They’d reached the seventh inning, and he watched Reggie swinging a bat just outside the dugout, smiling up at the stands as he waited for his shot at home plate. They’d drawn quite a crowd tonight. The weather was perfect, warm with a slight breeze. The food trucks made the entire field smell like barbecue, and the Top Cops were celebrating some jackhole’s promotion. Oh, right, that would be Alec, his brother.
Mack sneered at James, his oldest brother, the Top Cops’ catcher, and shouted, “Suck it, Revere.” Though that could have easily applied to the pitcher, Xavier, another sibling.
Mack’s buddies on the bench laughed.
“Screw off, Mack.” James glared at him before yelling to the pitcher, “Light him up, Xavier. He can’t hit worth a shit.”
Brad, standing near home plate, glared at both the pitcher and the catcher behind him then got serious.
Sadly, James was right about a no-hitter.
Xavier struck out Brad with little effort.
Honestly, the guy’s head was in the clouds lately. Reggie being dopey made sense. He was getting laid again, seemed to be falling for a genuinely nice woman, and deserved all the happiness he could get. But what the hell was Brad’s deal?
Though they didn’t always share their feelings, Mack and the others loved one another. Hell, he felt closer to Reggie and the guys than his own brothers sometimes. But always feeling like an outsider with his family, he’d gone and done the one thing guaranteed to make him remain an outcast. Not only had he joined the Air Force in a house full of Army degenerates, but he’d gone on to become a firefighter in a house full of cops.
So, yeah, he knew all about being a square peg surrounded by round holes.
But finally, Reggie had become an insider on the fast track tolurve.Though Maggie seemed awfully sweet, Mack was reserving his right to judgment. She sat with two guys in the stands, and one of them happened to be Bear Destruction, only the best semipro wrestler to ever grace the ring.
Brad looked up at the guy before hanging his head in defeat as he passed Mack into the dugout.
“Brad, man, what the hell is going on with you?”
Instead of looking dejected, he wore a shit-eating grin. “I’ll tell you later. Hey, did you see Bear Destruction out there?”
Tex, standing close by, held a bat over both shoulders and was stretching his trunk left and right. “We’re getting autographs after. But now, let’s focus on our killer avenging your honor. Seriously, Brad. You suck lately. You’re making the cops look good.”
“Shut up.”
“Truth hurts,” Mack muttered.
They all watched mighty Reggie step up to the plate. Not only did he looked ripped, as usual, but he looked happy too. And determined.
“James is going to signal Xavier to walk him,” he predicted.
It was no surprise when the pitcher threw a wild pitch that Reggie had to duck.
“Hey, buddy, watch it!” called a female voice from the stands. The guys with her booed. To Mack’s delight, the lady booing sounded like Maggie. He leaned out of the dugout and spotted her shaking her cast at Xavier.
“Shut it, lady,”Mack’s motheryelled back.
“Hey, Mack, isn’t that your mom?” Tex asked, grinning.
He covered his eyes.
“You shut it, lady!” Maggie yelled back.
Next to her, in a deep, growly voice, Bear shouted, “The Top Cops are scared of getting burned!”
“Woo-hoo, go Burning Embers!” That was definitely Brad’s girlfriend, Avery.
Then Bree, Tex’s squeeze, shouted for Reggie to knock it out of the park.
The stands erupted in cheers, jeers, and much laughter. The good-natured ribbing was to be expected between rival teams who often worked together, serving the city.
The second pitch crossed the plate. A mistake on Xavier’s part because Reggie didn’t disappoint. He hit it out of the ballpark then took a leisurely jog around the bases, bringing two more runners in.
