Full Count (26 page)

“Listen Dylan, I really don’t have
anything to say to you, I’m just here to watch the game with my dad so…” I
thought I had dismissed him pretty well but he just continued to stand there
and stare at me like I was a freaking ghost or something.

“Mr. Brinton, sir, glad to see you’re
doing well. I’m glad you could make it out, maybe I could get you onto the
field after the game. I’m still a little new around here, but I’m sure I could
pull a few strings.” I glared at him as soon as the words left his mouth,
always the freaking charmer. Instead of using it on me, he was using it on my
dad. He was one sick bastard.

I looked over to Dad to see he was
beaming like a little boy on Christmas morning at the thought. “Really, son?
That would be like a dream come true. I would really appreciate it. That’s so
thoughtful of him, isn’t it Paige.”

“Oh, yes,” I replied through gritted
teeth, I’m pretty sure I would lose one before the day was over.

True to his word, after the Rays
pulled off the win that basically clinched them a spot in the playoffs, Dylan
came back into the stands and helped to navigate Dad down onto the field and
into his wheelchair.

 The two of them ran the bases with
Dylan pushing my dad’s wheelchair, all the way to home plate. It brought back
memories that I tried to squash down of our dinner that he had cooked
especially for me and served it on the field back at campus. Those were the
kind of memories that made me think about how truly in love we had been and how
I probably wouldn’t ever find anything like it again.

“Hey Paige, I have a few errands to
run in town, Dylan said he could give you a ride back to his place and we could
meet up there. I really want to see the place he just bought, said he needed my
opinion on a few things. Is that alright?” Dad beamed at me with one of the
biggest smiles I had seen on his broad face in a long time. How could I say no
to that?

“Fine Dad, just don’t take too long
please. I know what you’re doing and it isn’t going to work,” I sweetly whispered
the last part into his ear and his smile faltered just a bit. “So hurry back,
I’ll be waiting.”

I followed behind him and Dylan,
who pushed his wheelchair back to the parking garage and tucked it into the
trunk for him. The two of them caught up with each other and laughed like they
were old friends. I was happy for Dad, but also a little pissed. He knew Dylan
had ripped my heart out, causing me to move back to Florida, and he treated him
like he was his long lost son or something, it was truly astonishing.

Dylan stopped in front of a brand
new, sleek looking SUV and held the door open for me. “Finally got rid of the
beater mobile?”

“Well not quite, I have it parked
in the garage at my house. I just can’t seem to get rid of it.”

The ride to Dylan’s house was
awkward and almost silent. He tried to fill me in on what he had been doing
since we had seen each other last, but I didn’t care to hear it, no matter how
much I really wanted to. After earning nothing but silence from me, he finally
shut up until we turned onto a long driveway that was surrounded by thick
groves of trees, stopping at the gate to punch in a code.

“Wow, all of this for one guy?” I
hadn’t been paying much attention to when we left the stadium but I instantly
knew we were far away from town by the thick trees and amount of land that surrounded
the house without a neighbor in sight. The house itself was a cottage style,
completely out of place in Florida, and probably big enough for the whole
baseball team and then some to live in.

“Well yeah, you know all about how
I grew up. When I finally got signed, I instantly bought this. Tim and Susanne
figured it was a good investment and helped me pick the place out.”

“I’m glad to hear their still a big
part of your life. Kitty said they just celebrated their 30
^th
wedding anniversary, that’s truly amazing nowadays.”

His eyebrows shot straight up to
his forehead and his brown eyes turned questioningly towards me. “You still
keep in contact with Kitty? She’s never mentioned anything. When you changed
your number, she said you didn’t give her the new one, I figured you cut her
off too.”

Wow, Kitty was better at keeping
her mouth shut than I thought. I guess she took the whole sworn to secrecy
thing a lot more seriously than I thought. “Yeah well she didn’t do anything wrong
and she’s still my best friend so no reason to stop speaking to
her
.”

The interior of the brand new SUV
once again grew silent as he placed it into park, slamming the door gently
before jogging over to open my door. “Let me give you a tour of the place,” he
muttered quietly. I could tell he was just trying to be nice; he probably
wanted to leave my ass out on the front porch until my dad showed back up.

He held open the double set of
thick wooden entry doors and I stepped in. My eyes swept through the entryway
that opened up to the living room, dining room, and kitchen with an open
concept. They managed to keep the rustic feel of the cottage with what looked
like refinished hardwood floors and the shiny wood paneling on the ceilings,
but it all had a modern feel to it.

He gave me a look as I made my way
into the kitchen, which was probably the most impressive thing I had ever seen.
It was truly made for a gourmet chef with some appliances that I wasn’t even
sure what they were for. The cabinets were a dark cherry wood with marble
countertops and sleek chrome fixtures to give it that modern touch. I knew this
was completely his domain and he probably spent most of his time here.

“I’m sure all of the girls love
this place.” My hands played over the cool marble and I avoided his eyes, not
really wanting to know the answer but apparently, I liked to torture myself.

“Actually, you are the first girl
I’ve ever brought here.” My face must have looked shocked because he held up
his hands to defend himself. “I swear.”

I let out a snort as he led the way
down a hallway to continue with our tour. Like I believed that. He gave me a wink
that reminded me of the playful side of Dylan, and swung upon a door that
revealed a movie theater.

Like a real movie theater. Huge
white screen that stretched across the whole front wall, four rows of actual
movie seats but these looked to be even more roomier and comfier, even thick
red velvet curtains pulled to the sides by golden cords. A popcorn machine sat
in one corner with a wet bar next to it that looked to be loaded down with
every kind of candy imaginable.

“Wow this is amazing! How do you
ever manage to leave your house when you have this? I bet you barely ever go to
see a movie in the regular theaters.” He gave me a shrug and backed out of the
room, flicking off the low lighting on his way out. “Not really. We can watch
one later if you want and make out like teenagers in the back.”

“Yeah, that’s never going to
happen. Like ever.” He continued with his tour, ignoring my biting comment,
showing me a game room with a pool table, pinball machines, and every game
console that ever existed included the original Nintendo that I was very
jealous of.

Three rooms that were set up as
guest bedrooms and one that was set up as an office with sports memorabilia
everywhere, most of which I had remembered from the old house he had shared
with Chris. I had lost count of the bathrooms. I couldn’t imagine why one
person would need so much space.

“And this is where all the magic
happens.” He swung open the last door at the end of the hallway and flopped
down on one of the biggest beds I had ever seen. The room itself was all white
with a giant flat screen mounted on the wall above a giant white entertainment
stand that was dotted with pictures of him with the Chapmans. And then my eyes
landed on the other half that was filled with pictures that contained only him
and me.

I quickly darted my eyes elsewhere,
not even wanting to think about why he would still have those. All of the
pictures I had of us together were safely tucked away in a box under my bed and
would remain that way.

 A massive bathroom was attached
all done in marble with a sunken Jacuzzi in the corner and a walk- in steam
shower that looked big enough for about ten people.

“I thought you said you never bring
girls here. You aren’t one of those Harry Potter freaks running around with
wands in your spare time, are you? What kind of magic is going on in here?”

“None,” he answered back with a
grin and stood up, pulling on my hand to take me with him. “I just felt like I
was on an episode of Cribs giving you the grand tour. And what in the hell is
Harry Potter?” I let out a loud sigh as he dragged me along, not believing that
he didn’t know anything about one of the biggest franchises, he probably had
all of the movies hidden away in a closet.

 “C’mon I want to show you the
view, it’s pretty spectacular.”

I followed him out through a
sliding glass door off the living room that led to a wraparound deck. I leaned
against the railings and looked out at the view, which was absolutely
breathtaking. The land surrounding the house seemed to go on for miles of
gentle rolling hills. Just between the green trees, I could catch a view of
shimmering water and heard it lapping against a wooden dock.

I could feel Dylan behind me as I
looked out and he placed his hands on either side of my body against the
railing, pinning me in. “This is the perfect view,” he whispered against my
neck, his lips just barely grazing the sensitive skin.

His lips finally made their landing
and I could feel his smile against my neck. He ran his hands up and down my
sides, over the thin material of my tank top, sending shivers racing through my
whole body that I willed to stop, but they wouldn’t. “Dylan, I can’t do this.”

“Why the hell not, Paige? You never
even gave me a chance to explain myself. I know I majorly fucked up at the bar
but people make mistakes. I reacted like a fucking idiot when I saw you with
Jake, and then Kitty filled me in on what really happened after you left. I was
destroyed. I knew I ruined what we had, but don’t you think I at least deserved
a second chance?

“What we had, what we have, is
special and I know I won’t ever find anything like that again. I don’t want to.
I haven’t even looked at another girl since that night, I haven’t wanted to.
You’re the only one for me. I want to marry you and have babies together that
are as gorgeous as their Mom and grow old together, sitting in a couple of
rocking chairs, yelling at a baseball game on TV. I love you so much.”

“Dylan, I just can’t.” I twisted my
body around to face his, but I couldn’t look into those damn eyes, they would
suck me in. His words had shot straight to my heart and I wanted to give in,
but I couldn’t.

This time it wasn’t from not
believing him, because I did. This time it was over the guilt that rippled
through me. I didn’t think he would ever forgive me from what I had kept from
him. Most people wouldn’t be able to. So instead of staying, I left Dylan
behind and ran away from him as fast as I could.

Paige

“Hey MaryAnn, have you seen Dad
lately?” I stepped into the kitchen where she was throwing handfuls of
ingredients into a crock-pot. I had started to feel more comfortable in the
kitchen, but she still did almost all of the cooking and I just helped out
where I could.

“Yes honey, he left earlier this
morning and said he had to run out somewhere. He’s been checking in almost
every half hour, so I know he’s doing alright. Says he should be home pretty
soon.”

“Ok,” I drawled out. I really
wanted to talk to him about the whole debacle of yesterday. I could tell he had
been let down that he didn’t get to make it inside of Dylan’s house, but I had
to get out of there. I hadn’t spoken a word on the way home and Dad
surprisingly hadn’t pushed me to talk. I think he suspected a few things and
wasn’t sure how to bring them up. Now I think I was ready.

I made a stop in my bedroom before
heading back downstairs and quickened my feet when I heard the front door open.
“Hey Dad, I’m glad you’re home…” My mouth dropped open when I saw who followed
in behind him and I swear my heart stopped.

Dylan

What. The. Fuck. There was Paige
looking gorgeous as always with her sandy curls piled on top of her head, a
pair of those tiny shorts that I loved, and a tank top that gave me just a
glimpse of that flat stomach of hers. But that wasn’t what had my mouth hanging
open. The baby girl perched on her hip with the sandy brown hair and wide brown
eyes that were currently staring back at me with a wide smile and just a hint
of a dimple was.

Max shuffled his feet behind me as
we stood there in silence just looking at each other. Finally he cleared his
throat. “Excuse me…I think MaryAnn needs some help in the kitchen.”

“Dylan…just let me explain… I
didn’t…I wasn’t sure how to…”

“Paige, just stop,” I breathed out
shakily. What in the hell was going on? My whole life had just completely changed
in a second of seeing this little girl.  “Just answer me one question, is she
mine?” The brown eyes that looked so similar to mine had already basically
answered my question for me, but I needed to know. I needed to hear it from her
lips. And I hoped it was true, I was already in love with that little girl.

“Of course Lily’s yours, I haven’t
been with anyone else, Dylan. I wasn’t the best at taking my birth control, but
I wouldn’t take it back for anything now. I was just so scared after I found
out and I had no clue how you would react. I knew about your upbringing and you
had said before you didn’t even know if you wanted kids.

“Then yesterday when you were
talking about us starting a family together… well, it all just sort of sunk in.
I felt horrible that I hadn’t included you in her life, all because I was being
selfish.” Her face was covered in tears and I couldn’t help myself, I just
needed to comfort her for all of the pain she had gone through without me, I
brushed my thumb over her cheek and let it rest there, until my baby girl,
my
baby girl,
reached up and curled her tiny fingers around mine. That right
there was the most unreal feeling I had ever had in my life. I had a daughter.
I reached up to play with the tiny curls that covered her little head, so much
like her mom’s and she actually giggled when I did it, letting out a small
musical noise.