Page 27 of Moon Shot

“Well,” Ezra grinned at me, moving his arm he had slung over the back of the seat to pat the space next to him, “we have a whole hell of a lot to catch up with.”

“Where’s your lady friend?” I replied, buckling in.

“You look nice, Mer,” Ethan called, glancing at me from the rearview mirror. “Seeing someone special?”

“You guys!” Aubrey smacked Ethan as he drove, but she wasn’t innocent. She erupted into a fit of giggles just as Ethan and Ezra continued to tease me.

“Actually, I’m coming because Aubrey made me. She wanted someone to judge Ezra’s new girlfriend with, and that’s my job. Judging people. Just like,” I glared at all of them, “I’m doing with you jerks.”

Rowan gave Ethan a special pass that allowed him to park near the stadium and breeze through security. Once we were inside the stadium, the sound of cheering fans and the smell of concessions turned my senses into overload. My friends walked around how they normally would, and I would usually be right with them, excited about the game, but the unease from before Ethan picked me up came back. It was heightened this time, growing even more once we got into the box.

“Are you okay?” Aubrey asked me, taking my hand. “Your cheeks are red.”

“I’m fine,” I lied. But she spoke girl. She knew fine wasn’t fine.

“Hey!” Ezra called to us, his fingers intertwining with those of a woman who looked around the box in awe. “This is Heather, everyone.”

“It’s a night for new relationships,” Ethan teased, wrapping his arms around my shoulder from behind. I took his hands and humored him, laughing a little because, in my head, it was absolutely ridiculous.

“Is there,” a woman stepped into the room, reading from a piece of paper, “a Meredith West in this suite?”

“This one,” Ethan replied, unwrapping me. Her heels clicked along the tile floor, making us a little self-conscious of her entire outfit.

“Your party is requested at new seats along the first base line. Please come with me.” We followed her direction, all a little confused, but knowing Rowan had something to do with it. It was his base, after all. And why wouldn’t he make this night more uncomfortable for me?

Aubrey leaned over the railing when we got down to our seats, ogling the players as they warmed up and went in and out of the dugout.

“You better marry her quickly,” I teased Ethan, “or she might run away with one of them.”

“I thought I didn’t have to worry about either of you doing that.” He grinned at me, biting into his hot dog.

Heather was on my other side, sandwiched between Ethan and I. She was polite and cute, so I approved so far. The real tell would be how she reacted to the eyelashes, uniforms, and muscles.

“Rowie!” Aubrey’s shriek twisted my stomach, the new feeling unnerving. Telling myself to chill out, I tried to meditate for a second with my eyes closed. My happy place wasn’t coming to me. It was all baseball, the noisy stadium, shirtless Rowan in Seattle, and the warm beer held between my knees.

When I opened my eyes, there he was, standing with his glove stuffed against his side and left hand combing through his hair before sliding on his green cap. He lifted a finger and pointed to me, waiting until I stopped ignoring him out of panic to motion for me to come closer.

“Wow,” Ezra added to my unsettled nerves as I walked to the railing. Leaning over, I couldn’t help but smile at Rowan.

“Good luck kiss?” He asked, reaching his left hand up to me. I pressed my fingers to my lips, unraveling a little with his perfect grin, and passed my kiss to his outstretched hand.

“Win it for me.” I meant more than just the game.

TWELVE

Bottom of the ninth. Bases loaded. The Emeralds were in the lead, with Rowan batting four home runs and Diego Leon batting two. The score board was a mockery of the other team, with it remaining a steady zero. It was their chance to score, to try for more men on base to overturn the victory Rowan was leading.

We were on the edge of our seats, holding our breath and squeezing our fists as their fourth batter mounted the plate. I kept my eyes on Rowan, watching him steady his stance at first base, the weight of the game on his shoulders.

When the bat cracked, the ball flew down the first base line and the player at third ran. I never saw Rowan move as fast as he did to throw the ball home after he caught it at first, winning the game for his team. Emeralds poured from the dugout, surrounding Rowan and lifting him into the air.

Ethan turned between Aubrey and me, lifting us both up to spin around as we celebrated. When he set me down, I caught Ezra and Heather kissing. Sandwiched between my friends and their celebratory make out sessions, I looked to the field.

“Should we beat the traffic?” Aubrey shouted at us, but none of us answered. We were stuck in our aisle, anyway. “Meredith!”

I spun around to her, taking my eyes off the pudgy kid stuffing the last bit of cotton candy into his swollen mouth at the end of our aisle. Before I could ask Aubrey why she was screaming my name, Ethan turned me to face the dugout.

People around us screamed and reached out for Rowan, but, as he climbed the dugout roof and ran toward me, his eyes were on mine. Ethan nudged me and I stood on the railing, falling into Rowan’s open arms as he held me against him while I asphyxiated on his scent. Dirt, baseball, and Rowan. He spun me around on the dugout, the surrounding crowd cheering him on.

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