Page 31 of Nothing Like the Movies

And her boyfriend.

Clark and his man-bun were filming my pitching again, which bugged the piss out of me as I stared into his video camera and wondered if he could see the annoyance in my eyes. I knew I was going to have to get used to random people with cameras popping up to film for social media, but something about him being there felt intrusive.

Irritating as hell.

You have my girl—isn’t that enough?

Liz was standing on a step stool near Eli, wearing shorts, a Bruins basketball T-shirt, and a pair of blue high-top Converse with little smiley faces all over them. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, her eyes were covered with Ray-Bans, and she was looking down, messing with something on the long-lensed camera in her hands.

Hands with perfectly trimmed blue-and-yellow fingernails.

God, she’s beautiful.

I hadn’t seen her since my accidental (sort of but not really) buzz-by on the scooter last week. AJ said she’d been around, filmingat his BP and infielders practice, but I’d somehow managed to miss her until now.

“Nice balk, Bennett,” Ross barked, and I forced my attention back to pitching as he muttered, “Pay attention.”

Dammit.

I was good at shutting everything out so I finished strong, but I didn’t like the way it felt. I used to love when Liz went to my high school games because for someone who didn’t enjoy sports, she got into it. She wore my alternate jersey to every game (with a flowery little skirt, of course) and yelled things likeyou got this, Bennett, even though she didn’t know dick about baseball.

And she had the most incredible feedback.I love the way you look like you want to kill the batter when you release the ball. Did you know you spin the ball before every pitch? I made a list of walk-up songs you should use in college.

I could still remember the list, because it was all songs she didn’t personally enjoy but that she felt “worked” for the situation. I took my responsibility very seriously and chose number five, which made her happy because it was her favorite as well (even though she said she’d never forgive Kanye for what he’d done).

“DNA.”—Kendrick Lamar

“Trophies”—Young Money

“Step into a World”—KRS-One

“Welcome to the Jungle”—Guns N’ Roses

“Power”—Kanye West

But now I felt unsettled by her presence. Because what did she even see now when she watched me?

The asshole she hated?

Some random freshman pitcher who was struggling with consistency?

Her annoying childhood next-door neighbor?

She wasn’t by the bullpen anymore when I grabbed my stuff; she and her giant had moved over to film the shortstops from the third base line.Which is good, I reminded myself as my eyes sought out that shimmery red ponytail.I don’t need the distraction.

Because watching them work together, now that I knew they were dating and living together, was just too much. No amount of mental toughness could keep me focused when that was happening in my line of sight.

I was all about getting closer to her, but I wanted nothing to do with close proximity tothem.

A couple of hours later, I found myself dealing with it again. “For the love of God, why aretheyhere?” I asked, sitting down next to Mickey and unzipping my backpack, watching as Liz squatted in front of the table where Wade and AJ were studying, her camera in front of her face.

Her boyfriend was on the other side of the room, recording Eli and Luke as they studied—invading my space with their presence.

“Dude.” Mick looked at me like I was a dick. “You don’t like Buxxie and Clark?”

Mick had gotten so hammered at Liz’s party that he seemed to have missed or forgotten the news that Liz and I used to date, and I wasn’t about to enlighten him.

It was only a matter of time, with Wade’s big mouth, so I’d just let it unfold organically.

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