“I am relaxed,” AJ lied, trying desperately to appear so. “It’s none of my business anyway. Thing is I was thinking of bringing her by for the barbeque later today, and I don’t want you guys making more of it than it is. We have her daughter to think about.”
They all stared at him as silent and as curious as he’d known they’d be, even before this morning’s revelations. He turned to Livi this time, trying to act like he didn’t notice how quickly he’d silenced the room. “I’ve told Clair a lot about King and Queen,” he explained. “She’s never seen a Komondor in person, and I’ve been saying I’d bring her to see them one day. You think maybe you can bring one or both today? Otherwise, I could swing by your place so she can see them there instead.”
“No, I could bring them,” Livi said, smiling big. “They’ll be excited. They haven’t gone on a trip in a while.”
AJ turned to Nathan, who he knew was the most unconvinced in the room. “She wants to see the dogs, okay? That’s all this is, ass.” AJ watched his brother smirk as he popped a grape in his mouth. “Don’t go embarrassing me or saying anything stupid.”
Placing his cup in the dishwasher, AJ let them know he was getting in the shower and would be right out. Even as he walked out the kitchen, the quiet in the normally noisy kitchen with these many people in it was all too telling. They weren’t buying his “just friends” story for a minute.
~~~
If his family’s reaction to the media speculation was any indication of how not easy it would be to keep this under wraps, the mood on the field and the locker room was just as bad. AJ had already texted Addison to ask how she was doing with this morning’s media excitement. Her response made him smile. “Slow day for the tabloids, I guess.”
Clearly, she wasn’t too worried about it. When he met with her and Clair on the field, there were noticeably more photos snapping away. The moment Clair was far enough away to not hear, AJ asked what he’d begun to worry about. “Has she noticed the stories?”
“Are you kidding me?” Addison said with a smile and a playful roll of her eyes. “It’s the first thing she said to me this morning when I walked into the kitchen. ‘They think AJ’s my dad.’ She thinks it’s a hoot. I’m surprised she hasn’t brought it up.”
AJ had a good feeling why she hadn’t. Clair had been too busy giving him the heads-up on Jefferson, the short stop standing in for the Cardinals today. Their starter pulled a hamstring in yesterday’s game, and Clair had to wait until this morning to know for sure who’d be on today’s lineup. He saw her talking to today’s pitcher with her little notebook in hand. She must have been giving him her spiel on Jefferson’s batting stats. It made him smile that this would obviously be the bigger thing on her mind. He wouldn’t worry so much anymore about the stories that would likely keep coming the more he was seen out with Addison and Clair.
Apparently, even the guys on the other team had heard the stories and were going to rib him about it. During one of his at bats, he was brushed back away from the plate by a high inside pitch. It came so close to hitting him that AJ had jumped back and it got everyone in the stadium riled up. The next pitch hadn’t come as close, but before the third, as AJ set up to bat, he thought he heard Bigsby say something about him crowding the plate. The next pitch zoomed by so close to his chin AJ almost felt it, and he lost his footing, trying to avoid getting hit again. He hit the ground and the stadium went wild. Bigsby said something AJ didn’t catch again.
“What did you say?” he asked as he stood up, dusting himself off.
Bigsby crouched back down in position behind the plate, not bothering to look up at AJ but did respond louder this time. “I said stop crowding the plate.”
“Is that you telling him to brush me back?” AJ asked as he approached the plate again.
Bigsby was on his feet and pulled his mask off. “It’s all part of the game. Everyone knows you’re less likely to connect with something high and inside. Nothing personal, lover boy.”
The crowd got even louder, seeing them face to face. Although, AJ was in no way facing off with the guy as he’d done plenty of times in the past with other players just before a bench-clearing brawl. Hearing the crowd, though, did make him look back at his dugout where his teammates appeared ready to run out if needed, but he shook his head, holding a hand up, letting them know things were cool. Bigsby was just being the arrogant smartass he was known to be. Obviously, he’d read the stories in the tabloids. Hence, the term of endearment he’d chosen for AJ today.
On a mission now, AJ set up to bat again, pulling back a little. The next pitch was a fast ball right down the middle, and AJ got a good whack at it. He’d hit home runs enough to know this one was out of there. A two-run home run put them up by two. The stadium, of course, went wild as he trotted around the bases. No matter how many times this happened, it was something he knew would never get old, especially with an at bat like the one he’d just had.
His teammates were all waiting for him at the plate with high fives and pats on the back. As he made it through the crowd at the plate, he walked by Bigsby, who was standing off to the side with a smirk. “Guess last night was that good,” he said.
AJ peered at him for a moment but didn’t give him the pleasure of responding to his stupid remark. Instead, he turned up into the stands and waved at his cheering fans then turned and met Addison’s eyes. She was smiling brightly and clapping. Clair, jumping up and down next to her and waving both hands in the air, got his attention, and he smiled, waving at them both.
One conclusion he’d come to in the midst of that morning’s surprise was that, after only two times out with Addison and Clair, it was already out there. He didn’t give a shit what anyone else said or thought of him and Addison. Not the press. Not any of the guys on the team. Not even his family. Sure he’d love nothing more than for them to be happy for him and for them to welcome her and Clair into their lives. With the way he felt about her, he’d make sure they understood she and Clair would be around a lot now. But the only ones he was concerned about were Coach Lara and Clair—Clair more so than the coach.. Yes, he wanted his coach’s blessing, but he had a feeling he already had it.
That morning in the locker room, the coach hadn’t addressed what was being said in the media or commented on the suggestive ribbing AJ had been getting from the guys. None of them had said anything outright, but like Bigsby’s “lover boy” remark, they made a few comments about his night out last night. All the coach had said was that the girls had had a good time and that Clair said he’d made Harrison’s year. He’d patted AJ on the shoulder then got right back to talk of the game ahead of them.
The two runs AJ’s homerun scored turned out to be all they needed as the Padres shut out the Cardinals to win the game. Clair had been as excited about meeting King and Queen as he’d been nervous about bringing her and Addison back to meet his family. He and Addison had already discussed it the night before, and she’d agreed there was no need for any deep explanations about why he’d bring Addison too. This was her seven-year-old little girl. It was one thing for them to be buddies on the field and around everyone else on the team. But it’d be kind of questionable, not to mention inadvisable, for him to be doing too much with her off the field alone.
Bringing them to the barbeque was a hit. Clair had a blast playing with the dogs, and everyone seemed to like and enjoy their company. AJ had told his siblings about Clair even before he’d met her mom. He’d previously told them about what an amazing and intelligent little girl she was, but he could tell right away they hadn’t been prepared just how grownup-like their conversations with her would feel. On the outside, she was this tiny little girl with the sweetest smile, but on the inside, she was a whirlwind of insightful information, declarations, and even witty banter. As expected, she quickly won everyone over, and no one seemed the least bit concerned about AJ’s obvious attraction to her single mom.