Page 9 of Sliding Into Love
“And starting pitcher for the Hawks tonight is number five, Ethan Ford,” boomed over the speakers, and Ivy recognized the name, turning to the enormous screen as the camera showed him jogging to his place on the mound, his long dark hair rippling. Black paint striped down his cheeks into short-trimmed hair that was more like long, dark scruff than a beard, his eyes hidden by dark glasses, and Ivy found him a little imposing.I wonder what he looks like under all that black stuff.His full lips twisted into a scowl as he rolled the ball between his fingers and glanced toward the opposing team’s dugout, quickly snapping his attention back to Derek, who squatted behind home plate, ready to catch the first pitch.
Finally, the game was underway, and Ivy followed to the best of her ability without knowing the rules. Two seats down, Jase watched intently, elbows on knees and chin in hand, his eyes darting back and forth, nodding or scowling at the calls. Sitting between Jase and Ivy, Janna seemed more interested in her popcorn and candy, or the occasional dancing mascot.
This time, their seats were further down the third-base foul line, so Ivy knew they probably wouldn’t be able to catch Derek’s attention to get another ball. Not that they needed one now. Ethan Ford gave them so many signed balls, Ivy probably could have sold them to pay for both kids’ college tuition, though Jase would never let her. And he’d signed in such neat calligraphy, not a messy scrawl like Derek’s. She was still astonished by how kind and thoughtful he’d been. Cute, too.
An overpowering scent of body spray and body odor announced the arrival of a high school baseball team several seconds before they stormed the stands near the dugout, and Ivy decided she wasn’t brave enough to fight the smell and the screaming. Jase’s shoulders ratcheted up to his ears in disappointment, and she decided right then to bring him back more often, even if Derek couldn’t get them more tickets. The thought must have summoned him because a moment later, his head popped out of the dugout, and Janna screeched in glee when he waved at her.
Derek walked to the barrier, looking over his shoulder. Behind him, Ethan Ford walked toward the dugout with Marshall close on his heels. Ethan’s dark brows pinched together, and he ducked his head as the older man talked, folding in on himself in a way that didn’t seem possible for someone his size. Odd, since Derek said he had a bad reputation. Between the guy announcing fireworks and both kids talking to Derek at once, Ivy only caught a fragment of the conversation.
“—your pitches lost speed after the fifth. Do better or you’re off the team. Or I could send you back to center field. In the minors.” Surely it wasn’t normal for a coach to speak to his players that way. When she realized she was staring, her face burned, and she looked away. Should she say something, or would her interference make it worse?
“—staying for the fireworks, right?” Derek tapped her shoulder, pulling her attention away from her eavesdropping.
“Fireworks?” Ivy stared blankly at him, wondering if the coach spoke to him the same way he had to Ethan, her gut churning at what she’d witnessed.
“Please, Ivy? They do fireworks every Friday!” Jase tugged her hand; his excitement had her reluctantly agreeing to stay.
“Awesome!” Derek’s thousand-watt smile lifted some of her concern, but Ivy couldn’t stop herself from looking past him to see if Ethan and the coach were still arguing. “Follow the directions to the berm, and I’ll meet you after I change.”
“The what?” Ivy asked, but Derek had already disappeared into the dugout.
“The berm,” Jase offered. “It’s the grassy area past the outfield, where the scoreboard is.” He pointed to where fans were gathering, setting blankets on the grass.
Lifting Janna onto her shoulders, Ivy followed Jase as they picked their way through the milling crowd and found a space.
The baseballin his hand weighed a million pounds as Ethan tried to block out the old man’s barked stream of bullshit, but the words kept pouring from the old man’s mouth. It didn’t matter how many times he’d heard it, it never got easier to block out.
Never good enough. Worthless.Marshall’s words turned into Ethan’s inner monologue. It had been a long time since Ethan bothered fighting back, and what was the point in fighting back if he believed the words were true?
The nearer they grew to the stands, the louder the roaring grew in his head. A Brewers fan with a blue foam finger leaned over the railing, heckling Hawks players as they entered the dugout, and before he thought about what he was doing, Ethan snapped the ball toward the man, ignoring the stiffness in his arm. If the fan hadn’t whipped his gloved hand up in time, the ball would have hit him in the face, and Ethan almost enjoyed it.
Almost. But that, at least, he knew was wrong.
“Save your arm, Ford. Maybe if you spent more time on your pitching instead of on fans who don’t even support your goddamn team, you might do a decent job.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to mention that before the last game, Ethan hadn’t so much as looked at a fan since his rookie season. Marshall made sure to punish it out of him. Memories of aching muscles and burning lungs rose to the surface, and Ethan shoved past a teammate to the dugout.
“Don’t mind me, dude! I’m just standing here.”
Ethan turned with fire in his throat and a need to lash out.
“Maybe you should stay out of my way.” He didn’t bother to see who he’d pushed aside and kept going.
“What the fuck? Are you okay?”
The three words were a knife in his stomach.
Blinking, Ethan’s mind cleared enough to recognize Derek looking at him in a mixture of concern and annoyance, twisting the knife.
“Why do you care?”
“I heard what he said to you. I’ve heard it all season. Is that normal?”
With a barely contained flinch, he glanced over his shoulder to be sure the coach wasn’t around to hear the rookie speak. But the old man disappeared. Probably went home to get drunk.
“Dude.” Derek stepped closer. “Areyou okay?”
Ethan took a step back, clenching his fists at his sides to keep them from rising to a defensive position.
