Page 30 of Fielder's Choice

“I’m not sure why you keep coming back,” Olive whispers softly, and I can tell she’s trying to make sure I can’t hear.

Unfortunately for her, I have great hearing.

I march over to where she’s crouched in front of my daughter, and I bend down beside her. “I keep coming back because I want to know more about you. Something about you keeps pulling me in.”

“I don’t know why,” she says, refusing to meet my eyes. “I have a lot of baggage, Lane.”

“And I’ve got some of my own,” I shrug. “Who doesn’t? And it doesn’t stop me from wanting to know you.”

Olive finally turns to face me, and the moment our gazes lock, the room brightens. My heart flutters. My words fail.

I’ve been a bachelor since I came into the majors, but it’s not like I’ve never dated. I had a girlfriend when I was on our Double-A team. As far as I know, I loved her. That just wasn’t enough for her to uproot her life when I was brought up to Triple-A and eventually the Stars.

But even with her, I never feltthis.

This… thing… I have with Olive feels so much different. That should probably make me nervous, but I’m actually more at ease than I’ve felt in my life.

So she can keep wondering about why I want to know her, but I won’t stop trying.

Olive is the one to break the tension by quickly turning away from me and back to Sage. “Well, I think that’s the end of today’s lesson, sweet girl!”

Sweet girl.

She has a nickname for my daughter.

How could Inotwant to know her?

I scoop Sage off the ground as both Olive and I stand up, and I hold my daughter on my hip. “What do you think about grabbing some lunch, Lovebug?”

Sage immediately reaches out to Liv with her arm. “Owive come, too!”

She looks at us, surprised. “You want me to come to lunch with you?”

How about that? Seems like my daughter is the wingwoman I’ve been looking for.

“Absolutely,” I smile. “We wouldn’t want to let Sage down, would we?”

“I don’t think we would,” she replies, biting back a grin. “Sage is my only student, so that won’t be an issue. Let me just go tell my mom I’m heading out now. I’ll meet you guys in the lobby.”

Olive practically prances out of the room, and I immediately kiss the top of Sage’s head.

“Best daughter ever.”

“I didn’t realize there were so many ways you could have mac and cheese,” Olive laughs as we traverse the streets of Manhattan.

When we left the studio, Sage demanded we get her favorite food for lunch—macaroni and cheese. One of her favorite places to get that is this hipster spot in Greenwich Village. It’s literally a macaroni and cheese bar.

It’s Heaven.

Unless you’re lactose intolerant, I suppose.

“Cheese the Day is probably Sage’s favorite restaurant,” I smile. “We probably grab it at least once a week, though if she had her way, we’d eat it for every meal.”

“Yes!” Sage chimes, looking up at me brightly with her signature toothy grin. She’s holding onto Olive’s hand as we walk down the sidewalk. I’d be jealous if it were anybody else, but Iwantmy daughter to bond with Liv.

“Not a bad idea, Sage,” Olive beams at my daughter. “Mac and cheese is one of the best foods. Second only to French food, in my opinion.”

“And when you go to Cheese the Day, you can top it with just about anything.”

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