FWB Friends With Baseball

You're His JJ.

Jailyn~

"Hey, congrats on your Championship," The woman handing me my beer says with a smile. "I was wondering when you'd be back around here." 

"Thank you," I reply, smiling, "Yeah, I've missed it. I was just thinking if I missed being at the park or seeing Christian more," I joke. "Honestly, I think it's being in the park and getting to just watch a game, for once." 

"I can imagine," She replies, chuckling, "Well, have a nice rest of your night. I'm sure I'll be seeing you throughout the rest of the season." 

"Definitely," I smile before heading towards the WAGs suite that Larissa arranged for this weekend. 

Heading into the suite, it's mere seconds before Larissa jumps up from her seat next to Shelby, "Jailyn!" We laugh as she comes over, embracing me tightly. "Oh my god, we've missed you! How are you, superstar?" 

Hugging her back just as tightly, I reply, "I've missed you too! Things don't get too much better than winning a World Championship," I joke, "but being back at Miller Park is a nice cherry on top. Life just isn't the same without baseball in it." Larissa and I laugh while pulling away so I can greet the rest of the ladies here that I've gotten to meet before. 

Erin Suter hugs me, "Well, I feel like two undefeated seasons and a couple of gold medals fill that void, at least a little bit." 

"It definitely helps," I reply, laughing as I hug Jenny Cain. "God, I feel like it's been forever since I've seen all of you. Fill me in on everything!" 

Jenny, Erin, Larissa, and I all head out to the field seats, catching up on anything and everything that's happened since we last saw each other. All of them are gushing about their kids and everything they've been up to. Larissa pulls up a ton of pictures of Carter and is so excited to tell me about all his milestones and how sad it is how fast he's growing up already, unable to believe that he's already one. As happy as I am for all of them, it's makes me think a little more of the what if's again. I can accept that it wasn't my time to have a kid, and the fact that I'm really not in the position to have one, nor do I really want a kid, it's still weird to think about how different things would be right now had things panned out differently. Like right now, instead of being a two-time gold medalist, I could be dealing with a newborn. That's crazy to think about. So instead, I'll just smile and gush over their kids because they are cute as hell. 

"So, how's it feel being the greatest softball player of all time?" Jenny asks, bumping me with her shoulder as we chuckle. 

"I mean, pretty great other than the forty-three times I got pelted with a softball," I joke. "It still doesn't quite feel real. Like it's been nearly unprecedented how things have happened, and I'm the one who did them." 

"It's been fun to watch," Larissa points out, "That picture was incredible, by the way." 

"Bro, you could see the laces on my hip for a solid two weeks. It was crazy," I explain, tipping my head back, exaggerating my sentence. "Umpiring crews seemed to crack down on it a little bit, though. Teams weren't throwing at me at anywhere near the same rate they had been. It was nice being able to get an actual at-bat in." 

"Ryan mentioned you may be talking to the board about it?" Larissa asks, seemingly unsure if it's true.

"Yeah," I reply, "I think, for the most part, we're at an agreement over it. We don't have any official rulings in place, but that could change, or it'll become like baseball where it's an unwritten rule but still pretty respected. Girls are petty, though. We can't just clear benches and be done with it, as much as Carly might've wanted to." 

The girls laugh over the thought before Erin comments, "Well, you still dominated this year, even with you getting used as target practice. Christian didn't make it out to any games, did he?" 

Shaking my head, I set my beer back into the cupholder, "Nah, nothing ever lined up nicely. The only time we were even remotely in the same area was their first Dodgers series. The guys played either at the same time as us or after we did, so he never got the chance.  Two of his games I made with Alecia, though." 

"Is that when you met Shelby?" Erin asks.

"Yeah," I reply, remembering the whole Instagram debacle. "I'd jokingly asked for photo credits when she was trying to get me to take an Instagram for her. She said for $500."

"Are you kidding?" Larissa asks, "She realizes that you've got like four times as many followers than her, right?" 

"I'm not sure," I reply, "By now, I'd say yes, but at that point, I don't think she'd cared enough to look into it. She'd wanted nothing to do with me, which I don't know that I really blame her, seeing as I'm her boyfriend's ex that still lives with him."

"That and you're crazy successful, and you've got him wrapped around your finger," Erin points out.

"I don't have him wrapped around my finger," I scoff.

"Right, and the sky isn't blue," Larissa replies, rolling her eyes. "When we go down to the clubhouse, you're the first person Christian's going to talk to. She's not going to get the time of day for a good few minutes while he's catching up with you. He's still not letting her post anything about them. He doesn't even follow her on anything either. Then there's you, where anytime that you're around, there's always at least a story of you two together." Shaking my head, even if that's true, it still doesn't feel right, "You know it's true." 

Shrugging, I brush it off, "I don't know. Even if it is, I don't love that that's the case. I'd told him that I didn't like him with Shelby. He didn't seem to like that, especially not when I also told him I didn't want to try and figure out shit out while in season." 

"Why not?" Erin asks.

"I mean," I take a sip of my drink before putting it back, "I haven't seen him since the Espys. Before that, the last time was their first Dodgers series, and he wasn't speaking to me then because he was with Shelby, and they'd lost. So since my season started, I've only actually seen him once." 

"I'd say I kinda feel bad for Shelby, but," Erin starts, turning to glance back inside where Shelby is on her phone, "She's kinda the worst. Like anytime we try to include her in things, she doesn't have any interest. That, or she's only interested long enough to get into the pictures. She's never willing to help out or pitch in unless she can get something out of it. Honestly, she get's super snippy over the littlest things too. I wish that this didn't sound as petty and annoying as it does, but it's kinda hard to stomach at times, especially when she just expects everyone to cater to her and clean up after her." 

"Wow," I comment, not even realizing the extent of Shelby. "Honestly, all I thought was that she was using Christian for the followers. That being the worst of it beyond her probably cheating on him."

"No, it's a definitely," Larissa confirms, "Ryan said she'd disappeared at the ESPY's before you and Christian had left, then that Cody Bellinger mentioned that Shelby was trying to leave with him. He'd known that the two of them had a thing, though." 

Shaking my head, I purse my lips to the side, "That's so annoying. To be fair, I did leave with Christian that night." They laugh before I clarify, "We didn't sleep together, but I might have cried because of how badly I wanted to kiss him." The girls all but howl with laughter at one of my lower moments, "It worked, so it couldn't have been too bad." 

"Of course it worked," Jenny laughs, "You're his JJ." 

Something about those last three words leaves a smile on my face. Somehow that simple little nickname has become one of my favorite things in the world because of the only person who actually uses it. The one-syllable Jai, being far more common. Maybe me and him can have a conversation and see how things go, see if I can get back to actually being his JJ, again. There's just one little blonde speed bump in the way of that, and as much as I wish I could be that girl, I've never been interested in being a homewrecker. Then again, what happens if that home is already wreaked? 

Grabbing my drink, I sit back, continuing on with the small talk with the girls while my mind continues running through the different scenarios in my head to get Christian back.