Page 32 of Totally Fanatic

“I’ve seen you at the games, you’re a reporter, too, right?”

“I am. I’ve seen some of your posts online, you’ve grabbed some great videos and photos. Your stuff is great, I’d love to use some of the photos if you were cool with that.”

“Sure, you can use whatever you like.”

They take seats on the other side of the table and more players are behind them. Pat Night and Ryan Tanner, who are as friendly as ever. His boyfriend and the only non Funky Monkey, Alan Beaker, and then there is Calvin Parks, the twin. I’m glad he didn’t bring his brother. I’m getting kind of used to seeing them at games at the same time. Well, not really. I mean, I am getting better at not letting myself look right from one to the other. I can’t help it. The whole twin thing still creeps me out. Is there a name for a person afraid of twins?

“I wasn’t sure how many were coming so I grabbed the big table, is this it?” I ask, and Duckie picks up the menu.

“This is it. We can’t really have too late of a night with another game tomorrow. Have you eaten here before?”

“Oh, I know. That’s why I picked this place. Nice and close to your hotel.”

Duckie looks up from his menu but doesn’t say anything. Ian clears his throat.

“Oh, wow, they do barbeque gator. I’ve never had it. Do you guys want to get a table of mixed mains and just try a bunch of stuff?”

“Sounds good to me,” I say, and Ian calls over the waiter.

Tim leans into my side.

“Thanks for doing this,” he says.

“You need to eat and you like spending time with your friends. I’m happy to spend time with them, too.”

“So, Lion, tell us more about you,” Ryan says as the waiter starts pouring water for the table. “What do you do for work?”

“I work at a cafe with my best friend.”

“Really, what do you do there?”

“I make sandwiches, organize the display and help with drinks, but mostly Mary Beth handles the coffee, but I make a really good triple choc milkshake. You should come check it out when you are back in Savannah.”

“I love chocolate, that sounds great.”

Duckie leans forward and rests his elbows on the table. If Mom was here, she’d scold him, but I won’t.

“You have a hobby, though, too, right?”

“A hobby?”

“President of the Tim Sage Fan Club,” Duckie says.

“Oh my God, yes,” I reply, my leg bouncing under the table as I’m unable to hold back my excitement. “Tim’s amazing. I mean, you all play great. But he’s my favorite player. I have a pageonline where I share my pics and videos and comments about his games. It’s gained a bunch of new followers, too. I think you followed me, too, this week, right?”

Duckie’s face blushes a rosy shade of pink, and Ian snuggles in at his side.

“We both did. Your posts are great. Did you always follow Banana Ball or only when the new teams joined?” Ian asks.

“Oh, always. I loved the OG teams from the moment they started, but when Tim joined, it just got so much better.” I turn to Tim. “Remember that first year when you caught out that OG player? Man, the crowd was so shocked, they never thought your team stood a chance against the OG’s, but you showed them.”

“I can’t believe you remember that,” Tim says.

“I remember all your games. Oh, you need to try the crab legs here. They do this smoked leg with garlic butter sauce, and you said you had a beef brisket recipe that you were creating a garlic sauce for, too. Maybe you could do a crab meat topper from smoked crab legs instead. Oh, oh, oh, you could use both on top of giant baked potatoes or mac and cheese. Yes, loaded mac and cheese. That would be amazing, don’t you think?”

“What would loaded mac and cheese be amazing for?” Pat asks.

“Tim’s food truck. Don’t you think it would be awesome? Driving around, traveling all over the US, cooking up your favorite food and sharing it with people?”

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