Chapter Nine – Bay
Bay had begrudgingly agreed to go see her dad's new team practice but honestly she thought her dad should be more worried about his marriage instead of yet another new career.
"So what does one wear to watch his girlfriends father coach a Simi-professional baseball team?" Rex asked sipping the tea Bay had found for him.
"A tux is customary." Bay said back cheekily.
"Okay, but I have to warn you… I look damn sexy in a tux."
"You look damn sexy in everything." Bay said with a sly smile.
"Ah." Rex said clutching at his chest.
"What?"
"You're giving me that sultry smirk of yours."
Bay felt her cheeks go warm. She thought back to the night Rex had first revealed how her smile made his heart race. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
John Kennish was all grins and good cheer when he saw his daughters and Rex arrive at the minor league stadium.
"Oh, I've missed you girls so much!" He said giving each of the girls a papa bear hug.
"Nice to finally meet you, Rex." John said shaking Rex's hand.
"And you too sir." Rex said giving him his most winning smile.
"Wow, you have even more tattoos than Bay described." He said through a clenched teeth smile.
"Well the good news is, I'm almost out of room for anymore." Rex joked.
"That is SUCH good news." John said shooting Bay a raised eyebrow.
She ignored it and changed the subject. "So, do we get the grand tour?!"
John showed them around the stadium making a special point to explain everything slowly to Rex so he could understand. John then ushered them to the seats right behind the dugout.
"Your family does understand I'm not a Martian, right?" Rex asked as they watched the practice. "I have heard of baseball before."
"I didn't specify." Bay retorted.
Rex gave her a lopsided grin.
Bay felt her pocket buzz with a new text message.
She took out her phone and saw the text was from Travis.
Bay's heart leapt involuntarily.
"Welcome home! What are you up to Friday night?" Bay saw it was actually a text to both her and Daphne.
Rex looked over to her giving her a questioning look.
"Oh It's my friend Travis. He wants to hang out with all of us on Friday." Bay said simply, putting her phone away.
"Cool, looking forward to meeting him in person." Rex said taking her hand.
Bay pushed her guilty feeling away. She had no reason to feel guilty she assured herself.
Travis knew about Rex and Rex knew about Travis.
Well knew of Travis. Maybe she had left out the part where Travis had confessed he was in love with her right before she had absconded to China for almost a year.
It was a detail that really hadn't seemed important when she had started hanging out with Rex. Travis was her best friend, there end of story. That's why they talked so much on skpe and emailed and texted all the time. Not that Rex ever asked even when Bay and Rex had become more serious.
Rex just wasn't the jealous type. Guys would come in for tattoos and hit on Bay and Rex would just roll his eyes and tell them they had great taste. It was kind of refreshing to be with someone who wasn't so possessive.
Besides Rex didn't even have anything to be jealous of right? Bay was happy with Rex and Travis was happy with Gina. Besides Bay and Travis lived in totally different parts of the world now.
Bay looked over to her sister.
"You want to hang out with Travis tomorrow?" Daphne signed.
"Sure." Bay signed back with a weak smile. Except they weren't in different parts of the world right now, nope they were right in the same city.
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With the practice over but not quite being time for dinner John asked them if they would like to get a little professional coaching.
"Yes!" Daphne said with almost enough enthusiasm for everyone else.
She was so John's child, Bay thought as she groaned audibly at the thought of outdoor physical activity.
Her dad gave her a sad smile. "You don't have to, Bay." He reassured.
"No it's okay. I've kind of missed sports."
"Really?" John asked in surprised.
"Of course not but it might be fun, this one time."
"That's the spirit." John teased, "And how about you Rex?"
"I'm definitely a better spectator." Rex said.
Bay shot him a pleading look.
"But…it would be great to learn from a pro." Rex said.
Bay mouthed a thank you.
Rex shrugged "Your lucky pretty burnets are my weakness." He flashed her a smile that made her blush.
It went as expected. John ran some basic drills with them which Bay and Rex were hopeless at, while Daphne excelled at them. But despite having 2/3rd of his students being an uncoordinated mess on the field John looked to be having a blast.
In fact Bay thought he looked happier than he had looked in a long time and that thought made her feel sick to her stomach.