Page 71 of Tastes Like Watermelon Moonshine
The sound of the crowd is lost on me, my mind a little over one hundred miles away. I wonder if she’ll watch today's game. I got her a MiLB TV subscription, so she can watch every game, and she has tickets for a game in two days. It’s the game right before my day off so I get to ride back with her. With her in the crowd maybe I’ll do one quick stretch with my back turned… No, that view is for Raegan only. But if she just happens to glance at it… Well, I won’t stop her.
“What’re you chuckling about over there?”
I pop my head up from my stretching position and glance over at Tim, who plays shortstop. “Just thinking about how some of the players love to give the crowd a view of their butt.”
“And you don’t?” Griff lifts his chin and his brows raise in a look he knows the women love. He’s got the blonde hair, the angular jaw, winning grin, perfect teeth, and flirty personality that the girls go for. He’s quite proud of his social media following. In his words, “the girls be poppin in the DMs.” Whatever that means.
“I’m not too interested in the whole world seeing my butt. Don’t think Raegan would be interested in the ladies in the crowd ogling it either.”
“More ladies for me.” Griff turns, and blows a kiss to a group of fans sitting in the stands.
I turn away so he can’t see me roll my eyes. Would the old me have relished the ladies' attention? I’d never really been a flirt.
“Thomas, catch a few grounders.” Our third baseman yells from his spot on the right field line. After several tosses, I back up and we switch to catching fly balls from each other. A twinge of pain shoots through my right shoulder as I throw the ball. A dull pain circles the whole shoulder whenever I lift my arm uptoo high. I ignore it, pushing through. Pain has to wait. I can tell the conditioning coach about it later. It isn’tthatbad.
I jog to second base after the national anthem finishes and the umpire behind home plate calls “Play ball!” There’s nothing like the buzz you feel at the start of the ball game. The pain in my shoulder comes and goes as the game goes on. It doesn’t keep me from hitting well, or playing my position in the field. I can wait another few days before I tell the conditioning coach or the therapists on the team.
After a seven to six win and a fresh shower, I’m sitting in the clubhouse, putting myself back together so I can head home. I reach down to tie my tennis shoes and another twinge of irritation shoots through my shoulder. I noticed it in the shower, but like at the start of the game it isn’t that bad. Okay, fine, it’s been a little stronger today.
I collect my things and head for the door. “I’m out for the night, see y’all tomorrow.”
“No milkshake tonight?” Jared asks from his spot in his cubby where he’s finishing his usual post-game hair routine.
“Nah, I’m a little worn out.” I want to call Raegan, and I just want to lie in bed. My days are long, and baseball can be physically demanding.
“See you bright and early for Bible study, right?” Josh points both index fingers at me.
“Always, man.” I salute him from the brim of my ball cap as I leave.
Two Days Later
“Da-da, hole.” Grace’s little arms reach for me and she nearly falls out of Raegan's arms. She’s got so many teeth now, and her grin shows them all off.
“How’s my little girl?” I catch her against my chest. Her chubby hands grips my jersey and she scrunches her nose at me, wanting me to rub it with mine. I give her what she wants because I know it’ll make her giggle, and that’s my current favorite sound. It used to be the sound of a ball hitting a bat, but her giggle tops even that now.
Holding Grace in one arm, I reach out and pull Raegan close with the other. Her arms slip around me, and her blue-gray eyes gaze up at me with adoration. Her honey-blonde hair is in its usual braid, not a speck of makeup mars her face, and her lips are pink and kissable as always.
I look into her eyes, silently asking permission. We haven’t talked about this yet. I don’t want to push our boundaries and repeat our previous mistake. Raegan rises on her tiptoes and brushes her lips across mine. I want to grab her, pull her in for a deeper one, but she pulls back before I have the chance to wrap an arm around her.
“I want to go slow with the kisses. Maybe we set a thirty second timer or something. We’ll figure it out.” She giggles.
“Me. Me.” Grace claps. I pull away from Raegan and press my nose to Grace’s cheek, inhaling her fresh baby scent. I know she isn’t really a baby anymore, but still. I blow a raspberry on her cheek and she tries to give me one back. Raegan laughs too, and I fall a little more in love with her.
I can’t decide whose laugh I like better; Raegan's or Grace’s. They both laugh with abandon, letting the happiness that comes with the laugh take over their whole being. Bliss. That’s what it feels like to love and be loved by these two ladies. I press my nose to Raegan's head and breathe in her coconut shampoo. “I’ve got to get out on the field soon for practice, but you come back down after the game is over.”
Raegan gives me one last hug before slowly extracting her arms from around me. The loss of her warmth makes me shiver. I love baseball, I really do, but as she takes Grace back into her arms… I feel alone.
Almost like I could give up baseball and be fine. Because I have them. And they’re all I want.
“Wish I didn’t have to play right now.”
“At least I’m here, cheering you on. Watching you play.” Raegan smiles, her eyes sparkling.
“Watching me or watching my butt?” I wink at her, my insides doing a happy dance at the blush that spreads across her cheeks.
“I wish Jaimie and Chrissy had never told you about that.” She rolls her eyes and giggles.
“Well, I’m glad they did. I think it made me love you just a little bit more.” I lean down to brush my nose to hers, Grace’s laughter filling the air around us. “And just so you know, your butt looks great in everything.”
