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Had he told his sister that they were fake dating, or did she think this was real? Why hadn’t she thought to ask him about the situation before agreeing to this?
Kendall held up two fingers and two beers were passed down the line. Peyton reached for her wallet and Kendall shook her off. “I got the first one.”
“First one, meaning there will be more?”
“Well, yeah, it’s a ball game.” Kendall scoffed like it wasn’t even a question that multiple beer would be consumed.
“Two’s gonna be my limit since I’m driving,” Peyton replied.
“Sounds good, or Ry can drive you home after the game.” Kendall looked over at her, watching and waiting for a reaction.
“Umm, yeah, no, I’ll be driving myself home.”
Kendall continued to look at her, not saying a word, and Peyton shifted in her seat. What else was she supposed to say? “I mean, who can afford to pay for overnight parking?”
The most unladylike snort Peyton had ever heard rocked Kendall and she covered her mouth. “Oh my god, parking is seriously your lame-o excuse?” Kendall shook her head. “My god woman, you really need to work on your lies if you’re going to have a hope in hell of pulling this whole thing off.”
Crap. “That bad, huh?”
“It wasn’t good.” Kendall laughed. “We need some A-game shit here, girl. I expect better next time.”
Who knew Ryan’s sister was so cool? Go figure, because he sure seemed to have a stick up his butt most of the time she was around him. Except… She shook her head. Nope, she wasn’t going to think about how hot he was in the bedroom. “I’ll see what I can do.”
The announcer broke over the PA. “Ladies and Gentlemen will you please stand for the national anthem.”
Peyton stood up beside Kendall as the music started.
When the anthem was finished, they took their seats. The announcer told the crowd that the first pitch would be thrown out by Tommy MacDowell. Pictures began flashing on the jumbotron of Tommy at various stages of his cancer journey and ending with a big Make a Wish banner. As the ten-year-old boy was wheeled out on the mound, the crowd cheered.
Ryan crouched down and talked to Tommy before handing him the ball. The boy eyed the catcher and even from where she sat, Peyton could see how nervous the kid was. Ryan bent down and said something that made a smile split across Tommy’s face. Ryan nodded at him. Then Tommy wound up and threw the ball. It made it about halfway to the plate. The boy’s face sunk. Ryan leaned down and spoke to him and he smiled. Then the two wheeled up to the ball, Ryan picked it up and handed it to him, then they continued up to home plate. As they got onto the dirt in front of home plate, Tommy threw the ball. Then, before the crowd could even register what was happening, Ryan took off like a shot, pushing Tommy’s wheelchair toward first base. The boy threw his head back, laughing as they rounded second.
Pete ran to coach third, waving Ryan home as they ran toward the base. Kendall and Peyton jumped up along with all the other fans, cheering their encouragement. The entire Hawks team cleared the bench and ran toward home plate. As Ryan crossed home plate, the stadium erupted. The team swarmed around Ryan and Tommy. The jumbotron zoomed in on Tommy’s face, and the only way to describe it was sheer joy. Gonzo held up the home-run blazer, and Tommy threw his hands up in the air in celebration.
With the jacket wrapped around Tommy’s shoulders, Ryan pushed the boy’s chair down the line for high-fives from the team. The Texas bench cleared and made their way toward home plate to offer their high-fives as well.
Ryan stopped the chair beside what Peyton imagined were the boy’s parents as the couple stood with tears streaming down their faces. The woman wrapped Ryan in a hug, holding him like she didn’t want to let go.
Peyton’s chest tightened. Judging by the organizers and the players’ reactions, that had been completely spontaneous. How could the jerk she’d encountered so far be the kind of guy who would do something like for a kid? He’d delayed the game and probably would get some heat for going off-script, but he didn’t care in the least. What a gift for that boy and his family.
As the organizers wrapped up the first pitch ceremony, Peyton sat down in her seat at the same time Kendall dropped into hers. Kendall wiped tears from her cheeks.
“That was pretty amazing,” Peyton said.
Kendall wiped her nose and sniffed. “That kid’s going to be a celebrity at school tomorrow when this shows up on all the highlight reels.”
“No kidding.” Peyton looked down at the field and watched as Ryan walked back toward the mound. She really hoped that wasn’t who Ryan really was because that kind of man would be hard to resist. Sex was one thing. Getting emotionally involved was something else.
Peyton picked up her beer and took a sip as she tried to get her emotions under check. It didn’t matter what kind of man he was. This was fake, and she had no intentions of falling for a professional athlete. Now that she’d done her research and read the stories, she knew what that kind of relationship would entail. Heck, been there done that and had the guilt to prove it. There was no way a man that looked like Ryan wouldn’t have women throwing themselves all over him.
“That little move just got Graves more pussy than he’ll be able to handle,” the guy in front of them said to his friend.
“No shit,” his buddy replied.
Kendall shifted in her chair and brought her foot up and shoved it into the shoulder of the two men in front of her, jolting them both in their seats.
“What the fuck?” They both spun in their chairs, looking like they were ready to fight.
“Oops, sorry, my leg slipped. Long legs.” Kendall pointed down at her thigh. “Hard to get comfy.”
