Page 90 of Home Run

Now we needed to hang on to the lead and get another two wins in the bag to take us through to the League Championship Series. Every single one of us came off the field buzzing with a quiet confidence, which no one wanted to jinx by celebrating too loudly.

Even Coach stayed quiet for once, letting us get changed without one of his signature lectures about what we could have done better, and where we’d messed up.

I finished showering to find the locker room almost silent, thick with anticipation for tomorrow’s game. There was no hollering, or cheering, no play-by play of the evening. Even the usual wisecracks were missing. Some of the guys were quietly talking among themselves, others were sitting on the benches texting their friends and family.

Like Lux, I planned to get dressed as quickly as possible and head out.

He was seeing Radley, I was meeting Millie. Thoughunlike Lux, I doubted he was worrying about meeting her mom, he’d already experiencedthat.I was also hoping Millie’s mom hadn’t gone back on her promise not to rat me out for visiting her dad, because then she’d wonder why, and I’d have to tell her.

I was as good at lying to Millie as I was at keeping a secret.

I hadn’t spotted her during the game. I knew she’d been in one of the private suites with Radley, so I had yet to see her wearing my shirt. The moment I rounded the corner and clocked her in it, my heart thudded. It may have stopped beating altogether for a fraction of a second, because that’s exactly how she looked—heart stopping. And then a smile broke across her face as she spotted me, and in that moment I could believe I’d died and gone to heaven.

My gaze was so focused on Millie, I didn’t notice her brothers rolling their eyes and holding in a scowl, looking just as Hulk-like as they had when they’d burst into the apartment. It also took me a second to realize the older guy with slightly balding hair, and standing to the side wearing a sports jacket, must be Doug.

Doug lookedsafe.

It was the only word I could find to describe him. Safe. Unobtrusive, harmless, even. The total opposite of the pictures I’d seen of Millie’s dad, whom her brothers definitely took after. But I guess that’s what happened when your previous husband toured the world hunting down bad guys and putting himself in danger every day.

You found someone who would stay alive.

“Tan, this is my mom, Kirsten, and her boyfriend, Doug.” Millie smiled nervously, rubbing her hand over herbelly. “Mom, Doug, this is Tanner. And you know my brothers.”

I held my hand out, waiting to see if she’d give away our secret.

“Please call me Kirsty,” she said, after a beat that brought me out in a cold sweat.

“Mrs. Robinson…sorry, Kirsty. It’s great to meet you finally. Millie’s told me a lot about you.”

“And we’ve heard a lot about you too.” She smiled, stepping to the side to allow me to shake Doug’s hand too. It was exactly the handshake I expected him to give.

“And it pains me to say it, but well done on tonight’s game. You played well, Millie’s dad would have enjoyed it.”

“He’d have said it sucked,” shot out Josh.

“Don’t be an asshole,” Millie snapped back as quickly.

“Enough,” countered Kirsty, and from her tone, I could tell she’d done it a thousand times already today. “Do you have siblings?”

“I do.” I nodded. “An older brother and sister, and a twin sister.”

“Mom, Tanner’s twin is Holiday Simpson.”

Kirsty blinked hard. “The actress?”

“Yes, that’s her.”

I’d never been insecure about Holiday being way more famous than me, because I was talented enough in my own field for it not to matter. But I suddenly had a taste of the medicine Lucas and Riley drank, where they always complained that people only talked to them once they found out who their famous siblings were.

The scowl Millie’s brothers had been wearing immediatelydisappeared, to be replaced with an expression much more welcoming.

“Holiday Simpson’s yoursister?” spluttered Matty, his cheeks turning ever-so-slightly pink.

“Yup.” I grinned.

“She was awesome onSNL. She’s really funny.”

“I’ll tell her you said that. She’ll be pleased to hear it.” I didn’t add it would be because I waswayfunnier. Not only was I the favorite child, I was the funniest too.

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