“Okay, way too far.”
I put my palm in his, but before I can pull away, he tightens his grip, willing my eye contact.
“I’m gonna give you a word of advice, son. Knowing her, she’ll make sure you have the time of your life this summer, both you and Max, but don’t even think about getting attached to her.”
My brows cinch in confusion. “Did you not see that interaction?” I free my hand, gesturing towards the door Miller left through.
“I did, and I’m telling you this, not as her dad but as your friend. She will leave when the summer is over. I love my daughter to death, but she’s a runner and the last thing she wants is to get caught.”
Monty should know me well enough by now that the last thing I want is for her to stay. In fact, if it weren’t for Max growing up far too quickly, I’d be wishing the summer away already.
“Trust me, Monty. You have nothing to worry about.”
He hums, unconvinced.
Standing, I tuck my chair into the opposite side of his desk. “See you at the field.”
I’m almost out the door when he stops me.
“And Ace,” he calls out. “Keep your dick in your pants. We all know how fucking fertile you are, and I’m too young and too goddamn attractive for someone to be calling me Grandpa.”
“Jesus Christ,” I huff, leaving his room.
Chapter 4
Kai
Max makes a jumbled sound that I’ve come to know as meaning “snack” as he points towards the kitchen in my hotel room.
I adjust him on my hip. “You want a pouch?”
He points to the kitchen again.
“Can you say pouch?” I prompt, but he just keeps pointing in that direction.
I grab his favorite flavor of pureed fruit, undoing the top and letting him feed himself as I carry him around my room, tidying up before Miller comes over to watch him for the first time.
“Is that good, Bug?”
He smacks his tiny lips together.
He still only has a handful of words in his vocabulary, but it’s wild when I get to hear them. It’s even wild to watch him feed himself though he’s been doing it for months. It might sound pathetic, but the small changes I see in him as he learns and grows are the most exciting moments of my everyday life.
And right on cue, I have to push away the lingering disappointment and questions, wondering what moments I missed for those first six months of his life when I didn’t even know he existed.
I should probably put him down. Let him chill in his highchair or something but I’m always a needy little fucker on game days. I hate knowing I’m leaving him behind for the rest of the day. I miss dinner with him, and bedtime. So yeah, I’m a bit helicopter-y on afternoons I have to go to the field.
A knock sounds at the door and I find myself checking out my room, making sure it looks okay before answering it for my coach’s daughter. Except when I open the door, it’s not Miller waiting for me on the other side. It’s my brother.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as he barrels inside.
“Heard the new nanny is hot.” He looks around my hotel room, for her I guess. “And a woman, thank fuck.”
“Don’t curse in front of my kid.”
Who am I kidding? Max is being raised by a baseball team. He’s heard worse already.
“Sorry, Maxie,” Isaiah says. “Thank frick. Better, Dad?”
I roll my eyes.
“So where is she?”
“How do you even know about her or that she’s hot?”
“So, she is hot? I didn’t actually know that. I was manifesting.”
Isaiah takes a seat at the small kitchen nook, his feet up on the stool next to the one he’s sitting on. I tend to get the biggest rooms on the road because I have another person living with me, and all of Max’s stuff eats at any available space I have. Additionally, there’s always an adjoining room connected to mine for Max’s nanny to stay. Now that Troy’s gone, it’s empty, but Miller will stay in there while I’m at the game tonight.
“She’s not not hot.”
“Oh my God,” my brother says, accusatorially. “You’re gonna bang the new nanny, aren’t you? So cliché, my guy.”
“No, I’m not. And neither are you because not only is she Max’s new nanny, but she’s also Monty’s daughter.”
Every muscle in Isaiah’s body freezes. “You’re kidding me. Monty has a hot daughter? How old is she?”
“Twenty-five.”