Page 318 of Well Played

“So that excuses me for sending Grace away and not making sure she was happy?” He shook his head. “I can’t forgive myself for the year and half I left Grace with my parents.” He sighed. “They meant well, but they treated her like she had no agency.” He paced beside her, and Kay could see the guilt and agony he was still dealing with.

Grace and Jimmy were making their way back to them. She grabbed Walker’s hand and pulled him along. “Come on, I’ll treat you to some ice cream.”

“I’m in training.”

“Sugar free sorbet. That’s like frozen fruit.”

He allowed her to pull him along.

Grace elbowed Jimmy.

“Hey, that’s not nice. I nearly dropped my ice cream cone,” Jimmy complained.

“They’re holding hands,” Grace whispered loudly.

Kay shook her head and laughed. “I heard that, Grace.”

“Everyone heard that,” Walker said with a chuckle.

Kay ordered herself a dark chocolate dipped strawberry sundae. “And whatever the old dude wants.”

“Old? I just beat your punk a— astronomical behind in the batting cage.”

Kay bit her lips to keep from laughing, realizing he’d altered his intended slur to make it more young-fan-friendly since there were families nearby.

“Besides, I’m not that much older than you.”

“Oh yeah, seven years at least!” She took a bite of her sundae and moaned. “This is sooo good. You don’t know what you’re missing,” she said, licking the spoon with gusto. She took a plump strawberry and sucked the dark chocolate from the fruit, aware that Walker was watching her.

Walker ate his sorbet as he watched Kaylee tease him with hers. He wondered if she knew how erotic her actions were or if she was just teasing him over not being able to eat ice cream. When she scooped up another strawberry, Walker snatched it and popped it into his mouth.

“Hey, get your own!” She swatted at him.

“It’s much better stealing yours.” He dipped his spoon into her sundae.

“Hey! I didn’t give you permission to sample my goodies.”

He raised a brow. “Do I have permission to sample your goodies?” He let the innuendo hang in the air as he stared at her lips.

“Not on your life, bubba.” She sauntered off, giving her hips an extra swing.

Walker had to admit, he hated to see her leave, but boy did he like to watch her go. He grinned and hurried over to join Kay, Jimmy, and Grace at one of the picnic tables.

“When do you have to leave Uncle Walker?” Grace asked around a spoonful of ice cream.

“I got to get packed up.”

“You’re leaving?” Kay asked.

“We’ve got a couple more games before the playoffs. If we win the next two games, we’ll get the bye, if not…” he sighed, and said, “We’ll have to compete for the wild card.”

“And that means he’ll be on the road a lot,” Gracie complained.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come along? You might get lonely at home by yourself.” He worried about leaving her, but Grace insisted she could take care of herself.

“I’ll be fine. I have friends now. If you want to leave me your car…”

Walker shook his head. “Nope, not until you pass your driver’s school examine and get your driver's license.”

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