“Are you excited?” Vinny asked as we drove down the dark freeway in the desert toward Los Angeles.
“So excited. I haven’t been to a game in years.”
“I go a few times a year.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Love my Dodgers.”
I snorted. “I love my Giants, but having Colton has made it difficult to go.”
“I can imagine.” There was a brief pause, and then he asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, is his father around?”
I took a deep breath. “No. He was in the Marines and died before I could tell him that I was pregnant.”
“I’m sorry.”
I smiled tightly to myself. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay that Colton’s father died, but I didn’t know him. It was actually a one-night stand during Fleet Week, and before I could get in contact with him, he died in combat.”
“How’d you find out if he was fighting in the war?”
“The night I met him, he and his Marine buddies were living it up because, after Fleet Week, they were being deployed. When I realized I was pregnant, I searched for him on Facebook, but I didn’t know his last name. Hell, I didn’t even know his real name because they were all using nicknames. It took me months to locate him. Then, before Colt was born, the USO posted a picture of his father on their Facebook page. A friend of his commented on the picture that it was the last one of him and his fellow Marine, Corporal Scott Colton. I messaged his friend and told him who I was and that I’d met Jameson during Fleet Week in San Francisco and I was trying to get in contact with him. Weeks later he messaged me back that Scott, who went by the nickname Jameson because he loved the whiskey, had died in combat not long after being deployed.”
“Wow,” Vinny breathed.
“Yeah, it’s been tough raising Colt alone. I saved the image from the USO page, and when he’s old enough, I’ll tell him the story and show him the only picture of his father that I have.”
“Did the military help with medical bills or provide health coverage for Colton?”
I shook my head. “There’s no proof he’s the father even though I know he is because I wasn’t dating or sleeping with anyone else during that time.”
“What about Scott’s family?”
“Scott’s friend said he contacted the family on Facebook, but they never got back to him or something. I don’t know. Never heard from anyone again after he told me Scott died.”
“That’s horrible.”
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Even though I haven’t officially met Colton, I can tell you’ve done an amazing job raising him.”
“Thank you.” There was a stretch of silence until I spoke again. “Thank you for setting this up. I hope Colt will be fine with all the people at the stadium.”
“The noise-canceling headphones will help.”
“Hope so because I’d love to take him to a game at AT&T Park. That ball field is amazing.”
“I’ve never been to it.”
“Maybe we can go later in the season when the Dodgers play in San Francisco?” I suggested. “The food is incredible.”
“And you can show me all your favorite places from when you were a kid.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll be your private tour guide.”
“If you’re good, I’ll give you a big tip.”
My eyes widened. “Guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”
“Yeah, Tess. We sure will.”
I stayed in the car with a sleeping Colton while Vinny checked us into the hotel. It was almost seven in the morning by the time we arrived, and I was worried that the hotel wouldn’t let us check in, but a few minutes later, he came back to the car, smiling.
“So.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “They only have one room left.”
“Are you serious?”
“No.” He laughed and moved to the back of the car.
I chuckled, opening my door and following him. “That was mean.”
He opened the back hatch of his SUV. “Would it be so bad to share a room with me?”
No, it wouldn’t. “I’m not sure what Colt would think if he woke up and there was a strange man in the room.”
“True, but after the school year, we’re going to be best buds.”
“I hope so.” I grinned and reached for our bags. “He loves baseball—you can teach him how to throw.”
“I love baseball too, but I’m better at spiking a volleyball.” He motioned with his head toward the bags as though to ask me if I could get them by myself. I nodded, and he opened the back door of the car. “How tall was his father?”
I shrugged. “Not as tall as you, but not short.”
Vinny reached in and grabbed my son as I closed the back door. “Good. I hope he’ll be tall. I’ll teach him everything I know.”
“Then you’ll need to get him a volleyball.” We started toward the lobby.
“I’ll do that on Tuesday and bring it by your place.”
I was trying not to read into his words, but I couldn’t help it. I liked that he was making future plans with us. I knew if our relationship went further than friendship, I wouldn’t be okay with him sleeping with other women. Having men stare at my breasts while I danced on stage was much different from Vinny bringing a woman to orgasm with his body.
When the elevator arrived, we stepped inside, and he hit the button for our floor. As the lift ascended, he handed me a key packet. “Rooms are next to each other. I’ll get him in bed and then let you get some sleep. It’s going to be an exciting night.”
“Yeah, because the Dodgers are going to lose.”
“Should we make this interesting?”
“How so?” I was smiling. I couldn’t stop myself. I liked that we had this little rivalry of sorts.
The elevator dinged after coming to a stop. The doors opened, and we walked out into the hallway. “Well, it’s a three game series, and since the Dodgers won game one, and the Giants won last night’s game, whoever wins tonight’s game is the winner. Loser cooks dinner for the other person?”
I nodded, still smiling. “I hope you know how to cook steak and lobster.”
I took a quick shower as soon as I got into the hotel room. Colton was still asleep, which was good, but as I crawled into bed, he woke and started to panic about being in an unfamiliar place. I compressed his ears, and he looked up at me. “It’s okay. We’re in a hotel. Remember I told you we were going to a baseball game?”
He blinked rapidly to let me know he understood.
“Mommy needs to get some sleep. Can you go back to sleep? I’ll turn on your waves.”
He hesitated for a moment and then slid back down, resting his head on the pillow.
“Good boy. When we wake up again, you can play on the iPad. Okay?” He blinked quickly again, and I moved to plug in his nightlight.
I crawled into bed beside him before drifting off to sleep.
I could have sworn I’d just fallen asleep when I felt a little hand shaking me. I opened my eyes in the dark room with blue waves on the ceiling to see Colton staring at me. “What’s wrong, Slugger?”
He pointed at the TV, so I sat up and looked for the remote. Going to bed at eight in the morning wasn’t the best idea, but at least we arrived in L.A. with no problems. Now, I just needed Colt to watch TV or play on his iPad for a few hours more.
After spotting the remote next to the TV, I crawled out of bed and turned it on. “I don’t think we can get PAW Patrol on this TV. Do you want to watch it on your iPad?” He reached out as though I was holding the device, so I switched off the television, got him a banana, apple juice, his baseball, and the iPad from our bag, and then put him back in bed beside me with pillows propping him up. “Mommy needs a little more sleep, okay?”
He didn’t respond as he pulled up Netflix and went straight to his cartoon.
I woke again, but this time it was because there was a knock on the door. Looking at the clock, I noticed that it was a
little after eleven. I crawled out of bed, glancing briefly at Colton who was engrossed in his iPad and rolling the baseball in his hands. Looking through the peephole, I saw it was Vinny holding a tray of what looked like coffee. Before opening the door, I ran my fingers through my long dark brown hair and prayed that one of the coffees was for me so I could mask my morning breath.
“How are you awake?” I asked as soon as I opened the door.
“Figured we could go to lunch and then hang out here for a few hours before we head to the field. That way, Colton can have a nap.”
“I’m going to need one too,” I admitted, and opened the door wider so he could step in.
“I brought you coffee. Not sure how you like it or even if you do.”
“Love coffee, and cream and sugar are fine.”
Vinny set the tray on the dresser next to the TV. “I brought this guy chocolate milk.” He turned and faced Colton who was still immersed in his iPad. “Hope that’s okay.”
I smiled. “That’s perfect.” He handed me the cup with a coffee lid on it, but the moment I touched it, I realized it was cold and must be the chocolate milk. I took it with me to the side of the bed and got on my knees. “Hey, Slugger. This is Mommy’s friend Vinny. He brought you chocolate milk.”
He didn’t look away from his iPad, and Vinny moved to kneel beside me. He cupped Colt’s ears as I normally did. “Hey, Colton. I’m Vinny. I’m going to be your teacher in a few months. Can I get a handshake?”
Colton’s blue gaze moved to Vinny, and I expected him to ignore Vinny and go back to his cartoons, but instead, he blinked rapidly to communicate his okay. Vinny grinned and stuck out his hand, and I watched as my little man greeted Vinny.
“That was amazing,” I gushed. He really did know how to work with children. We stood, and Colt’s attention went back to his cartoon. “Thank you for the coffee. I can get us ready and come to your room in thirty or forty minutes if that works?”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Lunch wasn’t going as planned.
I was hopeful Colt would be okay in a restaurant, but he wasn’t. He had a hard time sitting still for more than thirty minutes at a time unless he had something to focus on, and his iPad had died. So instead, we got our food to go and went back to my room to eat and charge the iPad so he could have it at the baseball game. After getting Colton situated with his cheese quesadilla in the center of the bed, I took a seat at the desk, and Vinny sat in the chair near the window.
“Thank you again for all of this,” I said to Vinny after taking a sip of my drink.
“Of course. I’m having a good time.”
“Even with the lack of sleep?”
He grinned. “Even with the lack of sleep.”
“Me, too,” I admitted. “I honestly can’t wait to see Colt’s face when he sees the players take the field for the first time.”
Vinny took a bite of his taco. “Some people assume baseball is boring, but when your team’s doing well or two rival teams are playing each other, it’s electric.”
“I used to go with my dad, and not because the Giants were good. We were decent, but as you know, hadn’t won a World Series in years.”
“Helped that you had Barry Bonds hitting all those home runs.”
“True.” I took a bite of my own taco. “I’m hoping Colton can grasp the excitement when everyone cheers after a home run.”
“You mean after the Dodgers hit a home run.”
I chuckled. “I’m going to be cheering whenever the Giants hit a home run.”
“You’ll be the only one.”
“Please,” I tsked. “I won’t be the only Giants fan there this afternoon.”
Vinny smiled and stuck a chip into his mouth. “I’m going to be so embarrassed sitting next to you.”
“Not when the Giants win. You’ll be crying.”
He threw his head back, laughing. “Even if they do lose—which they won’t—the season is only beginning.”
“True, but I still want steak and lobster when the Giants win.” I smirked, feeling good about my Giants and already thinking about the steak and lobster feast.
When I bought the tickets for the baseball game, I got us three seats in the outfield in the front row. Not because they were cheaper than a lot of tickets but because, in my opinion, they were the best seats. The bleachers in the outfield were where home runs were hit—home runs that needed to be caught by fans. Hopefully, I could get Colton a game ball and switch it out with the one he was currently playing with.
Tessa was booed for wearing her orange and black Giants jersey, but when the crowd saw Colt in his, the jeers turned to a collective aww. I had to admit Tessa had made a cute kid even if she was teaching him to like the enemy. I was in my Dodgers blue and gray jersey and, in our group, was the odd man out, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t sure if my Dodgers were going to pull off a win because as soon as we went ahead, the Giants answered back with a run. Our only saving grace, if the situation continued, was that we were last at bat because we were the home team. If we scored the final run, they wouldn’t have a chance to tie the game.
The game was in the fifth inning and tied. Tessa and I were sitting with Colton in between us on the bleacher. Colton had his baseball in his hands and his noise-canceling headphones on. Each time a new person would get up to bat, he would repeat the stats that were on the scoreboard over and over as though he was committing them to memory, and he probably was. He didn’t speak conversationally but only in random and sometimes repetitive ways—a symptom called echolalia.
“I can’t believe he’s talking so much,” Tessa stated.
“That’s good,” I replied because it was. His treatment must be working.
“Cotton candy! Get your cotton candy here!” a vendor shouted as he walked down the aisle of the bleachers.
I raised my hand, indicating I wanted one. After I paid for it, I handed it to Tessa.
“You don’t want him to sleep tonight, do you?” She chuckled.
“He’s not in my room,” I teased.
“If he’s up, I’ll make sure you are too for feeding him all this sugar.” Colton had already had a hot dog and a soda, and he was getting now cotton candy. I didn’t think it was so bad. I wanted nachos myself.
“It’s what you do when you’re at a game,” I stated.
“I guess.” She laughed and opened the clear bag. Tessa tore off a chunk of the pink spun sugar and handed it to me. I took a small piece, got in front of Colton the best I could, what with being on the bleachers, and stuck it onto his lips. “Mmmm, cotton candy.” I stuck the rest into my mouth and watched as Colton’s little tongue slipped out, tasting the sugar candy. His eyes widened with surprise. “It’s good, right, Colton?” He blinked in response, and I smiled as I returned to my seat.
“You really are good with him,” Tessa stated.
“I’ve learned a lot of behavior strategies. We’ll get him there.”
She smiled a warm smile. The sweet smell of cotton candy blew in the wind, reminding me of what she smelled like when she gave me the two lap dances. I cleared my throat and adjusted myself before turning my attention back to the game.
“Want some more?” she asked, extending another chunk.
I took the piece from her and stuck it into my mouth. It melted to nothing almost instantly, and all I was left with was a sweet aftertaste. Leaning back, I crooked my finger, asking for her to move closer to me behind Colton. She did, and I whispered into her ear, “Do you taste like cotton candy too?”
Her blue eyes widened. “What?” she whispered, only a few inches from my face.
I leaned in again. “You smell like cotton candy, Tess. I want to know if you taste like it too.”
She pulled back slightly again, both of us still balancing our weight behind Colton. Our gazes locked and slowly, not able to hold back my inner feelings for her any longer, I brought my mouth closer to hers, wanting to get my first taste of her lips. Wanting to find out if she was
as sweet as spun sugar. Just as our mouths were within millimeters of each other, there was a crack of the bat, and everyone around us stood as though the ball was hit at us. The moment was lost as we stood quickly and turned our attention to the field just as a ball flew above us. Someone on the Giants had hit a home run and put them in the lead.
“I like my steak cooked to medium.” Tessa smirked up at me.
I grinned. “We still have four and half more innings. The evening’s still young.”
So, the Dodgers lost.
I’d normally be bummed, but I’d never been so happy to lose a bet in my entire life. Okay, maybe I was pissed the Dodgers lost, but the season was still early, and the Dodgers and Giants played each other a bunch of times. I planned to make a bet with each game.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were all exhausted. Colton did amazing, and I was proud of him for being able to be around a shitload of people without any problem. Granted, he didn’t talk to anyone, focused mainly on his iPad except when a new batter would get up. That was okay. I knew it was progress from what Tessa had told me.
“Get some sleep. Check out’s at noon, and we can leave then if you’d like,” I whispered after putting a sleeping Colton into bed. The sugar had done nothing to him because once we were in the car, he was out.
Tessa yawned. “That works.”
There was a brief moment of silence. I wanted to try kissing her again. I hadn’t been able to think of much else since the moment we almost did. But instead, I walked to the door and opened it. “See you in the morning. Good night.”
“Good night,” Tessa replied right behind me.
I turned around and she was looking up at me with her blue eyes. An image of her looking up at me as she sucked my dick flashed through my head. I couldn’t wait any longer, I needed to know what her lips felt like, what they tasted like.
Fuck it. I was going to do it.
Even though she’d told me she only wanted to be friends, I was going to kiss her and show her I wanted more. I liked being with her. I loved getting to know Colton, and I didn’t want to spend a day without seeing them.
Rum & Coke Page 6