Ashlyn's the new player for the Braves. Being the first woman in the MLB, she has learned to let the hate roll off her back. But one of her teammates catches her eyes, and her heart.
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DansbySwanson got the walkoff dub and the date <3 dansbae7 omg who is that Ozzie Oh yeah I see you big dawg
"Where do you want to get food from?" Dansby asked while we were waiting in line to trade in our arcade tickets for prizes. "Mmmmm I'm really craving Cookout. But there's only like one down here and it's kind of out of the way so we can go somewhere else," I said as we got to the counter and put our tickets together to get matching stuffed animas. "Here, let's take a picture," Dansby said as he pulled out his phone. "Aww you should send that to me," I said looking at the picture he took.
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"Okay, so we are going to go to Cookout because it's been years since I've had a Cookout milkshake," Dansby said as he opened the passenger door of his truck for me. "Okay," I said laughing. "That's the one thing I hate about being in Georgia. The number of Cookouts goes from like 200 to 20," I said as Dansby pulled out of the parking lot. "That is very true. I think the last time I had Cookout was when I was at Vandy," he said. "We would either go there or to the Waffle House after every single rodeo," I said remembering all the fun nights at Waffle House. "Every time?" Dansby asked looking over at me. "Oh every time," I said. "It was like the only practical thing at first because they're both open so late and then it just became tradition," I said as we got to a stoplight.
"Man you got to do all this fun stuff as a teenager. My parents barely let me stay out past midnight," Dansby said as he held his hand out for me to hold and the light turned green. "I didn't when I was with my grandparents. My mom literally didn't care and my dad was deployed a lot when I was a teenager so I really just did what I wanted. But of course there were ups and downs to it," I said grabbing his hand. "So you wanna do something?" Dansby asked, looking over at me. "What is this something you talk about?" I asked. "We each take turns telling stories from our childhood and asking each other questions to get to know more about each other and how we grew up," Dansby said looking back to the road. "Okay I'm down. Who's going first?" I asked.
"So you said your dad was deployed a lot when you were a teenager. Was he not when you were younger?" Dansby asked as I took a deep breath before I answered. "Well after paw paw died, he seemed to be gone more. Where it was normally a week or two, it became a month or a few months. I think it was just too painful to work at the barn or on the farm at home because it reminded him of paw paw so much. Which I can understand because it took me a few months to barrel race or even ride a horse again after. It all just brought back memories of him," I said, closing my eyes so I wouldn't cry thinking about him. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't imagine losing my grandpa. It was really hard for everyone that knew him too because he was one of the sweetest people I'd met," Dansby said, making my heart melt. "Oh jeez you're gonna make me cry over here," I said laughing as I blinked the tears away that threatened to come out.
When I was thinking of something to ask Dansby about his childhood, my phone rang so I picked it up to see Nick calling me. "What's up?" I asked after telling Dansby who was calling. "When are you going to be home? We don't want to go to your house till you get there because your family and stuff," "I don't know, probably like 30 minutes. We're at Cookout right now," I said as we pulled in to wait in line to order. "Do they want anything?" Dansby asked, looking over at me and holding eye contact. "Do y'all want anything?" I asked Nick on the phone, watching Dansby as he watched me. "Yeah sure. I'll just text you what everyone wants and tell Vandy boy you better get here safe," Nick said as I heard Camden and Jaxon laughing in the background. "Yeah yeah," I said laughing with them. "I'll see y'all in a little," I said before hanging up the phone.
"What was that all about?" Dansby asked. "Nick said, 'tell Vandy boy you better get here safe,'" I repeated, laughing as Dansby looked like he was thinking about something. "He wouldn't happen to be Nick Beam, the Tennessee player, would he?" "Oh the one and only. And then Camden plays for Appalachian State and Jaxon plays at a juco school in Tennessee," I said as we pulled up to order all the food and milkshakes. "I've seen Nick's stats. He's pretty good," Dansby said after we ordered. "Yeah, he is. Once you got into Vandy, he always idolized you because he's a shortstop too. When I told them I was going to play for the Braves, he nearly shit himself and was like, 'You get to play with the Dansby Swanson!'" I said as Dansby started laughing. "They all seem like really chill people. I can't wait to meet them," Dansby said as I smiled thinking about how well Dansby and my friends were probably going to get along.
Dansby's POV
I watched Ashlyn as she talked to her friends. All I could think was that I want to make her that happy one day. I want her to smile when my name comes up on her phone, and I want her to have all these inside jokes with me. I was pulled from my thoughts when I noticed Ashlyn looking right back at me while talking to Nick. I broke eye contact to pull forward and order the food.
After we'd got the food and were heading back to Ashlyn's house, my phone rang with my mom calling. "Hey mama," I said as I turned the music down to hear her. "Hey baby. Do you want to bring Ashlyn over for her birthday? Y'all can swim and I'm about to make a cake," she said as I put the phone on speaker for Ashlyn to hear. She nodded, so I said, "Sure. Do you care if three of her friends that came down to see her come too?" "Of course not! Are they all over 21? Your daddy went and got some beer earlier," mama said. "Yes ma'am they are," Ashlyn said, pulling her phone out. "Okay, well we'll see y'all in a little. Stay safe and I love you," "Love you mama," I said, hanging up the phone.
"Okay, so none of them have swim trunks," Ashlyn said, looking down at her phone as a text notification came up. "They can just borrow some of mine. We'll just have to swing by my place on the way," I said, turning towards my house. "Okay, i'll let them know," she said, sending the text before putting her phone down and grabbing my hand. "You okay?" I asked, glancing over. "Yeah, just tired. It's been a while since I played a ten inning game," Ashlyn said, laughing. "That's fair. The last inning feels like it takes so much longer than the other nine because you're ready to go home," I said laughing as I turned into the driveway.
"Do you just want to sit out here or do you want to come in while I grab the trunks?" I asked as I opened my door. "I'll come in," Ashlyn said, opening her door and jumping out. "Woah, calm down," I said laughing as Ashlyn grabbed my hand and skipped towards the door. "I thought you were tired anyways?" I asked as I got up to the door and got my keys to unlock it. "Well now I'm excited because I get to hang out with my favorite people," she said swinging our arms back and forth. "Oh, I hope I'm one of those people," I said smiling as I got it unlocked. "Oh you're definitely up there," she said smiling as she kissed my cheek. "Hi Bentley!" I said as she ran up to me, wagging her tail. "Come on girl!" Ashlyn said, running through the house and into my room. "She's like a child," I muttered, laughing to myself as I walked through my house towards my room. "I think I could lay here forever," Ashlyn said when I walked in my room. "Comfy?" I asked, getting a picture of her stretched out starfish style on my bed. "Definitely," she said, rolling over to rub Bentley.
"Okay, we're going to have to go now," I said, throwing the swim trunks into a bag so they were easier to carry. "Mmm fine," Ashlyn said, letting me pull her off the bed. "I'll be back in a little B," I told Bentley while she was laying on my bed, going to sleep.
