5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dominic

I walked out of the dugout and over to the pitcher's mound, checking out the loaded bases. Somehow, with our secondhand pitcher, they managed to get multiple hits off of us. Coach wanted me to end this practice.

I wanted to end this practice.

Because waiting for me back in my locker was a woman I was looking forward to texting with. It killed me when I told her I would be late for practice if I didn't put my phone away at that moment and head outside. That was three hours ago, and I was done. Over.

I couldn't recall if there was ever a time, I so badly wanted to text a woman, any woman. For any reason. But Cassie really did draw something out in me, and I wanted to get to know her. Get to figure her out. Get to be a friend that I felt she needed. And slap me silly, but for the first time in forever , I wanted to let her in and let her get to know the real me.

Who was this man? I didn't recognize him.

With a deep breath, I closed my eyes, letting my instincts pick up on what the three men behind me were doing. They were easing off the bases, but none felt like they were going to steal for the moment. I opened my eyes, glanced at my catcher who gave me the signal, and threw my fastball, causing McGee to swing.

"Strike one," the coach called. I held my smile off. Now wasn't the time. Well, against my fellow teammates, it wasn't the time.

I got settled again, felt the draw, and then let it go, issuing a ball that went straight down the middle.

"Strike two. Come on McGee. Don't let them in your head," the coach told him. "Eye on the ball." Right, eye on the ball. With that, I wound up again, throwing another fastball, with another strike and a call for the end of practice.

"Hey, Sanchez," McGee called out, handing his bat to someone behind him and pulling his glove off. "What was your average speed on those?" I took my hat off, running my fingers through my wet hair .

"I think my last reading was ninety-three. Maybe ninety-four on a good day."

"Between your instincts and that arm, I'm not sure we're going to lose too many home games." Half the team heard him and sure enough, I heard the chant. Beep, beep . Though, it didn't annoy me this time. With the fast arm, that sound went along with it.

"Maybe," I offered, heading down to the locker room. I yanked open my locker and pulled my phone out, smiling at the text.

If you want a tour guide, it starts tonight.

I beamed at that. I did want one. And though Tony's game was two days ago, and she and I had texted, there was no mention of any ‘dates'.

What's the game plan, oh-wise-and-knowing-woman of Santa Fe?

And don't you forget it. I'm going to text you an address, with a time. It's Tony's favorite place, so don't you dare be late.

Ha, wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart. I grinned as I put my phone away after sending her a thumbs up and headed for the showers.

Three hours later, I pulled up to the little place, confirming the address that was on the GPS with the one Cassie had sent. This looked like a little hole-in-the-wall type place where the sitting area looked like it could only hold fifteen people, tops. But the smell coming out of there was divine.

"Right on time." I turned, seeing both Cassie and Tony walking up. "Since you've been here, have you had any New Mexican style of food?" My brows wrinkled in confusion, and I shook my head. What the hell was New Mexican style? They had their own style? What made it so different? "Let me introduce you to it. I'm assuming you eat spicy food?"

"I take offense to that. I am of Latin heritage."

"Oh yes, Miami." She glanced down at her son, and they exchanged an eye roll along with a sneaky smile. Okay, that scared me.

"Yeah," I drew out, following them into the restaurant, surprised to see how much bigger it looked. "This is nice. "

"Tony loves the Christmas enchiladas from here. And though I can make them for him, it's never quite the same." For the second time in less than five minutes, my brows came together in confusion.

"Christmas what? Okay, you're speaking a total foreign language." She laughed as she sat down, taking the chair between us two and for some reason, I couldn't be happier. Her leg was touching mine under the small table and I was doing everything I could to focus on her and not the little zings I was feeling.

"They're both green and red enchiladas with a fried egg on top. Because New Mexico has the city that's the chili capital of the world." At my frown, Tony grinned. "You do know the chili capital, right?" he questioned.

"Didn't even know there was such a thing, honestly."

"Dominic, have you lived under a rock your whole life? Chili is like the best thing ever! And Hatch is the chili capital. You haven't had real chili and heat till you've had theirs." I could only shake my head at the enthusiasm that he sported for the love of food.

Sixty minutes later, with my mouth on fire, I realized I hadn't had spicy. My tolerance level for spice was far different from theirs, and the things I previously viewed as spicy were not the same. However, none of that took away from the yumminess that it was. And shit, it was utterly delicious. Another tick for Santa Fe; they did seem to have some good restaurants. But still no beaches.

"How do I get rid of this?" I asked them, fanning my mouth as we stood up to leave. I put my wallet away, telling Cassie this was my treat as she was showing me her world.

"Milk. Odd to say, but chili is oil-based, so milk helps. Won't kill it, but it helps." Tony let out a yawn and I watched as Cassie rubbed his back while pulling him to her side. Crazy as it may seem, I wasn't sure I found anything else as sexy as that. This woman was a knockout to me, and seeing her loving, maternal side was doing things to me I never thought it would.

"Noted," I told them, pushing the door open right as someone was pulling it. I heard the quick intake of breath and glanced from Cassie to the man standing in the doorway.

"Peter," she said, and I felt my jaw clench.