Page 66 of Batter Up!

“Sorry, love,” he apologized and put his phone down. “You now have my undivided attention for a few more minutes.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“No shit, bro. You have plans I don’t know about?” Hunter asked.

“Why don’t the two of you room together?” I asked. I loved how quickly Tyler was able to make friends.

“It’s not up to us. But when we go on roadtrips, we stay together,” Tyler explained.

“The coaches love how well we get along. We’re killing anyone who tries to steal second base.”

“That’s great!” I exclaimed. “You and Swanson never really connected that way.”

“Nope, he didn’t have the awesome reflexes or height Montgomery here has.”

“Thanks, man!” Hunter said with a huge grin. “I couldn’t stand our last catcher. You’re way better than him. He never studied pitchers and let a lot of pitches go in the dirt. Also, he didn’t know how to frame. You’ll be called to the big show before he will.”

I was glad that Tyler’s friends saw his talent. Their friendship was very different from the one he had with Ivan, but I could tell they were already close.

I heard a knock on my back door and set the big jug of vegetable oil on the shelf. “I’ll be right back.” I went to the back door and saw Cooper and Ivan standing there with scowls on their faces.

“Why didn’t you call us, Shorty?” Cooper asked when I opened the door.

“Call you about what?”

“No lifting!” Ivan scolded me, but he had a smile on his face.

“Oh my god!” I cried out and followed them into the pantry. “Tyler Stone! Did you really call the guys?”

“Yes, I did! You don’t need to be lifting things. Now, let them put the heavy stuff away while you sit down and relax.”

“Ugh!” I said with a shake of my head. I then introduced Ivan and Cooper to Hunter over the phone. I didn’t sit down and relax, but I did point out where I wanted them to put stuff and yelled at Cooper when he tried to put stuff up on the top shelf. He was six foot six and didn’t understand why I needed stuff on the lower shelves.

“Well, there are step ladders for a reason.”

“Dixon!” Tyler yelled through the phone. “She is NOT going on any step ladders. She could fall and hurt herself and our baby.”

“Fine,” Cooper said and moved the bags of flour to the bottom shelf. Later, he tried to put a case of pecans on the top shelf without thinking.

“If you keep putting stuff up there, I’m going to cut off your man bun,” I threatened with a laugh.

“Oh, shit! Sorry!” he cried. “And don’t you dare threaten the man bun. The ladies love it!”

“If you say so,” I said with a giggle.

“Baby, should I grow a man bun?” Tyler asked through the phone. I could see that he and Hunter were working out while talking to me.

“NO!” All of us, including Ivan, exclaimed.

“Hey, I’ll be right back,” Cooper said and left the kitchen area to go to the front of the bakery.

“Where’s he going?” Hunter asked.

“Sweet tooth.” Ivan explained as he motioned at the bottles of different flavored syrups and asked where I wanted them.

We talked for a few more minutes before Cooper came back in with a hunch to his shoulders.

“Shorty, do you have a few bucks I could borrow?”

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