He did not tell anyone that he talked to Tika every single night, sometimes twice a day. Or that he sometimes would jerk off while on the phone with her because her voice was so sexy.

He wanted her in the worst way, but he was not going to pounce on her. He wanted more from her than that and he hoped she wanted more. Right now, they were just two people talking and getting to know each other.

"I'll be back in St. Louis tomorrow," she said to him one night while they talked on the phone.

"I know. I've been counting down the days."

She giggled at that. "So, you want to see me?"

"Only if you want to see me."

"You know I do, Rico. This is torture I can't see you now."

"What do you have scheduled when you get back? I know you will be busy and I have practice most of the day."

"Doing a podcast, a couple of radio stations, but those won't be in person, I'll do them from home, and then visiting some dance schools to drum up attention for auditions. I hope there is a lot of talent in St. Louis."

"I think it's great you're doing it here at home."

"Petite Trois loved the idea. They went to Central Visual and Performing Arts High School so they know the whole performing arts crowd. We've only announced it on our social media and people are talking about flying in for the auditions. Maybe you can come down and watch auditions with me."

"I would have no idea what I'm looking for. No, that's a you thing. All I want is to see you and..." His voice trailed off because he did not know what to say. What was he going to do when he saw her?

She still made him extremely nervous. Like a kid with a crush on the cute girl in class. She was still Tika Foster and he was a no one. Sure, he was making major headway on the team, second in home runs so far on the team and a 2.57 earned run average, which was sixth in the whole league. And that was including his perfect strike-out game. He was still trying to chase that high and was hoping for another, but that was close to impossible

"Go on, tell me what you are going to do when you see me...and make it good."

"Well...Tika, beautiful lady, I think when I see you, I want to put my arms around you and hold you in my arms, stare into your beautiful brown eyes."

"Aww, you're sweet. Because I want to jump on top of you and ride you off to the-"

"Hey!" He laughed at her, but now she had him standing at attention. "I mean, I'm flattered and all, but come on Tika, I said we need to get to know each other."

"We have been! For how many days now? What more do we need to talk about?"

"Tika listen...we can get to all that if it's meant to be. Can we just spend some time together and see how things go?"

Tika groaned at that but he had to stay firm. The reason all her previous relationships went wrong is because she jumped into the hot and steamy too fast. And then she based the relationship on nothing but the physical. He had a chance to be something different with her.

"Rico, I think you're hot and sexy and I want you so bad," she moaned. "Like, talking to you on the phone is not enough. I feel like, maybe you don't really like me."

"Tika, that's the farthest thought from my head. I want you."

He feared he would say the wrong thing, screw things up, and Tika would move on to a guy that gave her what she wanted. Damn. If it was just sex, why didn't he just give her that?

Because there was so much to still learn about her. He felt he knew all about superstar Tika, but he knew little to nothing about Nitika Foster.

"Tika, tell me about your daughter. Autumn."

"My everything? The reason I'm here is because of her. It's like my life really began when she came into my world. And I did not believe them when they said the instant you lay eyes on your baby you know what real love is. Maybe that's why I knew it wasn't real with Win. I wanted all my focus on her. My little angel."

He loved how she went all hyper and talked super-fast about Autumn.

"I think I would just about do anything for her. I almost gave up the business for her."

He did not know this about her. With every album Tika's success was climbing, why would she ever give it up?

"After the breakup with Tunda, I just locked myself in my room with her for a few days. All the fame sometimes gets you questioning things. But I had her, my rock. She talked me off the ledge. Said, Mommy, you love singing, And I do. So I took all that pain I was feeling and wrote some songs, hit the studio, and here I am. I do love what I do."

He liked the fact that Tika did not have Autumn all over the media. There were pictures of her sometimes on her pages, but she did not flaunt her too much on social media. He saw how fans dealt with other celebrity children, as if they were full-grown adults who could handle the talk about their hair, their weight, how they looked, what they said, every move they made. It was deplorable. Tika kept Autumn out of all of that.

She was a good mother.

"I love being home with her. Tucking her in bed and reading her a bedtime story. Waking up seeing her face. Oh, my heart!"

That made him smile, hearing the joy in her voice. These were the things he did not get from watching her in music videos or even in her funny TikTok videos. That was all for show, this was the real Tika.

"She's like a mini-me, but cooler."

"Helps to have a cool mother."

"You have me doing all the talking because you're stalling. About us."

There was an us? He liked the sound of that.

"I could listen to you talk all day."

"Okay, okay. I have to go, but when I touch down in St. Louis, I'll call you."

He felt like she was brushing him off. He knew it was wild that he was not like other guys and wanted to jump her bones. He did desire her that way. But he had to stay firm. If that meant that Tika would choose to not be with him at all, he had to take the consequences.

In St. Louis, he was the man. People were beginning to know who he was and cheered for him when he came up for bat. Keeping the fans happy was a big deal in St. Louis. They were going to have a special "Meet the Players" event with the Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition and he volunteered to meet the kids, along with two other players. He hoped the kids would be excited to see him.

The Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition meant a lot to him, and not only because he was adopted. He loved working with kids, and in this case, kids that maybe came from a similar background as him. He never knew his biological parents. Even growing up knowing he was adopted, he never wanted to find out about them. He looked at it as his parents were his parents. They chose him, and he loved them.

While at the meet and greet, meeting kids and their parents, he tried to keep his mind off Tika. He was able to glance at his phone a couple of times and she texted him a few pictures of herself that kept a smile on his face. He could not wait till he got to see her in person but she also texted that she was in meetings all day.

Tika: Can I see you after your game?

Rico: It's a night game, it ends kinda late

Tika: I don't care. I'll be up if you're up

He was always super tired after night games. Sometimes he did not get back to his place till after midnight. That was no way he would be up to seeing Tika then. And then he had to get up early the next day for practice. It was a never-ending schedule for him

Rico: Yes. I want to see you

He had to make it work if whatever they were doing was a relationship. Was it a relationship? Were he and Tika a couple? Is that the way she looked at them?

He had no idea. Maybe she just saw him as a friend.

He had to focus back on the game and play the best he could. All thoughts of Tika and the status of their...whatever it was had to take a backseat. He was the starting pitcher again and his team counted on him. He made it to the sixth inning only giving up three hits before the coach pulled him off the mound for a relief pitcher.

That was okay by him. He had things on his mind that he needed to better focus on.

What the hell was he going to do with Tika tonight?