And the blonde ball of sunshine: Indy.
“Can I say hi to this little guy?” She holds her hands out for Max and he finds his way into her arms. “And let me take that from you.” She grabs the pie from Kai. “Did you make this, Miller? It looks amazing. Do you want a drink? I made margaritas! Come in, make yourselves comfortable.”
After hellos are said, the room seems to settle, giving us a moment to join.
I keep my voice quiet so only Kai can hear. “She seems . . . friendly.”
“She will make you her . . . bestie. Is that what you girls call it?”
I chuckle. “I don’t fucking know.”
“Well, she will make you her friend even if you try to resist, so my advice would be to just go with it.”
A small curve settles on my lips at the idea of that.
Kai’s thumb rubs a circle against my lower back in his naturally soothing way. “Do you feel a bit better now?”
“They called us cute.”
“How dare they.” His head jerks back. “The last word I’d ever use to describe you is ‘cute’。”
“Exactly. God, you know me so well.”
“Stevie, how’s the senior dog center been?” Kai asks.
“It’s been great. With the team’s partnership”—she points at Zanders—“donations have been amazing and adoptions have been consistent.” Her brow raises. “Why are you asking? Are you looking to adopt?”
Kai chuckles. “One day, I promise I will. Once I officially retire from baseball, you’ll be my first stop.”
“Deal.”
Indy uses her fork to point to the almost finished lemon meringue slice on her plate. “Miller, I’m going to need this recipe. Actually, I think I’m going to need you to just come over and teach me sometime. I’ve never gotten meringue right.”
“I’d love to. Teaching is one of the favorite parts of my job.”
“Perfect.” She brings her margarita to her lips with a smile. “We’ll make a girls’ day out of it. Stevie, you in?”
“Absolutely.”
I sit back in my seat with a smile on my lips, and Kai’s palm slides over my thigh under the table, giving it a squeeze. When my attention drifts to his face, he’s got a soft grin on his lips and shoots me a discreet wink.
Tonight has been great. The nerves disappeared almost immediately.
It also helped when Rio, Zanders’ teammate, showed up and brought the humor. It’s my favorite way to break the ice.
But it’s been especially great because Indy and Stevie are nice girls, and it’s comforting to see how much the guys care about Kai and his son. Ryan was even the one to take Max upstairs and put him down for bed in one his guest rooms where, apparently, they keep a crib for nights like this one.
“And the wedding?” Kai asks Ryan and Indy. “How’s the planning?”
Ryan slips his hand into Indy’s, looking right at her when he says, “Great. We’re getting close. September twelfth.”
“Miller, will you still be in town?” Indy asks, pumping her brow in Kai’s direction. “Kai has a plus-one.”
“Okay, matchmaker,” he mutters under his breath.
I freeze for the first time at the table because dinner with his friends already felt too intimate and attached but attending his close friend’s wedding is a whole other category.
“I won’t be, unfortunately. I leave at the end of August.”
My eyes flick to Kai and he’s not smiling.
“Speaking of marriage and husbands,” Rio begins, starting on his second slice of pie. “Miller, are you looking for one?”
“No, she’s not,” Kai quickly declares at my side.
“Dang, Daddy, I just meant because the pie is so good, I’d marry her for it.”
Kai leans close to me but speaks loud enough for Rio to hear. “He didn’t mean that because of the pie.”
Rio sighs. “You’re right. I didn’t. I just want to find somebody to love me. Is that really so much to ask for?”
“Aw, Rio,” Indy coos at my side. “I love you.”
“Thanks, Ind. At least somebody does.”
“So do I,” Stevie pipes up.
“I love you too, man,” Zanders adds from the head of the table.
Rio looks right to Ryan. “And Ryan, what about you?”
Ryan glances around the table, pretending to have missed the entire conversation. “What are we talking about?”