Page 31 of Double Play

He feigns shock. “She will. Eventually. Maybe tonight.”

Kam shakes her head. “Nope. Not happening.”

His shoulders drop. “Ugh. Come on. I was your number one cheerleader tonight. Did you find another girl you like?”

She shakes her head. “No. That guy has been eye-fucking me.” She points to some random guy at the bar who is, in fact, staring at her. “He’s cute. I might take him to my deep-sea abyss tonight.”

Cheetah sucks in a breath. “That guy? He’s like six inches shorter than you.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Hooking up with a short guy doesn’t matter when you’re lying down. I’m not reproducing with him.”

“If you’re a man under five foot, six inches, you were probably the precum.”

Kam gives him a small smile but simply shakes her head letting him know it’s not happening tonight.

Cheetah starts mumbling in Spanish.

I know Kam enough to know that she’s going to mess with him for as long as she can and then eventually have sex with him. I miss being playful and confident like her. I’m trying to find that part of my personality again.

Layton turns to me. “I understand that you’re a lefty slapper. Explain it to me. We don’t have slappers in baseball.”

It’s cute how much he’s trying to learn softball.

“You saw that the distance between home and first base is sixty feet instead of ninety like in baseball, right?”

“Yes.”

“I have a home-to-first speed of under two-point-four seconds.”

His eyes widen. “Holy shit. Cheetah is the fastest baseball player I know, and he’s about four-point-one.”

“The theory is that I put the ball in play and use my speed. If the defense is back, I either bunt or lightly place the ball in play. If they’re playing up on me, I pound it over their heads. It’s hard to defend.”

“That explains why you were on base every time you came to the plate tonight.”

I try to give a modest smile. “That won’t happen in every game, but I’m definitely on base a lot. That’s why I’m the leadoff batter.”

He smiles. “I think you’re amazing. I had the best time watching you play. You have a cannon of an arm. I’ve never seen a woman throw as hard as you. Hell, I know a few guys in our league who don’t throw as hard as you.”

I rub his arm. “Thank you.” Jeez, there are a lot of muscles in that arm.

My phone buzzes again and I look at it. Another message about a sponsorship opportunity. I look up at Layton. “I’ve had a bunch of emails and voicemails from companies about me being a spokesperson. I’ve had two or three over the years, but they were small and simple. I was able to manage them. These are bigger. Do you think I need an agent?”

He nods. “Definitely. Do you want me to connect you with Tanner Montgomery? He’s been with me since I was in high school. I trust him implicitly. He’s like family to me. His daughter plays softball, and I bet she’d love to meet you.”

Tanner Montgomery is like the Jerry Maguire of the baseball world. Everyone knows him. He’s a top sports agent. “That would be great. Thank you.”

Just then, the song “Bye Bye Bye” by *NSYNC starts playing. Quincy looks at me and smiles. Ripley looks at both of us and starts laughing. “I’m in.”

The three of us stand and go to the dance floor. Before we know it, our entire table is out there doing the official “Bye Bye Bye” dance. We’re all laughing and having a great time. I can’t believe how long it’s been since I let loose and had fun like this. I don’t look at the door worrying that my ex will walk in. I don’t even have the pressure of men hitting on me. It seems to be understood here that I’m with Layton. I’m finally feeling free to just be me.

Layton joins in and is adorably terrible, but it doesn’t stop him from trying.

The next morning,we’re having coffee with Bailey in our kitchen when Kam walks in like she just woke up. Stretching, she groans, “Damn, that girl was a stage-five clinger. I hate women like that.”

I look at her in question. “Woman? I thought you had your eye on a man last night?”

She gives her best evil grin. “I did but then Cheetah wanted to bet again, so we found some random woman and made her the subject of our bet.” She blows on her nails. “I won, yet again.”

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