Spring Training

by Stacey Lynn Rhodes

  All he knew was that he missed her and wished he’d done so many things differently. Like maybe actually asking her about her relationship status.

  “So what kind of woman is she then?”

  Aaron found himself spilling almost everything to his friend, who listened silently as he described their connection, the fun they’d had and his worries about the involvement of Alex in her life.

  “I don’t know if the guy is Emery’s dad or a friend or what, but she obviously cares about him and is right there in her life. I don’t know.” He was pacing back and forth. “I just don’t know what to do. I miss her.”

  He realized he’d been monopolizing the conversation for an age. “Deke?”

  “Still here, man, not that it woulda mattered to you. Ya ever thought about just askin’ her about the guy? Or, if not her, then askin’ the kid?”

  Aaron sighed, frustrated. “What, I should just ask him who his mom’s involved with?”

  “Why not? And you can be less obvious about it than that. C’mon. Man the fuck up and figure this shit out. I’m tired of listenin’ to your mopey ass.”

  That got a laugh out of Aaron, who found he felt better after having spilled his secret to his friend. “Okay. I’ll try to do that. Eventually she’ll come back to see Emery play. I’m pretty sure he’s going to earn a spot on the AAA team, so he’ll stay here.”

  “Well, good for the kid. Glad he got his shit together. Now it’s time for you to do the same. Am I right?”

  “Amen.”

  Emery walked into the room, texting or playing a game on his phone.

  “Gotta go, man. Thanks for the talk. Kiss Julia for me.”

  “Kiss her your own damn self, I keep tellin’ ya.”

  Aaron grinned as he said goodbye and hung up. “Hey, Emery, you got a sec?”

  Emery jerked his head up, looking surprised, as well he should be. Even though they lived together, it wasn’t like they had heart-to-hearts all that often. Or ever.

  “Sure,” he said warily, but he gamely crossed the room and sat down on the couch. “What’s up?”

  Aaron felt stupid. Damn Deke for getting me into this. Might as well get it over then. “Oh, it just occurred to me that you never mention your dad.” There—that was subtle.

  Emery’s lip curled. “Dave? Why would I? He never wanted anything to do with us in the first place.” He shrugged, looking more annoyed than upset. “He lives in Texas now, I think. We don’t really talk to him, and I personally don’t have a problem with that. Why?”

  Well, obviously Dave wasn’t the mysterious Alex. Which was…good? He thought.

  “Just wondering. I’m not close to my dad either.”

  That caught Emery’s interest a bit. “How about your mom?”

  Aaron shook his head.

  Emery frowned, seeming perplexed. “Wow. I can’t imagine that. Ma’s, like, the biggest influence in my life.” He studied Aaron for a few moments. “So if you’re not close to either of them, who’s your family?”

  He shrugged. “Don’t really consider myself to have an official one, but my best friend Deke and his wife are like family. That was just him on the phone,” he added. Before he could chicken out he made himself ask, “So your mom—Teri—she’s been single a long time. Does she date?”

  His charge’s mouth dropped open. “Ma? Date? No, never, at least not that I know of.” He sat up straight, a sudden realization clearly hitting him. “Which…is odd, for someone her age and personality. Right? I mean, she should have dated someone by now, especially now that… Crap.” Emery stood and took a few steps then spun around. “Sorry, is our talk over? I’ve gotta…” He made a vague gesture with his phone toward his room.

  “No problem,” Aaron reassured him and Emery took off like a shot, already dialing someone.

  Well that had been somewhat informative. Teri obviously wasn’t seeing Alex, at least not openly enough to where her son was aware of it. So maybe there was a chance for him…

  Yeah, not to rain on your parade, but there’s still the living-in-different-cities thing…

  Shut up.

  * * * *

  Teri had no choice but to throw herself into work once she got home. The long days spent on the new client facility, helping them address the issues found during their survey, as well as doing other scheduled visits, kept her mind occupied during waking hours.

  But the nights…

  Oh, how she regretted things with Aaron, though she fluctuated on the reason. Some nights she wished she’d never started anything with him so her body wouldn’t know what it was missing. Other nights she wished she’d stopped that last weird fight and spent that night with Aaron, to hell with her pride. Or spent the prior night with him and woken up beside him in the morning.

  Alex wasn’t around much because of how busy he was with school and work, and Emery was doing well and staying busy, so she quickly got sick of being alone, longing for someone to talk to. She lost track of how many times she almost dialed the condo’s phone number, then changed her mind at the last moment.

  Two weeks after she’d gotten home, she got a phone call from Emery.

  “Okay, Ma, what’s up with you?”

  “Hi, honey. What do you mean?” She sat back in her chair after closing down her laptop to focus all of her attention on her son.

  “I mean, why the hell haven’t you come back here? You’re not that busy with work anymore. Did you and Aaron have a fight or something?”

  “What?” Her voice went a bit higher than normal with her shock at the perceptive question. She cleared her throat. “Why would you think something like that?”

  “Because Alex thought we’d been in a fight ‘cause you’ve been acting weird and down since you got back. And I know that we were fine when you left, so I thought maybe it was Aaron, ‘specially since he’s been weird and down too.”

  “And you didn’t answer the question, I noticed,” Alex unexpectedly chimed in. “Way to throw me under the bus, by the way, Em.”

  “Hey, I’m just reporting the news. You’re the guy who made it.”

  Teri sighed in exasperation. “I wish you guys would quit three-way calling me without telling me you’re both on the line.”

  “So?” Alex prodded.

  “First of all, it’s none of your business either way. Second of all, how on earth would you guys even have time to notice if anything was wrong with me? It’s not like I’ve talked to either of you…”

  “That’s precisely my point,” Alex agreed. “You’ve been very hands-off for the past two weeks—which is exactly how long you’ve been back from there. So if Emery wasn’t the problem…for a change…”

  “Hey!”

  “…then something else had to have happened. And Aaron was the only other person there.”

  Teri realized her boys were worried about her, and while that was incredibly sweet, there was no way she was sharing any of the details with her sons. “I’m fine with Emery, and I’m fine with Aaron too. And Alex for that matter. I’m just”—she paused, wanting to be truthful without giving too much away—“working some things out for myself. Mid-life crisis stuff, you know,” she joked.

  “If you buy a sports car, I get to drive it first,” Emery voted.

  “Whatever. You already have your over-compensating mega-truck,” Alex shot back.

  “Says the man with the Volvo. Seriously—who the fuck drives a Volvo besides boring old people?”

  “Boys,” Teri interjected before the sibling teasing got out of hand. “I’m really flattered that you were worried enough about me to do a conference call, but I’m fine. I just think that both of you—yes, both, Alex, and that includes your brother—are old enough to be responsible for yourselves, without your mom hovering over you. That’s part of it anyway,” she owned up. “And the rest is my business. Okay?”

  Silence as the two did whatever mental telepathy twins seemed to be born with.

  “Okay, Ma. As long as you’re okay, and yo
u don’t hate being around us or anything.”

  That was her pouter, Emery, who was used to being the focus of her attention. He would feel more at loose ends than his brother. She promised herself she’d make time for a private phone call with him soon to reassure him.

  “Hardly,” she answered. “Love you both to death and you know it.”

  “Love you too,” Emery answered right away. “You’re going to come down when I start my first game, right?”

  “Of course, hon,” she replied. Meanwhile, Alex, her thinker, was being overly quiet. “Alex?” she prodded.

  “Yeah, Ma. Love you too.”

  She made a kissing noise. “All right. You guys go back to whatever it is you do, and I’ll talk to each of you soon.”

  They said a round of goodbyes, and she finally got them both off the phone, then sat back, considering. What she had said was true. It was time to cut the apron strings. And if that meant staying away from Aaron too, maybe a bit of time and perspective would lend clarity to that situation.

  By the time she went back to see Emery play, she’d know what to do.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Hey, Ma! Are you here? Where are you sitting?”

  Aaron had known Teri was coming to this game and couldn’t help but listen as Emery walked out of the dugout with his phone, looking up into the stands. He found himself surreptitiously scanning the third-base side of the grandstand along with Emery, using where Em was looking as a guide.

  Spotting her even before Emery—how he couldn’t see her yet was beyond him—he had to smile at the picture Teri made in her oversized team uniform top. She looked like a kid all dressed up in her big brother’s clothing, especially wildly waving her arm over her head like that. God, he’d missed her this past month. He couldn’t wait to talk to her again, try to get back to their previous comfort with one another.

  Aaron couldn’t say why it was so important to him to reconnect with her. He’d only really known her for a couple of days, but he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since then.

  “Oh there you are! Hey! You brought Alex? Oh, man, why didn’t you tell me he was coming? No wonder you’re staying at a hotel.”

  Alex? He’s here?

  “I’m surprised, all right. Sure I’m glad to see him.” He pulled out the ‘sure’ sarcastically. “I just hate that you love him more than me.”

  What the fuck?

  “I know, I know, love is like a flame, yada, yada. Hey, I’ve gotta go. I’ll meet you after. Come to the apartment.”

  No, no.

  She apparently argued against that too. “Okay, dinner. How about Seifert’s? Go get a table, and I’ll get there as soon as I can. Wish me luck. Bye.”

  Aaron was stunned. Teri had brought Alex here? And she loved him? He went cold. Maybe the guy had already been in her life prior to their meeting, even though Emery hadn’t known about it. After all, he hadn’t known about Teri’s brief interlude with Aaron. How long ago did they get together?

  He was burning with questions, but wasn’t sure how to ask Emery what he needed to know without giving away his interest. Fortunately, Emery was his usual chatty self.

  “Can you believe Ma brought that loser along without telling me first? I thought it was weird that she said she’d stay at a hotel this time. For a while, I was afraid that maybe you guys didn’t get along last time or something. She told you about him when she was here, right?”

  His memory of their time together was taking a beating, along with his pride. He didn’t really want to hear more, but Aaron didn’t even have to respond and Emery forged ahead.

  “Of course she did, she’s always going on and on about him. Fucker. They’re really tight. Well, we are too, we have the baseball thing. But he’s more like her, kinda serious and studious. Into art and history and all that shit. He’s always dragging her out to galleries and museums.”

  Aaron felt ill, and he was definitely done listening. He hadn’t even known she was into that kind of stuff, but then again, they hadn’t done much talking. He walked away, but found himself zeroing in on her in the stands, and sure enough, the tall, dark-haired man next to her had his arm possessively around her shoulders. As Emery had called him—fucker.

  The game was a close one, and Aaron was thankful for the distraction. Emery played a fantastic game, going three for four at the plate and having a spotless defensive game at third. Every time Aaron looked up into the stands, Teri and the guy were hanging all over each other, so he’d finally stopped looking.

  What the hell was he doing anyway? He should’ve headed back to the team weeks ago.

  Yeah, you were just hanging around waiting for Teri to show back up.

  Well, that’s obviously not going to happen anymore.

  Time to get back home and get back to work. Rehab was going fine here, but he needed the atmosphere of his own team to motivate him. He approached Coach. “Hey, you got a sec?”

  * * * *

  Teri watched as Aaron gave her—she thought—yet another cold look. Maybe it was just conceit that made her think she was the object of his interest among the thousands of people in the stands. Or maybe wishful thinking. She sighed.

  Oh, come on, her inner critic scolded. He made it very clear that he had lost interest in you when he told you not to bother to come to his room that night. Must’ve been the memory of the very clear view of your old lady body in the shower.

  That brutal experience didn’t help her get over her crazy hot, immediate and lasting attachment to him. Time and distance hadn’t done the trick either. The past month had been the longest she’d ever gone without seeing Emery in his entire life. She’d justified it to herself and to him by telling him the partial truth, that he needed to learn to do things for himself and stand on his own two feet without her to bail him out. He had really come around and had earned a spot on the roster of the club’s AAA team, only one step below the Majors.

  Without the need to avoid Aaron, Teri didn’t know if she would have thought to separate herself from Emery like that, so she had him to thank for helping to straighten Emery out, in more ways than one. Her need to see Emery had finally beaten out her pride, and she’d planned this trip, hoping to get the chance to get Aaron out of her system somehow.

  Teri sighed again, and Alex rolled his eyes. “You sound like you’ve sprung a leak.”

  She shot an irritated glance up at him.

  “Seriously, Ma. Just chill. You’ll get a chance to be with him soon. I know you’ve really missed him. It hard to be apart from someone you love.”

  For a minute, she froze, her brain translating that to mean Aaron. Because she had really missed him.

  But do I love him? Could I have fallen that fast?

  “Mom?” Alex gave her a concerned look. “You okay?”

  “I’m okay, Alex, just thinking.”

  I have to see him, then I’ll know.

  As soon as the game was over, she was on the phone to Emery. “Hey, hon, why don’t you ask Aaron to come along to dinner with us?”

  “I already tried. He said he just wants to go home.”

  She thought fast. “I’m sure that Alex wants to see where you’re living.” Alex gave her a startled look. “We’ll meet you over there instead of at the restaurant. But, uh, don’t tell Aaron we’re coming. I want to surprise him.”

  Alex’s enquiring look had turned penetrating and suspicious and, judging from the silence on the other end of the line, she would bet a million bucks Emery had an identical expression on his face. Really, it would’ve been one of those comical ‘twin moments’, but for the adrenaline racing through her system at the thought of seeing Aaron face-to-face again.

  “Sure, Ma. Sounds good. See you there.” Emery’s voice was unnatural, so Aaron must’ve been standing right there. Her heart beat fast as she said goodbye.

  As soon as she hung up, she held a hand up. “Don’t even start, Alex.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Chapter Fourteen<
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  Teri felt like she was about to jump out of her skin as they finally pulled into the condo complex to find both Emery’s and Aaron’s vehicles there ahead of them. Alex was driving, silent except for glances that spoke volumes. He pulled in near Em’s truck and parked, turned resolutely toward her, with an expression she knew brooked no argument.

  “Okay, Ma. I get that you don’t want to talk about this, but there’s no way I’m walking in there completely blind. Give me something to go on here.”

  Teri took a deep breath. Might as well just tell the truth. “I think I might’ve fallen for Em’s roommate.”

  With that, she got out of the car and, before she could change her mind, headed toward Aaron’s building. She heard the murmur of Alex’s voice behind her and she stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning in time to see him putting his phone in his pocket. It only took Alex’s long legs a few more moments to catch up with her, but he simply gave her a hard side-hug and walked up the stairs with her to the door, trailing her inside when Emery let them in.

  “Hey.” Her normally chatty son was seemingly at a loss for words, eyeing her in disbelief. Alex had definitely given him the low-down on her bombshell.

  She gave him a hug. “Great game, Emery. I’m so impressed. You’ve really been working hard, haven’t you?”

  Emery shrugged and walked over to greet Alex.

  “Hey, bro, nice game.” Alex ruffled Emery’s hair. “Jeez, it’s going to be as long as Ma’s soon.”

  “Fuck off.” Emery finally smiled, gave in to a rough hug then turned with Alex as they heard a voice behind them.

  “Did I hear a knock…?” Aaron trailed off and came to a dead stop at the sight of three of them.

  Teri’s pulse spiked as she drank in the sight of him, just out of the shower with his hair finger-combed and few stray droplets of water still trickling down his neck. He looked delicious, and memories of their shower, their other times together and the promise of more, flooded through her.