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Chapter 15
Alison fidgeted nervously in her car, grabbing the handle to get out and then letting it go more than once as her nerves got the better of her.
God! What is wrong with me? I’ve performed in front of royalty and presidents and haven’t been half as nervous!
But, again, she knew the answer to that question without searching too hard. It was the answer to most questions she asked herself lately, and it boiled down to one word.
Troy.
She was like a kid around him. She hadn’t been this bubbly, nervous, and giggly around a guy since Jared Feinstein in the fifth grade, and she’d only been so head over heels for him because his parents had had a built-in Jacuzzi in their backyard and she thought it made him the height of cool.
Troy didn’t have a Jacuzzi. His cool was all natural born, with no assistance required from bubbling chlorinated water.
Finally, she plucked up her courage and pushed open the door, propelling herself out of the car before she could mentally talk herself out of it. She was almost late at this point. If she hadn’t been, then she would’ve probably still been sitting in that driver’s seat. The prospect of embarrassing herself by walking in conspicuously late was the only thing that had overcome her fear and pushed her out the door.
She hadn’t been nearly this nervous before dinner the other night. Dinner was easy. Dinner was a breeze. All you had to do to impress someone during dinner was be effortlessly charming. She’d been doing that in both personal and professional situations for years.
This whole softball thing? Well, that was a whole new ballgame, pardon the tortured pun.
At the batting cages the other night, she’d learned the basics. But she couldn’t lie, she’d been a helluva lot more focused on Troy’s arms wrapped around her from behind, her back pressed against his chest, than the lessons he’d been trying to impart.
She knew that this whole major, debilitating case of nerves really boiled down to one simple fear: she didn’t want to look foolish in front of someone who was so cool in her eyes. And, taking her usual level of athletic prowess into consideration, there was little doubt that she was about to look very, very foolish.
The only thing she could hope for was that she didn’t come off as a total idiot, but rather as endearingly dorky… And, of course, that he was into that kind of thing.
She wasn’t gonna lie. It was a big risk.
There was really nothing to be done but to hold her head high, thrust her shoulders back, and dive in. And no matter how badly you bungle it, just have a good sense of humor about the whole thing. That’s the key.
Yep. That was the key. Or at least, so she would keep telling herself.
She rounded the last corner onto the field, just in front of the bleachers, and was immediately greeted by a cry of, “Alison! Over here!”
She scanned the small crowd and immediately spotted Mila waving at her, Troy sitting next to her and smiling broadly in Alison’s direction. She hurried over to them.
“Hey, look, it’s my two favorite people!” she greeted them. Mila’s face lit up when she said it, and it made Alison feel good that she could make the girl’s night with just a few simple words. Bringing people joy was her favorite thing in the world.
“Hey, now. I resent that!” came a cheerful voice from behind her.
“So do I.”
“And me!”
Alison turned to see who’d spoken. “Ella! Abby! Gen! I didn’t know you all were going to be here.”
Ella leaned back and waved her hands in front of the jersey she was wearing, which matched those the other two were wearing. “What are you talking about, mama? We’re on the team!”
“That’s awesome!”
Ella reached into her shoulder bag. “And look what I have for you. One brand spankin’ new jersey.”
“I get one, too?”
Gen leaned in close to her. In a quiet, conspiratorial voice, she murmured in Alison’s ear. “Obviously, girl. How else are you going to pull your hair up in a pony and look adorably sporty for Troy?”
Alison laughed, and—yep—there was that blush again.
Still, even though Gen’s words had been delivered in the form of a joke, Alison recognized good advice when she heard it and wasted no time acting on it. She slipped her arms into the jersey’s sleeves and buttoned it up over her T-shirt, then quickly swept her hair up into a high ponytail.
