“They do, yes. And don’t forget the overpriced food at the concession stand. Players donotget discounts.”
“I just figured out what I’m going to do while you play this game I barely understand,” India told her, looking proud. “Do you know if they lease or own the land here?”
Maisie laughed and pulled India in.
“I could ask, or… I could kiss you hello, which I still haven’t done yet.”
“We’re doing that now, aren’t we?” India asked, looking happy in that moment. “Now that we’ve kissed goodnight, we get to kiss hello.”
“I was kind of hoping so, yes,” she said.
India wrapped her arms around Maisie’s neck and connected their lips. Their kiss couldn’t lead anywhere right now. Maisie had a game to play, and she was excited to be back on a field after so long without having the time to enjoy her favorite sport with her friends.
“Okay. Okay. Do I need to get the hose?” Lainey’s voice came from behind her, and Maisie pulled out of the kiss.
“Sorry,” she said quietly to India.
“For what? That was a great kiss,” India replied.
“For her,” Maisie said, pointing behind her.
“Get a room,” Paige added.
“And her, too,” Maisie said.
India laughed and asked, “Should I get you some food? Do you eat before you play, or is it like a swimming thing?”
“Did you eat junk food before you danced?”
“Ballerinas don’t eat much junk food at all. Or, at least,Ididn’t. It’s a lot of green juices and other food that doesn’t taste good.”
Maisie kissed her on the forehead quickly and said, “I’ve got to go, but we’re the home team, so those are our bleachers, and the game only lasts an hour.”
“Onlyan hour, huh?”
“We’re timed so that another league can play after us. We get six innings, but if we’re tied, we get sixty minutes, and whoever is up then, wins.”
“There’s another league that playsafter? Did you forget to mention that in your league count from earlier?”
Maisie laughed and replied, “No, babe. They offset, remember?” She squeezed India’s hand and added, “Have fun with your math thing. Try to applaud if I do something good, though.”
“I wouldn’t know if you did,” India said.
“If everyone on this side of the field cheers, you cheer,” she replied as she walked back to the dugout.
“Got it,” India replied.
Maisie headed toward her friends, who were standing outside of the dugout, watching her and making it very obvious, which was annoying but also nice, in a way, because she had something for them to watch. She hadn’t had someone to be excited about like this in a long time, and it felt good.
“So, you two are making out at ballparks now?” Lainey asked.
“We kissed; we didn’t make out. That was last night.”
“You made out with her last night?” Paige asked, looking at Lainey. “Where was I?”
“Thankfully, not at India’s apartment,” Maisie replied.
Then, they walked into the dugout, where Maisie sawDana sitting on the old wooden bench that hadn’t been replaced since the park had been built in the seventies. Maisie should have told India that this place was essentially falling apart because they hardly spent any money on upkeep. India probably would have wanted to know that for her profit and loss estimate. That thought got her to shake her head as she smiled because she knew that India would’ve loved to factor things like depreciation into her calculations.
