Ah, Atlanta. We have the largest division lead in the game and only one All-star. One sportswriter suggested we're the Rodney Dangerfield of sports at the moment. Yet, come September, I doubt anyone will recall how many each team send to Citi Field next week. But just for the record, I want to quote Yahoo Sports Network contributor
Anthony Schrieber:
"To paraphrase a ranting diatribe, Freeman should not have to be pitted against a rookie -- scratch that, it is too early to even call him a rookie -- an MLB fetus -- there, that's better -- like Puig."
So, there. Let's go to dinner with Mike and Verity. Perhaps whats on their plates will be more palatable.
continued
“And
this is because of that freak show family you referred to?” Why couldn’t he let the topic rest.
Verity nearly upset her water glass, grabbing for her champagne. While she chugged the
glass’s contents, she wondered whether to lie. “Look, I’ll try to explain. My
father belongs to a… community, I guess you’d call it. He decided he wanted
three wives at once. "With me so far?"
His eyes widened, but she didn't see judgement... yet. He
nodded.
“My mother deceived him about who she was and where she came from. He had strict ideas about what he was looking
for in a wife, and she didn’t meet his standards. He kicked us out of that
community before I was born. I grew up with her people, in a place that didn’t
accept me because of my father. Are you still following this?” Getting only
another nod, she hurried to finish. “He changed his mind when I was twelve and
took me away from her. He didn’t stick around, mind you, but I was raised with
Sage and Rosemary after that. Only, because of my mother, that community didn’t
accept me either. I don’t fit in anywhere, other than with my sisters, and
maybe my grandfather.”
“So,
this is a religious thing?”
“It’s
exactly that. But I questioned my own
worth for a long time. I like to think I got past it, but most of my
experiences add up to disappointment if I let myself forget I’m anyone other
than the kid who wasn’t wanted anywhere.”
“My
father teaches comparative religion at a small college in Oregon. I was raised
to believe all religions have part of the answer, and to respect each and every
one of them. Nobody’s completely wrong
and nobody’s completely right, according to my dad. Religion can be a cruel
tool, a way of categorizing people without taking the time to see their worth
as individuals. I didn’t mean to upset you, Vee. What I guess I was after was
funny stories about sisters so close in age, but I can tell by the tears you’re
trying not to shed, maybe there wasn’t much to laugh about. I’m sorry if you
think I pushed you too fast and too hard.”
“I’m
flattered you seem to care, actually.”
Her
story rubbed every nerve in his body the wrong way. Protective instincts he didn’t know he had
made him want—make that need to—wring her father’s neck. “But now the three of
you are close?” He had to know somebody
cared about her.
She
smiled and the pain in her eyes seemed to lessen. “We are now. I mean, all we
really have is each other. We fight,
don’t get me wrong. We’re very different
people. Sage probably loves Him the
most, and because he loves nobody, it makes her seek male approval and
attention. Rose is hot-tempered and
judgmental. That aloofness is her way of protecting herself. But when push comes to shove, we stick
together, no matter what.”
“Now
it’s my turn to be flattered,” he murmured.
“You must have a well-developed sense of self-protection too, but you
opened up to me.”
“You
didn’t give me much of a choice,” she pointed out, tearing her gaze away to
glance meaningfully around them.
“Besides, I learned to get along with everybody.”
And keep that wall up to protect
herself, too, he’d bet.
“I was right though. I had to do
something drastic to stop you from turning me into just another guy you needed
to protect yourself from.”
“I
was right, too,” she insisted, fixing him with a glare. “You are trouble on two
legs.”
There
was something about this woman. Intuition told him complete honesty was the way
to go. “I’m laid back, as you say, but
when I see something I want, I go after it. If that makes me trouble in your
book, then you need to spell it with a capital T.”
“And you want more than sex from me?”
Mike
knew he was dissatisfied with his life. He had a successful career, but needed
something else. Though he couldn’t define why, he sensed she was that
something. “I want to see you mad, so I can tease you into a better mood. I want to see you tired, so I can rub your
back and help you relax. I want to open my eyes in the morning and see you look
at me the way you did when you walked in this restaurant, like everything’s
right with your world because I’m in it. I want that a lot.”
“Why
me?”
“Because
every cell in my body tells me you’re special, maybe more than special.” He reached to stroke her face, and when she
pressed her face against his palm, emotion made his hand tremble. “The real
question here is what you need in return. Be honest with me, because I’ve never
felt anything like this in my life. Men can be hurt, too, Verity.”
The
vulnerability in his eyes had her heart in a second. His words were like balm to the deep wounds
caused by rejection. The attraction had
sizzled between them since the moment she’d looked in his eyes at that tattoo
parlor. Somehow they had skipped right
past the initial stages of attraction to the place where it was time for
declarations. The truth might make him
run away screaming, but she wasn’t willing to let dishonesty screw this up. Even if the truth ultimately might mean
another rejection. “I need someone who
can accept the unacceptable. Someone
willing to be open-minded and not afraid of the unknown. I hear what you’re saying, Mike. More than
that, I feel it myself. I’ll be just as honest as you are, because that’s who I
am. Do I think I could see your face
every morning and be sure everything is right with my world because you are
there? Yes. But my world might be the thing that you
can’t accept, the thing that makes you not want an ‘us’.”
“Take
a chance on me, Verity. I was raised to
be open-minded. I told you already, I’m
not rational about you. Quit
over-thinking this. Go with your gut the
way you did last night. You wanted me,
and you reached for me. Now I want more
of you. It’s that simple.”
Too deep in conversation to order, they'd waved off the waitress. “Are you hungry?” he asked. “Or can we go
someplace else?”
“I took a cab, hoping you’d offer me a ride
home.”
He
gave her a grin as he motioned for the check. “Rosemary suggested I ask to see
your beach.”
“You
need to stay away from my sisters." she punched his arm as
they left the restaurant. He placed the arm around her, hugging her to his side.
“You
mean those two unattractive women I had to beg for your phone number?"
She fervently wished her crystals had shown her how this turned out. He sure sounded special.
Be sure to drop by and show Jennifer Simpkins some love while she parties over the impending return of Derek Jeter to the Yankees line-up. Thanks for dropping in. Have a great week!
