Family Camp (Daddy Dearest, #1)(36)

Travis blinked. “Hey, guys. You remember the drill. We’ll work on batting first. Everyone in a line. So go grab a bat.” Travis held out his hand for slaps as the two boys ran on past him to get the gear.

Travis went over to his dad. He had a clipboard and was checking in campers.

“Hey, I invited a kid named Jayden to join today. He’s not on the list, but let him in, okay?”

His dad nodded. “Sure.” Then he did a double-take at Travis. “I heard you’d befriended a dad with a couple of foster kids. Is this Jayden one of them?”

Travis froze. “Who said that?”

His dad gave him a funny look. “That’s not an accusation, son. I’d like to meet them myself. Introduce me, would you?”

“Okay.” Travis supposed it would be good for Geo to talk to his dad. It still felt weird, like somehow his dad would know they’d been making out.

Any further interrogation was forestalled when a large group of campers arrived to be signed in. Travis left his dad to it and wandered off to grab his own bat and get kids lined up. He couldn’t stop thinking about his dad, though, and he felt an ache of regret.

Wouldn’t it be nice if he could sit down and talk to his dad about Geo? Travis had never had anyone in his life he could talk to when he was confused or upset the way he could talk to his dad. He had so much integrity, and he was always wise.

But his dad didn’t know he was gay. Cindy was right—Travis should have told his family long ago. Instead, he freaked that his dad had even noticed him and Geo. It was so childish and cowardly. Stupid.

But Travis didn’t have time to dwell on it. Soon the class was in full swing.

He had everyone line up with bats, and he demonstrated the proper batting stance and the best way to grip the bat. He showed them some alternatives, like how you change the grip to bunt the ball. He walked up and down the line as campers tried it out, making small corrections to postures here and there and offering encouragement.

Travis worked with Jayden for a few minutes, pulling his shoulders back and adjusting his grip, before moving on.

They went through catching techniques and basic pitches before the group broke up into teams of two to practice pitching and batting. Travis walked around to watch and coach the various groups.

“You ever pitched before?” Travis asked Jayden, after he’d sent a decent fast ball into Stryker’s glove.

“Nah.” Jayden pursed his lips. “I like it though.”

Stryker tossed the ball back to Jayden and he caught it with just a little wobble.

“You’re a natural.”

Jayden’s face lit up with a proud smile. “Do they got baseball teams for kids?”

“Yup. There’s Little League, which goes up to age twelve. And then there’s Junior and Senior Baseball. And your school might have its own team.”

“I start a new school in September,” Jayden said. Then he made a face. “If I’m even still living with Geo.” He scoffed, like it was unlikely.

“You’ll be living with Geo,” Travis said. He wanted to say more, but he had to move on and work with the other kids.

The two-hour clinic passed quickly. Afterward, Travis shook a lot of hands and posed for selfies. When nearly everyone had gone, he saw Jayden was hanging out by the bleachers waiting for him.

Travis grabbed two bottles of water from the cooler and walked over. With his free hand he rubbed his shoulder, which felt stiff and achy. He’d used it more today than he should have, demonstrating pitches. His coach would give him hell if he knew. He was supposed to be resting it this week. But it had been worth it, working with the kids. It was always worth it.

He sat down on the second bleacher and patted the seat next to him. “Take a load off.”

Jayden came over, bouncy with energy. He flung himself onto the seat. “Saw you taking pictures and stuff.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re really famous, huh?”

He handed Jayden a bottle of water. “To some people, I guess. People who watch major league baseball. Not so famous in the big scheme of things.”

“Not like the president,” Jayden said. “Or Beyoncé.”

Travis laughed. “No, I’m not famous like that.”

“If Beyoncé were a counselor at this camp, there’d be, like, a million, billion campers.”

“No doubt.”

Jayden opened his water and drank thirstily. Travis leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Jayden wiped his mouth on his arm. “What?”

Travis hoped he wasn’t putting his foot in it. But he really felt he needed to talk to the boy. “I noticed you keep pushing Geo away. And I get that. I know you haven’t been with him that long. But… What if he’s for real?”

Jayden looked at him with a confused frown.

“What if he’s for real?” Travis repeated. “What if he really cares about you and wants to be your dad, through high school, through college, giving you support and a home base. Forever. It could be amazing. You know? It could be really good.”

Jayden frowned deeper, looking almost mad. “What if he isn’t for real, though?”

“What if he is?”

Jayden was quiet for a long moment, studying the bottle as he turned it around and around in his hands. “People think they’re for real. But once I been around a while, they get sick of me. Just do.”