“What’s her name?”
“Baseball!”
I wish I had a camera at this exact moment so I can capture their expressions as they all deadpan at my answer. They’re stupid if they think I’m going to say anything about Daisy. We have a long road ahead of us and the last thing we need is the media hounding us. I do enough stupid shit that brings us plenty of attention. We don’t need any more.
The reporters don’t like me much after that answer, not that I can blame them. Kidd punches me in the shoulder and winks at me.
“Gettin’ laid tonight?”
I start to undress, hoping that if I ignore him, he’ll go away but he doesn’t. It’s not in his nature to just let something like this be brushed under the rug. He elbows me and I make the mistake of looking at him
. His tongue is doing things I can’t even describe to his cheek.
“Not gonna happen,” I say, bursting his bubble.
“Why not?”
“Because we have a lot of unresolved issues and jumping into the sack isn’t how you fix things.”
Kidd looks at me like I have two heads. “You’re a fucking pussy. You better turn in your man card. I think I’m embarrassed to know you.” He shakes his head and stalks off to the showers. It would be easy to be like him, but that’s not who I am. I tried to be the one-night stand guy and it wasn’t for me. Yeah, sex with no attachments is great, but sex with someone that you really care about is so worth it.
After I shower, I walk out of the clubhouse and back toward the dugout. The lights are still on and people are cleaning the stadium. Daisy still sits in the same spot she was in earlier, right where I asked her to stay. I sit down in the empty seat beside her and look out over the field.
“The reporters asked about you tonight. They asked me to tell them about my girlfriend.”
“What’d you tell them?”
“That I was in love with her.”
Her head turns and the light catches her eyes just right, making them sparkle.
“Oh yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah and they asked for her name. I told them her name is Baseball.”
Daisy’s lips morph into the biggest smile I’ve seen in a long time. “That’s the best answer ever.”
“I know,” I say, proud of myself for the quick thinking. “What are you doing here?”
“I got your tweet.”
I sent her a tweet before the game started, telling her that I missed her. It was a last ditch effort to reach her and to show her that I’m serious. I know I don’t owe her anything, but I feel something for her that I can’t let go. Call me a psycho stalker or a sociopath but I want to be with her, or at least have her in my life.
“I’m pretty good at tweeting.”
“Yes, you are,” she says.
We sit in silence, watching the grounds crew cover the field and preserve the infield for tomorrow’s game. They’ll be here first thing in the morning to get it ready. They’ll mow, edge and make sure everything is in place before they cover it up again for batting practice. It’s a tedious job, but they’re damn good at it.
“I don’t deserve to have you in my life.”
“I know,” I say, agreeing with her. Anyone else would’ve walked away, never looking back. But they’d be fools to walk away from someone like Daisy.
“I should’ve told you about my job when we first met.”
“Yes, you should have, but why don’t you tell me now?”
Daisy sighs, rubbing her hands over her bare thighs. It was ninety out today and the night air is the perfect temperature.