Page 29 of Crossed Up

With a resigned sigh I don’t mean, I grip his giant hand and twine our fingers together. “And now I guess it’s me.”

Rhodes snickers in front of us and finally turns back in his seat as the flight attendant flips on the seatbelt sign.

My seat-mate shoots me a grateful smile, his belt already locked and as tight as humanly possible across his lap. I filter through my mental Rolodex of distraction techniques, but it’s hard because most of them are designed for children.

Turning in my seat slightly, I try to catch Aidan’s eye and think of the most ridiculous question I can. “Have you ever seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?”

He snorts in amusement, but the slight green pallor to his skin nearly has me reaching for a barf bag. “The original or the remake?”

I use my free hand to tap a finger on my chin. “Both.”

“I’ve seen both more times than I care to admit. Crew went through a candy-obsessed phase. His fourth birthday? Candy factory themed.”

That makes me laugh and his coloring is starting to look better, so I keep going. “Okay follow-up question then: which did you like better?”

Apparently, my question is ridiculous because it earns me an eye roll and a look that clearly asks, “Are you serious?”

“The new one, obviously. I don’t know what it is about that movie specifically, but Gene Wilder’s version of Wonka creeps me the fuck out.”

I snort with laughter. “I literally couldn’t agree more! I loved him in other things, but that movie? Ugh, I get chills just thinking about it. And not the good kind.”

Aidan smirks and shakes his head at me, squeezing my hand the slightest bit. “Was there a specific reason you asked that?”

“Nope. Just wanted to distract you until we were comfortably in the air.” I shrug, letting go of his hand briefly so I can pull out my laptop.

When I glance back, his mouth is gaping open, and even the nosy couple sitting in front of us is staring at me in shock. It makes me feel slightly defensive, so without thinking, I snap at them. “What?”

“I don’t think he’s ever gotten through a takeoff that easily before,” Rhodes whispers in awe. “One of us is normally holding a barf bag for him or losing feeling in our fingers from his meaty paws squeezing the life out of them.” He leans over the back of his seat and offers me a high five, which I proudly return.

“Thanks,” I smile smugly. “I learned that in one of my child psychology classes.”

That has our friends howling with laughter in front of us, earning us a glare from one of the flight attendants. If this is any indication of how this trip is going to go, I can’t freaking wait to get there.

13

AIDAN

I’ve never been this nervous for a game in my life, and as someone who’s been to the playoffs multiple times in his major league career, that’s saying something.

This won’t only be Lyla’s first time watching me play but her first baseball game ever. I’m both honored and antsy as hell. I’ve been unconsciously bouncing my leg for the last ten minutes, making the metal bench rattle.

“Dude.” Copeland hits me with a vicious side-eye from his spot next to me before reaching out to rest a hand on my knee. “What the fuck is up with you? I haven’t seen you this nervous since your rookie year when you puked on coach’s shoes.”

The reminder makes me cringe. “Who was it that convinced me taking shots of Fireball would help me relax?”

Several of the guys overhear and snicker, sending Cope into a fit of laughter. “You smelled like a sorority house the rest of the day.” He gets a faraway look in his eyes, making me roll mine.

Of course, he would conveniently leave out that he’s the one who supplied me with the liquor and assured me it would help the pre-game jitters. I can’t even look at cinnamon-flavored things now.

“Really though, is there something I should know? I need you on your game out there today, Preach. New York is going to be our toughest series this year, and we need to hit them hard in the preseason to rattle them a bit.”

Copeland is our starting pitcher and has been my partner in crime on and off the field since I was drafted to catch for the Raptors seven years ago.

He and I have both received trade offers from other teams over the years, but my best friend has been set in his ways ever since he broke things off with his ex, and I wanted Crew to have as much stability as possible.

I turn to face the broody bastard next to me with a sigh. “You know how I hired a nanny for Crew last month?”

His eyes narrow suspiciously. “Yeah, I saw it in the group chat, but what…” he gasps, squeezing my thigh hard enough to give me a Charlie horse.

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