"REALLY TALKING YOURSELF UP, HUH?" Christian asked Nevaeh as they walked into the batting cages, "Seems like you got this locked down. Why don't you show me how it's done, then?"
Nevaeh laughed, shaking her head, "If hitting it off a tee counts, then I'm a pro. But other than that? No way. You gotta get me drunk first before you even think about letting me 'take the ropes', Yelich." She replied, sitting down on the bench and changed her shoes.
"So, tell me about your friends. Especially Carson, she seems like a funny person." Christian asked her, sitting across from her on the opposite bench.
She rolled her eyes, "Carson and I have been best friends for years. She actually was originally Emmy's best friend, but over the years, I kind of stole her from Emmy," she laughed, "But, her and Carson are still close. They just don't have the bond that her and I do."
He nodded, listening, "So are you and Emmy twins?"
Nevaeh shook her head, "No, I'm a year older than her, actually. We get that all the time, though, so don't worry."
"Got it. So they kind of always have your back in a way, huh?" Christian asked, wanting to know more about her friends.
"In a sense, yeah. My other best friend, Flynn, who's commented a couple of times on your stuff, he's really the one who looks out for me the most. He's like a parental figure to me, I guess? Carson's more of my ride or die, like we get in trouble together, we do everything together. Flynn's just there to say when I make stupid decisions." She shrugged, standing up and fixed her leggings.
The two walked into the cages and Christian set his bats down, looking at her, "Take your pick. Except for that black one. That's my slugger."
She smiled and nodded, grabbing a gray in color one, looking at him, "These are kind of heavy, how do you guys manage to hold these so well and hit a ball across the park?"
"It just takes practice, that's all," Christian commented, "It gets easier the more you do it, I mean, my reaction was the exact same as yours when I first started playing baseball," he said, "But, I also was five when I started playing, so it's a little different." He chuckled, "Here, watch how I do it, and then you can just like mimic my actions.."
She stepped aside, allowing Christian to step to the plate and get in his batting stance. He looked like he took baseball seriously; He had to. He was an MVP, and one of the best in the leagues, he had a reputation to keep up.
He took a couple of hits, and Nevaeh was just in awe at how easy it looked for him. She could never do that. "No wonder you're an MVP..." She said, looking at him when he walked by her.
"Practice, that's all. Years and years of practice." Christian replied, "Your turn. You think you can do it?"
Nevaeh shrugged and grabbed the bat, going over to the plate and got in her little stance before swinging and missing at the first ball. Christian smiled and walked over by her, "Here, let me help you get in my stance. Then you'll be hitting balls for days."
He moved behind her, and put his hands over hers on the bat, "You want to grip it like this, more of a golf grip, is what I was taught. Helps me control the bat better," He then placed his hands on her hips, getting her in a comfortable stance, "You can't be closing off your hips when you're at the plate," he said, "if you want the ball to fly across the ballpark, you gotta let your hips to follow through, guiding your swing."
Nevaeh got goosebumps when she felt Christian's hands on her hips. They hadn't really been this close yet. They cuddled, sure, but, something about this felt different. He moved his hands back to hers over the bat, "You always want to make sure you can kind of see the bat out of the corner of your eye. But all your attention mainly goes to where the pitcher stands.."
He moves against her, his chest on her back. "A nice, easy parallel swing is the key, that's how I hit my home-runs," he tells her, helping her follow through a swing, "The more parallel you are to the ground, the farther the ball is going to travel.." He stepped back, looking at her, "Does that make more sense?"
She nodded, looking at him, "I think so..Parallel, hips aren't close, and follow through.." She repeats back, getting herself ready for the next pitch, hitting it, but it goes off the tip of her bat, so it would be a foul ball. "Well that was shit," she laughed.
Christian laughed, "Just stay focused. Focus is everything, helps maintain contact from bat to ball longer.."
Nevaeh nods and gets set again, doing exactly what Christian told her to do and the next ball, she takes a nice swing at and sends the ball flying. "Look at that!!" She said, excitedly. She couldn't help but jump up and down, "That's an MVP hit right there!"
He chuckles, "Not MVP like me, though," he says with a wink. "Wanna go grab something to eat then head back to either my place or yours?"
"Either is fine with me, C." Nevaeh replies, smiling at him as they walked back to the dugout. "So, do you see yourself playing baseball for the rest of your life?"
"I mean, I just signed a seven-year contract extension, so I will be finishing out my baseball career in Milwaukee, so yeah," Christian replies with a laugh, "I love it and it's my true passion in life. Keeps me busy, keeps me occupied, helps me make new memories, meet new amazing people..." He said, looking at her.
She smiled up at him, "I mean, I just do YouTube and modeling, but, your life is so much cooler than mine."
"I always wanted to do YouTube stuff! Like baseball tutorials and such, you think people would watch?" He asked, genuinely curious.
"Uh, yeah!? You're Christian Yelich, anyone sees that name and it's an instant click." She tells him and she sees the change in his face. "What's the matter?"
"That's the thing, though. I don't want them to click just because I'm Christian Yelich. I know who I am, and I know what I do, but, that shouldn't make people want to click. Just so they can hear me talk for a couple of minutes..." Christian explained, "It's cool and all, but I like just being Christian, y'know?"
Nevaeh nodded, "And I totally understand that. Over the period of time that I've gotten to know you, I think you're more than just what people portray you as. You're Christian to me, and sure, you might be a big star in baseball, but at the end of the day, you get to unwind, relax, and not have to worry about that stuff, and that's what I want for you.."
Christian leaned against his car, "You think so?"
"I know so, C. You're a great guy, and more people need to see you outside of baseball, I think. They would really like what they see," she smiles up at him, "They'd be really lucky.."
