Page 83 of Down to One

"ReplaceLandon?"Katieaskedtooquickly.

Lori cleared her throat. "Yes, he was pretty furious about the way Layla treated you last night." Katie looked for somewhere to hide, but Lori nodded at Ellis too. "And the way she treated you. And her own assistant and the waiters. And Craig too, actually."

Katie shot another look over at the dugout then fiddled with her hands to keep her glee in check as Lori continued talking.

"He said he doesn’t want anything to do with Layla orLast First Kiss, and by the words he used, I’m guessing he isn’t changing his mind any time soon. We need to move on."

Katie was so happy to "move on" that she almost missed Lori's next good news reveal.

"Also, I have another meeting with Mr. Takahashi, this time in Tokyo, so I'll be flying out tonight and I'll be back before the team gets back from their next road trip. Ellis, I'll be in constant contact with you and you'll be relaying my orders here in the office..."

Katie didn't hear the rest. She was too busy thanking the baseball gods or the regular gods or whoever had thrown these glorious curveballs into her day. Lori flew away to breathe fire elsewhere and Katie tuned back in to what Jimmy Black was saying to Ellis mid-sentence.

"—two cameras. You really have to see me run from multiple angles to get a full sense of how defined these exercises can really make someone. Like we’ve got quad with the angle we’re at, but what about pecs? What about my biceps? These things are lethal am I right?"

Jimmy flexed his arms and Ellis still managed to keep a serious face as he nodded back.

Jimmy wasn't convinced. "Justwatchagainandyou’llseewhatImean."

He sprinted off while Ellis and Katie fell into hushed laughter behind their hands. They even shareda brief foot shuffle, a tiny dance of joy over Lori’s good news. Great news, actually. News that could get her through this day and the double header tomorrow with Stella Rhodes in the VIP box. Hell, she could juggle four VIP boxes if she didn't have to do it under the Dragon Lady's scrutiny. And Landon...dear, sweet, sexy Landon.

As Jimmy came sprinting back, Katie scaled her giggles into a wide grin. Things were far from perfect between them, but Landon backing out of the show was a huge step in the right direction. Plus, how could she not love him for standing up for all of them about Layla? Yes,love. One hundred percentlove, and she was going to tell him as soon as he gave her the chance.

"Whatthefuck,Ryan?"

Katie swiveled too late to see what happened. She only caught Landon’s shadow as he disappeared into the tunnel leavingHawkins with his palm ups and a bucket of balls scattered across the grass at his feet.

Katie willed away her concerns by replaying everything Lori had just said.It's okay. Everything can be okay between us now. I'll talk to him at the meet and greet,she told herself.

But Landon skipped the pregame ritual entirely, something he’d never done. Not once since Katie had started this job. So she waited for him up in the VIP box, standing at the corner that hung out over the dugout hoping he’d give her a wink, a smile, an eyebrow waggle…

"There he is folks, Landon Ryan. He’s swinging for number twenty-seven today."

He came out of the tunnel in his uniform, stride full of amped up energy, hat up in the air for a quick wave to the crowd. Then he ducked into the dugout without so much as a glance in Katie's direction. Seconds later, he came back upthe steps to stand near the infield where he kicked his cleats, checked his bat, and bounced on the pads of his feet.

Uh oh,Katie thought, this pent up aggression could be a really good sign that Landon would be belting out homers tonight, but it felt more like a bad omen.

"Miss? Miss? Come here please. I don’t think this is the right caviar, we specifically requested Beluga, and we know the difference."

If that were true, you’d know it’s Beluga.The words begged to come out of Katie’s lips, but instead she turned to the latest VIP with her best hostess-with-the-mostess smile just as the announcers voice came through the speakers in the VIP box.

"Welcome to the broadcast, I'm Wyatt Underwood, here with Billybob Jones, and it’s a gorgeous evening at the ballpark as the Idaho Mavericks gear up to take on the Pittsburg Pirates in the first of a four game series, culminating in a double header on Friday when Landon Ryan is set to go up against Johnny St. Pierre.

"But tonight…can Ryan keep up his hitting streak and take it to twenty-seven straight games? He’s got to get past Aaron Floyd’s sinker first."

Mavericks Official Broadcast

KWDS Channel 4

WYATT:Annnnd that one’s outside. Ball one. Floyd’s trying to get Ryan swinging. Not a bad strategy we all know he’s a guy that likes to swing the bat.

BILLYBOB:That’s true, you don’t catch him walking too often. It makes sense to try and fade those pitches off the corner and hope Ryan chases ‘em.

WYATT:What does Floyd got next, another sinker? Looks like it aaaaaaand….Ryan got ahold of it!

BILLYBOB:Yep, that one is right where it needs to be, right out of Jose Ramos’ reach.

WYATT:Albertson is scooping it up, and he fires it to first….but Ryan’s already there. Whoooo! That’s number twenty-seven and the Mavericks are on base for the first time! There is a celebration going on in JTM Industries Stadium tonight!

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