The Lineup(91)

“What about celebrities for entertainment?”

“Yup, we have Harrison Done, Brandon Woelfel, Yakim Trent, and a few others.”

“Harrison Done, huh?” Walker asks. “Didn’t know the fucker cared about anything other than his face on the screen.”

“This will be televised. He’s from Chicago, so his face will be on the screen.”

Walker barely smiles, but I see it, the humor in his features. “Makes sense then.”

“We’re setting up VIP tickets. Should I set any aside for your family?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“No?” I place a ball on the tee and his swing nearly whips my hand off before I can pull away. “But this is to help honor your sister, my brother. Can they not make it?”

“We don’t talk,” he answers curtly, tapping the ground for another ball. “No need to send an invite.”

“Oh, sorry, man. I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine.” He taps the tee with his bat. “Load me up.”

Feeling bad I made him uncomfortable, I continue placing balls on the tee, watching as he takes his aggression out on each and every unsuspecting ball.

We spend the next hour going back and forth between hitting and loading. We do a soft toss, but nothing too extreme and the whole time, we barely talk. A few words here and there about the event and how it should help the surrounding schools with inclusion in sports, and hopefully as time goes on, we can grow nationwide. Before we left, Walker pledged to gather a few more players from around the league. He assured me he’s all in when it comes to the foundation, but doesn’t want his name on anything other than appearances. When I asked him why, he said because it wasn’t necessary to be recognized. He just wants to do good.

As I drove back to Dottie’s apartment afterward, I thought about how misunderstood Walker is, how the media portrays him as the monster behind the plate when in fact, he’s a genuinely respectable guy. He might be short-tempered and have a lot of anger, but he’s still a decent man. I see his heart, and I hope I can help others see it too.





“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I boom, turning around to see a wooden spoon in Dottie’s hand, hovering over my tortellini soup that I’ve been nursing to perfection since I got home.

“It was bubbling, I was going to stir it.”

Hands held out to stop her, I say, “Don’t. Touch. It.”

She props her hand on her hip and points the spoon at me. “You know, I don’t appreciate your yelling. I’m being helpful.”

“Like you were helpful two nights ago where you burned the garlic bread to an unrecognizable state?”

“Who knew a broil setting could fry it?” She shrugs.

I point to my chest. “I knew. I KNEW. But you insisted upon taking care of it and then guess what happened? We had lasagna with no garlic bread.” I press my hand to my forehead, trying to calm myself. “No garlic bread.”

“Oh my God, get over it. I sucked you off as an apology.”

“And that apology was accepted, but that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hurt to think about it.”

“Why am I with you?” Dottie asks, setting down the spoon, causing me to relax.

She tries to walk past me but I snag her by the waist and press her against the counter. “Because you really like me, despite my neurosis. I honestly think you really like them. You live for them. If you don’t roll your eyes at least five times a day, you feel uneasy, dizzy, like you might not be able to get up the next morning.”

“How did you know?” she asks deadpanned, but with a tip of her lips, letting me know she’s just as humored as me.

Do you know what I live for right now? Seeing my girl try to hold back her laughter when I’m teasing her. She’s so guarded and uptight most of the time that I love seeing peeks of her beautiful personality.

“I just know you, babe.” I press a kiss to her nose and keep her held tight against me. I’ve been wanting to ask her something for a while now but I’ve been holding off, wanting to make sure we were pretty solid before I asked. I couldn’t ask for a more solid foundation at this point. “Hey, can I talk to you about something serious?”

“Serious? Do you even know that word?”

“On occasion.” I smile.

“Okay, should I be sitting down?”

“Nah, just stay here in my arms.” I reach up and push her hair behind her ear and then cup her cheek. I place a gentle kiss across her lips and when I pull away, I see the edge in her eyes disappear as they soften. I’m pretty sure they only soften for me, which makes me feel really goddamn special.

“You have my attention; what do you want to talk about?”

I entwine our fingers together and say, “So you know I’ve been working on that charity game, right?”

“Oh no, do you want me to play in it?”

“No.” I laugh. “Unless, are you good?”

“Not even a little. You would ask me to leave the minute I stepped onto the field.”

“Good to know. Glad you’re honest, but no, that’s not what I was going to ask. We’re going to have a celebration dinner after. Walker and I are funding the whole thing and we’ll announce the amount raised as well as present the checks to some of the local high schools.” I bring her hand to my mouth and kiss her knuckles. “It’s about a month away, but things feel pretty solid between us so I was wondering if you wanted to be my date to the dinner? I’m telling you now so you can check your schedule. If you can’t make it, that’s—”