Page 161 of Restricted List

Lane bats second, ending his at-bat with a pop fly in center field.

Josh is next, and he makes it to first base when the third baseman bobbles the ball as he scoops it up from the ground.

That leads us to today’s clean-up batter—Cole.

I nudge Harlow’s arm. “Did Cole tell you he changed his walk-up song for this season?”

Lo bites down a smile. “I’m aware of that fact, yes. I inadvertently helped him pick the song.”

“What does that mean?” I question, eyebrow raised.

“It means I told him about a song, and he decided it would be a great walk-up song. You’ll love it.”

“That’s what he said, too. He picked this song for me, didn’t he?”

Harlow doesn’t respond; she just smiles softly as the music starts playing when Cole moves from the on-deck circle to begin his at-bat.

And when the song I’m hearing registers, I gasp, clasping my hands together over my mouth.

“Cole picked a Taylor Swift song?” Lucia says. “That’s unexpected.”

Ella adds, “What’s it called again?”

“Starlight,”I reply, tears pricking the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over. “This song is calledStarlight.”

“I knew about this, and I still can’t get over how cute it is!” Harlow squeals.

“That’s a really random choice,” Lucia remarks.

The first tears fall down my cheeks, and I wipe them away with the back of my hand. “Starlight is his nickname for me. He’s been calling me that for months.”

“And now he’s using it as his walk-up song!” Ella smiles.

Cole now stands in the batter’s box, getting into position for the first pitch.

Before the pitch is thrown, though, he looks right at me and smiles.

A smile that, in a stadium full of people, is meant only for me.

Cole takes two strikes before knocking the third pitch over the wall in left field, putting the Stars on the board with three runs.

For the rest of the game, he’s on fire, going five for five batting today and knocking in six runs in the Stars’ victory over the Windjammers.

True to his word, this is the best game of his career. He’s never had better numbers than he does today.

But all I can focus on is how much I love him and how much he loves me.

My dad can think whatever he wants, but when Cole changed his walk-up song to one that’s a direct reference to me, even if most people don’t realize that, I know for a fact that nobody will ever love me more deeply than he does.

And I’ll defend him to my dad with everything in me.

forty-eight

Cole

“What a fucking startto the season, eh, Pierce?” Ari plops down in the seat next to me on the team plane. We finished up our home series against Chicago last night, so bright and early Friday morning, we’re on our way to Las Vegas for an away series against the Raptors. And as close as I am with Ari, I’d much rather sit next to Rory, but we both agreed it would be too suspicious.

“Sure is,” I say, taking out my earbuds and turning to face him. “3-0 is a great way to start the season.”

---