11. April

ELEVEN

APRIL

Aiden's first game was that. He'd invited me to come watch it, like, five times, and there was no way I was going to miss it. Plus, both my brothers and Chelsea would be there. The baseball game would be fun, and cheering on Aiden would be the highlight of my day, but I needed some girl talk with my sister-in-law. After the disaster of a date I'd had with Ryland last night, I needed to unload on someone and see whether I could salvage whatever may or may not be there. He was a really nice guy—cute and smart—but that weird disgust I'd felt when he kissed my cheek needed to be talked out. Maybe my subconscious knew he wasn't a good fit. Or maybe something else was at work. Either way, I hoped Chelsea could help me sort through it.

Steff would be there, obviously. I really didn't want to see him after the strange shit that had gone down last night. Accosting me while I was on a date while being on a date with someone else? That was just strange. Then the bear thing? At least he was coaching, and I wouldn't have to interact with him. He'd be too busy making sure the kids were doing a good job. At least, he had better be.

I dressed in sneakers, a T-shirt, and shorts. It was the simplest ensemble, and it was glorious. I was getting used to not having to get dressed up. It was one of the things I enjoyed most about being back home. Getting dressed up every now and then for a special occasion was fun and sexy. Doing it all the damn time was draining and sucked the fun out of it. Since becoming a model, my life had been nothing but dressing up, spending hours in the makeup chair, and having jewelry worth millions adorning my body. The jewelry was, of course, on loan, so I had the added stress of making sure nothing got lost or broken. It was exhausting.

Before I headed out the door, my phone buzzed again. It was the fifth time this morning. Glancing at the screen, I saw it was another unlisted number. I sighed and blocked it. I'd have to get a new number again. I didn't know how, but my number kept leaking to fans. After all the issues with stalkers since the story broke, I couldn't take any chances. After I blocked the number, I sent Larry a text to let him know what was happening. Within seconds, he responded:

I'm on it. I'll have a new number for your phone within the hour. Sorry about this, kid. I'm working on something else. I'll give you a call in a few.

I frowned, wondering what he could be working on, then stuffed my phone into my pocket and headed out the door. The drive was short, but I still had a hard time not glancing around. Stalkers or someone had found my number. Who was to say they hadn't found out where I was living? It was unlikely, but not impossible.

At the ballpark, I had no problem finding my family. All I had to do was look for the two blobs of bright red hair that were my brothers. Kellan, Kris, and Chelsea all sat in a line and waved to me as I walked from the parking lot.

Before I could walk up and join them, Larry phoned. "April? I have good news."

"I hope so, I could use some," I said, holding a hand up to my family, letting them know I'd be a minute.

"Got final word from our lawyers. No worries anymore. No interviews, pictures, or recordings from Luca. The cease-and-desist order went through twenty minutes ago. I didn't want to call until I had confirmation that he'd been served."

It was like he'd taken the weight of the world off my chest. It was a relief to know that I didn't have to worry about Luca running his mouth or selling a sex tape or something.

Larry continued, "With any luck, you'll be able to come back home in a month or two. It won't be long before there's another scandal, and the media will turn their lenses toward that. People will move on."

As true as that might have been, my reputation had been damaged. Tainted beyond what was easily fixed. Could I ever go back to the way it was before? Did I actually want to?

"Thank you, Larry. Keep me updated."

Once I'd hung up, I climbed the bleachers to my family. When I got to their row, I stopped and laughed at the three of them. They were all wearing bright red jerseys. On the front was Aiden's number. Above the number in giant block letters Kellan had the word DAD. Kris and Chelsea's shirts said UNCLE and AUNT respectively.

Kellan stood up and tossed me a red bundle. "Don't laugh, we got you one, too."

Unfolding it, I saw it also said AUNT. "Kellan, you realize this is a Little League game, not the World Series?" I laughed as I pulled the shirt over my head.

He pointed at me. "Don't you say that. As far as you know, this is game seven. Sit down or you don't get any Cracker Jacks."

I sat next to Chelsea once I had the shirt adjusted. It was a little tight on top of my other shirt. Maybe I'd go to the bathroom later and swap it out. I took a handful of popcorn from Chelsea's bucket and felt eyes on me. It was a sensation I was used to. For years, I'd been paid to have people to look at me. I had one idea who it might be. Glancing out to the field, my guess was proven right. Steff stood there, arms crossed, staring across the grass toward me.

When our eyes locked, I froze, transported back to the past. A fourteen-year-old girl meeting my brothers' best friend for the first time. Immediately in love or lust or whatever emotion young teenage girls could feel. He'd hurt me, pushed me away, and still those feelings bubbled up. He was in his coach outfit, which basically looked like a baseball uniform. He looked like he had out on the field in high school. The crowd had started to notice the awkward exchange between us, and everyone went quiet, gazes bouncing from him to me. Then Steff threw me a small wave and walked to the dugout.

A lot of people at the game looked familiar. Many of them had gone to school with Steff and me. We'd been the it couple back then. Everyone knew we'd been together. They also all knew the tragic end to the fairytale romance. Suppressing a groan of embarrassment, I lowered my head and hid my face, until the hum of the crowd discussing the game returned. Kellan and Kris both looked at me, frowned, then looked back toward Steff. I couldn't read the expressions on their faces, but I was beyond grateful when the umpire started the game. With everyone's attention back on the game and away from me, I was able to breathe easier.

Chelsea leaned over. "What, if I may ask, was that all about?"

I tilted my head back and looked at the sky. I'd only woken up two hours before, but I was already mentally exhausted. A quick look at my brothers let me know they weren't paying attention to our conversation. Over the course of two innings, I unloaded all my history with Steff on Chelsea, everything from high school and since I returned to town.

After going on and on, I finished by telling her about the catastrophe at the steakhouse. "Then, last night, I was on that date with the guy I told you about—Ryland. Steff showed up with a date of his own. He walked right up and tried to talk to me. I tried to brush him off, but he kept looking at our table the entire night. It basically ruined the whole date. It was a total disaster."

Chelsea listened to everything, nodding along the whole time. Now she looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Have you entertained the idea that he might still have feelings for you?"

"What?" I looked at her like she was crazy. "Have you listened to anything I've said? Especially the way he intruded on my date last night, it's like he's trying to sabotage me."

"Oh, no, I heard everything. It sounds like he's jealous as hell. If I had a guess, he didn't like seeing you with another guy."

I shook my head. "That's not it. If he was jealous, why's he been such a dick to me since I came home? He was just being weird about Ryland. Probably some crap like he doesn't want me, but no one else can be with me, either."

Chelsea shrugged. "I don't know the guy, but I know what it sounds like to me. Remember that I told you so if it ends up like I said."

Turning our attention back to the game, it became evident that Aiden was a beast on the field. As the innings went on, it was obvious he was the best player. He hit two home runs—one in the fourth, and one in the sixth. He also was crazy fast in the outfield. He ran down a ball that surely would have been a home run. Aiden extended a hand over the fence and caught the ball on the very tips of his glove. I didn't know a lot about baseball, but even I was impressed.

With as much as he did, the rest of his team struggled, and at the start of the bottom of the ninth inning, Aiden's team was down two runs. They had two outs, with runners on first and second when Aiden went to bat one last time. The crowd exploded when the first pitch cracked off Aiden's bat. Before it went ten feet, everyone knew it was another home run. Kellan was screaming so loud that Kris and Chelsea had to lean away from him.

"My boy. My boy. My boy," he shouted over and over again. I smiled and leaned across Chelsea to pat him on the shoulder.

When Kellan looked at me, there were stars in his eyes. He was so proud of his son that it had brought him to tears. His show of emotion made my own eyes burn. I swallowed and forced my own tears back.

Once Aiden crossed home plate, the umpire called the game in our favor. We'd won our first game. It was way more exhilarating than I thought it would be. The crowd started to file out of the bleachers, and we made our way to the field to collect our little superstar.

Aiden sprinted away from the rest of his team and slid to a stop in front of us. "Coach said we're having a pizza party for winning. He said we're going right now. Can we go? Please, Dad?"

Kellan glanced across the field at Steff. He didn't frown, which surprised me. Instead, he nodded. "Okay. We can probably do that."

Aiden leaped into the air. I almost flinched when Steff spoke from behind me. "Kellan, Aiden did so good. I wanted to let you know there's a big baseball skills camp later this summer. Most of the guys on the team aren't quite there yet, but Aiden is advanced enough to go and get some individual coaching. It'll help him get even better. I can sign him up if you'd like to do that."

Kellan raised his eyebrows. "We can talk about it, I guess."

Steffen smiled. "Awesome. We can discuss it at the pizzeria."

"Aunt April, are you coming for pizza, too?" Aiden asked.

The question was innocent enough. Why wouldn't I? How could I say no to that face? But the idea of sitting near Steff for an hour made me a little nervous. Even more so after the talk with Chelsea. I also couldn't help but notice the moms all around collecting their kids, stealing looks at Steff. In that uniform? I could see why. I had a hard time not checking him out. I shook my head to clear it, pissed at myself for even allowing those thoughts.

I leaned over to speak with Aiden, and felt Steff's eyes burning into my skull. "Okay. I can come by for a while and have a few pieces to celebrate the win."

Aiden hugged me, then ran off to his team to tell them he was coming. Steff walked slowly backward, his eyes fused onto me. "See you guys at the restaurant."

He held my gaze for several more steps before turning to head to his car. I watched him walk away, chewing at my lip, trying to figure out what his game was.

Kris leaned toward me. "What the hell's going on there?"

Flinching away, I frowned up at him. "What? What are you talking about?"

He pursed his lips and nodded toward Steff. "He's looking at you like he did back in high school. Did something go down between you two?"

I shook my head and winced. "God, no. That's crazy."

It wasn't the same look. It couldn't be. How could he look at me the same way? Things were so much different. He didn't want me anymore. I wouldn't let myself even consider it.

In the parking lot, Steff opened his truck door and stood on the running board. Before he ducked into the truck, he glanced back across the gravel parking lot to me. Our eyes met, and despite my wishes, my body reacted. A shiver ran up my spine and butterflies swirled in my stomach. Even as he drove away, I had a hard time settling my racing heart. That look? Was Chelsea right?