Page 32 of The Trouble with Players

As soon as Gina and I made our way through the entrance, I spotted the big event tent and heard loud music coming from it. Kids with their parents rushed by us in order to get to it.

“I wonder what’s going on over there,” Gina said.

“Cody didn’t tell you? The guys are signing autographs before the game.”

“How do you know?”

“Crew told me.”

“Crew?” She stopped, eyeing me curiously. “Are you guys talking now?”

I shrugged.

“Why is it you tell me nothing?”

“Nothing to tell,” I said as we headed toward the tent. Three long tables were set up, and the baseball players sat on one side while the little kids stopped to visit each player, getting autographs on photos, balls, or bats while their parents took photos.

“Look how good he is with kids,” Gina gushed.

I knew she meant Cody, but my eyes were focused on Crew, who sat at the very end of the line of players. Kid after kid approached him, and, to my surprise, he took his time speaking to each of them. His eyes shifted between the kid and whatever he was signing for them with a genuine smile on his face. The mothers always stood nearby; their smiles were just as wide as their kids’.

I wasn’t blind.

I understood the charm. Crew was good-looking, athletic, and his lines were convincing. But he was no different than the others. He proved it with the number of girls I’d seen him with in the short time I’d been back. He’d make them fall for him. Then, he’d find another one in some other town. It was inevitable.

As if he could sense me staring across the tent, his eyes lifted to mine and a slow smile spread across his face. Of course, he’d think I was there for him. So, instead of letting him think he was right, I raised my middle finger to my cheek and scratched.

He laughed before returning his attention to the kid in front of him, smiling at him like whatever he was saying was the most important thing he’d heard all day.

“Let’s go get a spot,” I said to Gina.

“You go. I wanna watch Cody interact with the kids some more. It’s so adorable.”

“Suit yourself.” I turned and made my way over to the first base line.

Other families greeted me as I took a spot on the grass. I stared out at the field as the groundkeeper raked the dirt around home plate, getting lost in my thoughts.

I wondered how many sides there were to Crew. The athlete. The womanizer. The hero to little kids. The caretaker. I pulled out my phone, wondering why it took me so long to stalk his socials. Surprisingly, he didn’t have any, so I searched up his name. Baseball photos appeared first. Some were high school photos while many were college photos. He hadn’t changed too much over the years. His jawline had definitely become more defined and chiseled and muscles had filled out his short-sleeved jersey. I continued to scroll and stumbled upon photos of him at parties with girls and teammates clearly pulled from social media. A tinge of jealousy swirled inside me.

“Whatcha doing?”

I flipped off my phone and looked up to find Sam standing there. “Hey.”

“Glad you made it to another game,” he said. “Figured you were done for the season.”

“Yet, here I am.”

“Hoping to see me?” he asked.

I laughed.

“Sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye last night,” he said.

“Yeah, sorry. I got so tired all of a sudden.”

“No worries. As long as you were okay.”

“Hey, I bet you made some kid’s day today,” I said, swiftly changing the subject.

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