Haven nearly swallowed her tongue as Gavin Riley joined the crowd. He kissed his cousin on the cheek and nudged Garrett in the ribs.
“Haven, this is Gavin Riley. Who’s just jealous because he thinks he’s prettier than anyone else on the team. This is Haven Briscoe. She works for the network and will be doing a feature story on me.”
She laughed. “Nice to meet you, Gavin.”
“You, too, Haven. Sorry you have to spend so much time with Trevor.”
“The network’s paying me to do it. Otherwise, no way.”
Gavin laughed and looked at Trevor. “I like her.”
“Haven and I have known each other since college. That’s why I chose her to do this whole The-Life-and-Career-of-Trevor-Shay thing. She’ll do justice to it and portray me in a fair light.”
“So you think,” Haven said with a wink to the others. “How do you know I won’t spill all your deep, dark secrets?”
“Mainly because you don’t know any of them.”
Gavin laughed. “Okay, I gotta go. Liz and my little princess are waiting at home for me.”
“I read about the birth of your baby girl, Genevieve, Gavin. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. I’m pretty stoked to be a dad. And surprisingly, even my work-obsessed wife is super excited about being a mom. Her maternity leave is about to end and she’s dreading having to go back to work.”
“I can imagine.”
“Hey, before you go, we’re doing a couples wedding shower thing after the game on Sunday,” Alicia said. “Will you and Liz be there?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Gavin said. “I’ll have Liz call to confirm.”
“Okay. See you then.”
After Gavin left, Alicia turned to Trevor and Haven. “Several people from the team are coming. It’s very informal. Just a get-together celebrating our impending wedding. Trevor’s invited. Will you come, Haven?”
Haven looked at Trevor.
“We’ll be there. It’ll give Haven a chance to meet everyone.” Trevor turned to Haven. “Don’t you think?”
Haven just nodded. “Sure. I’d love to. Thank you for the invite, Alicia.”
“You’re welcome. Do you have the address, Trevor?”
“Of course I . . . probably don’t.”
Alicia rolled her eyes. “This is what happens when I leave it to Garrett to invite people.” Alicia pulled out her phone. “Are you ready?”
“Why don’t you put all that in your phone?” Trevor said to Haven. “I think mine’s in the bottom of my gym bag somewhere.”
“Oh, sure.” She dug her phone out of her bag and typed in the date, time, and information. “Got it.”
“Great. See you all later.”
Trevor led her outside to his car. There were several people hanging outside near the fences.
“Do you mind waiting?” he asked.
“Not at all.”
He went over and spent fifteen minutes signing autographs and taking pictures. She liked that he took the time. Many athletes didn’t. A lot of the rookies did, because they wanted to establish themselves. But once fame hit, many felt they didn’t need their fans any longer.
Garrett and Gavin had lingered, too.
She liked this about these athletes. It showed class that they cared about their fans.
When Trevor was done, he picked up his bag and led her back to his car.
“Are you hungry?”
“Actually, yes. I thought I’d grab a hot dog and beer at the ballpark, but the game was so intense I never took the time.”
He smiled as he pulled out of the parking lot. “It was a pretty intense game, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. A good game, too. You played very well.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
She stared at him, and then he winked at her. She laughed.
“I never know when you’re giving me a hard time.”
“Good to know.”
He took a turn and headed onto the highway. It was dark. A lot of the restaurants had to be closed by now since it was almost eleven.
“Where will we eat? At home?”
“Probably. I don’t feel like crowds tonight. But I thought we’d pick up a pizza.”
“Oh, pizza sounds good.”
“What kind of pizza do you like?” he asked.
“Any kind. My favorite is sausage, though.”
“Sausage it is.”
He pressed a button on his car. The center display called a place named Imo’s. He ordered the pizza and hung up.