JUPITER, I HAVE A QUESTION.
I waited, staring straight at him, and not over to the Jumbotron where I could see myself in perfect color; big and bold.
“Turn it around,” Lowe hissed.
“Oh, right.”
WILL YOU BE MY BOYFRIEND?
If I thought the crowd was laughing loud at Ace, it was nothing compared to the roar going through them now.
Behind me I could hear whispers, light laughter, and then a snort to my right – or a chorus of them. There was too much ringing in my ears for me to hear properly.
I was suddenly thankful there was a whole row of Emerson’s friends between me and the strangers who thought I was certifiable.
Thank God we were in the front row so no one could turn around to look at me. It was bad enough the entire stadium could see me on the screen, and it didn’t take long for the crowd to realize they were possibly witnessing more than a joke, evident from all the cell phone camera raised in the air.
“You’re gonna be on the news later,” sing-songed Beulah quietly from her seat.
I groaned just as quietly. I could picture the headlines, especially as Jupiter had yet to answer.
He was still staring at me when another snort of laughter echoed behind me, and it was enough to have me stamping my foot like a petulant child.
“JUPITER!”
The Jumbotron screen split in two, one half on me, the other half on Jupiter.
A grin spread slowly on his face, stretching out his full lips until it was a smile reaching from ear to ear; bigger than I’d ever seen it.
The stadium was so silent you could hear the birds singing outside, and the jets flying overhead.
You could have heard a pin drop.
Then, he nodded. Slowly, teasingly, but he nodded. Nothing could stop the smile taking over my face as I slowly dropped the sign so he could read my shirt. He glanced at the Jumbotron then bent back, throwing a laugh out high enough and loud enough to startle the birds.
JUPITER REEVES IS MY BOYFRIEND
I’d never heard the crowd cheer bigger. It was deafening; booming; resounding; thunderous.
I snatched away the tear before it fell. I wasn’t going to cry on the Jumbotron as well as make a total idiot of myself. Not that I cared, but thankfully the umpire decided he’d had enough of the Jupiter and Marnie show, and the game got underway.
The final batter walked up to the batters’ box for the end of the Brewers’ first inning. Ace did his thing. The bat cracked. The ball flew through the air, and straight into Jupiter’s glove.
I swear he hadn’t even been looking, because I swear he’d been staring at me since the first pitch.
He sprinted toward the dugout, ball still in his hand. I didn’t know he was capable of scaling walls more deftly than a cat, but in a blink, he was on the roof of the dugout, standing in front of me with the ball in his hand.
I barely noticed the movement around us, of cellphone cameras coming out as he bent down and leaned forward.
“Hello, Marnie Matthews.”
I blinked away the emotion in my eyes. “Hey.”
He held his hand out. “I caught you a ball.”
I took it, soaking in the soft smile as he looked down at me. I wanted to bathe in this feeling forever; warm and glowy, and perfect. “Thank you.”
“Nice shirt.” He reached out, his fingers slipping under the neck and pulled me to him. His hand fisted the material, and I didn’t have a second to think before his lips crashed onto mine, not that I would have changed the outcome under any circumstance.
