Page 122 of Home Run

The first sip of coffee had me thinking I’d imagined the pain, because I suddenly felt so much better. “We can’t, we have the lunch, remember? How come you’re up so early,anyway? I thought you’d be taking the opportunity to sleep in.”

Holiday had finished filming part two of her New York movie epic and had a couple of weeks off before all the promotion properly began for the first release. She was using the time to rest, before the grueling schedule started up again, and only the other day informed us that under no certain terms would she be getting out of bed before lunchtime, especially as the World Series games went on late.

“I’ll have a nap later,” she said, swiping through the maple syrup on her plate with the last bit of her pancake. “But my parents are arriving, and I forgot about what happened last year in the NLDS, so I came to prepare you.”

“Prepare me?” I put down the coffee cup and turned to her. “What? What happened?”

Pushing her plate to the side, she laced her fingers together and leaned forward. “Matching shirts.”

“Matching shirts?”

“Yep. With Tanner’s face on the front and a letter from his name on the back. It spells out SIMPSON. We’re required to wear them.”

“Oh.” I breathed out, my heartbeat returning to its normal rate after a momentary panic. I needed to remember how dramatic Holiday could be, it would be better for my overall health. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Just wait.”

So they weren’tbadbad, but let’s just say they attracted a lot of attention.

Tanner’s mom had been featured by ESPN and FOX Sports, and was now making her way back from the field after being interviewed on the Lions TV network during the changeover.

And no one had gotten out of wearing one, even Radley and my brothers. I was wearing theMfor obvious reasons, Tanner’s mom, Shelley, had anS, his dad, Pete, had theP, and so on. There were enough for everyone. Holiday had decided to recycle last year’s shirt, which still had Tanner’s face but his whole name on the back instead of a letter.

It was a vibe to say the least, but truly one I was thoroughly enjoying. It was impossible not to like Shelley, she was just like Tanner—constantly smiley and happy—from the moment she first walked into the apartment and wrapped me in a hug.

She was the right side of intense and had been so sweet that I was only too happy to wear her T-shirt.

“Have fun down there, Shelley?” I asked as she sat down in the seat next to my mom.

Yeah, did I mention they’re now besties who suffered from the same affliction of literally trying to shop until they dropped? This baby now had enough clothes to see them through until graduation.

“Oh, honey, that was so fun.” She beamed out, patting my leg as she sat down. “How are you? You feeling any better?”

I nodded. “A little, I think I’m probably just tired.”

“That baby has to be a boy, they suck the energy right out of you,” she said with a heavy eye roll.

“And it never stops,” added my mom, glaring at my brothers.

I rubbed across my belly. “Well, we’ll find out soon enough. Just a couple more days.”

Whatever Shelley’s reply was got drowned out by a deafening roar from the crowd, another one. The sixth inning changeover was complete and the Yankees were at bat. The energy at Yankee Stadium was different from yesterday’s—the fans weren’t so happy at their loss and were making it known.

Every fumble and foul ball, or questionable umpire call toward the Lions was being cheered loudly enough it could be heard for miles around. It didn’t help that the Lions weren’t playing quite as well as they had in their home ground.

“Ooh, there’s my boy, come on, Tanny,” yelled Shelley when Tanner’s face popped up on the jumbotron as he made his way into position.

“My mom thinks Tanner can hear her,” muttered Holiday.

It didn’t look like he’d heard. His eyes were narrowed above the antiglare swipes while he aggressively chewed on gum. He’d missed a catch this game that had resulted in the Yankees getting three players safely home, and he’d still looked pissed.

Doing my best to ignore the dull ache in my side, I watched as Ace pitched his first ball. The Yankees batter hit a line drive straight to Tanner, who snatched it up andthrew it out to Sawyer James on second base, who caught it a split second too late.

“Nice play, Tan,” yelled Tanner’s dad, his hands cupped around his mouth. “Keep it up.”

“This is a harder game than yesterday,” said Radley, turning to Holiday and me.

“It’s just the Yankees’ first game in front of a home crowd, is all. It’s bound to be harder. Tanner said Jupiter Reeves thinks the Lions will win in game five.”

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