Page 57 of Wild Pitch
“So, you had fun?”
“I did. How was your flight?”
“Uneventful. The charter flight was much less interesting than the day I got stuck in coach.” Who would have thought that switching seats with someone would lead me to Kylie?
“See? Good things happen when you hang out with the regular people.”
“Well, I sat next to Sam on the flight. I won’t get into details, but he’s the real deal. Your sister and her little boy have him wrapped around their fingers.”
I gave Kylie the Cliff’s Notes, but Sam had talked about her the entire flight.
“She likes him a lot. But damn, I can’t lie. The entire situation makes me extremely anxious. Should I trust this stranger with my sister? My nephew?”
“That’s up to your sister. I work with plenty of cocky bastards and men that I wouldn’t trust withmysister. Sam isn’t one of those. I mean, he’s cocky as hell on the mound, but off the field, he’s a good man.”
Kylie was quiet for a bit, and I wondered if she’d fallen asleep.
“Ky?”
“Yeah? Oh, sorry, I was thinking.”
“About what?”
“About how it’s going to be hard to keep this under wraps with my family.”
I flinched. “You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
That stung. I was more than ready to tell everyone I knew about Kylie, but she planned to hide me from the most important people in her life.
“Well, Molly is flying out here at the end of the summer. She and Jack will both be here then, and I’m going to want to introduce you. Is that something you’d agree to?”
“We’ll see. Hey, I should get going. I’ve got a long day tomorrow, and I started today with a sleep deficit. I’ve got to catch up tonight.”
I said goodbye but couldn’t shake off the idea that she was purposely avoiding the discussion. We had time, though. Kylie had somehow gotten the impression that I wasn’t serious about a relationship. I hoped it wasn’t due to her belief that only relationships leading to marriage mattered.
We spoke with each other every night during the road series, and for the most part, there was an ease in our conversation. When I mentioned I had met her father, Kylie got squeamish.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. He was with your sister and Sam. We had a brief introduction; he came along on the road trip so Sam and Kelsey could go out for a late dinner with Sam’s father and grandfather.”
“Okay.”
“Ky, what’s wrong? Did you expect me to say that I knew you?”
“No. I’m sorry, Luc. Everything about us feelsright.But then it’s like there’s a giant wall that we’re eventually going to slam into. And my Dad meeting Sam and you, but not knowing who you are to me, it feels—ugh—icky. Like what we have is this dirty, depraved secret relationship.”
“Say the word, Kylie. It won’t be a secret.”
“Gah. Heard.”
After a brief silence, “I saw the rookie tonight. I might have cried.”
A rookie had been called up for his first major league game today and had his first home run. He had caught the attention of the national media, and the press had been showing clips of his first game, both on the news and all over social media.
“Yeah, Connor had the first game every player dreams of having. Hopefully, the pressure from the attention won’t get in his head.”
