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There was no way I was attracted to Jayden. Not even a smidge. That ship had set sail years ago and been lost at sea. It wasn’t coming back.
Silver Lake’s pitcher leaned over the mound, his beady eyes narrowed on the catcher’s mitt. I inhaled slightly and held my breath as he nodded and began to wind up. So far, the score was stuck at zero to zero. It was the bottom of the sixth inning and the sun had begun to set on the horizon, throwing streaks of orange and purple into the sky. The tension between the two teams lay thick in the air, like an early morning fog. At this point, it was anybody’s game. I was crossing my fingers for our boys.
The pitcher threw a ball that slanted down as it neared home base. Jayden extended his left leg toward the pitcher and turned his entire body, pulling the bat with him to make solid contact with the ball. It stayed close to the ground, shooting past the short stop and into the outfield before he could react.
Inwardly, I cheered with the rest of the Rock Valley High fans as Jayden made it to first base and the ball returned to the pitcher. He had a beaming smile under the brim of his helmet when Coach Morgan slapped his back, and I got a little twinge of warmth in my gut from watching the two of them interact.
“All right, boys, one on base and no outs,” Coach yelled, clapping his hands together. “Let’s see this one through.”
The tension in the dugout shot up as the players jumped from the bench to cheer on their teammates. Our next up at bat hit a line drive straight past third base. I couldn’t help but press my face up against the fence as Jayden sprinted around second. The guy was impressively fast. He could’ve held his own against our boys in the one-hundred-meter sprint. But as he neared third base, the ball was already on its way back and heading straight for him. Jayden, the ball, and Silver Lake’s third basemen seemed to collide at the same time in a cloud of dust, with Jayden sliding on his side into the base.
There was a collective intake of breath as the entire audience waited for the umpire to make his call. Biting hard on my bottom lip, I held my pencil poised over the clipboard.
The umpire crossed his arms in front of his chest and then spread them, his palms facing the ground. “Safe!”
I shrieked and bounced up and down a few times before I realized what I was doing. With a quick glance to make sure my best friends hadn’t seen me cheering Jayden on, I ducked my chin and recorded the last hit on my notes. It wasn’t until the commotion around me in the dugout increased, did I look up again.
“What’s going on?” I asked one of the players as he scrambled past me to put on a helmet.
“Jayden’s hurt,” he said. “They’re putting me in as pinch runner.”
I whipped my head toward the field and then recoiled in horror when I spotted Jayden trudging toward the dugout with blood running down his right arm. He was covered in dust from the field, all the way up to his shoulders. Coach Morgan led him into the dugout where Jayden tossed his batting helmet on the ground with a huff.
“I’m fine, Coach, I swear,” he said. “Put me back in.”
“No, siree.” Coach Morgan’s gaze caught mine and he beckoned me over with the nod of his head. “I need you patched up before the top of the next inning. Lawrence can run the bases for you.”
I approached cautiously, unsure why he needed me of all people. “Yeah, Coach?”
He frowned at me. “Miss Hale, do you faint at the sight of blood?”
I glanced over at the blood slowly dripping from Jayden’s elbow. I’d seen worse in my parents’ diner from accidental knife slips. “No...”
“Good. First aid kit is under the bench. Use whatever you can find to get him back on the field.”
There was no time to argue. Coach moved incredibly fast for a man of his girth. He was back to first base before I could open my mouth.
Guess nurse was now part of my job description.
My gaze slowly shifted to Jayden. He was watching me with a slight frown, as if unsure I could handle the task set in front of me. That was all it took to get my head on straight. Always up for a challenge, no matter the situation, I set my shoulders and went to grab the first aid kit.
“Come on, let’s do this over there,” I said, nodding at the far side of the dugout where we would be mostly alone.
He nodded solemnly and followed me over. It wasn’t until I turned to tell him to grab a seat did I notice how white his face had become.
“Are you okay?” I clutched his arm to hold him upright. It looked like he might keel over right there.
With an embarrassed
smile, he nodded and sat carefully on the bench. “It really doesn’t hurt that much, but would it totally revoke my man card if I told you the sight of blood makes me queasy?”
I chuckled softly and straddled the bench next to him, opening the first aid kit between my knees. It was kind of cute that a tough guy like Jayden was afraid of a little blood. “Nah, I think you still get to keep your man card. But start drinking zero calorie sparkling water and getting weekly manicures, and I think they send out an agent to reassess the situation.”
That brought a real smile to his face. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Any time.” I pulled on a pair of gloves and grabbed some cotton pads. If I remembered right from my first aid course, the first thing I needed to do was clean up the blood and see what I was dealing with. With a glance up at him, I bit my bottom lip and sighed. “I’m gonna clean this up. I’ll try not to hurt you.”
“Promise?” he asked gruffly.
