AJ
AJ didn’t even know why it surprised him anymore. This wasn’t the first time his family had heard something about his personal life from the media before he’d had a chance to tell them. Apparently, the array of photos taken last night at Galaxy Pizza had made it onto the Internet, and the tabloids were already speculating about Rage and the coach’s daughter and coming to their own outrageous conclusions.
Of course, he didn’t know any of this since his night with Addison had gone on much longer than he’d anticipated and he’d gotten home in the wee hours of the morning. They’d made good use of that laundry room and then the garage when she’d finally walked him out and their goodnight kiss got a little carried away. He’d be paying for it today. But it’d be worth every single yawn he’d be squelching all day. AJ walked into the kitchen to his brother’s and Sabian’s staring faces. “What?”
“Something you wanna tell us?” Isaiah, his oldest brother, asked tapping on his phone’s screen.
“About what?”
AJ walked over to the coffee machine and started setting up a cup just under it. “Coach’s daughter,” Nathan said.
“I didn’t say shit,” Sabian said, holding his hands up when AJ turned and glared at him.
“So it’s true?”
The alarm in Isaiah’s voice was almost annoying. So what if it were? Though he wasn’t sure what exactly they were all talking about. Given the near riot they almost caused at the pizza place last night, he had an idea how it might’ve gotten back to them that he’d been out with Addison last night.
“Is what true?”
Remembering Addison’s adamant request to not go public with this until she’s was ready to tell Clair, he laid on the indifference and prepared to tone his night out with her way down.
Isaiah nudged him then showed him his phone. AJ felt his eyes widen as he read the headline on the phone screen.
Is AJ “Rage” Romero a secret Padre literally?
AJ went on to read the rest of the article and now understood why Isaiah sounded so alarmed. The article speculated that the mystery of who the elusive father of Coach Lara’s only grandchild might finally be solved. AJ’s jaw locked more than once as he continued to read. The probing article stated that it’d been long rumored that the father could be a player—someone the coach and his daughter decided to cover up because of her age at the time she got pregnant. She’d been a minor and this could’ve easily ruined said player’s career. It would make sense if Rage was the father and now going public since the statute of limitations on any statutory rape charges would already be up.
“This is bullshit,” he said, handing the phone back to Isaiah, disgusted and hoping Addison wouldn’t be upset about it. “If I was that little girl’s father, the whole world would know it. They have Clair’s and Addi’s ages wrong, mine too. It’s all over the place and completely false.”
“Addi?” Nathan asked. AJ wasn’t even facing him, but he could hear the smirk in his smartass brother’s voice. “I thought her name was Addison?”
“It is,” AJ said without further comment as, thankfully, his sisters and their husbands arrived.
They were all going to the game today. AJ had reserved a suite for them. But they were going out for breakfast first. By the time they were all done saying hello, AJ thought any talk of him and Addison was over. But Nathan just had to go back to it. “So there’s no truth in any of those stories?” he asked, bringing everyone’s attention back to AJ. “Like you two aren’t romantically involved or anything?”
“Nope,” AJ said simply as he sipped his coffee, feeling all eyes on him.
“Who?” Livi asked curiously.
“AJ and the coach’s daughter were out last night,” Nathan annoyingly offered, a little too eager, “like real late.”
“Yeah?” AJ asked, feeling himself get hot. “I didn’t know I had a curfew you were keeping tabs on.”
Nathan laughed; then his younger sister Em added, “I saw that when I checked my email today. Oh c’mon, Nathan, you know all those stories are a bunch of lies.”
“I’m just saying whenever I stay out as late as he did I usually don’t bother coming home.”
Sabian was grinning from ear to ear. No doubt the idiot thought AJ was going to fold under the pressure and admit what he was sure his smug teammate already knew.
“Well, I’m not you,” AJ said, trying not to sound as agitated as he already begun to feel. “Clair invited me to go with them. So I went. But we’re just friends.”
Nathan smirked, still looking completely unconvinced but turned back to Emi. “Did you see the other article? The one that counters the lies about AJ being Clair’s dad because they have proof that the dad’s the very married Barsetti from the Cubs.”
“What?” AJ was too quick to jump on that, and his brother brought his hand to his mouth and laughed out loud at AJ’s louder-than-expected reaction. “You lying sack of shit.”
“Oh.” Nathan laughed even more now. “You’re gonna get all crazy eyes on me over that when you and Addi are just friends. But I’m the lying sack of shit?”
“I’m not the one making shit up.”
“I’m not either,” Nathan said, shaking his head adamantly. “There was an article that said that. And weren’t you the one who said she and her little girl just moved out here from Chicago?”
The coffee went down hard as AJ stared at his brother, still not convinced he wasn’t making this up.
“I read that one too,” Emi said, making AJ’s head jerk in her direction. “And I almost believed it, until I read the other headlines on that same site: the one about the first lady having an affair with the secret serviceman and the one with the ultrasound of the octuplets some lady is having after being abducted and impregnated by aliens. It’s one of those outrageously ridiculous sites, AJ. The story’s as false as you being her little girl’s daddy. So relax.”
Relax? God damn it! Had they all noticed how completely incapable he was of keeping his cool about this?
“I am relaxed,” AJ lied, trying desperately to appear so. “It’s none of my business anyway. Thing is I was thinking of bringing her by for the barbeque later today, and I don’t want you guys making more of it than it is. We have her daughter to think about.”
They all stared at him as silent and as curious as he’d known they’d be, even before this morning’s revelations. He turned to Livi this time, trying to act like he didn’t notice how quickly he’d silenced the room. “I’ve told Clair a lot about King and Queen,” he explained. “She’s never seen a Komondor in person, and I’ve been saying I’d bring her to see them one day. You think maybe you can bring one or both today? Otherwise, I could swing by your place so she can see them there instead.”
“No, I could bring them,” Livi said, smiling big. “They’ll be excited. They haven’t gone on a trip in a while.”
AJ turned to Nathan, who he knew was the most unconvinced in the room. “She wants to see the dogs, okay? That’s all this is, ass.” AJ watched his brother smirk as he popped a grape in his mouth. “Don’t go embarrassing me or saying anything stupid.”
Placing his cup in the dishwasher, AJ let them know he was getting in the shower and would be right out. Even as he walked out the kitchen, the quiet in the normally noisy kitchen with these many people in it was all too telling. They weren’t buying his “just friends” story for a minute.
~~~
If his family’s reaction to the media speculation was any indication of how not easy it would be to keep this under wraps, the mood on the field and the locker room was just as bad. AJ had already texted Addison to ask how she was doing with this morning’s media excitement. Her response made him smile. “Slow day for the tabloids, I guess.”
Clearly, she wasn’t too worried about it. When he met with her and Clair on the field, there were noticeably more photos snapping away. The moment Clair was far enough away to not hear, AJ asked what he’d begun to worry about. “Has she noticed the stories?”
“Are you kidding me?” Addison said with a smile and a playful roll of her eyes. “It’s the first thing she said to me this morning when I walked into the kitchen. ‘They think AJ’s my dad.’ She thinks it’s a hoot. I’m surprised she hasn’t brought it up.”
AJ had a good feeling why she hadn’t. Clair had been too busy giving him the heads-up on Jefferson, the short stop standing in for the Cardinals today. Their starter pulled a hamstring in yesterday’s game, and Clair had to wait until this morning to know for sure who’d be on today’s lineup. He saw her talking to today’s pitcher with her little notebook in hand. She must have been giving him her spiel on Jefferson’s batting stats. It made him smile that this would obviously be the bigger thing on her mind. He wouldn’t worry so much anymore about the stories that would likely keep coming the more he was seen out with Addison and Clair.
Apparently, even the guys on the other team had heard the stories and were going to rib him about it. During one of his at bats, he was brushed back away from the plate by a high inside pitch. It came so close to hitting him that AJ had jumped back and it got everyone in the stadium riled up. The next pitch hadn’t come as close, but before the third, as AJ set up to bat, he thought he heard Bigsby say something about him crowding the plate. The next pitch zoomed by so close to his chin AJ almost felt it, and he lost his footing, trying to avoid getting hit again. He hit the ground and the stadium went wild. Bigsby said something AJ didn’t catch again.
“What did you say?” he asked as he stood up, dusting himself off.
Bigsby crouched back down in position behind the plate, not bothering to look up at AJ but did respond louder this time. “I said stop crowding the plate.”
“Is that you telling him to brush me back?” AJ asked as he approached the plate again.
Bigsby was on his feet and pulled his mask off. “It’s all part of the game. Everyone knows you’re less likely to connect with something high and inside. Nothing personal, lover boy.”
The crowd got even louder, seeing them face to face. Although, AJ was in no way facing off with the guy as he’d done plenty of times in the past with other players just before a bench-clearing brawl. Hearing the crowd, though, did make him look back at his dugout where his teammates appeared ready to run out if needed, but he shook his head, holding a hand up, letting them know things were cool. Bigsby was just being the arrogant smartass he was known to be. Obviously, he’d read the stories in the tabloids. Hence, the term of endearment he’d chosen for AJ today.
On a mission now, AJ set up to bat again, pulling back a little. The next pitch was a fast ball right down the middle, and AJ got a good whack at it. He’d hit home runs enough to know this one was out of there. A two-run home run put them up by two. The stadium, of course, went wild as he trotted around the bases. No matter how many times this happened, it was something he knew would never get old, especially with an at bat like the one he’d just had.
His teammates were all waiting for him at the plate with high fives and pats on the back. As he made it through the crowd at the plate, he walked by Bigsby, who was standing off to the side with a smirk. “Guess last night was that good,” he said.
AJ peered at him for a moment but didn’t give him the pleasure of responding to his stupid remark. Instead, he turned up into the stands and waved at his cheering fans then turned and met Addison’s eyes. She was smiling brightly and clapping. Clair, jumping up and down next to her and waving both hands in the air, got his attention, and he smiled, waving at them both.
One conclusion he’d come to in the midst of that morning’s surprise was that, after only two times out with Addison and Clair, it was already out there. He didn’t give a shit what anyone else said or thought of him and Addison. Not the press. Not any of the guys on the team. Not even his family. Sure he’d love nothing more than for them to be happy for him and for them to welcome her and Clair into their lives. With the way he felt about her, he’d make sure they understood she and Clair would be around a lot now. But the only ones he was concerned about were Coach Lara and Clair—Clair more so than the coach.. Yes, he wanted his coach’s blessing, but he had a feeling he already had it.
That morning in the locker room, the coach hadn’t addressed what was being said in the media or commented on the suggestive ribbing AJ had been getting from the guys. None of them had said anything outright, but like Bigsby’s “lover boy” remark, they made a few comments about his night out last night. All the coach had said was that the girls had had a good time and that Clair said he’d made Harrison’s year. He’d patted AJ on the shoulder then got right back to talk of the game ahead of them.
The two runs AJ’s homerun scored turned out to be all they needed as the Padres shut out the Cardinals to win the game. Clair had been as excited about meeting King and Queen as he’d been nervous about bringing her and Addison back to meet his family. He and Addison had already discussed it the night before, and she’d agreed there was no need for any deep explanations about why he’d bring Addison too. This was her seven-year-old little girl. It was one thing for them to be buddies on the field and around everyone else on the team. But it’d be kind of questionable, not to mention inadvisable, for him to be doing too much with her off the field alone.
Bringing them to the barbeque was a hit. Clair had a blast playing with the dogs, and everyone seemed to like and enjoy their company. AJ had told his siblings about Clair even before he’d met her mom. He’d previously told them about what an amazing and intelligent little girl she was, but he could tell right away they hadn’t been prepared just how grownup-like their conversations with her would feel. On the outside, she was this tiny little girl with the sweetest smile, but on the inside, she was a whirlwind of insightful information, declarations, and even witty banter. As expected, she quickly won everyone over, and no one seemed the least bit concerned about AJ’s obvious attraction to her single mom.
Not being able to tell Clair about the relationship was going to be harder than he thought for an altogether different reason. When he’d dropped them off at the end of the evening, it was sheer torture to not be able to kiss Addison good-bye, especially since he wouldn’t see her again for weeks. He’d snuck in a few kisses here and there at his place when Clair had been preoccupied with Liv’s dogs, but there was no way he could be sneaky with her standing right there.
Another tough one was the fact that if it weren’t for Clair they might’ve hung out longer like Nathan’s girl, Kelli, did. Clair had school early the next day, so Addison had to get her home.
Kelli was still there when AJ got back from dropping off his girls. She was the only one who didn’t peer at him teasingly when he walked out back to the deck where everyone was now sitting by the fire pit having drinks. The only reason he kept up the act was because she was the only one there he didn’t know well enough to trust she wouldn’t leak the truth about him and Addison to anyone.
Luckily, she got a call and stood up to take it away from everyone before anyone could ask what he knew was coming. Her call actually distracted Nathan, and it was Isaiah who did the inquiring first.
“So let’s have it.” Isaiah said, tossing another log into the fire pit. “We know you’re full of shit now.”
“What?”
“Drop the act,” Emi said, leaning into her husband Sydney in the recliner they were sharing. “I saw you kiss her.”
AJ frowned, glancing over to where Kelli had strolled off onto the beach. She was so far now, and with the wind and the sound of the crashing waves, he was sure she couldn’t hear, so he spoke quickly. “Nate,” he said, trying to get the attention of his brother who kept glancing over to where Kelli was on the phone.
Nathan turned back to him, looking almost annoyed. “What?”
“She didn’t see, did she?” AJ asked, motioning toward Kelli.
Nathan shrugged with a frown. “If she did, she didn’t mention it. Why do you care if she saw?”
“No offense, but we don’t know her well enough yet, and I cannot let this get out.”
“I trust her,” Nathan said, his face going even sourer.
“Yeah?” AJ smirked. “Is that why you keep glancing over there? Who’s she giggling on the phone with?”
That had Nathan and a few of the others turning back to glimpse at Kelli. The barely-there smile she wore while she talked could hardly be construed as giggling. Still AJ knew his brother. It was almost laughable how irritated his comment had made Nathan. AJ might be the one dubbed Rage, but both his brothers were just as bad. AJ had noticed it earlier since this wasn’t the first call Kelli had wandered away to take. Each time he’d noticed Nathan got more uncomfortable with it.
If it weren’t for the one call Addison had stepped away to take earlier, AJ might say his brother was overreacting. But since AJ had taken the several calls he’d gotten right in front of Addison, it did make him wonder why she’d walk away to take hers.
“Real fast,” AJ said, eyeing Kelli, who was still on the phone, “before she gets back. I’ll tell you guys more about it another time, but for now, all I can say is, yes, I’m seeing Addison now, but she doesn’t want her daughter to know.
Isaiah laughed. “You don’t think that little genius hasn’t already figured it out?”
“No, she hasn’t,” AJ said firmly. “I’m telling you she’s been my little bud for months now. It’s not unusual that I’d be spending time with her and her mom, but Addison’s adamant that we keep things under wraps until she feels Clair is ready to know, so in the meantime, no one knows. Not even her parents. Understood? Anyone asks any of you, we’re just good friends.”
Kelli was on her way back to the deck, so AJ gave them all a warning glare before heading to the outdoor fridge to grab a beer. The moment Kelli sat down next to Nathan her phone dinged again. Both she and Nathan glanced at her phone’s screen.
“Who’s Raymond?” Nathan asked immediately.
Kelli shook her head, hitting something on her screen. As expected, Nathan whispered something to her, his expression as hard as it’d gone earlier when AJ had teased him about her giggling with someone on the phone. In the next few seconds, they were up and walking off toward the beach again.
The girls headed inside to grab more snacks and to make another pitcher of Margaritas, while the guys all gathered around the bar area.
Liv’s husband, Lorenzo, eyed Nathan and Kelli in the distance. “Something about that girl is a little shady,” he said, taking a swig from his beer. “How long has Nathan been with her?”
“Not too long,” Isaiah answered because AJ wasn’t around enough to be sure. “Few weeks.” Isaiah peered at Lorenzo just as curiously as AJ did but then brought his attention back to his beer bottle. “What makes you think she’s shady?”
“Don’t listen to this guy,” Lorenzo’s brother Vince said, shaking his head. “He was burned once, so he trusts no one. Your sister’s the only one who finally convinced him not all girls are liars.”
Lorenzo shrugged. “I could be wrong, but getting burned taught me one thing. I never ignore my gut feelings anymore.”
“That’s right,” AJ said as the memory of overhearing his sisters’ talk about Lorenzo’s ex came to him. “You were engaged once before Livi, right? Is that who you’re talking about?”
Lorenzo nodded, glancing back toward the house where the girls were. “Yep, and just like this one”—he motioned toward Kelli and Nathan—“she was always sneaking away to take calls and got texts at all hours. In my case, they were from her ex, and I knew it, but there was nothing I could do about it since he was her kid’s dad and she had to keep things amicable for the sake of her kid. At least that’s the bullshit she fed me and I bought it. Then boom. I find out she’s sleeping with him again.” He shook his head. “I’m not saying I think that’s what Nathan’s girl is doing,” he said, glancing back at Nathan and Kelli. “I’m just saying she hasn’t put that phone down once since they got here. And who the fuck is Raymond?”
AJ continued to peer at Lorenzo, suddenly beyond relieved Clair’s dad didn’t exist as far as Addison was concerned. He sure as hell wouldn’t be able to deal with that shit. He glanced over at his brother and Kelli, who were on their way back now, and neither looked too happy.
“Well,” Sabian said in a lowered voice as Nathan and Kelli approached them. “Looks like trouble in paradise.”
“I’m taking her home,” Nathan said simply as they neared.
“Good night,” Kelli said with a weak smile to Isaiah and AJ. Then she turned to the others. “Nice meeting you guys.”
They all waved and said goodnight but kept their thoughts to themselves until Nathan and Kelli were out of sight.
“Well, shit, Enzo,” AJ said when Nathan and Kelli had entered the house. “Did you just jinx my brother?”
“All I said,” Lorenzo said, holding a hand up in front of him, “was there’s something shady about her. Apparently, I wasn’t too far off.”
That worried AJ as much as it seemed to worry Isaiah, who was staring pensively in the direction Nathan and Kelli had gone. Just like AJ, both his brothers rarely brought a girl around the family. Nathan’s bringing Kelli around spoke volumes about what he was feeling for her, and he’d been with her for weeks now.
AJ had only been with Addison two days now, and he couldn’t imagine having to deal with what his brother might be dealing with, least of all what Lorenzo had. The only thing he could hope for was that Nathan was a pretty good judge of character. Despite what Lorenzo said, until she took all those calls today, AJ had thought Kelli was a nice enough girl. If Nathan was getting serious enough to bring her around the family, she couldn’t be too bad.
He flinched when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. The guys were still on the subject of Nathan and Kelli as the girls started to make their way out from the kitchen. This time AJ walked away for some privacy with a smile when he saw Addison’s name on the screen.
“Hey,” he said when he answered. “You miss me already?”
“Yes!” she said with a giggle. “I can’t believe it’ll be weeks before I get to see you again.”
AJ groaned at the thought. “I know.” He shook his head with a frown. “It killed me to not be able to kiss you goodnight.”
“Exactly,” she said anxiously. “It’s why I promised Clair Starbucks before school in the morning. That’s usually a Friday morning treat. But I needed a reason to get her in bed early because it means us getting up and leaving an hour earlier than normal so neither of us will be late. She’s asleep now. You wanna meet me somewhere?”
AJ barely waved at the crowd by the outdoor bar who looked at him curiously as he rushed by them and into the house. A few places came to mind where they could meet. He named off a few bars and restaurants and she went silent for a moment.
“Don’t think less of me, okay?” she finally said. “But after last night, I was thinking more like a hotel room for a few hours.”
AJ groaned even louder this time as he practically sprinted to his car.