She couldn’t stop the smile that emerged. She’d been taking advantage of every minute with him, not trusting it to last. The bus ride over to the complex was no exception.
Mac had saved Casey a seat next to him. He wanted to go over a couple of details that were still up in the air for the afternoon. If there’d been two seats together, it would have left Allie free to sit with Mateo, but they’d gotten on too late and there wasn’t.
Reyes must have noticed the frown on her face. “Here, take these.” He got up and moved to an empty aisle seat next to Buzzley, his wink giving away too much to those sitting around them.
She let it roll off her shoulders, grateful that she’d have the short trip, to enjoy Mateo’s company.
As she took her seat, she made an executive decision. It seemed everyone was going to know soon enough they were a couple, so she wasn’t going to hide it anymore. It would look even more ridiculous if she did. She just hoped Mateo could keep it in his pants long enough for her to figure out how to handle it when he fell off the monogamy wagon.
When she took hold of his hand, he flashed his black eyes at her, the twinkle there evocative.
He brought it up to kiss her palm, and the love bite he added, shot a bolt of lightning right to her core.
“We will be together tonight? Casey said it would not be a problem.”
“For the next few nights it might be possible. Come the weekend…we’ll have to wait and see.”
They pulled into the complex and the bus made its first stop.
Lyra was up and on her feet, calling out for Ovitz and Hernández. She handed them their keys and they trooped off the bus and toward what would be their home away from home for the next month and a half. As they drove up and down the streets, players and coaches got off two by two. When Lyra called out Alvarez, dos Santos and Layden, Mateo stole a kiss before getting up from his seat. She would have been grateful that there were only a handful of players left to witness it if it didn’t matter anymore. She was throwing caution to the wind knowing she’d find out soon enough whether they were existential or not.
Then it was only Mac, Bill Burns, his bench coach, who’d be staying at the manager’s house tonight, Casey, and her left. The bus rambled around a corner and came to a stop.
Casey jumped up, kissed Mac good-bye and skipped down the steps, her voice filled with childish glee. “It’s so good to be free. I haven’t been able to be me in months.”
Allie smiled. Her friend did seem lighter, more like the girl she knew when they were younger before her life was irrevocably changed. She was glad they’d have a few days together before routine set back in. She’d missed her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Mateo left Rique on the phone talking to Fiona and Seb hiding out in the bedroom. Allie had given him her address, and as he wandered down the street, he breathed in the warm, slightly humid air. What a difference a few hundred miles made. A few hundred miles. Cuba wasn’t even that far away. If he stood on a cliff, he’d probably see ii from here. Yet it was a world away. With every day that went by, he was becoming more enamored of his new home than he’d thought possible. It wasn’t just the freedom, either. Here was everything he could ever want.
Earlier that afternoon, after they’d chosen their bedrooms, unpacked, and acquainted themselves with the lay-out, the three roommates had taken a taxi to the field. Rique had wanted to pass the time. He wasn’t allowed to call Fiona. She’d given him strict instructions that he couldn’t bother her during the day, and he was doing his best not to give in to temptation. Seb didn’t seem to care where they were, his expression had been dazed and confused since he’d found out Casey had decided to join the team.
The stadium was impressive. It was only a couple of years old, finished, according to Seb, before the ground-breaking ceremony for Harborside. The Larsens’ were adamant about providing the best for their team and it began in the minors. They’d toured the clubhouse, sat in the stands, and he’d gone out to third base to get a feel for the position. When Rique ran out, a discarded ball in his hand, they’d begun to play bare-handed catch. He hadn’t been on a real baseball field since last summer, and the rush was instantaneous. It was the appropriate spot for his soul to settle.
Now he was ready for a bigger rush. The one that always came when he was with Allie.
He hurried up the steps and knocked on the door. It took only a few seconds before Allie was there, welcoming him in with a generous hug. He could hear Casey in the background, along with the humming of some electronic device.
After kissing him soundly, Allie smiled. “She’s making us dinner.”
He trailed love bites along her neck. “You’re all I want.”
“Well, consider me dessert. She’s been trying to keep busy since we got here and we’re eating what she made. I thought we could go for a walk in town later, get a feel for the place. I think you’ll like it.”
She took his hand and guided him in. As he
