she ever was. But I admit it was one of the reasons why I wanted her in such an academically elevated magnet school. I figured the kids there would be less likely to bully her. Though she has been in quite a few of what she calls debates.”