Page 76 of Stealing Home

Oh, fuck no. He better look elsewhere.

“Thanks, Heather. We should get on the road. Lots to do.” Adriana tells Heather.

That’s my girl.

“You’re right. Bye, guys.” Heather waves.

Heather hugs Ty and gives him a quick peck and then comes over to me to hug me goodbye.

Adriana is next to hug me, and she kisses my cheek.

“I’ll talk to you later, Cole. Bye, guys! See you later Ty!” comes from Adriana as she and Heather walk out of the backyard.

The guys on the team, minus Crawford, know who Adriana is, obviously, and that we are good friends because of my brother and his wife. They all have been respectful about her since she started coming around the team.

“Adriana is fucking hot. She single?” Crawford asks.

My hands turn to fists at my side. Before I can even say anything, Crawford continues.

“Cole, hook me up with her. You two seem tight.” He states.

Ty barks out a laugh. Sean is looking like a deer in headlights because his new buddy likes the same girl he knows I do. Dean looks over at me with a is-he-kidding-me-face.

“We are.” I tell him.

“Crawford, I’ll tell you like I told the other guys on the team. Adriana is off limits to you in that way. She’s my wife’s personal assistant, and I will have none of you running her off.” Ty tells him.

“What if she wants to get to know me? I won’t run her off, not right away at least.” He laughs.

Is he fucking kidding me? Yeah, no. I’m not putting up with that. He doesn’t know how to read the room.

“Crawford.” I bark.

“What? I’m joking. It’s not that serious. Scared she might be interested in me and not you?” he retorts.

“We don’t do that here. I don’t know what went on with the teams you’ve played for before coming here but, we don’t disrespect each other or our families. She is not only Heather’s employee but also one of her best friends. She might not work directly for the organization but she works under the foundation and that makes her family. Me being interested in her or not isn’t relevant.” I state.

“We all respect each other here and it’s why we are a tight club. It’s why we can work so well on the field because we bring those same values off the field too. No one here will care if you put up numbers if they can’t trust and count on you.” Dean says with a bite. “You are only here because I’m injured. Remember that. If you can’t make it work with the team until I’m back, you most likely won’t be here next year.”

Holy shit. I’ve never heard Dean talk like that. He is normally a glass half full kind of guy. This is his way of letting Ty and I know he has our back.

“Message received loud and clear.” Crawford says and then walks away to talk to some of the other guys.

“Was that needed? You guys basically ganged up on him.” Sean says.

“We don’t talk like that about anyone that’s brought into the group. He’s been here for five seconds and you’re taking his side, Sean?” Ty asks.

“Well, the three of you weren’t exactly being welcoming.” Sean snaps back.

“Sean, we’re a family. You know this,” Dean tells him.

“Yeah, whatever. Afraid of competition, Cole?” Sean replies and walks over to where Crawford is with a few of the relief pitchers talking.

What the fuck just happened? Did Sean really just defend him? Sure, he didn’t do anything, but for him to joke about not running Adriana off yet was not cool. And for Sean to defend him when he knows that I’m interested in Adriana and taking his side is fucked. I’m not afraid of competition. What they don’t know is that she is already mine.

“Let’s get back to enjoying the night.” Ty says.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” I reply.

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