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He blushed. “Honestly? I fell asleep on my desk.”

I took a peek at Kate and found her smiling. “You ready?”

“Yes!” She leapt to her feet.

“We’ll walk you out, Nate.” I held out my hand. Kate grabbed her purse and then took it, hurrying with me to the door.

“What were you working on?” she asked.

“Oh, the combined workout for tomorrow. I’ve never thrown batting practice to a woman before so I was doing research.”

“That boring, huh?”

“No! No, actually.” Nate kept looking back over his shoulder as we walked down the hallway behind him. “I found the college softball players to be a fascinating case study. But then I switched to footage of the Tangerine’s games and oh my. They’re incredible athletes. I’m feeling a little confused.”

“Confused how?” I asked as we pushed out the final door and into the parking lot.

“I think I should throw just like I would with the team, but that sounds unfair.”

“They are elite athletes, Nate,” Kate said. “But they aren’t used to seeing a baseball. Of course they are used to seeing a soccer ball.” She frowned.

“See?” Nate said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“They’ll guide you, Nate.” That was my whole way of looking at life. Follow your gut, trust your instincts, and believe in the ability of others. “And whatever happens, it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun.”

“Yeah. You’re right, Cap. As always.”

“Have a good night, Nate!” Kate called as he walked to the only other car in the lot.

“You too!” He called back.

I walked Kate to the passenger side, but before I opened the door, I pressed her against the car and kissed her. “That was a lot closer of a call than I thought it was going to be. I apologize.” We probably would have traumatized Nate if he caught us a minute earlier.

“Don’t apologize,” she whispered back. “Knowing we were that close to getting caught makes it even more fun!”

I kissed her cheek and let her go. She opened her own door and slid inside while I walked around thinking about how very different my night had gone than planned. Sex on my desk and Nate only a few doors down. We were probably what woke him up. Hopefully he never put two and two together.

“You ready for tomorrow?” Kate was surprisingly awake. “I can’t believe this is the first time you’ll be meeting my friends!”

“I’m a shitty boyfriend.”

“This isn’t easy. Having friends and a boyfriend who all play professional sports? The scheduling is a nightmare.”

“Well I’m fixing it tomorrow. Practice with the Tangerines, a game, and then dinner at Jeri’s. I’m making up for it all in one day.”

“You should probably start hydrating now.”

“They’re really that intense?” They couldn’t be worse than my ballplayers. Could they?

“You have no idea, Isaac,” she laughed.

“Well then I guess I’ll be surprised!” I put the car in gear and drove us home, not realizing how many surprises I had coming.

24

Isaac

Idid not get much sleep. The office, it turned out, was just the appetizer. Once Kate finally drifted off I tossed and turned until I gave up and made coffee. Dawn was just starting to streak the sky.