Page 24 of Nailed at Home Plate

“Come on, man. You can do this. Don’t be afraid to grab onto me.” My mouth went dry, but I was desperate at this point. “Anywhere you want.” I caught the subtle pink tinge on his cheeks, even in the light of the early evening. His fingers did the tiniest little flex against me, almost as if he was battling something deep within.

What was he fighting against? What was he so unsure of? Did he want to touch me? Did he feel awkward?

“I’m good.” He refused to meet my eyes and his reply back was soft. Why was he so adamantly against this? I thought we had a breakthrough. We were this close to greatness barely 24 hours ago.

I even played some of the songs we danced to. Nothing. Not even a budge. He was fighting this with every fiber of his being. Did he forget all that? Did he even realize that this was the last stop? That he had to get his shit together or else this was the end of him in Philadelphia?

By the end of the first hour, it was a wonder if I had any molars left. I was gritting my teeth so badly to stop me from saying anything that would get me into trouble. I had to gauge my words carefully.

“Where’s the Jamie from last night?” I managed to eke out in a vain attempt at some humor to lighten the situation. My voice didn’t sound at all as confident or as amusing as I hoped. “I’m pretty sure you shut some of the guys up with your moves at the bar.”

They always said that you get more flies with honey. I was trying to land me a juicy one. But to my disappointment, he didn’t look flattered or encouraged in the least bit.

“That Jamie and this one both don’t dance.” He said flatly.Oh boy, hold me back. This Cadence is ready to go off.

“Well, that’s unfortunate because since you’re on the Sillys youhaveto dance.” I tried to hide my irritation with a laugh, but I don’t think it came across. No paycheck was worth working with this kind of bullshit. Even if I had a crush on the man. But if he kept up with this nonsense any longer, he was going down a few notches on my crush list.

“Last I checked, only the mascots danced in baseball.” He misstepped and landed on my foot. I grimaced. Whether his stepping on my foot was purposeful or not, it only added to the souring mood.

“Last I checked, you weren’t in the majors anymore.” I shot back icily and immediately regretted the words. That got a visible wince out of him. It was harsh, but considering the only weapon I had were my words, and not a slap across his handsome face, it got me the same reaction.

“This is such bullshit.” Jamie spat out as he violently pulled away from me. His attitude was going to ruin every decent thought I ever had of the man.

“Yeah well…” I shouted after him as he grabbed his stuff with haste. All I could hear were Topper’s words in my head. That Jamie’s success here fell onmyshoulders. “Maybe you should stop being so…sofucking selfish!”

Jamie paused in his steps as he headed toward the dugout. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy that would be so full of himself. Despite his gruff attitude about his situation, his fieldwork and batting practice participation was flawless. I bet those coaches didn’t have to deal with such bullshit. And yet I was going to be the one who got shit for it. The one that ruined everything.

“Maybe there are some others who have our necks on the line too.” I choked out. As distressed as I sounded, I wasn’t worried about me, I was worried about my favorite baseball player crashing and burning into a horrific ball of flames all at once instead of retiring with the highest respect.

Lingering for just a moment, my heart shot up to my throat with hope that maybe I had struck a nerve. Instead, Jamie adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder before storming off towards the dugout. The fucking audacity. The longer I stood watching him retreat, the more I let the anger build into toxic fumes inside of me. Oh, that was fucking it. The fuck with my crush. The man was just demoted. Big time.

I’d had it with Jamie Rheems.

Mine

BAZZI

Being sober and this close to Cadence Andrews, for an extended period of time, was going to end up with one, or both of us, being embarrassed on account of me. Ever since last night, my brain had been chanting Cady’s name constantly. As if my heart was beating to the cadence of her literal name.

Something happened on that dance floor.

Something…changedbetween us.

Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe I’d just become more aware of something that had been bugging me at the back of my mind ever since I arrived here. Now that we were face to face, with no one to distract us, I felt that whatever this was, could slide into dangerous territory real quick.

I was legitimately terrified.

Never before had I felt something like this with someone. Not with any of my past girlfriends, not even with Vanessa. She was the one I thought I was ready to spend the rest of my life with. With Cady before me, it sent my heart into overdrive. A coworker was the last person on the planet I thought I’d ever feel this way about.Hell, she wasn’t just a coworker. She was acoach.My coach.

Part of me didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be home, in my condo, trying to focus on not fucking up the game tomorrow. I didn’t want to be at this one-on-one practice. All the guys just had to butt in with the suggestion after seeing Cady and I dance together.

Which only worried me even more.

I mean, I felt something, but I didn’t think it was obvious to anyone else. I didn’t know any of this chemistry stuff. Or what any of it meant. I was afraid to touch her. Because if I got that close again, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from completing that kiss we missed out on.

Instead, I put my walls up and was a total stiff dick to Cady. I couldn’t very well go and ask her out on a date when I was pretty sure that shebarelytolerated me as a person. But fuck, I really wanted to. This was all going on inside my head while she was just trying, with one last ditch effort, to help me dance.

Now she was fuming. I had no idea how to act around her now. So instead, I hid. Hid behind a stern face and a forced reluctance to touch her.

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