Page 60 of The Shake Off

“She lacked conviction,” Lux shrugged.

“Oh, dude. That’s fucking funny.” Parker shook his head and looked at me. “Next question.”

But my eyes caught a different movement; Riley Rivers was walking down the gangway to our seats. I flippedCosmoshut and tossed it to Parker who shoved it back down the side of the seat rest.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” I nodded to him.

He glanced around at the three of us, noticed the weirdly guilty expressions we were all wearing, and frowned slightly. “Coach and Mr. Shepherd want you. They’re down at the front.”

“Cool, thanks. On my way.” I turned back to Lux and Parker, pointing my finger at them. “Don’t go through any more without me.”

I stood up and followed Riley to the front. Even though this was a short flight, some of the guys were already napping. Saint Velasquez looked like he was meditating while wearing a pair of giant noise cancelling headphones. I passed Jupiter, Stone Philips and Boomer Jones playing poker with a couple of the PTs, but mostly the plane was quieter than it usually was on a longer journey.

It was as I reached two thirds down that I realized I needed to pass Beulah, Lowe, and Marnie Matthews who were sitting on one of the sectionals along the side, though thankfully they were deep in conversation, and I walked quick enough they didn’t notice.

Coach Chase and Penn Shepherd were sitting with Coach Willis, one of the pitching coaches.

“Coach, sir,” I nodded. “You wanted to see me?”

“Ah, Watson,” Coach Chase greeted as he looked up. “Please sit down.”

I sat.

“How are you feeling?”

Up to the point where Riley had come to fetch me, I’d been feeling great. Now, with three pairs of inquisitive eyes on me, my hands became slightly clammy again. I tugged down on my ball cap and concentrated on keeping my heart beating at its usual pace, instead of where it felt like it might break one of my ribs.

I cleared my throat. “I’m feeling good, thank you. Looking forward to tonight.”

“You really turned the game around last night,” Penn nodded. “Seemed like we had Ace Watson back. That was some impressive pitching, even more so considering you barely made the strike zone the last time you were on the mound.”

I ran my hands along my thighs, stopping any jittering before it even started. “Yes, sir.”

Coach Chase took off his glasses and pinned me with narrowed eyes. I’d never noticed before how piercing they could be, especially when they were staring right at me. “Think you can do it again if we start you during this away stretch?”

“That’s the plan,” I nodded, and tried to summon as much conviction as I could. “I know I fucked up the beginning of the season. It was my fault alone, but I’m feeling good now. I’m back in the game.”

The four of us glanced up at the steward as he passed by our seats. “Gentlemen, we’ll be arriving in approximately fifteen minutes. Please prepare for landing.”

“That’s your cue, Watson. Go and sit back down.”

“Thank you.” I stood up and turned to walk away, only for Penn Shepherd to call my name.

“Whatever you did to help get your focus back so quickly, keep doing it.”

I tried to hold in the smile. “Yes, sir.”

I made my way to the back of the plane as quickly as I could to find Tanner was now in the wet seat next to mine, but he looked far too engrossed in what the three of them were reading to have noticed.

“Hey, I said wait for me,” I grumbled, sitting down and reaching for my seat belt.

“We only just started.”

“What’s the next question, then?”

Lux’s eyes flicked down to the page. “What’s your go-to sex position?”

“Ass up,” Tanner and Parker announced at the same time, throwing a high five out as they did.

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