Page 4 of Dibs
“Yeah, buddy. Let’s go change.”
“Don’t wait for us,” Jamie said, as she took her key to her and Cammie’s room next door. “We’ll meet you two there shortly.”
After helping the girls with their bags, Jase and I went to our room next door to change into our swim trunks and then headed to the pool. He was giddy as he bounced up and down in the elevator.
“Excited to see your teammates?”
“I guess.” He shrugged, but I knew better. He was amped up to play with his friends.
We walked into the pool area and Jase took off toward his friend, calling out his name. Dylan was standing next to who I assumed was his father—the coach—and as the man turned around, my steps faltered.
Coach Stat was Gage Statler, my old college roommate.
My old college roommate I …
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
2
GAGE
Although it wasthe middle of October, it was still warm in Phoenix. The desert heat was a lot different from the weather we had on the Southern California coast. My sons, Tyler and Dylan, had been wanting to swim since we’d landed, so after checking into the hotel and grabbing some lunch, we changed and headed to the pool.
As soon as we walked through the gate, Dylan rushed off toward one of his teammates, who appeared to be with an older sibling. Not seeing any other parents out yet who I needed to greet, I followed Tyler over to a couple loungers on the other side of the pool.
At fourteen years old, he thought he was too cool to hang out with his younger brother. He didn’t play baseball and only attended the tournaments with us because his mother often wasn’t available to have him stay at her place during the weekends, which was fine since I enjoyed having my boys with me.
It had been the three of us for most of their lives since my ex, Lisa, and I had divorced ten years prior. We’d been high school sweethearts but took a break when I left to attend UCLA. After getting injured during my freshman year, I transferred to Cal State San Marcos and Lisa and I got back together. A couple of years later, we found out she was pregnant with Tyler. We married, had our sons, and then divorced, all in the matter of a few years. We shared custody, but Lisa’s priorities had never been our family, so the boys spent most of their time with me.
“When is Heather going to get here?” Tyler whined as he plopped onto a lounge chair near the pool’s deep end.
“Later this evening. She should be here in time for dinner.”
He rolled his eyes.
“What’s wrong? I thought you didn’t mind her coming on this trip.”
Heather and I had been dating for six months, but I’d only introduced her to my boys about two months ago. She had attended a couple of Dylan’s local games, but this weekend was the first time she was traveling with us. Unfortunately, she couldn’t fly in until the evening due to prior work commitments.
He shrugged. “It’s fine she’ll be here. I just think she’s annoying.”
If I’d learned anything as a parent, it was that kids could be brutally honest. “How so?”
“I don’t know.” He sighed heavily. “She always tries to make things about her and wants to be the center of attention. It’s just …”
“Annoying,” I finished for him. “Yeah, I get it.”
I understood why Tyler felt that way about Heather because even I found her antics over the top sometimes. She definitely preferred to be in the limelight. Her career as a news reporter was perfect considering she could talk to anyone and loved having all eyes on her. And for a kid—especially a quiet one like my son—her extroverted personality could be interpreted as annoying.
Over the next thirty minutes, more families arrived. As Dylan and I were chatting with a parent, someone shouted my son’s name. I spun to see Jase Matthewson running toward us, and my gaze was drawn to the man behind him.
The man I never expected to see again until I learned I was coaching his son.
Chase Matthewson was wearing sunglasses, but I could still feel his eyes on me as he neared. Judging by his halting steps, he hadn’t known his former college roommate was his son’s baseball coach. Or if he did, he didn’t expect to run into me so soon.
I’d had plenty of time to prepare to see Chase again. Jase was extremely proud of his father and talked about him often. I’d said nothing about knowing who Chase was beyond his role as a famous MLB player. Instead, I had waited to see if Jase ever mentioned that his dad knew me, but it’d never come up.
“Hi there.” I stuck my hand out to shake his, trying to act as though running into him after seventeen years wasn’t a big deal. “Glad you could make it this weekend.”
