Page 107 of The Third Baseman

I looked down at Xander, still content being held by me and slapping my cheek every couple of minutes. If I could have a kid like this, I’d be happy. But with my luck I’d get the one who was outside and currently smashing up the flower beds with a full-size hockey stick.

“Fuck’s sake,” one of the guys growled as he took off and removed said hockey stick, then marched his kid back down to where the moms were.

“Anyway…” Jasper said as he swigged his beer, “the new season started well, and you’ve been playing well. Did Shepherd change the whole team?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you trying to say you haven’t been avidly following the New York Lions?”

“Dude, between the Rangers, my wife, and kids, I have my hands full, so how ‘bout you catch me up?”

I chuckled. Jasper Jacobs was also having a good season, and was well on his way to his first Stanley Cup win as part of the Rangers coaching team, so I guess I could cut him some slack. I showed support with a quick punch to his shoulder.

“Yeah, he changed the whole team, save for Lux Weston, Boomer Jones, and Parker King. You need to come to a game, man. The Stadium is top notch. He’s pumped nearly a billion in, if you include the players too.”

“Didn’t most of that go on your salary?” snorted Drew. “Why are you not paying me rent again?”

I smirked and sipped my beer, willing myself not to rise to his bait, because this was our relationship. It started when he first started dating Emerson and I hadn’t been too happy about it, but truth be told, he was a decent guy, and she couldn’t have gotten anyone better. I still liked to give him shit though.

“I’m going to teach your son to play baseball for free, remember?”

He leaned over and snatched Xander from my arms. “This is a hockey kid.”

“We’ll see.” I gently patted Drew’s face. “We will see.”

Xander looked like the only thing he actually cared about was where his next meal came from; and the conversation moved between baseball and hockey as quickly as a puck across fresh ice, or a home run.

“Well, something’s working. I can’t believe you beat the Mets! That was a fucking awesome game, dude.”

Yeah, what a fucking game. That was the day after I’d found Marnie at my door, and knowing she was watching had started my superpower. But more than that, it had been a couple of weeks since we’d started trying out the One Percent program of hers, and it was working.

I wasn’t being biased either.

I’d overhead some of the guys talking about it.

“Yeah, that’s all Marnie. She’s been working her butt off, and it’s starting to happen.”

Jasper’s brows knotted. “What does that mean?”

“She’s got this theory that if we improve the tiny things that annoy us, we’ll improve exponentially overall as team.”

She’d already got me my little bat baggies, so I was happy. I was still working on the tape to keep Ace’s trap shut though.

“Huh, sounds interesting,” was all he said, but I could see the cogs turning. I wouldn’t put it past Jasper to have the Rangers signed up to it next year.

“Wait, hold up.” We all turned to Felix, who actually had his hand up. “Marnie? We’re not talking about Marnie Matthews?TheMarnie Matthews?”

I cringed and was about to accuse Drew of blabbing, because I’d momentarily forgotten about a night during the off season a few years ago when I’d gotten drunk with him and Felix, and we’d spent the night lamenting our love lives. Or they did; I just doled out sage advice while they’d been crying.

But I had let it slip about Marnie.

“I said nothing.” Drew held his free hand up in defense, before an expression you could only describe as devilish crossed his face. “I haven’t even told them you brought her here today.”

That was enough for Felix to choke on whatever snack he’d been shoveling into his mouth, because the dude did not stop eating.

“The girl that came in with Emerson?” His eyes widened when Drew nodded. “Are you telling me the famous Marnie Matthews is here, and we get to meet her?”

The eye roll I saved from earlier came out in full force, but then I nodded slowly, at the same speed the grin spread across my face.

“One and the same.”

---