Page 62 of Nailed at Home Plate

The guys found their first mark and Cady started the music. My heart was pounding with excitement and nerves. Who would have thought that I’d be the star of a musical number? It was enough to make even a major league ball player shake at the knees.

Then I saw her.

Cady was all smiles as she stood back to watch the magic unfold. The chaos inside me subsided enough to let my inner Fiyero out in full force. With each dance step I nailed, her brows went higher and higher on her forehead in excitement. Her encouragement was subtle, but it fueled me. Enough so that it spurred a few extra flourishes of my handsand feet. Cady loved it when we adlibbed. Within reason.

With me super into the song, everyone else fed off the energy. I could only imagine what the stadium would be like tomorrow if we were going to be this on point. To hear the cheer of the fans would make this a production to remember.

By the end of the second run-through, half the guys fell to the grass to have some reprieve from the late morning sun. Cheers and exclamations echoed around as Cady gave us a round of applause. Our afternoon off was well-earned.

“Nice work out there, Slugger.” I nearly jumped out of my skin as Cady slapped me firmly on my ass. It was unexpected. But the more unexpected part of it was that Ilikedher spanking me.

“Don’t tell me you’re going around slapping all the butts of the players,” I growled with the thought as I cast a glance at the guys collecting their things off the field.

“No, just yours.” She gave me a wicked grin as she bit down on her lower lip. “Although I don’t get why guys in sports do it. Who the hell started that?”

“Someone with a spanking kink probably.” I shrugged, feeling the tug of a smile as Cady burst out in laughter.

“Who knew baseball could be so kinky?”

“I mean, it is the sport that inspired all those sexual innuendos.” My voice dropped to a husky murmur, just for her. Her cheeks went pink as she realized everything that I alluded to with that one sentence. “Speaking of, which base can I slide into tonight?”

Dancing Through Life

JONATHAN BAILEY (ARRANGED BY JAMIE RHEEMS)

“Sorry guys, but we’re gonna have to scrap the ‘Dancing Through Life’ routine tonight.” There was an overwhelming round-robin groan around the locker room. “Ender had some medical issue that landed him in the ER.” A gasp went through the locker room. “He’s fine, but unable to make it to the game.” I sighed, feeling as disappointed as the guys looked. “He’s the only one who could do Glinda’s part with Jamie’s Fiyero.”

It ripped me apart from the inside out to say it. Jamie and the guys worked so hard on this dance routine. While Jamie had been a bit rough, movement-wise, in places, it was obvious that he finally figured out how to have fun with the guys. Rehearsals had been a dream. I’d never seen all the guys collectively excited over something. I made a note to incorporate more songs from musicals in the future. Because there was no fucking way I’d turn downthatopportunity.

“What the fuck, seriously?” Truitt groaned as he doused his hair and beard with water from a water bottle. It was an overly humid July day. I was ready to jump into a pool with all of my clothes on.

“The pitcher/catcher dynamic was just too fucking perfect. We can’t top that. Maybe we can try again next home game. Look, guys, I mean, things hap–” I tried to reason with them, but the Sillys were determined. More determined than usual. Scrapping a dance number before a game wasn’t common, but it did happen from time to time.

“It's probably something to do with that chick he’s been seeing.” Martin offered and I cocked my brow. The guys rarely kept anything from one another, except for Jamie of course, so this was new information to me. Ender was as dedicated to this game as Jamie was.

“But he’s in the ER.” I attempted to reason with him, but Martin only shrugged. “Yeah well, either way, we can’t do it–”

“Cadence,” Kellan piped up and the room went silent. “Youcan do it.”

Immediately there was a shout of enthusiastic agreement across the room.

“You choreographed the whole thing. You know the dance moves for each of us. Ender’s moves are a piece of cake for you.” Arlow added. Another murmur floated around as all eyes turned on me.

While he wasn’t wrong, I hadn’t participated in a routine with the Sillyson the fieldbefore. Everyone in the stands came for them, not me. My sole purpose was to give the guys a routine to shake their booties to while the crowd cheered them on.

“Not to mention, I think we are all dying to see a little bit of that delicious chemistry between you and Jamie.” Benson offered with a wink. I did my damnedest to suppress the look of shock as I glanced in Jamie’s direction. He looked just as nervous. Howdid they know about Jamie and me? The team all agreed in enthusiastic unison.

Shit.

“We all know you two are hanging out outside of work.” Tomas offered with a broad grin.

“It is kind of obvious.” Arlow rolled his eyes, but it didn’t stop the smile on his face.

“I–” Dear god I needed to stop this train wreck before Jamie and I both got into deep shit because of it. We’d been so careful to keep it on the down low from the Sillys. Hadn’t we?

“Look,” Benson stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. He made a show of glancing between me and Jamie. “I think we all caught you and Jamie sucking face on one occasion or another.” My cheeks were hot enough that I could have given myself a third-degree burn from the inside out. We were so toast. Jamie stood up and made a few steps in my direction. “Honestly, we couldn’t be happier for you, Coach.”

“Yeah, whatever you did to him snapped him out of his bad streak,” Tomas added brightly. The rest of the guys burst out laughing.

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