Secure Love

Chapter 1

Connor could talk a mile a minute when he wanted too. She was certain he had not stopped talking since the moment he stepped into her car twenty minutes ago. Not that she minded too much. Baseball happened to be one of two things that got the shy boy to come out of his shell and share, so the family took advantage of it every chance they got since no one else in the family played video games, so had no chance of actually conversing with him on that subject.

At first she had tried to keep up with him, but since her knowledge was more for the rules of the sport than the players eventually he left her behind in the conversation. She would chime in every now and again to either agree or dissent, but let him go on and on happily as she concentrated on the road. Even though she didn’t follow baseball near as close as her father or Connor, she still enjoyed going to the games, and after the week she’d had she needed the distraction. James, her father, had seemed to realize this, so had asked Connor if he would like Lisa to go with him instead. Usually this would be a father-son outing, but Connor didn’t care who he went with, as long as he was going to see the game.

Lisa didn’t mind spending time with her brother, even if he did seem to have one-sided conversation. He had always been very sweet with her, and she had been a big part of taking care of him when he first joined the family. Her father had meant well, taking him in, but he ended up admitting that his late wife had done most of the child rearing with the two daughters they had together. Didi, her big sister, hadn’t been much help at all, but between James and Lisa, they figured they’d done OK. Though on the shy side Connor was kind to everyone, and hardly caused any issues. He did well in school, and had a small group of friends who didn’t just play video games, but would actually go out to parks and the mall sometimes.

Lisa couldn’t hide her smile as he continued talking, even as she parked her car and they started walking toward the front entrance of Minute Maid Park. He had to know she was barely paying attention to him, being more focused on crossing the street and getting them through security. A couple of the guards smiled at his excitement as well, and gave her happy sympathetic looks. They knew avid sports fans when they saw one, and knew the pain it could bring to those around them. Lisa returned their nods and steered him into the gift shop. This was her favorite for the knick-knacks. She hardly ever bought anything but some coffee mugs, or small paraphernalia, but she still liked to walk around before having to sit in the tiny chairs of the stadium. They still had a good thirty minutes before the game started anyway.

Connor didn’t pay much attention to any of the stuff in the shop, though it did make him slow down talking since sometimes people would come in between them. Lisa really hadn’t been paying any attention anyway, but when she zoned into him a little she found he was referencing a player she’d never even heard of.

“Who?” She decided to try and get back into the conversation, knowing it would probably be a lost cause.

“He played for the Yankees back in the ‘03. You probably haven’t heard of him, since he tends to jump around a lot.” For just a moment Connor looked a little sheepish as he realized Lisa probably couldn’t follow this topic, but he decided in the next second to enlighten her and started going into full explanation of that particular players whole career. Lisa sighed and decided it was time to sit down. The sooner the game started, the sooner Connor would focus on it. Not that he was annoying her, but she could only say “Oh, wow!” so many times to attempt to hide that she had long since stopped listening. She steered him to a burger stand and handed him his food.

They quickly found their seats, just outside the foul post line on the home side and dug into their burgers. The game would start soon, and Lisa looked forward to it. She may not know the players, but she knew both teams were good. Connor shoveled his food in, so he could get back to talking as quickly as possible. Lisa chuckled under her breath, but ate normally. She hadn’t thought it was possible for him to talk even faster, but once the players were on the field and stretching out Connor would rattle of each of their statistics and where they got their start. People started to fill in the seats around them, and Connor soon found the man next to him had a knowledge that almost rivaled his own, and the two became fast friends. Lisa listened for a while, but soon left them to their conversation as she waited patiently for the game to start.

---TOM POV---

Tom loved baseball, but damn he hated these crowds. Especially on Friday nights when it would be especially crowded for the fireworks that the park had after the game. Usually people gave him a wide berth and a side glance before moving away, but with this many people there was no option but to get close to him, no matter how much his glare could melt stone. Not that anyone ever bothered to look up to his face. They usually stopped when they saw his large biceps bursting through his shirt. That was all they needed to see before moving quickly away. He always searched for shirts that would fit, but thanks to his larger than average frame even the largest shirts almost cut off circulation in his arms.

Ahead of him, the Rile family moved in a tight group through the throng of people. Adam led, with his father, Michael, beside and slightly behind him, walking with a slight limp, though he refused to use a cane. Angela stayed in the center, with her mother, Michelle, and their cousin Randy brought up the rear. They had all come to enough games to know how to stay together in the bustle and he felt confident they would not get separated, leaving him free to make visual sweeps all around with his Uncle Larry at his side. At times like these he was okay that he stood at a giant six foot two, so he could easily see over the crowd. Occasionally he would glance down at the old man, using a wooden cane to hobble his way through, and wonder why he bothered coming to these things. Larry had been shot years ago as a police officer, and though he denied it, the longer he lived the more painful his leg felt. Walking through these crowds at this pace must be an ordeal, though he never complained.

Uncle Larry must have felt the eyes of his nephew on him because he swiftly used his cane to tap on Toms hip, not enough to hurt, but enough to get the mans attention. “Focus on the crowd, not me, boy.” Tom let out a huff and deepened his scowl. No matter how old he got Larry still called him boy. He had passed thirty for Christs sake, he hadn’t been a child in years! But since Larry had basically raised him, trained him, and now kept him in check, he couldn’t complain too much. He knew it came from a kind place, no matter how annoying.

The family quickly found their seats, all grouped together just outside the foul side. They weren’t the best seats in the place, but Adam had a soft spot for this location and always insisted on getting season seats here instead of one of the boxes. Something about catching his first foul ball here during a game when he was a kid and that kicked off his love of the sport. Tom had often told him a box would be more secure, faster to get to, and he wouldn’t have to deal with so many people around his family that might recognize them, but Adam always insisted and Tom could do nothing but be suffer through uncomfortable evenings that could almost ruin his own love of the game.

It didn’t stop at the crowds walking around. The seats here were built for normal sized people, and his height and bulk meant he needed the isle seat, and all that entailed. Kids running past, adults almost spilling food and drink on him all the time, standing every time someone needed into the isle, which was often. He grumbled, scowled and kept his arms crossed, while turning his hips so he could just fit between the arm rests.

“I swear these seats get smaller every time.” He cursed under his breath, but Uncle Larry heard and chuckled.

“Blame your dad for you being so big. I don’t know where he got it from, but you got to be even bigger then him!”

Tom used to be self-conscious about how he not only towered over everyone else, but also had the stock of a boulder before he had even started really training. Now he just found it annoying in situations like these.

Adam turned in his seat in front of Tom and gave him a sympathetic smile. “You know you don’t have to come to these. Sure people might recognize me sometimes, but the park has its own security for a reason.” He had made this argument many times before, and as always his wife, Michelle, was quick to shut it down.

“They have to watch the whole park, they wouldn’t get to us in time to separate us from the rabble here. Besides, Tom doesn’t mind spending some quality time with us, do you Tom?” Michelle flashed him a tight smile before turning back to face the field without waiting for a reply.

Tom was too busy sending glares to everyone who had dared to glance at her after she used the word “rabble” to notice Angela jump slightly in front of him beside her father, before turning just enough to be speaking solely to him.

“Of course, we’re always glad to spend time with you Tom. You’re right, these seats are atrociously small. I can only hope the game makes up for it.” She flipped a strand of her long bleach blond hair over her shoulder and offered a charming smile to him and his uncle.

Larry only harrumphed and looked away, but Tom looked down at her with a small grin.

“I’m sure it will, Miss Angela. These are two good teams.”

“Honestly Tom, how many times do I have to ask you to just call me Angela!” She giggled into her hand, causing Tom’s grin to grow just a bit.

“It’s the proper way to address someone he’s only meant to protect, so you shouldn’t keep asking for that.” Uncle Larry said matter-of-factly while he swept his gaze over the field. Angela quickly dropped her shoulders and looked in the same direction archly. Tom sighed and focused on the game as the first inning began.

Once he thought no one was paying attention to him or his uncle he leaned towards him slightly.

“Aren’t you the one always telling me to not be rude. She’s only trying to include us.” Tom said as lowly as he could.

“You mind your own business, just as she should mind her manners.” Larry huffed. He had never liked Angela, though he never told Tom why. Tom was left to believe it must be her particular exuberance that turned his uncle away. He only sighed and looked around at the beer caddy that was heading his way. It had already been a long game and he wasn’t driving anyway so called for the lean man to come closer.

Just as he finished the transaction, now with an ice cold beer in his hand the man stepped out of his line of sight and Tom’s gaze locked into a large pair of the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. They widened when they met his own and Tom would swear in later days that the whole ballpark disappeared, leaving only these two, gazing across the isle at each other, bodies frozen in time.