Page 40 of Batter Up!

“What can I get you guys?” I asked as I went back to my side of the counter.

“Well, I want a few chocolate croissants and two snickerdoodle cookies. Yours are the best ever!” Craig exclaimed with a rub to his bigger belly.

“Coming right up,” I said with a smile.

“I’ll take a full loaf of A’s favorite bread. Shit, I can’t remember what kind she wanted. Let me text her to find out,” Nathan stammered.

“Honey vanilla bread,” I said as I pulled the bread from the case.

“That’s it!” Nate exclaimed. “Thanks, Molly!”

“That shows you how good she is at her job. I could never remember people’s orders,” Ayden complimented with a wink in my direction.

“What can I get you?” I asked Ayden. He didn’t come in often enough for me to know his regular order.

“Well, I would love to take you out on a date,” Ayden said with confidence. I heard the girls at the nearby table groan in jealousy.

“Fuck, bro, get here now,” I heard another familiar male voice say from behind them in line. I looked over at one of Tyler’s friends and recognized him as a guy who came in the bakery every once in a while. I knew I recognized him from somewhere but couldn’t remember where.

“Hi, Cooper Dixon!” I called out with a huge smile when I saw who was talking on the phone. I was also avoiding Ayden since I wasn’t sure what to say to him.

“Hey, shorty!” He replied as he pressed the end call button on his phone and dropped it into his pocket. “You are the girl from the bar, the tire incident, and you work here! What are the odds?!”

“That’s me!” I said with a grin.

“Hey, beautiful,” Cooper said with a lopsided grin as he looked down at Penelope. “Can I get your number yet?”

Penelope rolled her eyes, but she also had a blush in her cheeks. “No, but I can get your cinnamon roll and coffee with vanilla creamer.” She knew his order, which was an interesting development.

I turned my attention back to Ayden and asked him what he wanted to eat from the bakery. He looked around the cases and pointed at a cinnamon roll, too, before asking if I could make a frappuccino. The girls at the nearby table began complaining again and let him know that I couldn’t make those.

“Sorry, I have espresso drinks, so I can do mochas, lattes, americanos, and macchiatos. I also have iced coffee or regular coffee,” I explained as I pointed to my beloved espresso machine. “If you’re not a coffee drinker, I have hot chocolate, tea, and bottled soda and water.”

Ayden decided to order a hot chocolate, and I began making his drink. He was still talking to me when I heard the bells above the door again. I think he was describing a perfect first date to take me on, but all I could see was the gorgeous man entering the bakery with two pizza boxes in his arms and a grocery bag with drinks hanging from his hand. His green eyes locked with mine, and everything else faded away. It also helped that he was a head taller than Ayden, so my view wasn’t blocked.

“So, Molly, what do you think?” Ayden asked me. Hearing my name snapped my thoughts back to the man standing right in front of me.

“Think? Um, think about what?” I asked, feeling my face turning red.

“I was asking if you had plans Saturday night. I really want to take you out. I’ve been meaning to ask for a while, but my job has kept me out of town.”

I looked from Ayden’s hopeful eyes up to Tyler’s green eyes, which were sparkling as he watched our exchange. All Tyler did was give me a lift of his eyebrow and a shrug of his shoulder. Did he not care if I went out with another guy? I was totally confused. What had been the point of all his teammates coming in today?

Pregnancy can do strange, beautiful, and wacky things to your hormones and your body! Changes such as food cravings and aversions can be quite normal.

The look of confusion on Molly’s adorable face told me everything I needed to know. She didn’t want to go out with this short asshat any more than I wanted her to go out with him.

“He’s definitely a pendejo, brother,” Ivan whispered in my ear as he followed me into the bakery.

I wasn’t exactly sure what insult Ivan was calling him, but I grinned over at him. It sounded a lot worse than asshole. I would ask him later for the translation.

“Hi, Strawberry Shortcake!” I intentionally walked around the competition and set the pizza boxes down right in front of him. “I brought you lunch.”

Her eyes shot up to mine, and she got a huge blush on her adorable face. “What did you just call me?”

“Strawberry Shortcake. It fits you perfectly,” I explained with a grin and took a lock of her strawberry colored hair in my hand. “Strawberry hair, and I’m not sure if anyone has told you before, but you are just a little short.”

“Oh my gosh! No one has ever mentioned that!” she exclaimed with a big grin. “Someone else called me Strawberry Shortcake years ago, and it brings back good memories. I really like that nickname.”

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