Chapter 19

Brock made sure Melanie joined him for the team lunch. She knew Al Perez but she hadn't been introduced to Josh Hart, although she'd met his wife during the game in Los Angeles.

"Damn, Rook," Josh said when he and Melanie pulled up seats with the two veterans. "This has got to stop. You're going to give Stimson a complex."

Melanie followed the Dodgers as much as she could from Tennessee so she recognized the name of the Dodgers star relief pitcher.

"If Stimson isn't careful he'll get a simplex before he gets a complex," Brock rejoined. "Josh, this is Melanie Miles. Mel, this is Josh Hart, our catcher. Al, I'm sure you remember."

"Nice to meet you both," Melanie said, shaking hands with the men.

"You must be someone special," Josh joked. "Brock wouldn't let the others anywhere near us."

"Melanie is an attorney," Brock said. "I figured that one of you would probably need her services in the near future, you know, once your wives figure out just exactly what type of guys you really are."

Josh and Al gave a chuckle.

"Tara, the one in Chicago, is a television newscaster," Melanie chimed in. "She will be working for SportsNet West once college football starts."

"Really?" Josh said. "That's pretty impressive. I knew she did that story on Chastity Durant but I thought it was because of her connection to Brock."

"Partly," Melanie agreed. "But it's mostly because she is really good. She already had an interview lined up with SportsNet while we were out there."

"And Melanie is a finalist for an opening in L.A. District Attorney's Office," Brock put in. "She's been in private practice for the past couple of years."

"So you're coming out to L.A., too?" Josh asked. Al managed to keep a straight face. "That's good. Brock needs someone to ride herd over him. What about the girl from Atlanta."

"Jennifer is my sister," Melanie put forth. She was enjoying the reactions she was getting with each revelation.

"Your sister?" Josh asked incredulously. "I mean, sorry. It's just..."

"It's just that some guys have a fantasy about sisters," Al provided. "It appears Josh falls firmly into that category."

"It also appears that Brock doesn't need to fantasize, now does it?" Mel asked with a grin. "Yes, she's my sister. Yes, we've both dated Brock. No, we did not date him at the same time. Jen is a mathematician. She's going to be doing her doctoral studies at UCLA starting in January."

"Jesus, Brock," Josh replied. "Are there any others out there?"

"Susan," Melanie answered before Brock could. "She works with abused children in San Diego, right now. Come September, she's going to be the assistant director of a child advocacy group in Los Angeles. Of course that doesn't even count the video star and the multi-millionaire."

"Video star?" Josh started. "Oh, Randi Raver. My nieces love her. I didn't realize you dated her, Brock. She's what, like 15?"

"She's 18 next week and Brock hasn't dated her – yet," Melanie cut in. She didn't want to give Brock or Al the chance to derail Brock's discomfort. "Their first date is at the end of August. Brock is going to be her date to the Emmy Awards. We're still trying to work Meredith into the rotation. She's the one worth millions of dollars. I'm sure you've seen her. She and Randi are always together at your games."

"The cute busty one with the red hair," Josh said with a nod. "Wait until Stimson hears about this. Damn, Rook, you just need one more to fill out the days of the week."

"I think my wife has her niece lined up for that spot," Al said, also enjoying Brock's embarrassment. "Do you remember Emmy from our cookout in the Spring?"

Josh nodded. His wife had commented that Emmy Reyes would have no trouble fitting in as a Playmate if she so desired.

"I somehow doubt Esmi is going to permit her niece to become part of my harem," Brock said lightly. He figured there was no sense in being embarrassed. It was all in jest. "I mean, right now the only spot is for Sundays. Those are travel days most of the season. I'm thinking about leaving Sunday blank until the offseason. I'll have more time to tend to my duties then."

Melanie picked up a French fry and tossed it at Brock.

"He's a laugh a minute, isn't he?" she asked. "The truth is, we've all been waiting for Brock to fall in love with us since we were teenagers. We've finally figured out it isn't going to happen so we're all dumping him. But we figured we should give him something he'll really miss once it's gone so we're taking turns boffing his brains out. Once we get to L.A., we're through with him."

"That's not funny," Brock protested. Melanie was grinning but it hit a little too close to the truth for him. He had been jealous of Melanie's husband – just as he had been jealous of any guy that Jen, Susan or Tara had brought around in the past eight years. "I mean, yeah, we're going to change our relationship, I guess, but I didn't think you were dumping me."

"I'm joking," Melanie said. "I know this sounds sick but we've almost become like siblings in the past few years. Brock lived next door to my family for two years and we all lived together in college. Susan is actually my foster sister and Tara and Susan have been friends forever. Well, I guess Brock and Susan have been friends since even longer than forever. Still, we decided he's a passable lay so we might as well get one last roll with him."

Josh was shaking his head at the banter. It was the same sort of conversation that might take place at his house. He and his wife joked about almost everything. It's why they fit together so well. He hoped that the group Brock was bringing out to Los Angeles would befriend his wife, too.

"You know, when you get out there, if you need help with anything, my wife, Mandy, will be more than willing, I'm sure," Josh offered.

"We met her last month," Mel told him. "She is super sweet. She told us the same thing. We're sort of coming out there one at a time. Tara will be there by the end of the month. Susan is coming in late-September. If I get the job I'll be out there right before Halloween. My sister is coming out in December."

"Are you planning to share a house?" Josh wondered.

"No," Melanie replied. "We talked about it. We miss having the others around but there are times when we like it that they're somewhere else. I think we'll all live close to one another but, well, I guess I wasn't totally kidding about it being time to move on. It's not that we care about Brock any less but I think we understand that he would never single one of us out. I think if it hadn't been all four of us; if only one of us lived nearby, it could work for them. But Brock has always been, I don't know ... I don't want him to sound like a pussy because he isn't. But he's always been really sensitive to our feelings. He has always put us ahead of himself. I think that's why we all wanted him to be our boyfriend."

"It's what makes him such a good teammate," Josh said. Al nodded his agreement. "He leads the team in sacrifice hits. He leads the team in getting hit by pitches."

"Courtesy of his games against the Diamondbacks," Mel joked.

"Partly," Al agreed, "but it's more than that. Saturday in Chicago was a prime example. We got to the sixth inning and their starter was just shutting us down. But he'd thrown a lot of pitches. So he walked our leadoff guy and Brock comes to plate. He stood there and fouled off eight straight pitches. He had a 14-pitch at-bat. He forced the Cubs manager either to leave in a tired pitcher who was throwing well or to go to his bullpen in the sixth inning. The bullpen was already tired from the two previous games – which Brock knew full well. So the manager left his starter in the game and we scored three runs off him. Brock wound up striking out but, in my book, he gets credit for all three of those runs."

"He knew the pitcher had thrown 82 pitches coming into the inning," Josh added. "He watched him labor when the leadoff guy walked. He knew he could probably draw another walk or maybe even get another hit to put two runners on. Still, he understood that would force the Cubs manager to the bullpen. We didn't really want that. Their bullpen was tired but they still had two or three fresh guys out there. Instead he nibbled. He would slap anything close. He fouled off ball four, I think, half a dozen times. He prolonged the at-bat to give our RBI guys a chance at a tired pitcher. There aren't many players in the game who would sacrifice their own statistics – actually, I'm not sure there are many players in the game who would even recognize the opportunity like he did."