Page 68 of Batter Up!

“Nice to finally meet you!” I said. I was really relieved she was here because she could help buffer things with my family.

“Same here!” she said and gave me a big hug.

“Hunter!” Molly cried and gave my friend a hug, too, like she knew him and wasn’t just meeting him for the first time. “This is my best friend, Meadow. Mead, this is Ty’s new friend, Hunter Montgomery.”

“Nice to meet you,” Hunter said, and I could tell that he was checking her out but trying to not be obvious about it. Meadow was gorgeous with long blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, and legs that seemed to go on for days. Tall blondes didn’t do it for me, personally. I pulled my small, adorable redhead into my arms and kissed the top of her head.

“Nice to meet you, too,” my girl's best friend said and reached up to give him a hug. “We’re huggers around here.”

Montgomery chuckled and didn’t seem to mind giving her a hug.

“Hunty baby!” A whiney voice called from behind us. “Who is she?”

“Chloe! Hi, honey. Uh, yeah… this is Meadow. She’s, uh…”

“I’m his friend's friend, and we were just meeting for the first time. Didn’t mean anything,” Meadow explained simply. “Just a hug.”

Chloe, Montgomery’s girlfriend, still gave him a look, sauntered up to him, and wrapped herself in his arms. She was too skinny, with too much makeup and too little clothes. I guess some guys liked that type. I took Molly’s hand, and we began walking with the team towards the stadium.

“I’m so glad we got here when the bus got here.” Molly said, oblivious to the fact that her best friend was glancing over her shoulder to watch Montgomery and Chloe behind us. “We’re going to go grab lunch somewhere close, and then we’ll head back over here to watch the game.”

“Sounds great.” I said and pulled her close to me again and gave her another kiss, “God, I’ve missed you. I love you.”

Molly grinned, “I’ve missed you, too. So freaking much. Oh!”

“What! What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly on high alert.

“Baby just moved!” she said with a huge smile. “I love that feeling. Baby knows his or her daddy is here!”

I pressed my hands on her stomach but didn’t feel anything moving.

“Am I supposed to feel anything?”

“I don’t know,” Molly said quietly. “I guess I can ask my doctor at the next appointment.”

“How far along are you?” Hunter was finally able to ask.

“Almost twenty-one weeks,” she said as she protectively rubbed her stomach.

“Wow, is it multiples? You’re huge!” one of my other teammates asked. Hunter punched him in the shoulder before I could.

“Thank you!” Meadow said while moving her arms in front of her to emphasize a point. “That’s what I’ve been saying!”

“Oh, good. I just thought she was fat,” Chloe sneered from behind us.

Molly shrugged. “They haven’t said anything, but I have a new doctor with the new insurance, so we’ll find out at my appointment in a few weeks. They couldn’t get me in until then.”

“I’m betting on multiples!” Meadow said. “Anyone want to put some money down?”

“Not me, because I agree with you,” Montgomery said as he looked at my girl.

“Hunty bear! Let’s take some more selfies!” Chloe whined at him and pulled him away from us.

“What is she anyway? A freaking influencer?” Molly asked,

“Actually, yes,” I said with a groan. “Hunter said she’ll order tons of food and ask for it for free to tell people about it on her social media. Some places give her free food, but she pouts when they don’t. It's insufferable.”

“Not someone I want to hang out with,” Meadow sighed loudly. “I miss Penelope already!”

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