Excellent.
The next batter was out on a high pop fly, and the batter after that struck out, stranding Trevor, but he’d gotten an RBI and the Rivers were up three to nothing after the first inning.
The rest of the game was just as chock-full of excitement, with Chicago scoring two runs in the fifth, and the Rivers coming back to score four more before it was all over.
What an exciting game, and one the Rivers needed to stay in contention. Every player had given it his all. Haven had been tense the entire time.
She headed to the locker room after the game.
“Hi, Haven.”
She turned and saw Alicia standing there. They hadn’t had a lot of interaction, but they’d spent some time together at the hospital and getting to know each other after the funeral.
“Hello, Alicia. How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you doing?”
“Great. It was a good game today. Garrett pitched so well.”
“He did. Those three runs kind of sucked, though. He’ll be pissed about that.” Alicia paused. “Oh, I probably shouldn’t have said that. Are you covering today’s game for your news station?”
“No. I’m actually doing a feature interview on Trevor Shay.”
“That’s interesting. And should be fun. We love Trevor around here. He’s great and has been an incredible asset to the team. All the guys love working with him.”
Haven wasn’t sure if that was the truth or just the company line. “I’m glad to hear that. And you work for the team as well. That must have been so complicated for your relationship.”
“Are we on the record here?”
Haven laughed. “Not at all. I’m not writing about you and Garrett.”
“Then, yes. It was complicated as hell for a while. But we worked it all out. And the team has been great about it. I just don’t work with Garrett in any official capacity.”
“You do sports medicine, right?”
“Yes. So if he’s injured or needs any kind of physical therapy, one of the other therapists works with him. The only interaction we have together now is at home.”
“I guess that makes sense. No conflict of interest that way.”
“Exactly.”
“Have you worked with Trevor before in therapy?”
“I have, though mostly for general conditioning. He’s like . . . bionic or something. The guy has never been hurt. He knows his body well and knows how to take care of it. And considering that he plays two sports, I’m surprised he hasn’t had any issues. Doing as much as he does is hard on a body. But not on his.”
Yeah, he had a hell of a body, for sure. “I guess that’s a good thing, though, right? For both of his teams.”
“That’s what the coach says, though Manny—that’s the Rivers’ coach—grumbles a lot about Trevor playing football for Tampa. He wants him dedicated to baseball.”
Haven’s lips curved. “I would imagine Trevor hears much the same thing from the Tampa coach.”
Alicia laughed. “You’re probably right.”
The doors opened and the players started appearing. Garrett walked over and put his arms around Alicia, giving her a kiss that made Haven’s cheeks heat up.
“Good game, babe,” Alicia said.
“Eh. Gave up three earned runs. But I recovered and shut them down after that.”
“You did.”
Garrett turned and smiled when he saw Haven, then came over and folded her into a hug. “Haven. I didn’t know you were here today.”
She wrapped her arms around Garrett and hugged him back. “I’m here on assignment. It’s so great to see you. You pitched an amazing game.”
“Gave up a few runs, but at least we won. So it’s all good. And what kind of assignment?”
“With Trevor. I’m doing a feature story on him for the network.”
Garrett’s brows shot up. “No shit. Are you sure the rest of us will be able to handle the ego burst from him getting all that media attention?”
“Oh, suck it up, Scott. It’s about time someone besides you pretty-boy pitchers got some focus around here.”
Trevor came up to stand next to Haven.
“Please. I’m not the one with all those endorsement deals like you, Shay,” Garrett said. “Every time I turn on one of the sports channels, I see your ugly face.”
“If I was ugly, you wouldn’t see my face so often, now would you?”
“Aww, he thinks he’s pretty. Are you sure you can handle spending so much time with this guy?”