Page 39 of Restricted List

That she’s still off-limits.

That I can’t be with her.

But it’s hard to care when she looks at me with stars in her eyes. It’s hard to worry about Skip when his daughter looks at me like I’m the only thing she wants.

It makes me want to be reckless. It makes me want to give in. It makes me want to say, “fuck it,” and take what we both want.

Rory steps closer to me, breathing heavily and not taking her eyes off mine.

Before anything can happen, a voice sounds from behind us. “Are you Cole Pierce?”

I turn around and see a man not much older than me with a young boy beside him, maybe six years old. Based on the matching dark brown shade of their hair, I’m guessing this is his son.

“That’s me,” I reply, sheepishly rubbing my neck. I’ve been getting better with my fame recently, but getting used to people randomly recognizing me is still hard.

“You were incredible in the World Series!” the man exclaims. “The entire city celebrated when you hit that home run.”

“Just doing my job,” I shrug. “But I’m grateful the series went in our favor. It was nice to bring the pennant back to New York.”

“You’re always so modest,” Rory says, laughing as she comes to stand beside me. “You’re allowed to accept the fact that you’re an incredible shortstop, Cole.”

“You know me by now,” I laugh. “This is Paul Fisher’s daughter, Rory. She’s actually one of my closest friends.”

“It’s so nice to meet you both. My name is Ryan, and this is my son, Luca.”

I bend down, balancing on the balls of my feet. “Really nice to meet you, Luca. You a baseball fan?”

He nods enthusiastically, and I smile. “Dad even let me stay up late to watch the game!”

“Oh man, my dad never let me stay up late to watch games. You’re lucky.”

“I want to be just like you when I grow up!” he says excitedly, and it’s so fucking cute.

“Like me? Wow, Luca. But if you want to be like me, you gotta look like me, too.” I reach for the Stars hat he’s wearing—navy with a yellow bill—and flip it on his head, turning it backward to match the black cap I’m wearing right now. “There you go. Now we’re practically twins.”

“You know what would make it better, though?” Rory chimes as she falls down beside me, pulling a permanent marker out of her purse.

“Ooh, I think she’s right,” I smile. I take the marker before removing the cap from Luca’s head, autographing the bill, and then placing it back on—backward again. “I think you’re all set now, buddy.”

“Thank you!” Before I can reply, Luca springs himself at me, spreading his tiny arms across my chest as he hugs me. I lightly laugh before I hug him back.

I love kids’ lack of awareness. They don’t care about social norms and what’s expected of them. An adult would never do this to me, not without asking first.

But that’s why I love kids. They don’t care. They know what they want, and they go for it, societal expectations be damned. It’s endearing, at least to me.

“I’m going to need you to keep practicing, Luca. I want to see you on the Stars one day.”

Rory and I both stand as Ryan and Luca say their goodbyes, both smiling brightly as they turn and walk away from us.

“I think I made his day,” I say, pushing my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

“I think you made his entire year,” Rory laughs. “Kid’s never going to forget this.” She lightly elbows me. “You’re a good man, Cole.”

“I try to be.”

And I do.

But sometimes I think I might try to betoogood.

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