Page 57 of The Trouble with Players

She screeched.

I covered her mouth as heads turned again. “Shhhhh.”

She nodded like a little kid who’d been scolded.

I reluctantly removed my hand. “Girl, keep your calm.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just so dang happy for you. I’ve been worried about you. But now, you’re happy. And I want you to stay that way.”

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into me. “How’d I get so lucky to have you in my life?”

“Goes both ways,” she said as the inning ended and the Sharks jogged off the field.

“When’s their next night off?” I asked.

“Next Tuesday. Why? Wanna go on a double date?” she asked.

“I’m not sure if we’re that official.”

“Well, if you want to. We can.”

“There’s a lot of time between now and Tuesday.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means we could go back to hating each other by then,” I explained.

On the field, the Sharks were up to bat. Crew stepped into the batter’s box. His hands tightened around the grip of the bat, and I couldn’t help but envision those hands last night gripping my skin. The uniform’s short sleeves molded to his biceps, and my mind shifted to my own hands clutching his skin. The pitcher delivered his first pitch. Crew swung, and the bat connected with the ball. Fans around us jumped to their feet as the ball sailed over the center fielder’s head and continued over the fence behind him.

The fans exploded with cheers as I clapped for the impressive hit from my seat.

Crew circled the bases like he had the first time, his head down and the gloating nonexistent. When he reached home, the on-deck batter bumped his fist. He moved toward the dugout and was congratulated by his other teammates. He glanced to me with a slight smirk on his face before disappearing in the dugout.

That smirk just might be the death of me.

“Excuse me?”

I glanced to my side.

The little leaguer stood there with a baseball in his hand. “He said you should never underestimate him.”

I rolled my eyes as the boy handed me the ball.

Gina chuckled beside me. “Sounds like he showed you.”

I didn’t respond. But, I guess he had. In more ways than one.

After the game, Gina and I waited by her car in the nearly empty parking lot. I tossed the home run ball in my hand.

“Where’d you get the ball?” a deep voice asked.

I looked over at Crew. “Some showoff hit a home run.”

“Showoff?”

“Big time.”

He laughed. “So, you waited for me.”

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