Page 167 of Curveball

I arrive at the stadium and head to the locker room. We’re all getting dressed in our uniforms just ahead of taking the field.

I’m washing my hands in the bathroom when I hear excessive vomiting in one of the toilet stalls.

A few seconds later, Arizona walks out of the stall whilewiping her lips. I look at her. “Are you okay?”

She nods. “I’m fine.”

“I haven’t puked like that since I was preg—” And then it occurs to me. My eyes widen. “Are you?”

The corners of her mouth raise ever so slightly as she slowly nods. “I think so. We started trying like one minute ago. I didn’t think it would happen this quickly. I haven’t taken a test yet, but it seems pretty obvious.” She grabs her boobs. “My tits grew like three sizes overnight. And they’re so fucking sensitive.”

I shake my head and smile. “Damn baseball players and their super sperm.”

She laughs. “Truth.”

I wrap my arms around her. “Congratulations. Our kids will be close in age. I’m so happy.”

She hugs me back. “Me too. I hope it’s a girl and they’re besties, just like you and me.”

I can’t seem to let go of her. “I love you.”

She squeezes me tight. “I love you too.”

Kam walks into the bathroom tucking in her Anacondas jersey but stops short when she sees us. “It’s bad enough you’re fucking her brother, Rip, but Arizona too?”

We giggle as we pull apart. I shake my head at Kam. “Is your mind always in the gutter?”

Before she can answer, Bailey walks in buckling her belt and answers, “Yes, it is.”

We all laugh until Coach Billie pops her head around the corner. “Time to stick it to them, ladies.”

We all smile at yet another inadvertent sexual innuendo from her. Kam lifts an eyebrow and thrusts her hips a few times. “Yes, let’s stick it to them. Hard. Long. Deep.”

Coach Billie smiles and cheerily shouts, “That’s the spirit, Kam!”

Quincy is throwingout the ceremonial first pitch today. He’s tossing it to Layton. Even though Quincy is on Kaya duty, Mom is holding her for this in our dugout. She’s now a coach on the staff.

He asked me to walk out to the mound with him, which I do. Arizona, Trey, Cheetah, and Ezra are all standing next to Layton as he crouches down into the traditional catcher’s position to receive the pitch, all smiling like idiots. I wonder what they’re all doing here. This is bizarre.

The announcer introduces Quincy to a wild sea of applause. It’s a sellout crowd of over twenty-five thousand. That’s almost unheard of in softball. Our Philly fans are out in full force tonight.

I take in my man. He looks so handsome in athletic shorts and my Anacondas jersey. His hair is a little shorter than it was, and he trimmed his beard, but he’s keeping it longer than he used to knowing how much I enjoy it.Thoroughlyenjoy it.

He winks at me and then winds up to throw the pitch but doesn’t throw anything. Swiveling around, he smiles at me before putting on sunglasses and bringing a suddenly appearing microphone to his lips. He begins singing into it, “You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your liiiips…” the opening line to “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.”

Before I know it, the rest of the guys are standing next to him in sunglasses, each singing the next few lines until they all belt out the chorus together, with Quincy smiling in the middle of them. It’s basically exactly how it was performed in the movieTop Gun. They clearly practiced for this.

They serenade me and run through about half the song with the crowd going absolutely wild. Quincy, lookingso fucking perfect and handsome, hands the microphone to one of the guys and then drops down on one knee.

Twenty-five thousand people gasp, me included. He takes my hand in his. “You once asked me to love you in the light, Shortcake. Well, there are about ten thousand lights on us now, twenty-five thousand pairs of eyes on us in person, and millions more watching from home. As much as I alsoloveto love you in the dark,” he wiggles his eyebrows up and down, “I promise to always love you in the light too. You’re the mother of my child, the love of my life, and my soulmate. Our whole lives you’ve given and given. Now it’s my time to give to you.” He opens a maroon velvet ring box. I don’t even notice the ring at first, simply staring into his deep blue eyes. “Ripley St. James, will you marry me?” He mumbles, “Again.”

Cheetah coughs, “Don’t do it,” which he says too close to the microphone. Everyone in the stands hears him and starts laughing.

Quincy smiles. “Fun fact, pitchers who embarrass themselves for the women they love are twice as good in bed as centerfielders.” He side-eyes Cheetah.

I’m quiet, not in contemplation, but in shock. A woman in the crowd screams out, “If you don’t say yes, I will.”

Everyone laughs, including Quincy and me. He shrugs. “It looks like I have other offers. What do you say, Shortcake? Want to make an honest man out of me?”

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