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Ginny grabs the television remote and sprawls out on the couch, draping her legs over Livan’s lap. Livan doesn’t so much as stir, just keeps his eyes focused on the TV. He must really be into TMZ or something. She can’t imagine why. Especially not when she’s got reruns of the Bachelorette piling up on her DVR for them to tear through.
“You actually pay attention to this stuff?” Ginny asks, gesturing at the TV with the remote. “It’s so gross and exploitative.”
“You just say that ’cause you ain’t been on TMZ yet,” Livan says, maneuvering her legs out of his lap.
“And you have?” Ginny huffs and sits up next to him, folding her legs into a pretzel.
“Yeah, why you think I watch so close?” Livan flashes a dimpled grin at her and snags the remote out of her hand before she can change the channel to something more enlightening. “Some fan caught me comin’ outta Embargo with Natalie, Al’s daughter. Took a pic and put it on Instagram. Tried to make it a thing.”
“What are you doing with Natalie Luongo? Isn’t she dating—” Ginny starts, reaching for the remote.
“Now you sound like TMZ,” Livan scolds, clucking his tongue gently. He holds the remote out of Ginny’s reach and knocks her arm away. “Leave me be, Baker.”
Ginny rolls her eyes and whacks lightly at Livan’s shoulder before sliding a rubber band off her wrist and tying back her hair. “You love it.”
Livan grins at her, and his dimples should be illegal. “You know I do.”
***
It’s not totally weird without Mike on the team. He still comes by occasionally, but he usually hangs out in the owner’s box or rubs elbows with the front office in his new role as special assistant to the general manager. The problem is Mike has been keeping himself at arm’s distance in his new role with the team and Ginny… Well, Ginny hates that part.
She and Mike had never really taken their intense flirtation beyond the almost-kiss. Sometimes, Ginny finds herself thinking about stolen glances and missed opportunities the way Mike talks longingly about the Padres’ last real playoff push back in 2010.
It is a little weird not having Mike around as much, though. Who else is she gonna vent to about whatever’s going on between her and Livan?
Ginny has no clue what’s going on with her and Livan. Sometimes he comes over and hangs out on her couch and they watch trashy TV together. Sometimes she spends the night in his room on the road and they go over scouting reports and heat maps and hot-and-cold zones.
Sometimes Ginny looks up and catches Livan just studying her like she’s the most interesting person he’s ever seen and it makes her feel naked.
(The air around them always feels like it’s crackling with energy, like the sky right before lightning strikes, and Ginny doesn’t know what to do with it.)
But the Livan Thing isn’t something she can talk to the special assistant to the general manager about, and she can’t really talk to Evelyn about it either, because Evelyn still doesn’t know how to keep a secret.
So she’s kinda stuck here.
***
Ginny makes the long trek two doors down the hall to Livan’s hotel room, a stack of Star Wars DVDs tucked under her arm.
They’re in Tampa for a four-game series against the Rays, and no one’s exactly thrilled. It’s the final series of a ten-day roadtrip and everyone’s dragging, and they can’t wait to get back home to San Diego. Ginny misses her three-hundred count sheets and her down pillow and her Hitachi magic wand.
(It’s… Well, it’s been a really long roadtrip. Let’s put it that way.)
Livan lets her in before she’s finished knocking and rescues the DVDs out from under her arm. He pops one in at random while Ginny curls up on the couch with a pillow and pats an empty spot next to her.
“I like this tradition,” he pipes up in the middle of the pod racing scene.
(Livan picked Phantom Menace. Ginny’s kind of over her crush now.)
“Me too.” Ginny hunkers down and pillows her head on his shoulder and Livan drapes an arm around her.
“I hate this movie,” Livan says, his voice a low rumble that vibrates into Ginny’s chest.
She nods on his shoulder, her eyelids drooping a little bit. “It’s okay. Jar Jar is cute.”
“You did not—”
Ginny lifts her head and grins up at him. “I did.”
Livan looks down at her, his smile warm and fond. And those dimples. Those damn dimples.
Ginny feels pulled toward him, like a magnet. The pillow slips out of her lap and onto the floor.
Livan ducks his head, his lips very near hers, before he swerves at the last minute and ends up pressing his forehead against her shoulder.
Ginny frowns up at the ceiling and wonders if she miscalculated.
Livan’s breath curls against the side of her neck. Ginny is completely willing to wait him out here.
“I wanna kiss you,” Livan mumbles into her shoulder.
“Why don’t you, then?” Ginny asks.
He lifts his head and looks seriously at her. And it’s not an expression Ginny ever thought she’d see aimed at her. She misses his stupid dimples already.
“Is just… You had a thing with Mike, didn’t you? Wouldn’t it be weird?” Livan asks. Then he waves a hand vaguely in the air. Like that clears everything right up. “And, like… We’re teammates.”
“Yeah, we are,” Ginny says, putting her head back on his shoulder. “What’s your point?”
(Ginny’s aware she hasn’t addressed the Mike-shaped elephant in the room, but… Maybe she doesn’t want to, just yet. Maybe she just doesn’t know how to.)
“I mean, I know a lot of jobs have rules where coworkers can’t date. And I dunno if we have the same rules.”
“I’ve read the CBA cover to cover,” Ginny says, tapping her index finger into Livan’s chest. “And there’s nothing in there that says teammates can’t date.”
Livan pushes her hand down. “Wait. You’ve read the CBA? Why would you do that to yourse—”
“Focus, Duarte.” Ginny slaps him lightly on the chest and smiles up at him. “I’m saying… If you wanna kiss me, you can. There’re no rules against it.”
Livan slips both his arms around her shoulders and pulls her against his chest. She feels his mouth pressing against the top of her hair and she smiles, looping her arms around his waist.
It’s not quite the kiss she expected, but it’s still nice.
It’s a start to something, is what it is.
***
The team, like most teams, hosts Family Day for the players and team employees a little while after they get back from their abominable roadtrip. Ginny doesn’t have much of a family left to invite for Family Day; she and Will still aren’t really on great terms and neither Mom nor Kevin can get away.
It’s fine, though. Ginny follows Evelyn and the twins around, while Evelyn makes cutting remarks under her breath about the wives she’s feuding with.
“Cassandra Elin’s botoxed her face into oblivion,” Evelyn sighs, eyeing a leggy blonde in a wide-brimmed straw hat and a pretty yellow sundress. “It sure is a pity.”
Ginny can’t tell from this distance if Cassandra Elin has indeed botoxed her face into oblivion. She does know that Evelyn has been feuding with Stubbs’ wife for going on two years, and she still isn’t quite sure why.
“I don’t think you should be telling me this,” Ginny says, plugging her fingers in her ears. “Conflict of interest, la la la.”
Evelyn looks over at Ginny and raises her eyebrows. “Hey, that didn’t bother you before—”
“I’m turning over a new leaf starting… now.” Ginny drops her hands and looks around, scanning faces—familiar and not—for warm brown eyes, a too bright smile, and dimples.
“Mike’s not here,” Evelyn says, sounding amused.
“I’m not looking for Mike, actually,” Ginny says.
“Ohoho,” Evelyn crows, clapping her hands in delight. Her eyes light up like a pinball machine. Ginny does not trust that look. “I knew it.”
Ginny points at her, her eyebrows knitting and her mouth tightening into a straight line. “Don’t.”
Evelyn holds up both her hands. “I said nothing.”
Ginny whirls around, still searching for Livan amongst the throng of her teammates and their families, her heart sinking and sinking and sinking the longer she goes without finding him.
(Since when did she start looking forward to seeing Livan? Since when did seeing Livan become a highlight of her action-packed days? What the fuck.)
Evelyn’s hand lands on Ginny’s arm and she looks over at her.
“I found your man.” Evelyn points Livan out. He’s chatting with Charlie, of all people, an intensely serious look on his face.
Ginny is striding across the infield grass toward him before Evelyn has a chance to tell her to.
Livan looks up when she approaches, a smile alighting his broad, friendly face.
“Hey, Livan. Hi Charlie,” Ginny says, giving their team president a little nod. She turns her attention to Livan, hooking her arm with his. “We need to chat about Hunter Pence’s spray chart. C’mon.”
“We’ll finish this convo later,” Livan tells Charlie, and then he lets Ginny pull him away, toward the visitor’s dugout. “What’s this about?”
Ginny doesn’t answer him, just tugs him along to the dugout. She ducks down the steps and he follows after.
She doesn’t answer him until they’re safely hidden in the dark little corridor that leads from the dugout to the clubhouse. Ginny looks up at Livan and puts a hand over his chest. He just stares back at her, silent but for his breathing.
“So,” Ginny starts and then stops. And then starts again. “I like you. Like, as in crush-like.”
“You and Mike… Is really not a thing anymore?” Livan asks. “ ’Cause I don’t wanna cause no problems there. I really—”
Ginny cuts him off with a loud, long-suffering sigh. “Do you think I would’ve pulled you behind the metaphorical bleachers to tell you I have a crush on you if I was involved with someone else?”
Livan frowns deeply, a line forming between his brows. “Well… No.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Ginny says, pressing her hand a little harder against his chest. “So, I like you. And there are no rules in the CBA about teammates making out.” Ginny pauses, makes a soft, thoughtful noise. “Or dating.”
Livan reaches up, curling his fingers loosely around her wrist. She thinks, at first, that he’s going to pull her hand away, but he doesn’t. He just leaves his fingers over her pulse. “No rule against making out or dating,” he echoes, shuffling a little closer. “So we could do this.”
“We could,” Ginny agrees. She puts her hands on her hips and tilts her head at him, curls bouncing. “So, whaddaya say?”
Livan leans closer. Close enough that she can see the stubble peppered over his strong jawline.
Christ.
“I say… Let’s kiss a little,” Livan says. “See where it goes.”
Ginny stands up on the tips of her toes and slips her arms around his neck. “I like that idea.”
He moves a little closer, his hands landing on her waist, and Ginny leans in the final few inches, until their lips are touching. Softly, gently, at first, before It deepens and then there are tongues and even a little bit of teeth.
Livan is a very good kisser
Ginny leans back, a little dazed. “You’re a very good kisser.”
“You? You could use a little work. Let’s practice some more.” Livan grins at her, cheeks dimpling.
Ginny goes weak in the knees at the sight. She’s always been a little crazy for that smile of his.
And those damn dimples.
She leans back up on the tips of her toes and they get to practicing.