Spring Training Read Online Free Page A

for the past year and now had a part-time, seasonal job as a tax preparer for them.
    Emery rolled his eyes. “Boring. Dude needs to get a life.”
    That wasn’t entirely inaccurate, but Teri would rather eat liver than admit it. Not for the first time, she wished she could give Em a bit of Alex’s responsible nature, and Alex some of Emery’s outgoing joie de vivre .
    “He’s happy. That’s all I want for either of you.”
    Emery snorted. “He’s not happy. He just has no social skills, so he hunkers down in his own little world.”
    “Em.” Teri shook her head, refusing to get baited by her son’s familiar taunting of his twin. “So what’s the plan for today? We should probably get you unpacked.” If he’d been out all night, she was sure he hadn’t bothered to do any himself. She frowned. “The boxes aren’t still out in the truck, are they?”
    “Nah, we got them all inside.”
    “We? You didn’t make Aaron help, did you? Not with a bad shoulder.” She winced.
    Emery had the grace to look guilty. “I had no idea about that at the time. And he offered,” he defended.
    “Okay, well, we’ll need to be sure to do something nice for him. Maybe take him out to dinner tonight.”
    “Sure. That’s a great idea, Ma. Some of the guys were saying that the burgers at this sports bar about ten minutes from here are really good.”
    Teri raised an eyebrow. “Burgers at a sports bar, huh? Is this meal for him or for you?”
    “Hey, he’s a guy. He has to like burgers, right?” Emery gave her a lopsided grin and she pursed her lips.
    “Fine. Burgers it is, though from the looks of the fridge, he’s a bit more serious about his nutrition than some people I know.”
    “Know and love,” he teased.
    “Yeah,” she agreed and leaned forward to ruffle his damp hair. “This mop. I swear. I should cut your hair while I’m here.”
    “Ma! Come on…”
    “Hard to field the ball when you have hair hanging in your face.”
    “That’s what a hat’s for.”
    Teri laughed. “Not exactly, but okay. Have it your way, Sasquatch.” She rose from the couch and stretched her back, slightly stiff from the drive. “Let’s take a look at your room and see what needs doing.”
    “Um…I have a better idea. Why don’t I show you around? We’ll go for a drive and I’ll take you past the stadium, the grocery store, stuff like that.”
    Obviously, from his diversion tactic, his room was a mess, but she wasn’t in the mood for a fight, and damned if she was going to do all the work while he bitched about unpacking on his last day off. “Okay, you win. But I will need a place to crash while I’m here, even if it’s the couch, so we’re going to have to tackle it sooner or later,” she warned.
    “Of course.” His angelic smile at having got his way morphed into a more genuine one as he gave her an unexpected hug. “I’m glad to have you here, Ma.”
    Teri swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat. Emery wasn’t nearly as demonstrative as Alex, and was far more independent lately. It was beyond nice to actually hear that from her distractible son.
    Rather than answer, she hugged him back. Maybe this would be a positive experience and place for him after all.
     

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    “Hey, Brighton!” Emery yelled over the din of the pub, gesturing to a trio of players Aaron recognized from the team.
    Aaron, Teri and Emery had lingered for hours over dinner at the sports bar Emery had chosen for their meal out, and while Emery had only had one beer in front of his mom during dinner, Aaron knew that the group approaching were among the wilder guys on the team, which most likely spelled the end of Em’s restraint. He shook his head. Had he ever been that young and stupid?
    Easy answer—no way. He had been too grateful to get the shot at professional ball to screw it up.
    Emery slung an arm around Teri in an easy, familiar manner as the guys boisterously greeted them, pulling up chairs around