Page 64 of Nailed at Home Plate

The routine called for the Sillys roster to form a gauntlet for him to go through before the sexy-as-hell man danced his way from the pitcher’s mound to home plate. His happy place. The crowd was eating him up and he was absorbing every ounce of their feedback.

The roar of the crowd was always so addictive. The boys were obsessed with it. From my perch in the dugout, the Sillys guys were feeding the crazed crowd. A few times I was pretty certain I heard a fewcatcalls as Jamie shook his blinged-out ass for the fans.

Proud choreographer coach moment.

My heart began to beat faster as the lyrics started to point Jamie in my direction. The next part of the routine required him to glide and dip Ender at home plate. I, and the entire Sillys roster, thought it was the funniest part of the whole set. Especially with the lyrics about finding the prettiest girl. The guys could never keep a straight face.

Instead of what we rehearsed, it was now me fussing with a pink version of a bedazzled Sillys jersey. I couldn’t believe that Jamie insisted upon such sparkly duds. If it didn’t have Ender’s last name on it, I would have kept it.

Jamie’s intense gaze locked onto mine as he took his variety of, to the best of his ability, flying leaps and spins over to me. I had to stifle my laughter as he looked much closer to an inelegant gazelle than Fiyero himself. But there was such a lively sparkle in his eyes. He was havingfun.

I was so transfixed with Jamie’s gyrating hips and sly smile that I was physically shocked into existence when he grabbed my hand and pulled me out onto the field. The crowd erupted into more screams. I was surprised they weren’t hoarse by now.

With one quick tug, my body snapped to Jamie’s, in a rather suggestive manner, which wasn’t at all like we practiced. But he practiced with Ender, not me. And it was evident in his eyes that he enjoyed me as a partner much more.

Instead of just lip-syncing the lyrics, Jamie’s husky voice infiltrated my ears. Making me feel like the prettiest girl as he gave me a whirl. His wordsdrowned out the noise of the crowd and loudspeaker, crooning his way through the more flirtatious part of the song.

I swore my panties caught fire for the whole world to see. He must have been able to smell my fluster as he used the brass section’s pronounced beats to gyrate our bodies together in time for the music. Right before he positioned us into a closed partner dance position.

In the remix he made to fit the time slot, Jamie had the song go straight into the duet between Glinda and Fiyero. My heart began to race all over again as he leaned in, nose to nose, with the biggest grin on his face. He continued to sing the lyrics but somehow made them an enchantment that was just for me. And all without missing a step.

I felt the corresponding lyrics leave my mouth. What man, in my entire life, would have ever agreed to sing and dance to a song from one of my favorite musicals? Let alone the man I was dancing with was the man I had a crush on for years. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have ever prepared me for such a moment ever happening in my quiet yet oddly chaotic life.

My stomach left me as Jamie scooped me up in his arms and spun the both of us. How did this man go from being allergic to dancing toimprovisingdance moves in time to the music?

With my arms tangled around his neck, Jamie took a single step forward as he dropped me back down to earth. His hands lingered, cradling my lower back as he dipped me. He dipped me just like that night at the bar. And come hell or high water, I wasn’tgoing to miss the opportunity this time. I didn’t care who was watching.

Leaning up, I snuck in a quick kiss. My heart came to a thudding stop as Jamie looked down at me in a surprised daze. The expression only lasted a moment before he grinned and pulled me back in for a much more suggestive kiss. I was fairly certain the guys were whistling catcalls while the crowd roared but all I could hear, and feel, was Jamie and my hearts beating as one.

Real Peach

HENRY JAMISON

“Holy shit, dude! You fucking nailed it!” Truitt came bounding down the stairs from the dugout into the locker room to give me, yet another, rather aggressive high five. A half dozen other Sillys lined up right after him to do the same.

“Who knew you had all the moves? Shaking that ass.” Benson teased as he gave my ass a firm slap with a wink.

“Yeah, Jamie. You were on fire tonight.” Chimed in Kellan as he offered a fist bump.

“Hey dude, you’re supposed to make us lookgood,notshow us up.” Arlow razzed me as he elbowed my bicep on his way past. The rest of the guys got a good chuckle out of that.

“Yeah yeah. I just had to show you how it's done is all.” I played right into their game. I was awarded with a locker room full of groans followed by a bombardment of sweaty socks, dirty hats, and Benson and Truitt’s cooling headbands.

While the opening number was hot shit, the opposing team, the Baltimore Crabbies, was unfortunately hotter. The Sillys gave it their all, but the guys from Charm City had that extra edge. Weled for a good seven innings before Kellan missed a bouncing infield hit that rolled under his outstretched glove and into Truitt territory in the outfield, sending one runner home. We couldn’t catch up after that once their closing bullpen stepped up to the mound.

Despite all that, I was beaming from ear to ear. I didn’t care that we lost, I didn’t care one iota. That game was by far the most fun I’d ever had playing baseball. Between Cady granting my absurd request to dance to “Dancing Through Life”, to dancing with the woman I couldn’t get enough of, to the loudest cheers I’d ever heard in my entire baseball career. I was going to be living on this high for a very long time.

Cady was incredible as Ender’s Glinda understudy. A part of me was sure that the crowd probably loved having her out there instead of Ender. But I was never going to tell him that. It was magical, electric, and romantic as fuck.

My heart was still beating a million miles a minute. Because of the added adrenaline and ego boost from the dance number, I played my best game of Sillys baseball ever. Hell, if the rules had been the same as the majors, I probably would have beaten my stats there too. I managed a base hit with each at-bat and even a fucking home run during the bottom of the third inning. So even though we lost, I had a lot to celebrate.

I was on fire, and I had this team to thank for it.

I had Cady to thank for it.

She was such a fucking dream. Awetdream. A dream of a woman that was everything I could have ever wished for. All in a cute, petite package.

More than anything I wanted to sweep her up in my arms and bury ourselves in the sheets for the entire night. That was the kind of celebration I could get behind. A quiet, wellnot so quiet, night with just Cady and me.

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