Page 67 of Hitting the Gap

He barked out a laugh and covered his hand over his heart. “Ouch and that right there is why I love you, Bailey. You sure know how to keep a guy grounded.”

“Mmm-hmm, anyway.” The corner of her mouth tipped up with amusement. “How was the road trip?”

“You saw the game against Atlanta.” He was still pissed off about the shitty call in the bottom of the fifth. There was no way the guy had been safe. He’d tagged him long before Richards touched the bag, but the asshole swore up and down he hadn’t connected and the angle of the replay wasn’t clear. Next time he’d bruise the fucker he’d tag ‘em so hard.

“Sucks you guys lost all three, but you played well every game.”

“For all the good it did.”

“The curse of the team sport. All you can do is give it your best and hope your teammates do as well.” Bailey placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed his leg the way she always did, but it felt different tonight.

He placed his hand on top of hers and linked their fingers. “I don’t think some of the guys got the memo. Management needs to make some changes to the lineup. There’s no way Knight should be batting lead. He’s setting the tone for the entire game and he fucking sucks right now.”

Bailey smirked at him. “I see that hasn’t changed either.”

“What’s that?”

“Coach Gonzalez is in the house.”

He lifted his hand off her lap slightly and flipped her the bird. Bailey burst out laughing like he knew she would.

“I’m just saying.” Bailey clicked her cheeks. “Easy to coach from the sidelines.”

“Easy to see when you’re batting cleanup and have no one to fucking hit home, too.”

“Well, if that’s the problem, it sounds like more than just Knight didn’t get the job done against Atlanta.”

“Yeah, Pete’s head was up his ass because Kendall was late.”

“I didn’t realize she went to your away games.”

He chuckled. “Not that kind of late.”

“Oh.” Bailey’s eyes widened. “Is she pregnant?”

“No idea. Guess we’ll find out.” Now that he thought about it, it was kind of weird that Pete hadn’t texted the group chat either way.

“Brad keeps looking over here,” Bailey mumbled out of the side of her mouth.

He pulled his chair closer to hers again, bracketing her legs with his. “Well then, let’s give him something to look at.” He reached out and picked up the pendant of her necklace. “I like this. What is it?” Allowing the back of his hand to rest against the swell of her breast, he ran his index finger along her collarbone as he held the crystal between his other fingers.

“Umm.” Her breath hitched. “It’s citrine.”

“Citrine? Never heard of it.”

“Mmm, it’s supposed to be good for joy and abundance and balance. Or at least that’s what Rayne told me.”

“It’s pretty. The color reminds me of the sun.”

“The sun, huh? Look at you being all poetic.”

“What can I say? I’m a deep guy.” He allowed the stone to drop against the top of her breasts. His gaze lingered on the stone resting in her cleavage.

“Gonzo?”

He snapped his head up. Bailey stared back at him expectantly. “Sorry what?” he asked.

“Got mesmerized by the sun there, did ya?” she teased.

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