The Perfect Game(37)

I gave her a big smile. “Can’t win if you don’t play, Kitten. They’d be idiots not to hire you.”

“Thanks, baby.”

“You should see her stuff, Gramps. She’s really good,” I added, pride shooting through my body.

“She is,” Dean agreed. “But I have a question. The stuff you take pictures of is so creative. I mean, your angles and what you put in your shots… Gramps, she has this one picture of Jack on the mound. You can’t see his whole body or even his face. It’s the coolest shot! Will you get to take pictures like that for a magazine?”

“First of all, thank you. It’s sweet of you to say that about my photos and I appreciate it.” Cassie smiled. “I guess it totally depends on the magazine and their style. But the ones I’d love to work for have very beautifully creative photos and I think they give the photographer a lot of control with their shots.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“That sounds perfect for you. Your photography is way too beautiful to be defined by someone else’s standards. If it doesn’t work out, you can always go into sports photography and follow your boyfriend around the country,” I suggested helpfully.

“So, I’d just wake up and take pictures of you all day?”

I let out a slight chuckle. “Sounds like a dream job to me.”

“Oh, Lord.” Gran sighed. “Forgive me, Cassie, I did the best I could with him.”

She laughed. “It’s okay, Gran, he’s perfect just the way he is.” Her eyes wandered back to mine as her lips curved in a slight smile.

“Jack, Dean, come help me serve, will you?” Gran asked.

Dean and I jumped up from the table and returned carrying steaming dishes filled with Italian food. The smell of freshly baked bread mixed with garlic tomatoes filtered into the air and my mouth started to salivate.

“Dig in, please. Cassie first,” Gramps insisted.

Cassie reached for the bowl of spaghetti and dished out a huge helping before grabbing two piping hot pieces of fresh bread and tossing them onto her plate. Her eyes widened once she added salad, and I gently placed my hand on her upper thigh and squeezed.

“Get enough, Kitten?” I teased.

“I think I got excited in my serving sizes,” she admitted, the hue of embarrassment rising in her cheeks.

“Don’t worry about it. Just eat what you can.”

“This all looks incredible, Gran. Thank you so much,” she said sincerely, before digging in.

“You’re welcome, dear. Thank you for coming.”

“Now, Jack, we need to talk about the draft,” Gramps mentioned between sloppy, sauce-filled bites.

“What about it?”

“Well, for starters, who all will be here on draft day besides the reporters from that TV channel?” Gramps swirled some spaghetti around his fork.

Cassie looked at me, clearly interested in the conversation we’d yet to have. I swallowed my food before speaking. “You and Gran, of course. Dean, you’ll be here, right?”

Dean nodded and I turned to face Cassie. “And Cass, I’d like you here too.”

“Wait. Here for what? I’m sort of lost right now.”

“The major league draft. They think I’ll go within the first couple of rounds so it will be televised on ESPN.”

“Really?” she asked with surprise.

“Really.” I mimicked her tone and she glared at me.

“That’s crazy.”

“You’ll come though, right?” I reached under the table again and connected with her thigh, moving her dress up slightly with my fingertips.

“Of course I’ll…come,” she sputtered before swatting my hand away.

“Great. So, Gramps, it’s you and Gran. Dean and Kitten. And of course, my agents, Marc and Ryan.”

“You have agents already?” Her face scrunched up as she winced noticeably.

“Not officially. I can’t sign with them until I get drafted, but we have a verbal agreement.”

“And how many do you have? Don’t most people only have one?”

“One’s an agent and the other’s a lawyer. But they work together and it stops me having to hire a lawyer separately,” I explained.

“Oh. We really need to talk more about all this baseball stuff. I feel like I don’t know anything that’s happening.” She bit her bottom lip and I saw the unease on her face; she looked so overwhelmed. I’d do anything to take that feeling away from her. I didn’t just want her by my side through this process, I needed her there.

“Sorry, Kitten, we’ve had other stuff going on. And this is all pretty recent. I was going to tell you about it.”