Page 25 of Leave It On The Field (Grand Slam 3)
“Fine, but only for you and Dottie.” I whistle and motion to the rest of the players. “Time to mingle, boys.”
As the team starts to filter through the crowd, I see my childhood friends waving at me from across the party. I give them a nod and head that way. As I get closer, a woman starts running toward me.
“Seb!”
I can’t quite place her, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve know her all of my life. I pull Joe back as he tries to stop her.
“Eeeeeek!” she screams as she crashes into me and wraps her arms around my neck. “It’s been almost ten years but this feels exactly the same.”
“Yeah,” I say, my mind spinning as it tries to connect the dots. I give her a hesitant hug, and then push her back.
She grins up at me. “Come on, Sebastian. I know you’re all big time now, but how are you going to forget me of all people? It’s Katie.”
My mouth drops open. “Katie Barr? I’m sorry. Of course. It’s just been so long.”
“Yes, silly, Katie Barr. We dated for almost four years. And it’s Houseman now, but I’m getting a divorce, so I might go back to Barr unless something else comes up.”
“Oh, uh, I’m sorry to hear about the divorce.” I shake my head to try to get the spinning to stop. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to watch you play.” She hugs me again. This time, I don’t return it. “You talked about playing in the World Series every day we were together. I’m so proud of you for getting here, Seb.”
“Thanks, Katie.” I push her back again. “But I mean what are you doing here—at this party?”
“I’m Ricky’s plus one. Didn’t he tell you he was bringing me? Or maybe I was supposed to be a surprise. Shoot. I should have jumped out of a cake or something.”
The anger shoots through my body so quickly that it’s almost painful. I try to smile, but I’ve never been very good at masking my emotions. “No, he definitely didn’t tell me he was bringing you.”
She tilts her head and laughs. “Well I hope I’m a welcome surprise.”
“Are you going to say hi to your best friends?” Ricky yells as he walks toward us. “I mean, it’s not like we’ve been with you since day one or anything.”
“Rick,” I say, shaking his outstretched hand.
“Damn, Seb. Shake it. Don’t break it. Ease up on the grip, Hulk.” He looks at Katie and smiles. “Katie was telling me it’s been almost ten years since you’ve seen each other. Nice surprise, huh?”
“Yeah,” I say, locking my eyes with his. “It’s been a while.”
Katie laughs again as she touches my arm. “I thought you forgot me there for a second.”
“No way. Seb would never forget his first love.” Ricky points his phone at us as Katie links her arm through mine. “Let me get a picture. You two are still a good-looking couple.”
My other friends, Stone and Paul, make their way over to us with their wives.
“Fellas,” I say, pushing Katie off me as I reach out to shake their hands. “Glad you made it in.”
“Not as glad as we are,” Paul says. “Can you believe it? Man, you’ve wanted to be in the World Series since we were playing tee ball.”
“It’s unreal, man. I just want to start playing.”
“We’re all so proud of you.” Stone’s wife, Anne, gives me a hug. “Where’s Sophie? Stone said she would be here.”
“Uh, yeah,” I say, scanning the crowd for her again. “She’s supposed to be here. I don’t see her yet.”
“Well, let’s take advantage of our alone time,” Ricky says, pushing Katie back toward me. “Honestly, it’s nice to have the old gang back together. Just us. How many days and nights did we spend together growing up? Am I the only one who misses those days?”
Every muscle in my body tenses as I glare at him.
“Seb.” Stone puts his hand on my arm. “I need to talk to you alone. Will you all excuse us for a second?”
