There. That’s it. He’s lying. Murphy said he chews his cheek when he lies. Or was it that he bites his nails? Shit.

“What do you mean it’s not exactly a naked picture? Either you have one or you don’t.”

“Oh, it’s a lot better than a naked picture, man. I’ve got full-blown video.”

“You’re lying,” I say.

He shrugs. “I guess I could be. But then again, are you willing to risk a million people watching your girlfriend come as she rides me?”

I pin him to the wall by his neck. “You stupid prick. If you really had a video, you’d show it to me.”

Drew walks up behind me. “Is there a problem here?”

I drop my hands away from Tony. “This shithead is trespassing,” I say. “Please make sure he gets to his car.”

Drew takes Tony by the elbow. “Sure thing, Mr. Kessler.”

Tony yells back over his shoulder. “I’ll give you a week, Mr. Kessler. If you can’t come up with a cool mil by then, I’ll make good on my word.”

I walk back into the clubhouse and take a quick shower. I know Murphy is waiting for me and I don’t want her to worry. But the whole time, I wonder. I wonder that despite the little prick biting his cheek, could it be true?

I can’t tell her about this. She’d be mortified. It’s most likely bogus anyway. He’s going to have to offer me proof. Proof he doesn’t have.

When I walk out the door, fans are screaming. I stop to sign some autographs and pose for a few pictures. Then I see her coming towards me. She’s still wearing my hat and one hell of a smile. I catch her when she flings herself into my arms.

“You were great, Kessler,” Murphy says, planting kisses on me.

I want to be happy. I want to celebrate with her. But I can’t. All I hear are Tony’s words about a million people watching her ride him. “Hey, what do you say we celebrate?”

“Definitely,” she says. “What did you have in mind?”

I lean in close to her ear. “Let’s get crazy and video ourselves making love.”

She pulls back, looking horrified as she studies me with a slack jaw. “Kessler, you are crazy if you think I’d ever do anything like that. Have you completely lost your mind?”

I can’t help it when my lungs deflate and I blow out a huge sigh of relief. I knew the asshole was lying. “Sorry,” I say, flashing her an innocent look. “I guess the adrenaline of tonight just got to me. I was only joking, Murph.”

She rolls her eyes, laughing. Then she leans up and whispers back to me. “But I’m not opposed to watching you make love to me,” she says, her hot breath flowing over my ear. “You do have a floor-to-ceiling mirror in your bathroom.”

And suddenly, I’ve forgotten all about the asshole scammer. Hell, I’m not even sure I can remember my own name. Because all I can think about is what I’m going to do to my girl when I get her home.

Chapter Forty-six

Murphy

Having Caden back home this past month has been both wonderful and eye-opening. He wasn’t lying when he said baseball owns his life during the season. Between his job and mine, we’re lucky if we get to see each other twice a week. And that’s when he’s not traveling.

He’s asked me to move in with him. In fact, he asks me whenever we’re together. He says he wants to wake up with me every day. I want that, too. But I keep making up excuses. What he doesn’t know, however, is that as soon as Trick finds a new roommate, I’m going to take him up on his offer.

Today is Saturday so the stands are jam-packed at the game we’re attending. I love the energy in the stadium—it’s like a drug. I can see why Caden embraces it.

Lexi and I make our way to our seats to find Scott and her dad already there. She hugs her dad and little brother. Since Shane and Scott moved to the city a few months ago, they have become a close-knit family. Caden and his dad are more than family now, they are friends. And I couldn’t be happier. And with Shane and my mom dating, she flies in from Iowa a lot so I get to see much more of her these days.

I look around and wonder how I got so lucky. How did I end up here … with this man, in this life? Sometimes it seems too good to be true and I wonder when the other shoe is going to drop. Will Caden’s life ever become too much for one of us to handle?

Then we make eye contact when he looks up at me from the dugout, and all my fears disappear. Because the way he looks at me, it’s as if we aren’t surrounded by forty thousand people. We might as well be the only two people on Earth.

I give him a thumbs-up and blow him a kiss. It’s what I do before every game. He expects it. And he won’t look away until I do it. I guess it’s become another one of his rituals. Our rituals.

When he puts his game face on and turns around to do his job, Lexi hooks my elbow with hers. “You’re good for him, you know. In more ways than one.”

“I hope so,” I say.

“I’ve never seen my brother so happy, Murphy.”

I glance over at Shane and Scott. “I’m not the only one responsible for that.”

“I don’t know,” she says. “From what I hear, you are. Caden told me you are the one who convinced him to give our dad a chance. So, the way I see it, you brought our family back together. And Caden has never performed better on the field. He was great before, but now he’s on a whole other level.”

“That has nothing to do with me, Lexi. It’s all him.”

I look down at the dugout to see Caden and his team taking the field. He won’t look up at me again until after the game. He never does. Not unless he has a home run. Whenever he hits a home run, he will find me in the crowd, pound his heart and point to me right before he steps on home plate. Even if I’m not at the game, he will still do it—he will look over to where I usually sit behind the net by the first-base dugout and go through the motions. It’s become a thing. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Even the ESPN announcers have picked up on it.

She laughs. “If he thinks it’s you, then it’s you, Murphy. You’ve been with him long enough to know that.”

In the sixth inning, I take Scott to get a hot dog and a Coke. Scott is a good kid. It must have been hard leaving the place where he grew up for almost thirteen years to move here. He seems to have fit right in however, and has become a celebrity in his own right at his school for being a carbon copy of his older brother. He’s even following in his brother’s footsteps and is a top player on a local Little League team. Lexi, Shane and I have skipped out on a few Hawks games this spring to watch Scott play.

“You’re Caden Kessler’s girlfriend, aren’t you?” a young lady asks on our way to the concession stand. “Can I have your autograph?”

I look at Scott. “You don’t want my autograph,” I tell her. “I’m not even related to Caden. But this is his brother. You should get his autograph.”

The girl squeals in delight and then gushes over Scott, realizing how much he looks like Caden. I smile, watching Scott get fawned over by an excited co-ed. He poses for a picture with her and signs her program. The grin on his face is priceless.

We make our way back to our seats, our hands filled with junk food. But before we get there, Scott stops walking. “You’re pretty cool, Murphy,” he says.

“You’re pretty cool yourself,” I tell him.

He nods to the field. “I’m going to be out there one day.”

“I don’t doubt it. You’re a great player, Scott.”

“Will you come to my games, too?”

I can’t help the smile that overtakes my face. Scott, like his older brother, believes I’ll still be around ten years from now. He’s accepted me as family. And I love him like a brother. “You can bet on it.”

“What’d we miss?” I ask Lexi when I settle back into my seat.

“Nothing much. It’s still three to two. Caden didn’t let anything get by him.”

I look up at the scoreboard. “I love close games,” I tell them. “I mean, what’s the fun if every game is a blowout?”

“You like living on the edge, huh?” Shane asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know. I just think if things come easily to you, they aren’t worth having. It’s the hard wins that are most important. Those build character.”

The players all leave the field for the seventh-inning stretch. The JumboTron starts zooming in on people which means they are supposed to kiss. The crowd cheers as couples happily oblige.

Then the screen goes blank and people boo and hiss at the malfunction. I take the opportunity to check my phone for messages.

Suddenly, Lexi grabs my arm. I look at her face to see her wide eyes. I follow her gaze back to the screen and see myself up on it. Picture after picture of Caden and me flash up on the screen. Good pictures—like the ones taken for interviews. Candid pictures—like the ones from tabloid magazines when we were caught kissing in public.

I’m confused. Why are pictures of us on the JumboTron? “What’s going on?” I ask no one.

Lexi tightens her grip on me and squeals. “Oh my God, Murphy. Do you think my brother is going to propose?”

My heart pounds almost painfully in my chest when her words sink in. I look down to the dugout, but don’t see any trace of Caden. I look over at the nearest tunnel, expecting him to appear. I look at the field wall a few rows in front of us and think maybe he’ll pop out from behind it. But none of those things happen.

Then I hear collective gasps of shock from the crowd.

I look back up at the massive screen and see what appears to be a pornographic movie playing. My jaw drops. What on Earth?

Everyone in the stadium is watching. It’s like the train wreck you can’t peel your eyes away from. Parents are covering the eyes of their children. Women start screaming in horror. But most people can’t tear their eyes away. Including me.