Page 112 of Secret Shifters Next Door

As true as that might have been, my reputation had been damaged. Tainted beyond what was easily fixed. Could I ever go back to the way it was before? Did I actually want to?

“Thank you, Larry. Keep me updated.”

Once I’d hung up, I climbed the bleachers to my family. When I got to their row, I stopped and laughed at the three of them. They were all wearing bright red jerseys. On the front was Aiden’s number. Above the number in giant block letters Kellan had the word DAD. Kris and Chelsea’s shirts said UNCLE and AUNT respectively.

Kellan stood up and tossed me a red bundle. “Don’t laugh, we got you one, too.”

Unfolding it, I saw it also said AUNT. “Kellan, you realize this is a Little League game, not the World Series?” I laughed as I pulled the shirt over my head.

He pointed at me. “Don’t you say that. As far as you know, this is game seven. Sit down or you don’t get any Cracker Jacks.”

I sat next to Chelsea once I had the shirt adjusted. It was a little tight on top of my other shirt. Maybe I’d go to the bathroom later and swap it out. I took a handful of popcorn from Chelsea’s bucket and felt eyes on me. It was a sensation I was used to. For years, I’d been paid to have people to look at me. I had one idea who it might be. Glancing out to the field, my guess was proven right. Steff stood there, arms crossed, staring across the grass toward me.

When our eyes locked, I froze, transported back to the past. A fourteen-year-old girl meeting my brothers’ best friend for the first time. Immediately in love or lust or whatever emotion young teenage girls could feel. He’d hurt me, pushed me away, and still those feelings bubbled up. He was in his coach outfit, which basically looked like a baseball uniform. He looked like he had out on the field in high school. The crowd had started to notice the awkward exchange between us, and everyone went quiet, gazes bouncing from him to me. Then Steff threw me a small wave and walked to the dugout.

A lot of people at the game looked familiar. Many of them had gone to school with Steff and me. We’d beentheit couple back then. Everyone knew we’d been together. They also all knew the tragic end to the fairytale romance. Suppressing a groan of embarrassment, I lowered my head and hid my face, until the hum of the crowd discussing the game returned. Kellan and Kris both looked at me, frowned, then looked back toward Steff. I couldn’t read the expressions on their faces, but I was beyond grateful when the umpire started the game. With everyone’s attention back on the game and away from me, I was able to breathe easier.

Chelsea leaned over. “What, if I may ask, was that all about?”

I tilted my head back and looked at the sky. I’d only woken up two hours before, but I was already mentally exhausted. A quick look at my brothers let me know they weren’t paying attentionto our conversation. Over the course of two innings, I unloaded all my history with Steff on Chelsea, everything from high school and since I returned to town.

After going on and on, I finished by telling her about the catastrophe at the steakhouse. “Then, last night, I was on that date with the guy I told you about—Ryland. Steff showed up with a date of his own. He walked right up and tried to talk to me. I tried to brush him off, but he kept looking at our table the entire night. It basically ruined the whole date. It was a total disaster.”

Chelsea listened to everything, nodding along the whole time. Now she looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Have you entertained the idea that he might still have feelings for you?”

“What?” I looked at her like she was crazy. “Have you listened to anything I’ve said? Especially the way he intruded on my date last night, it’s like he’s trying to sabotage me.”

“Oh, no, I heard everything. It sounds like he’s jealous as hell. If I had a guess, he didn’t like seeing you with another guy.”

I shook my head. “That’s not it. If he was jealous, why’s he been such a dick to me since I came home? He was just being weird about Ryland. Probably some crap like he doesn’t want me, but no one else can be with me, either.”

Chelsea shrugged. “I don’t know the guy, but I know what it sounds like to me. Remember that I told you so if it ends up like I said.”

Turning our attention back to the game, it became evident that Aiden was a beast on the field. As the innings went on, it was obvious he was the best player. He hit two home runs—one in the fourth, and one in the sixth. He also was crazy fast in the outfield. He ran down a ball that surely would have been a home run. Aiden extended a hand over the fence and caught the ball on the very tips of his glove. I didn’t know a lot about baseball, but even I was impressed.

With as much as he did, the rest of his team struggled, and at the start of the bottom of the ninth inning, Aiden’s team was down two runs. They had two outs, with runners on first and second when Aiden went to bat one last time. The crowd exploded when the first pitch cracked off Aiden’s bat. Before it went ten feet, everyone knew it was another home run. Kellan was screaming so loud that Kris and Chelsea had to lean away from him.

“My boy. My boy. My boy,” he shouted over and over again. I smiled and leaned across Chelsea to pat him on the shoulder.

When Kellan looked at me, there were stars in his eyes. He was so proud of his son that it had brought him to tears. His show of emotion made my own eyes burn. I swallowed and forced my own tears back.

Once Aiden crossed home plate, the umpire called the game in our favor. We’d won our first game. It was way more exhilarating than I thought it would be. The crowd started to file out of the bleachers, and we made our way to the field to collect our little superstar.

Aiden sprinted away from the rest of his team and slid to a stop in front of us. “Coach said we’re having a pizza party for winning. He said we’re going right now. Can we go? Please, Dad?”

Kellan glanced across the field at Steff. He didn’t frown, which surprised me. Instead, he nodded. “Okay. We can probably do that.”

Aiden leaped into the air. I almost flinched when Steff spoke from behind me. “Kellan, Aiden did so good. I wanted to let you know there’s a big baseball skills camp later this summer. Most of the guys on the team aren’t quite there yet, but Aiden is advanced enough to go and get some individual coaching. It’ll help him get even better. I can sign him up if you’d like to do that.”

Kellan raised his eyebrows. “We can talk about it, I guess.”

Steffen smiled. “Awesome. We can discuss it at the pizzeria.”

“Aunt April, are you coming for pizza, too?” Aiden asked.

The question was innocent enough. Why wouldn’t I? How could I say no to that face? But the idea of sitting near Steff for an hour made me a little nervous. Even more so after the talk with Chelsea. I also couldn’t help but notice the moms all around collecting their kids, stealing looks at Steff. In that uniform? I could see why. I had a hard time not checking him out. I shook my head to clear it, pissed at myself for even allowing those thoughts.

I leaned over to speak with Aiden, and felt Steff’s eyes burning into my skull. “Okay. I can come by for a while and have a few pieces to celebrate the win.”

---