Sweet Spot for Victoria (Men of Baseball Book 4) (17 page)

I look around at my friends, wishing Libby were here to share in this moment.

Alana and Carrie choose this exact moment to turn around and grace me with their bitchy presence.

“Do you people ever stop reproducing?” Alana asks, glaring at my stomach.

“Not when the dick is as good as it is. He wants to keep fucking me and putting his babies inside of me, then bring it
the fuck on
,” I say, smiling widely and batting my lashes.

Carrie grumbles something that I can’t make out and turns around while Alana narrows her eyes at me. Then, she opens her mouth and I have to fight from reaching down the few rows of chairs to beat the bitch’s ass.

“How do you guys do it?” Alana asks softly, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Do what?” Amalie asks.

“Keep those guys happy? Keep them from straying?”

I should be concerned with her question on the straying, she’s saying it as though she’s tried to get them to, which, honestly, she probably has. Skank.

“We love them, we give them what they need and what they want,” Maggie shrugs.

“They don’t
want
to go anywhere else because they know it would hurt us. They know that we wouldn’t be here for them if they did,” Amalie says with a smile.

My friends are too kind, I would have told Alana to go to hell and burn, but here they are, calmly talking to her—even Maggie, who found out Alana fucked her first husband, Sammy, while they were married. Only after his death did she find out his string of lies, hurt, and betrayal.

“Loving somebody means that you make the conscious decision to love them through it all; that you put aside your basic instinct for instant gratification, and you work on your relationship with them rather than fucking easy pussy that spreads for you. Easy pussy won’t be there for you if you get injured and stop playing ball. Easy pussy won’t take care of you when you’re sick. And easy pussy won’t give you a beautiful life,” I say, watching as Alana’s face pales.

Finally
.

Finally this bitch gets it.

“Huh,” she says, turning around. She remains quiet the rest of the game. Maybe she’s thinking about it? I hope so. I’m getting pretty tired of seeing her skanky ass around the ball field.

The rest of the game we spend alternating between watching the game and chasing our brood around. I am completely exhausted by the end of the game and Maggie looks the exact same way. In fact, she looks like she’s about to drop at any second. I wrap my arm around hers and pull her into my side as we leave the stadium. Marcus is currently wrangling children, having a great time, even if he’s bitching and grumbling.

“Are you all right?” I murmur so that nobody else can hear.

“This one isn’t easier. I lied,” she confesses. I close my eyes.

“Tell Jackson to bring Quinn over tomorrow and she can hang out with my crazy bunch,” I offer.

“No, I couldn’t. I have help so it’s not too bad,” her voice is barely above a whisper.

“Bring Quinn over, Maggie. Rest and take care of yourself. You guys don’t have family help and I can’t imagine what it must be like. Carlos’ parents do so much for us with the kids, and even my parents come for visits and relieve us. You guys have nobody.”

“You’re pregnant too, Victoria, I couldn’t,” she says, ignoring my little speech.

“You can and you will. I’m pregnant, but I’m not sick, Maggie. Tell Jackson to bring her over or I’ll just load everybody up in my brand new suburban and pick her up,” I grin.

I will use any excuse to drive my monster of an SUV. It’s really too big for the city, but everybody gets the hell out of my way. It kind of makes me feel like a badass mama.

“Jackson will bring her over,” Maggie mutters.

I can tell it’s killing her to rely on me, but she needs the rest and I want to give it to her while I can.

“Have you talked to Jackson’s family?” I ask carefully.

Jackson’s family isn’t a topic we broach often. Maggie doesn’t like to talk about them much. His father is kind of an asshole and his mother lets him rule with an iron fist. His brother is a complete no-go topic of conversation.

“His mother snuck in a phone call when Quinn turned one. His father thinks I’m the she-devil. Apparently, even though his stats are better than ever, I’m too big of a weakness for him.” She shrugs, but I can see the hurt behind her eyes.

It bothers her that she has finally found a good man and his family isn’t supportive, especially since she doesn’t have family of her own.

“They’ll come around or they can fuck themselves,” I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. I smile when I hear the lyrical giggle that comes out of her.

“Love you, Vic,” she murmurs.

“Love you too, bitch,” I say, bumping her hip with mine.

I walk behind Victoria and Maggie, watching them. Victoria’s arm is wrapped around Maggie’s shoulder and she’s just bumped hips with her. I can practically see the bright orb that glows around them. Two of my best friends, pregnant together and so happy it would make any other person sick. It doesn’t affect me at all, except to make a smile creep up on my lips because I am just as happy as they are.

I would have never thought that my life would be so beautiful. A godlike husband, two beautiful babies, my brother back in my life, and a whole family of marriage and friends.

Years ago, when I was hiding from my ex-boyfriend and trying to move past the hurts he inflicted on my psyche, I never imagined I would have a life so beautiful waiting for me.

“Amalie, get your ass up here,” Victoria hollers.

I take a few long strides to catch up to them. I slide up beside Maggie and grab her hand with mine.

“The men will want to celebrate this victory with food and beer,” I say. Maggie groans.

“I ordered food to be delivered to the townhouse. The kids can run around and play without having to be quiet in a restaurant,” Victoria announces. If I didn’t already love this woman, I certainly would now.

We wait for our men to come filing out of the locker room. I am holding Axel’s hand and have Clara on my hip. My eyes are focused on the men and my heart skips a beat as my eyes catch my husband’s gigantic form coming toward us. He grins and I swear my panties melt away right then and there.

“Hey, baby,” he murmurs brushing a kiss against my neck.

“Hi,” I breathe.

I still get butterflies every single time I look at him.

It’s ridiculous.

“We’re going to Los and Vic’s for lunch,” I announce as we load the kids up in the car.

“You know that prick still has pictures of you taped up in his locker like he’s in fuckin’ high school?” Jarrod asks, his face turning a bright shade of pink, borderline red.

“He does it just to goad you,” I say, fastening my seatbelt.

“Yeah, I fuckin’ know, but it fuckin’ works,” he grumbles.

“Can you possibly say the f-word a few more times, I don’t think Axel has fully grasped the pronunciation yet,” I say.

Jarrod turns to look at me before he bursts out in a laugh.

“He’s a boy,
smuk
,” Jarrod says with a shrug.

I turn to look at him to see if his brain has been cut out of his head. He has clearly lost his damn mind.

“He’s a
little
boy, Jarrod, he doesn’t need to use vocabulary like a sailor quite yet,” I explain. He shrugs as if I am the crazy one.

“He’ll be fine. You worry too much,” he mutters. I look up to the ceiling of the car, praying for patience. I obviously need it when dealing with this man.

We are the last to arrive at Carlos and Victoria’s, so the men are already out on the deck, drinking beer and
supervising
the children. I hand Clara to Jarrod and shoo him off to enjoy the other kids and men.

“You okay?” Victoria asks with a smirk.

“That man,” I growl, flopping down on their comfortable as shit sofa.

“
Those
men,” Victoria laughs.

“No shit,” Maggie mumbles. We all turn and laugh with each other.

“I miss Libby,” Maggie says softly.

I nod. Libby is the best.

She’s the sweetest and the loudest and she loves the hardest.

“They’ll be here when the Sox play us,” Victoria says with a nod.

“It’s not the same,” Maggie shrugs.

“How’s your brother doing?” Victoria asks as she stands to start getting all of the plates and silverware ready for our late lunch, early dinner.

I inhale deeply before exhaling. Niklas, my brother, is a topic of crazy proportions these days. Jarrod and I have been going round and round about him these past few weeks.

“He’s got some weird thing going on with a girl he knew from Florida,” I explain.

“Like?” Victoria pushes with a grin.

The woman loves gossip like no other.

“I don’t know the specifics, but it seems like she’s running from something and ran straight to Niklas. I think it’s an ex or something. He’s going above and beyond what he needs to do to protect her. I think he’s trying to do right by her to try and make up for not protecting me like he should have years ago,” I say, taking a sip from the water Victoria passed to me just minutes ago.

“Damn—is she nice or is she crazy?” Vic asks. I mull over the thought of Tansy.

“
Tansy
seems… nice,” I say. Her name annoys the shit out of me, though.

Tansy.

Who the hell names their baby Tansy?

“
Tansy
?” Victoria bursts out in question.

“She says it’s some kind of flower, do not ask me what the fuck it’s about,” I say, throwing my hands up.

“Sounds like a stripper name,” Maggie mumbles.

We all laugh; it totally does sound like a stripper name.

“I don’t think she could strip. She’s about the shyest person I have ever met,” I say with a shrug. “She’s got the personality of a fence post.”

I feel bitchy for talking shit about this girl my brother is so enamored with. I think I might be a tad jealous that he is willing to help and save her but he wasn’t willing with me. The circumstances are different, of course, but I know what he’s doing. He’s trying to make up for the fact that he wasn’t there for me by helping another damsel in distress.

It’s pretty obvious.

“If she’s been abused, then she’s probably just scared,” Maggie suggests.

I agree. Not every woman is as determined and strong as I am. I had my moments of depression and weakness, and had I not had the help I searched out on my own, I would probably be a complete disaster.

“What about Eric?” Victoria asks cautiously.

“Married to Jo. Disgusting, right? She’s working to pay his court fees, basically. She’s living in some shit-hole apartment to be able to pay for his attorneys and give him spending money in prison,” I admit, shaking my head.

“That’s fucking insane,” Victoria points out. I agree,
immensely
.

“Where’s the food,
hermosa
?” Carlos barks, sticking his head through the sliding glass door.

“Any minute, baby,” she murmurs softly.

He smiles before giving her a wink and then closes the door to return to conversations with the guys outside.

“Well, you two look
good
,” Maggie observes.

“So good,” Victoria admits with a blush.

I have seen the woman talk about anal until she’s blue in the face and never once has she blushed. She’s so deeply in love with her husband again, it’s adorable.

We spend the rest of the evening talking, eating, and watching our children play. This family of ours and it’s perfect. It’s crazy, but it’s perfect. When I am with them, the worry and stress over my brother, over my own family, melts away and I watch in awe as the love flows through these couples and their children. Outstandingly beautiful.