Page 46 of The Third Baseman

“It’s Jupiter,” I grinned, more so when he spun around with his eyes wide.

“No shit!” he exclaimed before turning back the viewfinder. “Oh, this is so fucking cool.”

I chuckled internally, watching him and how still he’d become. I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that – Jupiter looking at Jupiter, me looking at him – but I soon felt the night chill.

He finally stepped away. “Thank you. I can’t believe I’ve never experienced this. Thank you for showing it to me.”

I smiled as warmly as I felt. “You’re welcome. I guess I never thought you’d be so interested.”

“I’ll tell you what, you teach me all about the stars, and I’ll teach you about baseball.”

“I want to learn about baseball?”

“Sure you do. You’ll want to understand it for all the times you’re watching me play.”

Saliva pooled in my mouth, and I couldn’t swallow it. “I’m watching you play?”

It felt like slow motion when his finger brushed away a strand of hair stuck to my forehead, “I’d say you probably will be, yes.” His blue eyes held mine, still bright, even in the dark. “When I was little, my mom told me this poem. It was a nursery rhyme, so I never used to listen to the words, but now I think about it, maybe it came true.”

He stepped back a fraction and cleared his throat.

“Starlight, star bright, you were the first star I saw tonight. Wish I may, wish I might, have this kiss with you tonight.” He smiled, nervously, “I changed the words a little.”

I’d like to say I had experience in kissing, but beyond a couple of go-rounds with Seven Minutes in Heaven at a birthday party my brother was made to take me to last year, I had none. But I didn’t have time to be self-conscious, because the next thing I knew, the lips of the most popular boy in school were grazing mine.

I didn’t know what to do with my hands, but it didn’t matter because he took them in his, lacing our fingers together. Then his lips pressed harder against mine, and I followed his lead as he teased my mouth open. I didn’t know when he’d managed to do it without me noticing, but at some point he’d eaten a mint LifeSaver, because that’s all I could taste on his breath.

Gentle was not a word I’d have associated with Jupiter before tonight, but that’s exactly what he was being. Gentle. Like he could sense my inexperience, and didn’t want to scare me away.

But I’d never felt safer, or more sure.

I let his tongue move softly around my mouth and stroke against mine, savoring the warmth and taste of him. I matched his pace, and soon I couldn’t feel anything but my body melting into his like a marshmallow over the fire as he continued teasing me, until every cell in my body was buzzing.

And then a soft moan escaped his lips; a moan that hit deep in my core.

He slowly pulled away. My face must have been bright pink when he looked back down at me; there’s no way it wasn’t.

“This has been fucking magic,” his lips brushed against mine again, “but I’d better go. It’s getting late. Night, Star, see you tomorrow. I’ll have coffee waiting for you when I pick you up.”

He dropped my hands and scooped up his things, and then I watched him disappear back down the tree, in the same manner in which he’d arrived.

I waited three minutes, enough time for him to get back home, before I turned and cleared up the snacks we’d made our way through.

All with a massive smile on my face.

It was official. I had a crush on the boy next door.

And he’d just kissed me.

7

JUPITER

Present Day

The dugout was full.

A couple of the guys who’d already been up for bat in this inning were hanging over the railings at the end near where the coaches were sitting. Saint Velazquez, our Puerto Rican right fielder with a mean smash, was sitting in the middle of the benches, throwing sunflower seeds in his mouth like he was on the beach and about to order a piña colada.

---