Page 55 of The Shake Off

“You could pull your hamstring trying that.”

I slammed the magazine shut, but it wasn’t quick enough for Parker’s lightning fingers. Or maybe it was my slow reflexes, seeing as he’d just scared the shit out of me, and my mind was elsewhere.

“Give that back.”

“Not until I see what it is.” He grinned annoyingly wide, dropping into the seat next to me, and turned the magazine over to look at the front cover. His expression changed to the one I’d predicted he would wear, which was exactly why I hadn’t shared anything about my new reading material. “Cosmo?”

I snatched it away, placing it back into the confines of G.Q. which I was also reading, just reading more openly.

“Expanding my literature.”

He peered over and pointed to the headline of the page it had fallen open at, letting out a loud snort. “That says cliterature.”

“Shhh,” I hissed, stuffing the offending materials into my bag. “Will you shut the fuck up, Parker?”

“I will if you tell me why you’re reading a girl’s magazine.”

I held my hands up, my head snapping around right and left to make sure we weren’t overheard. “Okay. But can you hear me out before you judge?”

“Sure.”

After I’d been pulled from starting pitcher and it became obvious to everyone in the club I had the yips, all the boys aside from Parker, Lux, and Tanner, had been giving mewaymore space than usual. It was why I was sitting down the far end of the plane on my own for the short flight to D.C., or had been before Parker interrupted.

But for the first time ever, I was more than happy with being alone. It meant more time for me to think without people yapping in my ear.

More time for me to read.

More reading equaled better pitching.

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “We both know that I’ve been pitching like shit since the beginning of the season.”

He nodded solemnly, which was the closest he’d ever come to saying it outright. Parker was supportive to a fault, and I knew for a fact my ‘current pitching situation’ as he called it, had been almost as hard on him as it had been on me. And as much as I wanted to get my throwing arm back, I wanted it back for him just as much.

Parker was an excellent catcher, and had worked well with Riley Rivers in the short time they’d had together, but that was just it – short – they hadn’t built up a relationship like we had.

“Then the second game against the Red Sox I came on and pitched a fast ball. It wasn’t the fastest I’d ever pitched but it was hard, and compared to what I have been throwing, it was unexpected.”

He nodded again. This time looking a little more curious, and now I had his attention. Neither of us had expected that fast ball to be quite so fast, especially as Parker had signaled for a curve ball. But I’d felt it, deep in my bones, that a fast ball was the ball needed…

And I’d been right.

“If Coach had kept me in for more than three innings, I think I’d have almost been back on form by the end of the game.”

“Totally,” he agreed and nodded with a grin, punching me playfully in the shoulder. Aside from being my best friend, Parker had been the only one who steadfastly refused to take the yips seriously. “You had a few off weeks, dude. You’ll be back as starting pitcher in the next series, just see. I told you it was nothing.”

“Parker,” I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t nothing.”

I fixed him with a look, and to his credit he didn’t roll his eyes like he had done before, or told me I needed to forget about Payton. He just sat there and gestured for me to continue.

“Okay, then what was it?” he asked, smiling up at the Lions’ steward handing out bottles of water. “Thanks, man.”

I chewed on the edge of my thumb. As far as Parker was concerned, Payton had never replied to my first messages, but after she had, I’d been too nervous to tell any of the boys in case my theory didn’t work, and I had to find another way to fix my throw.

“I went to Payton’s for a do-over.”

His hand contracted around the plastic bottle, which unfortunately no longer had the lid screwed on. Water shot up like a geyser, soaking the pair of us.

“What?” he yelled, shaking himself dry. I got up to grab some towels from the galley, handed a couple to him, and dried myself with the rest. “When did this happen?”

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