Hanging with the Guys

"Baby!" Adam's wife, Celeste, shouts as we all walk into the bar.

"Hey!" He shouts back and the two lean across the bar for a quick kiss.

"Ozzie with y'all?" Celeste asks while she wipes down the counter. Adam goes behind the bar and starts helping make drinks for the group that came with us.

"Not with us but he should be coming later. Why? Jess mad at him, again?" Adam chuckles. Jess must be her sister and Ozzie's wife.

"Mhm, well you know the two of them right now..." Celeste keeps talking but I feel like I'm eavesdropping so I look around the bar.

It's early so the bar isn't full yet but there are a few customers. They don't seem too excited to see the players so they must be regulars here. Or they're just not too into baseball.

Across the bar, I spot Carter, sitting with Nolan and a couple of other guys. Carter already has a drink in his hand and he waves me over to his table. I start to head over but Adam calls me back.

"Hey wait a second." I walk back over to the bar and Adam introduces me to his wife. "Celeste, this is our new social media manager, Scar. Scar, this is my wife, Celeste."

"Hi, sweetie. Nice to meet you. The boys treating you alright, so far?" Celeste asks sweetly and slides a drink across the bar to me. I'm not sure what it is but it has salt on the rim and a lime in the glass.

"So far," I agree and take a sip of the drink. I still can't place it but it might be some sort of vodka or gin drink.

"You met Nolan?" Celeste asks and I nod, not able to speak after taking another sip. "Mmm, you stay away from him, okay? He is bad news." She looks at me pointing her finger at me and I smile.

"So I've heard," I say, then hear my name from across the bar.

"Scar!" I turn around and see Carter waving me over.

"Go join him, he won't let up until you do," Celeste says and looks at him then back at me and nods. "Now him, he's cute. And currently single. I know you're not asking for my advice but I've already given it to you so I'm going to continue. My advice, stay away from Nolan, spend as much time with Carter." Celeste winks at me as Carter calls my name again. I laugh at her advice and then thank her for the drink before making my way over to Carter.

"Scar," Carter says when I make it to his table and motions for me to join them. I drop into the seat beside him. Nolan doesn't even look up as Carter introduces me to the other guys at the table. When everyone returns to their conversations, Carter turns to face me, "so, how was your first day?"

"It was pretty good, I met Marcus," I say and Carter gives me a questioning look. "Marcus, he's like the head of security at the stadium. You've never met him?" Carter shakes his head and I laugh, of course, he hasn't.

"Nolan?" Carter smacks the back of his hand against Nolan's chest which earns him a dark glare from Nolan but Carter proceeds on. "You know Marcus, head of security?"

Nolan stares at Carter but then a little smirk appears on his face and he gives a slight nod of confirmation. Then, he turns his gaze on me.

"Don't listen to anything he says, he's full of shit," Nolan says and it is the first thing I've heard him say since I started, which is just today but still.

"He had some things to say about you," I exaggerate a bit to keep his attention. I chuckle and raise my eyebrows at him. He levels me with his hard stare and I blush a little but am able to maintain eye contact.

"Like I said, full of shit." Nolan states then he picks up his drink and walks across the bar to sit at the counter. He looks back over his shoulder at me for a few seconds then turns back to the bar and orders another drink. I can see Celeste chatting away with him, or rather, at him. She doesn't seem to mind that he isn't saying much in return.

"Damn," Carter says and it pulls my attention away from Nolan. I look at him next to me and he smiles. I smile back automatically and then bite my lip. "You know, you're really sexy when you do that."

I widen my eyes at his bluntness and he coughs, clearing his throat.

"Did you really just say that?" I laugh and he has the decency to look embarrassed.

"Yeah, he has a habit of blurting out whatever is at the tip of his tongue," one of the other guys at the table says and the others agree.

"Not saying he isn't smart or anything but..." another guy trails off and Carter reaches over to smack him.

"Well, was he wrong?" A third guy chimes in. The guy who made that comment winks at me and under the bar lighting it takes me a few seconds to realize it's Miles and he doesn't mean anything by it. I roll my eyes but smile back at him.

"No, he's not wrong," I say, winking back at Miles and the guys cheer for me. This is such a supportive group.

After an hour or so, Miles stands up and announces to everyone that it's time to move the party to his apartment. Celeste calls from the bar in agreement. In the time we've been at the bar, it's started to fill up and I think Celeste would prefer we relinquish our tables to the paying customers. Nolan looks tired but I've seen him eyeing me off and on all night.

"I'm in," I say and I see his eyes narrow in my direction. I stand up with the rest of the group and Carter tosses his arm around my shoulders. We walk out with some other guys, our hips bumping as we walk. Well, my hips bumping his thighs and his hips bumping my side.

"See you there," Carter holds my car door for me and then laughs as more guys pile into my car again. Looks like I am the official driver for this group. Good thing I was only nursing the one drink the whole time we were at the bar.

We pull up to Miles' apartment and I see there are already lines of cars outside. I've been to house parties before, not a major league party though. I thought they would be a little nicer than this, and at an actual house, not an apartment.

"Alright, everybody out," I say and step aside while everybody piles out. They are all such gentlemen, thanking me for the ride.

"Scar!" A couple of the guys take up calling out my name when they see me entering the apartment. I laugh and wave at a few. A couple of the girls here send me dirty looks but they don't need to worry. I'm not interested in any of the guys and even if I were, I wouldn't act on it.

"Hey Scar, drink?" Tommy slides in next to me, leaning back against the wall. He lifts a cup for me and I take it, offering him a smile.

"Thanks," I take a sip then make a face.

"Not a huge fan of beer?" Tommy chuckles and takes a sip from his cup.

"No, definitely not. But it's fine," I look around the room and it is a nice apartment. It looks like Miles has roommates. Maybe he rooms with some of the other guys on the team. It won't be long before they can afford their own apartments. "So, y'all have these parties often?"

"Nah, not too much. Usually, when we are in town we take turns throwing them but when we're on the road, normally we just go to bars or clubs. Okay, maybe we do party often. Although, not everyone does. I'm surprised Nolan is actually here tonight." Tommy comments and points across the room to where Nolan has taken up a large portion of the couch. A few girls are gathered around him but he doesn't seem to be enjoying their company. In fact, he is looking right at me.

"He doesn't usually stick around this long," Tommy makes the comment and takes another sip of his beer. "He'll come to the bar with us occasionally but I haven't seen him at one of these after-parties in a while. I mean, he does come out to celebrate after games or consolidation parties but nah, normally he's long gone by now."

"Where does he go?" I ask, curious and Tommy doesn't seem to question it.

"Home, I assume. Alone. I have seen him leave with anyone or show up with anyone. Hasn't had a girlfriend in a couple of years. Not sure if he has girls he's fucking around with, excuse me, girls he's seeing or not but like I said, I haven't seen him with anyone," Tommy finishes his drink and waves the empty cup at me. "I'm going to get a refill. You want anything?"

"No," I shake my head. "Thanks. Hey, can I snoop around?"

"Not my place but Miles probably wouldn't mind," Tommy shrugs then goes off to find a refill and I go off to explore.