Page 75 of Crew
Once we landed in Raleigh, the sky was starting to shift with the late afternoon light. With no time for a hotel stop or downtime, we grabbed a rideshare and headed straight for the stadium.
As soon as we walked into the clubhouse, the noise swallowed us—music thumping from the corner speakers, conversations overlapping. Typical game day energy.
Parker was waiting near the back lockers, tablet in hand. He looked up the second we stepped in. “Figured you two would cut it close.”
“At least we made it,” I replied, tossing my bag into my locker.
“How’d it go?”
“Better than I expected,” I admitted. “Not easy. But good.”
“Yeah?” His gaze held mine. “You all right?”
I gave a nod that actually felt real. “Getting there.”
He jerked his chin toward Knox. “You?”
Knox grinned. “I’m good, but he cried twice. Pretty sure he’s still dehydrated.”
“I did not,” I snorted.
Parker huffed a laugh. “Well, make sure he drinks something before he passes out. You’re behind the plate tonight, Stratton.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He turned to head toward his office and Knox stepped in beside me, grabbing his jersey from his locker. “Think he missed us?”
“He won’t admit it.”
I peeled off my shirt and started getting into my gear. Behind me, someone hollered from across the room. “Hey, Stratton. You bring back souvenirs or just your ugly face?”
“Bite me,” I shot back.
And just like that, I was Crew Stratton again. Not the son. Not the surprise dad. Just a catcher, getting ready to do my job.
For the first time ever, I didn’t feel like I had to hide one part of my life just to hold on to another.
29
Knox
After the firstgame in Raleigh, Crew and I barely made it to our hotel room before collapsing onto the bed. Between the travel, meeting Crew’s parents, and the emotional rollercoaster of finding out about Grady, our bodies finally gave up, and we were asleep in seconds.
The next day, we were hanging out in the clubhouse waiting for Mallory and Grady to arrive. Crew had gotten them tickets for our two remaining games against the Crushers, and hoped to spend some time with Grady tomorrow before he had to get to the field.
It felt like every other day in the clubhouse except for the nervous energy radiating off Crew as we changed into our jerseys. He was jittery as hell, unable to sit still and focus on anything.
“You’re going to give yourself a heart attack if you don’t calm down,” I whispered, not wanting to draw attention to my boyfriend on the verge of losing his shit.
He looked at his phone for what seemed like the hundredth timesince we’d finished batting practice. “I thought they’d be here by now. What if she changed her mind?”
“Mallory texted you from the airport saying they were on their way. They probably ran into some traffic on the drive over.”
Matthewson walked in to post the lineup and threw me a grin when he saw Crew running his hand over his hair while typing on his phone. He and Parker were the only two people on the team who knew the reason Crew looked like he’d pounded a case of energy drinks. The day before, Crew had asked our manager for permission to bring his son and his ex into the clubhouse for a quick tour. Matthewson happened to be there at the time, and both of them were on board with our visitors.
Crew and I had initially planned to tell the team about us after he came out to his family, but we decided to hold off for a bit because of everything that had gone down in Harvest Ridge. Grady was the priority, and once the dust settled from that life-changing news, we could address our relationship.
Son.
