Page 5 of Striking Out In The Mountains

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still fast and I understand why a brute like Emmanuel can’t hit it, but I’ve faced off against pitchers way faster than this and I have a ton of home runs on my old stat line.

It flies high, so I let it go.

“Ball,” the umpire behind the catcher says.

“Yeah, that’s it!” a lady shouts behind the fence. “Take her head off!”

“What the fuck?” I whisper as I turn around to look.Oh my god, there’s two of them.

Two twins are sitting on the grass, eating hot dogs while they heckle me.

“Right between the eyes,” the other one says right before she licks a gob of mustard off her bun.

I shake it off and get back into the game, focusing on the pitcher as I swing the bat and stay loose.

“Too fast for you?” Colin asks with a grin.

“Too high,” I tell him. “I’m not swinging over my head.”

“Alright,” he says as he steps back. “Try this one.”

He launches another fastball at me and I’m surprised at how much straighter and faster it is. I react immediately, swinging with a grunt as I put my whole body into it. The ball nails the sweet spot and it takes off like a meteorite. Home run. Fuck yeah. I drop the bat and start jogging.

“Holy shit,” Sheriff Gray says as he watches the ball disappear over the fence into the forest.

“Who areyou?” the first baseman asks as I round the base.

“Officer Finch,” I say, tipping my cap.And your worst nightmare for the next seven innings…

I stomp on second base and someone in the outfield catches my eye. It’s the centerfielder. He’s staring right at me all slack-jawed like he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. The other two outfielders are hopping over the fence to find the ball, but all of his focus is on me. I stumble a little as I stare back at him.

He’shot. Likereallyhot. He looks older than the others. Probably in his early fifties or so. A total silver fox.

But why is he looking at me like that?

“Nice hit,” the shortstop says, jerking my attention away from the man. “You probably knocked the stitches off the ball.”

“Thanks,” I say, smiling shyly as I round third and jog home.

The rest of my team pours out of the dugout, cheering and waving me on as I jog to home plate. I stomp my foot on it and they all slap my shoulders and tell me how amazing that hit was.

Everyone on my team looked so defeated when I got here, but I think my hit just gave everyone a burst of life. You can feel the energy crackling amongst them as we head back to the dugout.

“We’re going to win now for sure,” Sheriff Gray says, grinning as he flashes the centerfielder a bitter look.

I look at him too and my body gets all hot and tingly when I see that man’s dark simmering eyes still locked on me. He’s staring at me with a deep lustful look like I’m all his. Like heownsme. He looks like he wants to take me away from here and get to third base.

“How’s that arm?” Sheriff Gray asks. “Are you ready to pitch?”

“I’m ready, Sheriff Gray,” I say, warming my shoulder up.

“Call me Ryland.”

It’s the first time he’s told me that. Everyone on the force was calling him Ryland but me. I was always calling him Sheriff Gray and he never corrected me. I guess I’m finally in the club now.

It feels good.

Ryland grabs a bat and heads over to the plate.

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