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I lift the bat to hand it to him. “Thanks for the lesson, Coach,” I say pointedly.
He shakes his head with a chuckle, grabbing the bat from me. “Glad I finally got to see you hit.”
“Me too.” I exit the cage area, then head to the door. “Bye,” I say with a wave.
“Bye.” He waves back as he heads toward his player with his hands nonchalantly tucked back in his pockets.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Matthew
“Who was that?” Gunner, my student, asks.
“Nobody. You ready?” I say as I start to pick up the balls she just hit.
He enters the cage and helps me pick them up. “She sure didn’t look like nobody, so I’m going to guess she’s your ex.”
I eye him. “Why are you guys so interested in my love life? First Chris and now you?”
Gunner’s at least a little older at sixteen, but still …
“Because you’re, like, the cool adult,” he replies. He tries to free-throw a ball into the bucket, yelling, “Kobe,” but misses terribly.
I laugh. “And that’s why you play baseball and not basketball.”
“True, but come on. Give me something. Who was she?”
I sigh. “Fine, she’s my ex—from high school.” I enunciate clearly. “I haven’t seen her in five years. She’s just home, visiting.”
“Wait.” He stops in his tracks. “Was that Hannah Murphy? The singer?”
I throw a ball in the bucket and make it. “Sure was.”
“Isn’t she a big deal?”
He’s getting a little starstruck. I get it; it’s not every day you hear of anyone being a big deal from Mason Creek.
“Sure is. They have their first album coming out any day.”
“And you dated her?”
I nod.
“Why’d you guys break up?”
“I went to college, and she moved to Tennessee.”
“Did she break your heart?”
I answer, “Yes,” without a second thought as I grab the bucket of balls and head back to stand behind the L-screen to start Gunner’s lesson. “Now, let’s practice instead of flapping our jaws.”
* * *
The next night, I head to Sauce It Up, an Italian restaurant in town, to grab dinner to go after a late lesson and see Tony and Leah sitting at a table together, so I walk up to say hi.
“What’s going on, guys?”
Leah sighs, and I can tell something’s wrong. I glance at Tony, and he scoots over, patting the seat next to him.
