Page 139 of Commander in Briefs

A cheek to cheek smile is on my face. “That’s it.”

Hayes lets out an adorable laugh. He’s like a kid again, taking all this in. His excitement is palpable, amplifying my own joy in watching a game live.

Thor grunts from behind. Ugh. I almost forgot he was there.

“Stay,” I order him like I would Killer.

He levels me with a gaze that promises death. Geeze. What a buzzkill.

Hayes and I climb over the seats so we don’t have to ask ten people to scrunch in for us to pass. My frayed shorts ride up as Hayes takes my hand, helping me step to the ground.

“Thanks.” In a very unladylike gesture, I reach behind me and free my shorts from my hungry ass.

Hayes cocks his eyebrow in amusement.

“It’s either this or listen to me bitch the whole time,” I say, undeterred with my mission. No embarrassment for this girl. Everyone has been there and done that. Acting like you’ve never pulled out a wedgie in public before is just weird. And fake. I don’t do fake.

“Ice cold beer!” The attendant yells up and down the aisles, propositioning us.

Hell yeah! Finally! Alcohol to the motherfucking rescue.

I raise two fingers and whistle. “Right here.”

He jogs down a few steps and greets me with a smile. “What can I get for the lady?”

“Two Buds.”

I fish out a twenty, ignoring Hayes’ outstretched hand clutching a twenty. This isn’t a damn date.

“Keep the change.”

The attendant pops off the caps and passes them down to us by our seatmates then hops off to his next customer.

I flop down in my seat next to a pouting Hayes. “Don’t be a baby,” I scold. “This isn’t a date. And besides, Theo covers all my expenses when I’m here.”

He still doesn’t look happy but when the announcer asks us to remove our hats and stand for the “National Anthem” his smile returns.

A little girl about ten years old walks on the field with shaky legs, but when her mouth opens the angelic words flow out confidently. The beautiful words ring loudly through the stadium, causing tears to well in my eyes. I squeeze Hayes’ hand tightly while she belts out the last verse. “And the home of the brave,” because nothing rings truer to me at this moment.

The crowd goes wild with applause and whistles and with a “play ball!” we all take our seats.

Hayes’ cheeks are flushed when I turn to look at him. He quickly avoids my gaze and chugs his beer. I don’t give him shit because there is something powerful when a child wails the anthem of the country that you live and die for. Even for guys like Hayes, whose country abandoned him when he fought so hard for its freedom. I squeeze his hand reassuringly before letting go.

The opposing team disperses from the dugout to take the field. I haven’t seen Theo yet but I’m sure he’s in there pacing, chewing his gum like someone may steal it.

Markell fires off a few practice pitches before we are underway. Our leadoff guys are up to the plate and as predicted, Markell sits them all three of them down without a single hit. It’s definitely a battle of the pitchers tonight.

Theo, the last to file out of the dugout, looks tense with his hat pulled nearly over his eyes. His body language reeks of tension. He takes the mound, pacing a couple circles, and digs a trench to place his leading foot in. Brody, his catcher for the night, eases into a crouch and encourages a few warm-up pitches. They suck. Like, really suck. He’s definitely feeling some jitters.

When the home plate umpire approaches, I immediately recognize him.

“Hey, Phil!” I holler, startling Hayes.

Phil turns around, surprised a fan would be calling him by his first name. When he sees it’s me, recognition lights up his face. When Theo tore the tendon in his shoulder last season, he was adamant he could finish pitching. I argued. Bellamy argued. Theo stood his ground like a captain going down with his ship. But Phil, Phil threw Theo out of the game so he would have no other choice but to get that shoulder looked at.

I admire that in an official. He could have given a shit less and let the little baby pitch until he fucked his whole career but he didn’t. He did what was best for the player and sent him to his dugout. Theo acts like he doesn’t like Phil, but secretly he does. He respects the hell out of him.

“You going to behave today, Dr. McCallister?” Phil removes his hat and gives me a little wink.

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