Chapter Six
I’mgoing to kill Trip Butler with my bare hands.That thought brought a grimace smile to my sweaty face. It was the seventh inning and I’d been pitching since the fourth. And it was all Trip’s fantastic idea.
Claire struggled the first three innings, and when Trip pulled her aside, stupid me assumed he was providing her some inspirational mumbo jumbo to get her ass in gear. When Claire’s eyes narrowed and landed on me I knew I was wrong.
I stared at the back of Trip’s head, while Claire gave me the evil eye, trying to push my thoughts into the back of his thick skull. Why could they make a pill to give an old man a boner, but they couldn’t make a pill to allow you to talk to people with your mind? Just another way life was unfair.
“Raine, you’re in. Hoffer, you’re benched.”
The team let out a collective gasp at Trip’s order. All eyes hit me before ricocheting to Coach Mae, waiting for her to take back Trip’s words. Claire had been the starting pitcher for three years and the team loved her. Trip had just ripped that away and handed it to me.
Yay! For making me the bad guy.
“You heard Coach Butler. Raine, are you ready?”
With a numb nod I found myself in the middle of the softball diamond with an aching shoulder and a deep hate for Trip Butler.
Two more outs were all I needed. My shoulder throbbed in protest at the thought, but the trusty thing held strong with the knowledge it would help strangle a sexy douche soon.
“Strike three you’re out!” the umpire screamed to a mixture of boos and cheers.
“Time.” Trip’s word rang out over the crowd as he jogged toward the mound. His hat was pulled down low, his mouth the only thing visible as he moved closer toward me.
“What can I do for you?” I ground out, the ball tight in my hand.
“Come on, Raine. Don’t be like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re trying to think of how hard you’d need to throw the ball at my face to cause a disfigurement.”
“Don’t. Stop laying on your charming southern accent. I don’t like you right now. And for your information, I was thinking about the amount of force I’d need to break your trachea. Now what do you want?”
Trip’s mouth tightened and I wondered if I went too far. This was the second day of our friendship and I was starting to realize how hard this was going to be.
During dinner we joked back and forth, but when we piled into the bus to get to the game Trip refused to acknowledge me. All of our banter was on hold until after the game. I understood why he had to do it, but it seemed I was having more of a problem with it than he was.
“I want you to strike this next one out so we can get home. I also wanted to check on your shoulder. You’re dropping it too fast. It looks sloppy. One more is all I need.”
“I’ve got it.”
His head tilted up, giving me access to his eyes. They wandered over my face, studying it before nodding. “I know you do, Raine. I never had any doubt. Now don’t make me look like an ass for believing in you.”
“No need for that. You look like an ass all on your own.”
Trip’s lip twitched to the side before he pushed his hat down further on his head. “Oh and, Raine. I like that you wanted to save my face and would aim for my throat instead. You’re a good friend.”
He walked to the side and I fought my lips from turning up. My eyes couldn’t stop watching his ass as he sauntered away. He was my friend and my coach, but it didn’t stop him from being hot.
The umpire screamed for the game to continue, snapping my attention away from Trip’s glutes.
You can do this, Kenna.Just strike this chick out.
With a deep breath I whirled the ball around in a circle, snapping it out of my hand at the last second.
“Strike one.”
The sound of my team screaming was drowned out by Trip’s smile showing underneath his hat.
