Page 26 of Throwing the Curve

“Who’s judging you?”

“Are you kidding me? Every woman here is giving me the stare down, judging the woman you are finally dating.”

“No, they’re not,” he scoffed. Where did people come up with these ideas?

“Um, yeah, they are. You weren’t there when Carmella and her friends came into the center like vultures looking for any meat they could pick apart.”

Okay, maybe she was right. Those women had been on high alert when he’d walked in.

Thankfully, a slow song began playing as they walked onto the floor. He wrapped his arms around her. “This okay?” he asked as he pulled her a little closer.

“Mmm hmm.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

There was something to be said for a tall woman. With her heels on, he barely had to bend his head to speak in her ear.

Scanning the room, he tensed when he spotted Andy and Carmella walk in. “Andy’s here.”

“Awesome,” Peyton replied. “We knew he would be.”

He spun her so she could see where Andy the asshole had sat down with several of the other players and their wives on the opposite side of the room from where they’d been sitting.

“We don’t really hang out at these things too much if I can help it,” he told her, hoping that it would put her mind at ease.

“If you don’t like him, why’d you agree to help him out?”

And that was the million-dollar question. “I don’t know. He’s a teammate. Catcher. We need to be in sync, and that can’t happen if he doesn’t have his head in the game.”

“Okay, I get that but still,” Peyton pressed.

“It’s just what you do for your team. Team comes first. Always.”

Peyton pulled back so she could look him in the eye. “Always?”

“Kind of, yeah.” How many times had it been drilled into him he needed to be the best, but at the same time not to get too cocky and think he was better than the team? That he was nothing without his team.

“That’s kind of sad,” Peyton said.

“What’s sad about it?”

“I don’t know. You should have a life outside baseball, don’t you think? I mean, these guys do.” She gestured to Andy and his table.

“Yeah, nice life. Every single one of those guys at that table cheats on his wife.”

“Seriously, there’s like five guys there.”

“Yeah, why do you think Andy is friends with them? They’re all the same.”

Peyton looked around the room. “Are they all like that?”

“Nah, just that group. The rest of the team are cool. A lot of the guys are single, so they do whatever, but as far as I know, Andy and his buddies are the only ones who cheat.”

“I sure know how to pick ‘em,” she mumbled.

“What are you talking about? To everyone here, you have great taste. You’re with me.”

“Ah, there it is, my other date, your inflated ego. I was worried he wasn’t going to show up to the party.”

“Ha-ha. I’m just saying. You dumped him and learned your lesson, and no one is any the wiser that this is fake.”

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