Page 130 of The Shake Off

“I need to go to the game today, so I can find Ace and ask him on a date. Kit’s coming, too.”

To his credit, his expression remained unchanged. He didn’t flinch or grimace or give anything away that suggested he’d rather have his fingernails pulled out than help me date one of his players.

“It would be my pleasure, Payton,” he grinned, the boyish grin Penn Shepherd was famous for. “Wanna leave now?”

I glanced over to Kit who’d finished arranging the roses across several milk jugs and the three vases I owned, because who needed more than three vases?

“Yes, we’re ready. Let me run to the bathroom one more time.”

“Great.” He held his hand out for Lowe, and she took it, winking at me as she did.

Five minutes later we were in the back of Penn’s Range Rover, being driven through the New York traffic. Now Penn had apologized, his focus was back on the baseball, and I could see the tension rolling through his shoulders and clenched jaw as we stopped in yet another traffic jam.

Penn’s driver had tuned the radio to the pre-game commentary. The players were on the field warming up, though given we were currently at Lincoln Square and still had to drive sixty blocks, it wasn’t likely we’d see the first pitch. I also didn’t want to listen to the commentators talk about Ace’s pitch on Opening Day, and neither did Penn, who turned down the volume on the back speakers.

Lowe’s hand was resting firmly on Penn’s leg, likely to stop it from jiggling. For the first time ever, I sympathized with him and his obsession for baseball, because today, I felt the same. I wanted to see the first pitch, I wanted to see Ace as soon as was humanly possible. It couldn’t come soon enough.

“Tell Payton what Ace said.”

My eyes flicked over from where I was staring out of the window, to where Lowe was staring at Penn. If it was a distraction tactic, it worked very well.

Penn’s gaze moved from Lowe to me. “Um, he said that I’d upset you.”

“What?” I frowned. “What does that mean?”

Lowe tutted loudly, adding an eye roll. “Not that. He called you his girlfriend.”

My eyes popped wide, though not as wide as Kit’s when her head peered through from the back row of the car. “What?”

Lowe nudged Penn again. “Tell Payton what you told me.”

“Oh, he said that someone had made his girlfriend cry and that he didn’t like it, and he planned to win her back, so she knew she’d always have someone to fight in her corner, along with a veiled threat that he’d make me pay.” He glanced back at Lowe and asked, “Is that it?”

She nodded, which made him grin again like a kid who’d been told ‘good job’. Penn turned to me again, “but he’s not why I apologized either. I truly am sorry, Payton.”

“Thank you.”

“Ace called you his girlfriend, Pay,” Lowe whispered, almost reverently.

My teeth sunk into my lip. This was huge. I mean, for me it was huge. It might not be a big deal to any other woman, but I’d never been a girlfriend before. Not as an adult, at least.

And like a sunrise spreading across a darkened landscape, my smile broke free. I couldn’t hold it back even if I wanted to. I was a girlfriend.

Or hopefully would be at the end of the day.

“Do you think we can go any faster?” I asked Penn, even though it was clear we couldn’t, given the state of the traffic, but Penn always had ways of making things happen so it never hurt to ask.

Penn was about to shake his head when the driver interrupted. “Mr. Shepherd, the first pitch is about to take place.”

“Can you turn up the commentary?” I asked.

“Ace Watson’s looking good out there, Aaron. And we have our first pitch from him against the Phillies, just as we did two months ago on Opening Day. Let’s hope it’s better this time.”

“I’ll wager it will be, Mark.”

“Can’t they come up with new material, or something more original?” I grumbled.

“They’re not comedians,” replied Kit from the backseat.

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