Page 39 of Pitcher Us
“Callie, I told you I’d be here all day with you. I know you get nervous. I got the lavender tea because of it. But if you’re nervous then let me provide some comfort. I know without a shadow of doubt that you’ll nail these pictures.” I brush some loose hair behind her ear and my hand lingers for a second as I repeat the phrase I’ve heard in her rambles a couple times. “You can do hard things, Callie.”
Callie sucks in a breath and her lips immediately move into a thin line. Her green eyes dart down to my bare chest briefly before coming back to my eyes. And for a second, I swear they look at my mouth.
My hand still lingers on her neck. It would be so easy to pull her in and make my feelings perfectly clear. I can still touch her…I think.
“Cal—”
“Will,” she whispers. “We should probably head back.”
Dropping my hand, I fight my disappointment with a smirk. “Yeah, you’ve got some pictures to take.”
The “take it easy” memo was lost on all of us during this workout. Whether it was showing off for the camera or the girl behind it, we were all dripping sweat by the end of it.
Shannon’s been talking to us for a minute about some follow-up things Life Fitness might want but I’m only half listening. Callie’s sitting off to the side looking through her camera with a small smile on her face.
I should probably be more concerned with whose picture she’s smiling at, but honestly, I think she’s just smiling because she can see how good of a job she’s doing. Shannon might have tried to take control, but Callie ran this show. She spoke up when something wasn’t working and gave us stern but clear directions because, let's face it, we’re ball players not models.
So yeah, I don’t care if she’s not smiling at my pictures, I’m so fucking proud of her.
“Okay, that’s all for today boys.” Shannon claps, pulling my eyes from Callie. I hope someone else was listening to what she said because I sure as shit wasn’t.
“Hey,” Adam says next to me. “I have something I need to float by Coach Olsson. I think you’d be good for it too. You got time to hang back with me?”
“Is it going to take a long time? I’m supposed to be heading up to Reagan and Lucie’s place tonight for dinner.”
“Nah, it shouldn’t. I’m going to give Callie money for an Uber so she doesn’t have to wait for me then a quick shower. So give me ten minutes.”
Adam doesn’t wait for my answer before heading over to Callie. Well, I thought I might get another minute with her before she leaves but standing around waiting for her to finish with Adam and Shannon who is still hovering might come off a little desperate.
So I head to our small locker room for a quick shower and put on some clean gray sweats and a hoodie. Knowing Adam won’tbe too far behind I decide to make my way to Olsson’s office, but it seems I won’t be waiting alone.
“Hey, what are you still doing here?” I ask Callie as she leans against the wall fiddling on her phone.
“Told Adam I didn’t mind waiting.” She smiles at me while sliding her phone in her jacket pocket. “Thanks for earlier, I needed to hear that.”
“No need to thank me, Callie.” I lean next to her on the wall. “It’s what I do.”For a select few.
Her smile falters for a second and I’m not entirely sure why, but she recovers quick. “Well, I appreciate it.”
“Okay, are you ready?” Adam asks, hitting my back.
I hadn’t even heard him come up, so no, I’m not ready. I’m working with small windows of time with Callie, and I need more. I don’t even know what this meeting is about, but I know I can’t say, “I’d rather stay out here and talk to your sister.”
“Yeah,” I reply, pushing off the wall.
Adam turns to Callie. “And you’re good to wait? I’ll keep it quick so Will can make it for dinner.”
“Dinner?” Callie parrots as she looks at me with a raised eyebrow. Is my girl jealous?
“Dinner at Reagan and Lucie’s place. Reagan’s girlfriend is in culinary school so we get to reap the benefits.”
Callie pushes off the wall with her soft smile. “Tell everyone I said hi.”
She was totally jealous.
I give her a nod before following Adam in Olsson’s office. Olsson hardly looks up from the papers in front of him when we enter and gestures for us to sit. “So, what’s up?”
“An old teammate of ours called me asking if the Blues might be able to spare a few players for this spring training fundraiser he’s running. I thought it could be a good PR opportunity for us as the proceeds go to the animal shelters in South Carolina.”
