Page 49 of Off Season

On a great defensive play by Arizona, their game ends in an Anacondas league championship. We watch on while the girls all pile on top of Ripley as they celebrate.

Our dugout is full of smiles, none bigger than Layton’s. He’s playing the best ball he has in years, he’s happily in love, and his girl just won a league championship. My heart swells for my best friend and his happiness. He deserves this.

The universe must have had other plans in mind because less than an hour later, Layton breaks his leg in the worst sports moment I’ve ever witnessed. His leg is twisted at an angle that is hard to watch. Tears stream down my cheeks as I watch an ambulance leave the field with him inside, knowing that it’s likely the end of his career.

The team couldn’t get it together after the loss of our leader, and we lost the game. I’ve been at the hospital all night with Quincy, Ezra, Trey, and Tanner.

Arizona arrives, and once Layton awakens, she kicks us all out. It’s the middle of the night as I exit the hospital. The guys offer me rides, but I tell them I’d rather walk. It’s a good two miles, but I need the fresh air to try to wrap my mind around what happened to my friend and the uphill battle he’s about to endure.

A few hours ago, he was playing in the World Series, watching the love of his life win her league, and in abouttwo weeks, he was supposed to leave for a two-month worldwide swimsuit photo shoot with Arizona. He’d have his hands on her mostly naked body all day long while posing on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. They’d undoubtedly stay in five-star hotels and eat amazing food. Now he’ll spend the next two months in bed, unable to move. Life can be cruel sometimes.

I’m only five steps out of the hospital front door, just getting lost in my thoughts, when I hear a familiar voice shout, “Why doesn’t a snake have balls?”

I snap my head up and see Kamryn sitting on a bench outside the hospital. “What are you doing here? You should be partying in Miami.”

She shrugs. “Once news of Layton’s injury broke, the party atmosphere kind of fizzled. Arizona left right away with Reagan Daulton. A bunch of the girls flew home early commercially. I decided to join them.”

“Why?”

She runs her lip through her teeth as she looks down at the ground for a moment before looking me in the eyes. “I know how much he means to you, Cruz. I thought you could use a friend.”

I try to swallow down the obscene happiness running through my body that she cared enough about me to do that. I look at her and deadpan, “No, not why are you here, why doesn’t a snake have balls?”

She smiles, knowing that I’m lightening the mood. “Because then it would look like a penis.”

I let out a laugh. I’m realizing it’s the first time I’ve smiled in hours.

She stands as I approach her. Wrapping her arms around me, she says, “I’m sorry. It must have been even worse to watch it in person. I know he’s your best friend. What can I do to help?”

I squeeze her in return and take in her unique Kamscent as tears pool in my eyes. “You’re doing it. Thanks for being here, Kam bam. I know you should be celebrating.”

She’s always in a rush to pull away from me, but not right now. She’s letting me hold her and it’s everything.

She rubs my back. “Why don’t we find something where we can be both sad and happy at the same time?”

“At three in the morning?” I ask.

She pulls back and nods. “There’s an all-night diner with shockingly good ice cream sundaes near my apartment.”

“I’d like that.”

She reaches for her suitcase, which I’m just now noticing. She must have come here straight from the airport. My heart swells at the notion as I immediately take it for her.

We sit in the diner until sunrise, talking, laughing, and eating way too much ice cream. Even though I’m slightly disappointed that she sends me on my way when we leave, the whole experience was just what I needed, and I’m grateful to her for being here. I know she cares about me.

And I may fall just a little harder for Kamryn Hart.

CHAPTER TEN

KAMRYN

From the confines of our couch, I look up from my laptop at Bailey walking out of her bedroom. “Are you going to Daddy Tanner’s for a little harpooning of the salty longshoreman?”

She recently started fucking her boss and sleeps there when Harper isn’t around. She’s being extremely tight-lipped on the details but finally admitted she’s sleeping with him.

Bailey gives me an incredulous look. “I have absolutely no idea what the hell that means.”

I smile. “I think you do, you dirty little girl. Does Daddy Tanner make you dress up in a school uniform while he defiles you? Do you wear pigtails and a plaid skirt?”

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