Page 28 of Totally Fanatic

“Take a picture? I always wanted to be a giant. Do you know that story with the beanstalk? I dressed up as the giant every year as a kid for Halloween.”

Tim gets out his camera and takes a few shots, then joins me on the porch.

“Is there somewhere inside where we can eat?” he asks, and I unlock the door and lead him in.

There is a tabletop that lifts up at the edge of the kitchenette and requires us to sit on the end of the bed as seats. I start laying out the containers, and Tim slides in to sit, leaving space for me beside him.

He leans in toward the food, closing his eyes and breathing in the spices. His long blond hair is tied back again, and while it’s adorable in a low ponytail at the back of his neck, I love seeing it out more. Specifically hanging loose and messy around his face. From this angle, his jaw is sharp, and I can see a slight kink in his nose that I never really noticed seeing him front-on in his pics and from afar at the field. It has to be from an old injury. Probably from something dangerous in Australia, that place is full of dangerous things. Everything there is trying to kill you.

“This smells incredible. And you don’t know what you got?”

I shake my head.

“They were really nice, they wouldn’t even charge me.”

“Wait. It smells this good,andit was free?”

“I tipped.”

He lifts the lid on the first container.

“Suddenly I’m starving. Sit, let’s eat.”

I grab us forks and a stack of napkins and sit as he’s lifting off the last lid.

“Wow, look at that bark,” he says, picking up a little piece with his fingers and popping it into his mouth. He closes his eyes again, as if seeing it will somehow take away from experiencing the full flavor. His tongue sweeps over his lower lip, lapping up the sauce before sucking one finger into his mouth and releasing it with a pop. It was far sexier than I ever thought eating could be, and I turn my attention back to the food before the rest of my body starts reacting to him, too.

I pick up a shred of meat, sure to get some with a line of bark, and pop it into my mouth, closing my eyes just as Tim did.

It’s sweet and rich and has a soft crunch in my mouth.

“Do you like it?” Tim asks, and I open my eyes.

“It tastes good to me. What do you think?”

“I think it’s perfect. They might have used cherry or apple wood to smoke it, but I’m not sure exactly.”

“You know a lot about barbeque.”

“It’s my favorite way to cook meat. One day, I…”

He stops mid-sentence and picks up another piece of brisket, popping it into his mouth.

“One day what?” I ask, and he sighs, the pure joy that was emanating from him a moment ago shadowed by a nervousness I don’t like.

“I want to do this one day. You know, after baseball.”

“You want to make barbeque?”

He nods.

“Cool.”

“Huh?”

“That’s really cool. So, is that why you try all the barbeque places on tour to learn what you like and how to do it?”

His smile is back. It’s not the full face kind that makes his eyes twinkle. But I’ll take it.

---