Page 49 of Taking the Pitch
Tease.
Me
:::winking face emoji:::
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
judd
Pop!
The sound of the baseball hitting the glove echoes off the walls of the Silverbacks training facility.
“Better. Again,” Austin Sanders commands from where he’s standing with Hudson behind the backstop. Sanders has been the pitching coach for the Silverbacks for the last five years and he’s one of the best. I’ve only been working with him for the last four months and I’ve already seen a difference in my pitching.
Kessler tosses the ball back to me and I set up, taking a breath and releasing it as I launch the ball towards the plate.
Pop!Echoes through the facility again.
“Good, good, that’s enough for today, Davis,” Sanders calls out, waving me over. I wipe my forehead on the back of my sleeve and walk over to where Kessler has joined Hudson and Sanders. Picking up my water bottle, I chug half before taking a breath.
“How does the arm feel?” Sanders asks, arms still crossed over his chest, looking me over.
I rotate my shoulder and shake my arm out. “Feels good, like I could keep going.”
He nods. “Good. That’s what we want. Cool out and we’ll call it a day. No need to push before season starts. Pitches looked good today, Davis. Keep it up.” He turns to Kessler. “Your kid here knows his stuff.” He tips his head towards Hudson, whose face tinges pink. “Better watch out, or he’ll be gunning for your job.”
“Couldn’t ask for a better replacement.” Kessler says, ruffling Hudson’s hair. The pink on Hudson’s face deepens, and he reaches up to smooth down his hair.
Sanders holds out his fist to Hudson for a bump. “Hope to see you around more often, kid,” he says and Hudson returns his bump. Giving us a two-finger salute, he takes off towards the offices in the back, calling over his shoulder. “Get jogging Davis!”
“Yes, sir!” I call back. “Come on, Hudson, keep me company while I jog around the field a couple of times. We’ll bribe Kessler to stop and get us ice cream on the way home.”
“From Uncle Garrett’s?” Hudson asks, walking around the fence to join me.
I scoff. “Of course, there’s no better place.” I look at Kessler. “You coming?”
“Nah, you two go ahead. I’m going to go talk to Paul. I’ll meet you back here.”
I cock a brow at him. Paul is our head physical therapist. He and Kessler worked closely together last season after Kessler came back from his injury. “Everything good?” I ask. Kessler would tell me if he was having issues, right?
“Yes, nothing like that,” he tells me, hearing my concern.
I nod and clap Hudson on the back, turning him around to the exit where the field is. “Let’s go, first one to the door gets a double scoop,” I tell him. He takes off like a rocket and I laugh,letting him get a few strides ahead of me before I take off after him. I pull up just slightly at the last minute, letting him beat me.
“Yes! Double scoop here I come!” Hudson shouts, opening the door.
I chuckle at his enthusiasm. I would have gotten him a double scoop anyway. I’d do anything for this kid. Kessler says I spoil him, I can’t help it. A part of me feels guilty that his sperm donor is such a piece of shit. I know it doesn’t make sense because I didn’t even know Jared had a kid, but that doesn’t make the feeling any less real.
“Hey Uncle Judd?” Hudson says when we’re about halfway into our first lap.
“What’s up, big brotato?”
“Uh, never mind,” he says quickly, giving his head a little shake.
I reach out and lay my hand on Hudson’s shoulder, bringing our slow jog down to a walk for a minute. “You know you can talk to me about anything, Hudson, right?”
Hudson chews on his lip and nods. “So, I was thinking… Do you, do you think Kessler would mind if I called him Dad?”
