Page 6 of Striking Out In The Mountains

I link my fingers on the fence and watch with a smile on my face as he talks shit with the pitcher, but it’s friendly.

This is just the most perfect day. This place is even better than I dreamed of when I first heard of this small mountain town in Montana. The sun is shining and this park is just unreal. The jutting mountains in the distance give the place the most ethereal feel, like I’m in some kind of fantastical far-off fantasy land. It’s stunning.

Colin throws a pitch and it hits the home plate, bouncing up before the catcher grabs it.

“Don’t you dare walk me,” Ryland says, shaking his head.

“You think I’d walk you on purpose?” Colin says with a laugh. “Who do you think you are? Barry Bonds?”

“Just throw the pitch. Above my ankles this time.”

Everyone is chuckling as they keep heckling each other. Colin throws a fastball and Ryland cracks it.

It heads straight to center field and my heart starts racing when I look at the silver fox hottie.

He’s still looking at me…

I’m distracting him for some reason because the ball goes sailing over his head. He could have caught it and probably would have if he wasn’t too busy checking me out.

“Come on, Graham!” the guy at second base, a short chubby guy with big ears says as he throws his arms up. “Get your head in the game!”

Ryland takes off running, sprinting around the bases with his muscular legs pumping. He gets to third before the left fielder grabs the ball and launches it to the catcher at home plate.

“Hey, who’s that guy in center field?” I ask my partner Henry in the most casual way I can. “I haven’t seen him around.”

“That’s the fire chief,” Henry says. “Graham West.”

Fire chief, huh? Interesting…

“He’s single,” Henry’s wife Natalie says with a knowing grin.

“She didn’t ask that,” Henry says, frowning at her.

Natalie laughs. “She didn’t have to. Her eyes did.”

I look at Mr. Graham West the hot fire chief, and see him looking back at me.

I smile.

He smiles back.

Interesting…

CHAPTER THREE

Cara

The townspeople perk up and start paying attention when I step onto the pitching mound. I guess they’re curious about what else I can do after my home run.

I throw a few warm-up pitches, but I save my real heaters for the game. I want to see the look of surprise on these firefighters’ faces as I whizz one by them.

The score is nine to four now, for them.

I try to keep my eyes off the hunky fire chief, but it’s harder than expected. He’s even hotter up close. And he can’t seem to take his eyes off me.

I feel my cheeks getting hot as I watch him squirt his water bottle into his mouth. Those hands… They look so strong.

My body starts tingling as I wonder how they would feel on my hips, on my arms, on… other places.

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