Page 48 of Pitcher

She does, but I kind of wanted to celebrate it with just the two of us.

I think of the sounds she made as she came underneath my hand. Maybe Brody is right. Maybe I shouldn’t keep her all to myself. Dangerous things could happen to us. Things we can never erase or move on from.

I’ve waited this long.

There’s no need to ruin what we have before I leave.

Anniston needs a man who will put her first, and as much as I want to believe that man is me, it’s not. If it was, I would break my contract and work for my father. But I can’t. I just fucking can’t.

And for that reason alone, I agree.

“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll text her.”

After practice, a sense of dread settles in the pit of my stomach.

Ireallydon’t want to go over to Brody’s tonight, but I also don’t want to make these last few days any more awkward than they already are. If this was last year, we would have gone to a party. We always go to parties. Anniston likes hanging out with the guys and talking shit. This shouldn’t be so depressing for me.

This is what we do for fuck’s sake.

“You’re home early,” she calls from the front door. “Did they let you out of practice early?”

Coach Anderson knew I was full of shit when I claimed I had a stomachache, but he still let me go.

“Yeah, the coach said I was so good that I just took up space in the dugout.” I chug the water in my hand and swallow. “He also said they needed to work with the losers more so there was no need in me staying on account of their suckiness.”

I shrug and fight a grin, looking at the faint smile on her face.

“What did you do?”

My eyebrows arch in shock. “I’m serious. I can’t help it if everyone else sucks.”

Finally, she breaks her composure and laughs.

There it is.

My fucking happy place.

Exactly the way I like to end my days.

Her lithe body moves into the kitchen and playfully shoves me away from the refrigerator.

“What do you want to eat tonight?”

You.

“I was thinking we could go to this party over at the team’s house and then finish the night off at Mae’s.”

At exactly 10:02 p.m. when she made her entrance into the world.

I shrug at her confused expression. “Since it’s your birthday and all.”

Her face falls slightly.

Does she look disappointed?

Fuck. I never should have listened to Brody. He hasn’t had a girlfriend since he switched to tighty-whities.

“I mean, if you want to,” I amend quickly.

---