A loud echo of boos rang throughout the stadium as I watched Jake and Carlos both shake their heads in disappointment. Jake shot me a glare that said,get your head in the game and off April.
Yeah, yeah. I was trying. It wasn’t easy though, watching her looking delicious in her team gear. The way she filled out her stretchy pants and top. Did she always look that good in uniform? Why hadn’t I noticed? My eyes scanned the dugout as the next batter stepped up to plate.
Focus.I lectured myself. Tearing my gaze away from her and forcing myself to watch the next batter swing and miss for strike one.
There goes the ball and another miss.
“Strike!” the ump bellowed, again.
He stepped back from the plate and kicked the bat with his toe before raising it above his head and stretching again, then stepping back up to the plate. Kev wound up and threw his signature curve ball and fuck, despite the large crowd, I could hear the ball slicing through the air before the bat connected with it. This time, I was ready. I waited until it was right where I needed it to be. I sprinted forward as fast as I could and launched in the air. My glove clutched the ball as I fell to the ground. The crowd erupted into a fit of cheers and the inning ended.
We ran in from the field and my eye caught sight of a little boy about five or six, waving at us, cheering with his little jersey and foam finger nearly the size of him. I stopped justbefore him, and personally handed him the ball. There had been a lot of jackasses lately stealing balls from kids as if they were entitled to them. News flash, they weren’t. They were assholes. I wanted to make sure there was no mistake who I was giving it to. When I handed him the ball, his face lit up to reveal he was missing his two front teeth.
“Thanks!” he said with a slight whistle, which made me smile.
“I’ll sign it after the game,” I added, before jogging back to the dugout. Leaving him to brag to his family about his new ball.
The locker room was in good spirits. We had won the game by just one, but it was enough.
“Nice fucking catch, man!” Jake came around the corner, fresh from the shower.
“Thanks.” I nodded, tossing my shirt over my head.
“Duuude!” Kev snapped the towel in my direction, making me flinch. “I swear you leapt a foot in the air for that catch.”
“Okay. A little dramatic, Kev.” I chuckled. However, I’d take the praise. It felt fricking good to redeem myself after that shitty miss.
“You coming out tonight?” Jake asked.
I tilted my head at him. “Depends on who’s going.”
“Mitch and Lisa are in town, Sam and Gia, us, Kev and…” He turned to Kev, “What’s the girl you’re seeing this week?”
Kev rolled his eyes. “Leah.”
I paused. “Sounds awfully couple-y. Not sure I wanna be like, the eighth wheel.”
Jake grinned. “We can solve that.”
I tracked his eyes to the doors and I knew exactly who was on the other side of them. Kev stared between us as Carlos came over.
“Yeah, bring what was her name? Summer?” Kev asked,in a suspiciously higher tone than usual. As if he was trying to save me from Carlos and the bet.
I nodded. “Just not sure if she’s free tonight.”
Carlos narrowed his brown eyes at me. “Because she isn’t real?”
“Because she has a life,” I replied dryly. Grabbing my bag, ready to be done with the conversation.
The truth was, if I wanted to win this bet and shut him up, at some point, April and I would have to make our public debut. I just wasn’t sure if an all-couples thing was the right moment. Nor had I had the chance to talk with her about it. I had already sprung Millie and Jake’s on her last weekend. This probably wouldn’t fly well.
Catching Jake’s eye, he seemed to catch on. “Meh, don’t worry about him.” This puzzled everyone. Just then, April walked by us and we locked eyes for a split moment when Jake called out to her, “Hey April.”
“Oh, hey guys,” she said with an armful of the stretch bands we often referred to as torture devices.
“What are you up to tonight?” She froze mid-step, hesitantly spinning around, eyeing me as if she didn’t know how to answer, before glancing around the rest of the team.
“Uh, nothing. Maybe hanging out with a friend.” She caught my glance and my entire body screamed,yes!
