Page 62 of The Third Baseman

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

I slipped into my usual space and cut the engine, letting go of Marnie’s hand for the first time since she’d jumped into my truck.

But then I picked it up and kissed her fingers. “How busy is your day today?”

She twisted in her seat to face me better. “Pretty busy. I have a study period after lunch, but then I’m in the physics lab all afternoon.”

I pulled a face at the thought of half a day of physics, making her laugh. “So you have lunch free? Meet me for lunch today?”

She nodded, “Yes, I can do that. Sounds good.”

I kissed her again because I needed to take advantage of every opportunity when we’d be separated for most of the day. It was a strange, foreign sensation, this needing to be close to her all the time; my body was starting to feel like it did whenever I went long stretches without playing ball.

“Perfect.”

She opened her door and hopped out, meeting me on the steps right where Jenson also happened to be.

“Morning, homies.”

I passed Marnie her bag that I’d collected from the back seat and slung my arm around her. It was time to make a small announcement.

“Hey, dude, I want to introduce you to Marnie Matthews, my girlfriend.” I grinned at him, and to give him credit, he only smiled back, “Star, this is Jenson, my best friend.”

“But we met already, the other week.”

“Not officially as my girlfriend though,” I winked, and the tiny pink tint rose on her cheeks.

“Okay, well, good to meet you, Jenson.”

“Bring it in,” was all the warning he gave before pulling her into a bear-like hug. A rumble ran through my chest, and a beast began clawing at my insides.

Huh.

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” I yanked her away from him, only to receive raised brows from both of them. “What? She’s my girlfriend; only I get to touch her.”

Marnie’s neck craned back, and she frowned. “That’s a bit caveman of you, isn’t it?”

I shrugged. “Hey, it’s a surprise to me too, babe. But what you gonna do?”

Turns out, roll her eyes.

“Okay, I need to head off. See you at lunch. Bye, Jenson.”

“Bye, Marnie.” He smiled at me as he called after her, waiting until she was out of earshot before starting on me. “Wow. Dude. Whaaaaaaat?”

I didn’t look at him, just started up the steps to the Sports building. “What, what?”

“You know what.”

I spun round and grinned. “I like her, Jens. I like her a lot. She’s cool, and different.”

“At least now I know why you’ve been running off at the end of every practice.” He punched me hard in the arm, but I could see the grumble was just for show. “Nah, it’s good. She seems like a nice girl. But promise me something…”

I narrowed my eyes. “Depends what it is.”

“Promise that I’m there when The Laurens find out.” He laughed so hard he nearly walked into the lamppost. “In fact, when all the girls find out.”

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