Page 34 of Rounding Third

“Of course you didn’t.” I roll my eyes, knowing I wasn’t imagining things tonight. He was sitting outside of my apartment. Winnie told me he tried to figure out where Kevin was taking me, but I never imagined he’d stalk me.

“Kevin invited us to have dinner with him and Liliana. Since we’re mostly done with our business discussion, I figured we could join them.” Cici slips into the booth next to Kevin, leaving Smithy’s only option next to me.

“I’d love to,” Smithy practically purrs as he slides in next to me and rests his arm along the back of the booth.

His fingers toy with the ends of my hair and as much as I want to tell him to stop, I love when he does this.

“I can't believe you’re best friends with Travis Smithy. No wonder he’s your favorite player.” Kevin stares at Smithy with amazement. “You’re amazing on the field.”

“Thanks. I love the game.” Smithy never accepts the praises he receives so frequently. He’s a fantastic player, but he doesn’t let it go to his head like some many guys do.

“Did you always want to go pro?”

“Nah. I just liked to play. Still to this day, I only do it because I love the game.” Smithy lifts his shoulder in a shrug.

Most people would roll their eyes at what he just said. They’d assume he’s just spouting bullshit, but he’s not. He genuinely loves playing baseball. I have no doubt if he ever stops enjoying it, he’ll retire and do something with his business degree.

“What made you change your mind and want to go pro?” Kevin looks like a kid in a candy shop. I wonder if it’s just because Smithy’s a pro baseball player or if he actually admires him as a player. He said Wyatt was his favorite on the team.

“There was this girl in college. She came to my games and she’d scream like crazy.” He smiles to himself as he gets lost in a memory. “She was perfect. Everything I ever wanted in life.” He shakes his head, bringing himself back to the present. “After one really difficult game, she told me I needed to go pro. She said I had the skill to be the best in the major league.”

“So, you decided to do it for a girl?”

“I decided right then and there, I’d try to go pro for her. I wanted to give her anything she wanted in life and to do that, I needed money. What better job could I have? I get paid a lot and I get to play the sport I'm obsessed with. I’d be stupid to do anything else.”

“Who was the girl?” Cici asks. I blink at her for a moment. I almost forgot she was here.

“Ahh, that’s not for you to know, Powell. She’s my mystery girl and that’s not for you to know.” He relaxes back into the booth and grins at her.

I think back to all the games I went to over the years. I haven’t willingly missed any of Smithy’s games. I think the only onesI didn’t attend were because I was sick. Back then, I couldn’t watch them on TV. Now, even when I'm sick, I don’t miss his game.

I don’t remember any women screaming and cheering for him at the college games. I don’t remember him talking to anyone after the games either.

Because Winnie was dating Wheeler at the time, we went to every game in college. We’d hang out with the boys and the team after each game and though there were girls who would flock to the guys, I don’t remember Smithy really hanging out with any of them. He stayed close to Winnie, Wheeler, and me.

Back then, he ignored the cleat chasers. He didn’t seem to have the time or patience for them. He was happy hanging out with his friends and that was it.

The other night at the bar kind of reminds me of college. Smithy blew off the cleat chasers and focused on his friends. It was nice to see a peek at the old Smithy, but I keep wondering what changed? Why is he doing things differently?

Chapter 15

Smithy

“Are we seriously sitting outside of her apartment?” Cici asks with amusement in her tone.

“Obviously,” I mutter under my breath as I squint my eyes at the guy who just pulled up in front of Liliana’s apartment. “He looks like such a toolbag.”

“Oh, he does not! He’s really cute!”

I turn away from my stalking and glare at Cici. She can't be serious right now. I thought she was on my team, how is she complimenting the enemy?

“You’re not being helpful,” I growl.

“Actually, I am. I'm commenting without any sort of bias, showing you how well Liliana could do. Just because you don’t want to accept she’s going out with a hot guy, doesn’t change the fact she is.”

“Now he’s hot? I thought he wasreally cute,” I mock her voice, making her chuckle.

“It’s weird seeing you so sour. You’re normally the happy guy. I'm not sure I’ve ever seen you in this bad of a mood.”

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