She kissed me back, her hands in my thick hair and her soft lips that set me off made me forget where I was. I’d shaved part of my skull and she massaged it in a way only Georgie had ever done.
For one second, I was transported back in time to when I’d met her in the pool. She’d not asked for my rookie autograph. She’d just been pretty in her yellow bikini that I’d found a way to get off her that very night.
As the kiss ended, the world returned to color. I remembered where I was and saw the open mouth of my father in her young son’s face.
The announcer overhead said, “Michael Irons caught on the kiss cam.”
I glanced at the Jumbotron. Everyone in the stadium must have seen it. My agent would call this reckless unless I claimed her as mine fast.
I winked at her and as I made it back to my dugout, I heard the announcer ask, “Will Michael be joining the Pirates next season? His son is wearing a Pirates shirt.”
That would be corrected. I went where the money was. The Sooners hadn’t shown up with the right dollar sign to show their desire to keep me, and I wasn’t fucking waiting for them. Team loyalty was for players who wanted to stay poor and this was quite possibly my last million-dollar contract before I retired.
I guess it shouldn’t matter. I had enough money to not care, except I did. I needed the money as evidence I was the best. It validated my years of hard work to perfect my game.
I refused to ever be a poor kid from the cornfields who didn’t know any better than how to lose a dime of my money.
In college, I'd studied finance. That time, combined with my skill of the game, had secured my future, for when this ended.
Truthfully, I’d never pictured my life after leaving the field forever, except having more in the bank was better as life threw curveballs, like having a son with Georgie.
Now, I had a son to ensure his financial well-being and I didn’t know his name. I would remedy that. Fast.
The last batter was up, and I watched with my team. Unless the Pirates pulled off a miracle, the game was ours.
But I still held my breath as I always did when the relief pitcher tossed the potential final ball.
The batter swung but missed.
We won. I high fived my team and then took the field to shake hands with the other team. Who honestly knew. Maybe the Pirates did have the best offer for me next year. Anything was possible, my son and my woman lived here, and I told my agent we’d look over the numbers in the range I wanted when I got back to Tulsa.
Free agenting was a blur, but for now, it didn’t matter. The Sooners needed to pony up if they wanted me. I left my team, who were heading into the locker room, and motioned for the water boy to join me.
As I neared Georgie again, the air smelled like her floral scent. I’d forgotten her smell until today.
I placed my hand on her back and she jumped. “Look, the game is over. I need you both to follow Aaron. I’ll meet you as soon as I’m free.”
Her big brown eyes captured my attention as she asked, “Aaron?”
Part of me wanted to grab her, rip her clothes off and make her mine right here on the field. But her son was beside her, and I wanted to meet him, too.
So I nodded and patted the water boy’s back as I said, “He’ll get you to the family waiting area so we can leave.”
I took a step back, but she craned her neck as she glanced toward me and asked, “Where are you going?”
I winked. My veins still had energy that I needed to get under control. “Shower, change, and give some interviews. Give me ten minutes.”
I turned, but she asked, “Michael?”
I smiled at her and glanced at the boy whose pinched face was exactly like my father’s when I screwed up and didn’t catch the ball. “We’ll talk, Beautiful. It seems we have a lot of catching up to do.”
A fast shower helped clear my head. The boy was mine. I’d still want a test to confirm for the lawyers and the estate, but I wasn’t blind. As I left the shower, Paulie Rodriguez called from the ice machine for me to come over.
I threw some jeans on and he asked, “Who was the woman you were kissing?”
“An old friend,” I said, though I fully remembered how Georgie’s arms around me as I took her in every direction felt like. It was like sex with her branded me because no other woman’s lips or body captured my attention.
The few second chance smoke kisses planted on me left me reeling, like I'd betrayed Georgie, so I never pursued women. Finally, I knew Georgie’s address and phone number. She was back in my life and I wasn’t giving her up.
I had a shot at reclaiming those moments.
Paulie gave me a wolfish smile. “You called her your lucky charm. How have we never seen her before when you’ve had a stellar career?”
“And no signs of stopping,” I answered fast.
I’d not be swayed with team friendships for going after the big money contract when the Sooners hadn’t shown that to me. This was my time.
His gaze narrowed as he asked, “Right, so who is she?”
I took out my phone and showed him my sacred picture of us at the moment we'd met at the pool. “For the past seven years, I’ve been carrying her picture with me on my phone. When I look at her face, I win. If I miss this routine, I lose. So, I’ve been seeing this picture of us for years.”
The yellow bikini had caught my eye that day and when I'd succeeded in my mission of removing it, she’d branded me
