Addison had to wonder how accurate Clair’s conclusions were because tonight AJ had the entire stadium chanting his nickname on several occasions. He’d homered more than once, threw out a few guys on base with that arm the sportscasters had often referred to as a rocket. He’d even held onto the ball, making the play when a runner attempting to score tried running through him at home base. After the massive collision at the plate, he lifted his hand up, still holding the ball. If today was an example of him having an exceptionally good game, Addison wondered if anything was going on with his brothers.
Last night Nathan and Kelli hadn’t stuck around for the after party and everyone speculated about it. AJ had, of course, been annoyed, saying it was likely Kelli who’d insisted that they leave because it wasn’t like Nathan to not stick around.
Clair finally paused, becoming distracted as they crawled through traffic just outside the stadium. “Papa always takes the other way,” she commented.
Addison frowned but wouldn’t mention she was purposely taking the longer way and why.
“Clair, I wanted to talk to you.” She immediately had her daughter’s attention as Clair turned to her and peered curiously. “It’s about AJ and me. You’ve asked me about it before, and I didn’t want to tell you until I was a little surer about it working out, but we’re more than friends now.”
To her surprise, Clair smiled. “I know.”
“You do?”
It shouldn’t have surprised her. Addison was the one who was always saying how perceptive her daughter was, but she was curious now. “Did someone tell you?”
Clair shook her head then smirked. “Well, not exactly. I’d pretty much guessed it a long time ago, but I asked AJ today point blank, and he didn’t admit to it, but he may as well have. It was so obvious he was scrambling with his response.”
She giggled and so did Addison, wondering now if that was maybe why AJ might’ve been tense tonight and had such a good game.
Addison finished giggling, feeling a little nervous now, but she had to ask. “How do you feel about it?”
She turned to see Clair shrug then smile. “I think it’s really cool. But what happens now?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean are you two getting married? Will that make him my stepdad?”
“Uh.”
Addison stared straight ahead, her stomach knotting up. This was exactly what she’d been nervous about. She didn’t want Clair jumping ahead of herself or getting her hopes up too high. What she and AJ had, had been perfect so far, but she knew how easily things could take a turn. AJ was as passionate about his likes and dislikes as she was about protecting Clair. She was really hoping it wouldn’t happen, but something told her their passions were bound to butt heads eventually. She needed to prepare Clair for that possibility, at least keep her little head and heart open to it.
“It’s too early to know about all that,” she explained, trying not to sound negative. “We’ve only been seeing each other a few months. The word ‘marriage’ hasn’t even come up, and I don’t expect it to for a long time. We need to get to know each other much better before making those kinds of decisions, but yeah, if it were to ever happen, that would make him your stepdad. And no matter what happens, Clair Bear, I know he’ll always be your best buddy.”
Clair smiled big, and Addison smiled too, inwardly wondering if she’d done the right thing telling her now. She wasn’t so sure about that last part. AJ had already made one thing very clear. If things didn’t work out between them, he’d be cutting all ties, not just with her, but with her father and Clair.
Taking a deep breath, she smiled, relieved when Clair upped the volume on the radio. They were playing her favorite song, so apparently the conversation Addison had dreaded for so long was over just like that. At least it’d been far more painless and not nearly as awkward as she’d anticipated. Despite feeling like maybe it was a mistake to tell Clair, even if her once again too perceptive daughter had already guessed it, Addison was determined to think positive. As AJ had said last night, whatever happened, they had this.
~~~
It was subtle, but only as subtle as AJ could be. And AJ didn’t do subtle well—at all. Addison noticed his tense demeanor almost from the moment he arrived at her parents’ place to pick her up. Once again, Clair had hit his stats right on the nose.
“Everything okay?” she asked cautiously as they drove to his place.
So far, all he’d let her in on was that he was kind of tired and wanted to just go back to his place, order take out, and spend the evening in his room. Nathan was working today. Isaiah was home, but AJ’s place was so massive they could likely get as loud as they wanted to in his master bedroom, and Isaiah wouldn’t hear them since his room was clear across the property. AJ’s room alone was bigger than most good-sized apartments.
“How was your day?” he asked her as they drove onto the freeway.
“Good,” she said, glancing out the window. “Busy.”
“So what came up that they needed you to come in for last minute?”
“A call,” she said simply. “It happens often actually.”
He turned to look at her, his brow up. “Does it?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, reaching for his hand and realizing just how tense he really was as he turned his eyes back to the road. “Especially when it’s a big project we’re finishing up and it’s down to the wire.”
He squeezed her hand ever so slightly. “What else did you do today besides work and the game?”
“Oh, I told Clair,” she said, suddenly remembering, “about us.”
He turned to her again; this time his expression eased a little. “You did?”
“Yeah, since I had to drive myself to the game today, she and I drove home alone. I just went for it.”
“What did she say?”
Addison smiled big. “You know her. She said she already knew. And she told me about asking you about it today and said you pretty much blew it.”
For the first time since he’d picked her up, he smirked. “Yeah,” he actually chuckled with a nod. “I’ll admit it. I pretty much choked under pressure. She called my response lame. So I’m glad you told her. I don’t have to feel like I’m the one that slipped.”
“I had a feeling she already knew. She’d asked me before, and I just waved off the stuff she’d been reading about online as all made up.”
They spoke a little more about Clair and her reaction. Addison had to laugh when he told her exactly what his response had been. As soon as they arrived at his place, he put in an order for Chinese. Addison felt bad that it was actually a relief that she didn’t have to check and double-check the ingredients to make sure nothing contained the stuff that would make Clair sick. Her daughter was not a burden. Having to be extra careful for the sake of Clair’s well-being was absolutely worth it.
As soon as he was off the phone putting in the order, he turned to her from where he was leaning against his kitchen counter and held out his hand to her. Within seconds, he’d pulled her against him and kissed her softly, touching her hair. When their eyes met again, she saw how tense he still was, despite his being so affectionate with her. “What else did you do today, Addison?”
Swallowing hard, she tried not to panic. He couldn’t know. Only the way he was scrutinizing her—searching her eyes with more than just curiosity—alarmed her. Had someone seen her? Had Fred told anyone and somehow it’d gotten back to AJ?
Deciding she was being paranoid, she stuck with her story. “That’s pretty much it unless you count me helping Clair get ready for Harrison’s recital. She looked so cute—”
“Who’s Fred?”
Her stomach bottomed out as she watched his jaw clench, but he never took his eyes off her. “Fred?”