Her uncle announced, “He’s up to bat right now. Number thirteen, Javier La Costa.”
Her grandmother squealed like a teenage girl, drawing Cam’s attention away from Javi.
“Brittany, what did I tell you? I knew it,” she exclaimed to Camdyn’s mother.
“He’s a fine ballplayer,” her dad commented, just before a loudcrackcut through the air.
Camdyn spun around and watched as Javi ran down the first base line. She looked for the ball and saw the right fielder running for it. Everyone was jumping to their feet and cheers sounded throughout the stadium as Javi ran on to second. The fielder recovered the ball, but Javi kept running.
She joined in cheering him on. “Go, Javi!” she yelled.
Just before the ball made it to the third baseman, Javi slid in and the umpire threw his arms out, palms down. The stadium went wild. He’d gotten a triple on his first at bat for the game.
He found Camdyn in the stands and blew her a kiss. She placed her palm over her racing heart. The pounding made her feel like she’d just run with him, and she couldn’t suppress the grin that was likely to split her face.
“See! I told you! He’s a fine ballplayer!” her dad exclaimed.
CHAPTER 14
Baseball is a man maker.
– Albert Goodwill Spalding, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, 1939
“Cruz says that you were kissing my sister,” came a voice from behind Javi, followed by a shove.
It wasn’t a hard shove, and Javi easily maintained his balance. He looked back to see Cal scowling at him. He’d managed to avoid his teammate for the majority of the game, due to him actively playing and Cal being confined to the bullpen.
Javi smirked at his friend. “Yep, before the game. Blew her a kiss from third, too.”
Cal looked flabbergasted, like he wasn’t sure how to respond. Had the guy thought he’d deny it?
“We’re going out after the game, too. You don’t want to third wheel, do you?” asked Javi.
“So, you’re just…dating my sister now?” asked Cal.
“Yep,” said Javi as he sat on the bench to remove his gear.
“Neither of y’all thought to tell me?” Cal complained as he sat on the bench across from him.
“What’s to tell?” asked Javier. “You set us up.”
Cal’s eyes widened. “I did not set you up. I only volunteered you to take her to that banquet so Little Dicky would leave her alone.”
“And I made my intentions clear to you,” replied Javi, his eye contact unwavering.
Cal slapped a hand to his forehead. “You cannot be serious. You really plan on marrying my sister.”
“Yep.” It was actually kind of fun picking at Cal.
“Does she realize you’re crazy? You know, I really like you, but I love my sister. Sometimes I’m not sure why, but I still don’t want to have to kill a teammate.”
“No need to kill. We’ll just become real bros,” said Javi as though it was a done deal, because it would be.
His friend looked at him for a moment before replying, “That actually wouldn’t be too bad.”
Javier burst out laughing. “Great. I’ll let your sister know that you’ve given us your blessing. Also, I stole the ticket you had reserved for her. Sarah in sales was happy to reverse your charge and resell it to me, since you didn’t need six tickets for tonight’s game. We tried to call you.”
Cal glared at him while unlacing his cleats.
