Page 30 of Batter Up!

I shook my head in disbelief. Did everyone know I liked redheads?

We won the game 3-1, and I rushed through my shower and headed out to find a bunch of fans waiting to congratulate us on the win, but no cute redhead girl to be seen. Now that I knew she was a baseball fan, I had to find a way to get her attention.

“Maybe if we go back to Fulton’s, she’ll be there,” Cooper suggested as he came over to me. “Scott filled us in about you seeing your girl.”

“Let’s go,” I said. “It can’t hurt to try.”

She wasn’t at the bar. I didn’t see her in the stands during the next few home games, but she could have been in a different seat. Cooper insisted we keep trying Fulton’s, but none of us had a ton of money. The next three times we went there, my adorable redhead was nowhere to be found.

I looked out the window of the bus, but all I could see were the streaks of the rain drops. We had been on the bus for almost ten hours, and we were so tired of it. This was the furthest away game we had been to, by far, and we were ready to be home for a long homestand. It had been a good away trip, winning five games and only losing one. Our team was doing great and really playing well together.

I looked over at Hayden, who was asleep with his head on the window across from me. Cooper was in front of him and was playing a game on his Nintendo Switch. Ivan sat in front of me and was talking quietly on his phone, probably to Camila, who was getting closer to the end of her pregnancy.

Thoughts of Camila made me think of my sweet redhead. I don’t know why I had such a connection to her, but I felt it immediately. It had been two weeks since I had seen her in the stands at my game, and I was still holding out hope of finding her. I rested my head against the window and thought about how I should be watching game film of the teams we would be playing next, but my phone had died an hour or so ago. As I looked out the window, I saw a small car on the side of the road and a woman who looked to be trying to change a tire by herself. She was kicking the tire and looked up as the bus drove by. I saw her eyes and the red hair that was plastered to the sides of her face.

“STOP THE BUS!” I yelled before I could think about what I was going to say.

“What the hell, Stone? Are you going to be sick or something?” Mack asked from the front of the bus. He said something to the driver, who proceeded to pull the bus to the side of the road.

“No, there is a woman out there, and we should help her. She’s trying to change a tire in the rain.”

“Dude, they have AAA for that,” Antonio said with a laugh.

“Please, let me off to help her,” I said emphatically. I couldn’t miss the chance to see her again, and it looked like she really needed help.

“We can call the local tow company if that would help you feel better,” the pitching coach said from the seat across from Coach Snyder.

“No. I need to help her,” I said and saw the guys straining their necks to try to see the girl and her car.

“You know what, Coach? This could be publicity gold. ‘Minor league player helps stranded local woman.’ We could even interview her and have her throw out a first pitch. Women all over will eat that kind of story up,” Hayden announced as he stood up next to me in the middle of the aisle.

“You can go if you want, but we’re going to wait here for you,” Coach Mack said. “One condition, though - you have to wear a poncho. I don’t want one of my star players catching a cold and not being able to play. Try to hurry.”

“Thank you, sir!” I said as I put on the poncho one of the trainers handed me.

“Want me to come with you?” Hayden asked.

“Nah, I’ve got this,” I said. “It’s her.”

You have to loosen lug nuts while the tire is still on the ground.

I can’t believe I got a flat tire during the middle of a downpour. Of course, it was the stretch of road that had no cell service. My papaw had taught me to be self-sufficient and how to change tires when I was in middle school, but that was twelve years ago. I got out the jack and wheel chock. I was able to remove the hubcap easily, but when I began to loosen the lug nuts, one of them just wouldn’t budge. I tried to stand on the tire iron to help loosen it, but it wasn’t moving.

As I kicked the tire because, of course, that would solve all my problems, a charter bus drove by. I sighed and looked up at the bus, watching as it passed me then carefully pulled over to the side of the road. I hated not being able to change my own tire, but I needed help. I waited a few minutes and wondered what the bus was doing.

Soon, the bus door opened, and a man exited the bus and began jogging towards me. He was wearing a blue poncho, and when he got closer, he made eye contact with me. I saw his green eyes and dimples, and I felt the same butterflies in my stomach that I had when I was eleven years old.

“Heya, Red,” he said with a huge grin. “Need some help?”

“Stone?” What, now he remembered me? I didn’t have time to process that because the rain was still pouring down, and unfortunately, I did need help. “Yes. I can’t get this last lug nut off.”

He nodded and went over to the tire. “If you want to wait in the car, I can finish for you.”

I shook my head, “My papaw would roll over in his grave if he knew I waited in the car. I can help as soon as you get the lug nut off.”

He laughed, and I felt myself smile, too. I wanted to be mad at him for forgetting me, but having him near me caused my heart to beat faster, and hearing his laugh began to melt my anger. “I totally respect that,” he said and handed me a poncho from his pocket. “I had a feeling you’d say that, so put this on.”

“Thanks, but I think the damage has already been done,” I said as I put the poncho over my already-soaked clothes.

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