Page 42 of Double Play

She looks down. “I…umm…haven’t been able to be intimate with a man since. I haven’t been touched by a man since him. I’m terrified of it. I haven’t gone on a single date. Our fake relationship is the most intimate thing I’ve had since it all went down.”

I tuck her hair behind her ear and rub my thumb along her cheek. “Thank you for sharing it with me. I’msorry for what you’ve been through. I hope you know that you can trust me. I care about you.”

She gives me a small smile. “I know you do. You charged on the field like a psycho the other night because of a collision at the plate. You know more than most that collisions are standard operating procedure for us catchers, yet you acted like a deranged lunatic.”

I can’t help but let out a laugh. “Yeah, I may have been a little crazy. I saw you go down and I lost my marbles for a minute. I needed to make sure you were okay.”

“Reagan Daulton couldn’t have scripted it any better.”

“It wasn’t scripted. My concern wasn’t fake.”

She nods. “I know.”

“For what it’s worth, I personally think you’re different in just the few weeks I’ve known you. Maybe you’re coming out of your hibernation. You’re definitely smiling more often. I love your smile. It’s contagious.”

As if on cue, she smiles. I’m so filled with pride that I put it on her face. “I think you’re right. Even though our relationship is fake, it’s made me realize how much I miss...” she moves her hand between me and her, “being with someone. Being spontaneous. You might not believe it, Layton Lancaster, but I was a little nutty when I was still a functional human being.”

“Nuttier than dancing publicly to *NSYNC?”

She giggles. “Waymore.”

I stand and help her do the same. “Follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

I wink at her. “You’ll see.”

About twenty minutes of jogging later, we’re at the foot of the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. Thesteps which were made famous in the movieRockywhen he ran up them and then jumped up and down in celebration at the top. There’s even a statue of Rocky next to the steps.

Arizona smiles. “TheRockysteps?”

“Are you ready to do the most touristy thing you can do in Philadelphia and run up them?”

Her eyes widen. “People will see us. It will probably be on SportsCenter tonight.”

I shrug. “Who fucking cares? It’s fun. A little…spontaneous. A little…nutty.”

Placing my foot on the first of many steps, I challenge, “I’ll race you. I’ll give a Cheetah-type striptease at your next game if you beat me.”

She grins from ear to ear. “What if you win?”

“Hmm. You have to dance wildly at my game tonight.”

Her face immediately drops. “I’m not coming tonight.”

“What? Why not?”

“I…umm…can’t. I have something.”

I’m trying to mask my disappointment. We’re home for the next week, but then we’re on the road for the following two. I want to see her whenever I get the chance. But I know she’s sad today, and I want to keep things light, so I bite my tongue.

“Okay. Well, at the next game you come to.”

As she sneakily gives herself a head start, she shouts back at me, “Deal!”

I yell, “Cheater,” as I begin my own climb.

We race as fast as we can to the top of the steps. I’m not sure why I agreed to race the fastest player in softball, but I did. And I lost. It was totally worth it to watch hercelebrate at the top. Like Rocky in the movie, she lifts her hands in the air in triumph and jumps around in glee. I can’t help but join her silliness. We even mock shadow box like Rocky did.

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