They each had a finger in the ear closest to her and were giving her matching knock-it-off looks.
“I think there’s a Toby in Trenton looking around for a crazy lady cheering for him,” said Mitch.
“If you don’t yell loud enough, he won’t hear you,” she said in self-defense. Her cheering was annoying, but he wouldn’t complain about the view of her ass every time she stood. He flashed back to their kiss at the store and thought of how her ass filled his hands so perfectly. She was a distraction he didn’t need right now but damned if he could get her out of his head.
She screamed girl next door, but in a sexy as hell sort of way. Wearing a baseball hat that matched the boys, her long, brown ponytail stuck out the back, and he kept having to stop himself from running his fingers through it. She was munching on a bag of popcorn and acting like this was a big-league championship game.
“You can’t fault her enthusiasm,” Jenny said.
“True, but I can move to the opposing team’s bleachers, which I’m seriously considering.”
Jenny laughed, which caught Adam’s attention. He looked up from the dugout and waved. She waved back enthusiastically, and the look on her face told him everything he needed to know about how she felt about Adam.
They hadn’t talked seriously about anything since “the incident,” but it was obvious she liked him. How much, he didn’t know, but when they finally had a conversation alone, he would find out.
“Doing anything fun during your time off, Mitch?” Jenny asked.
Adam must have smoothed things over for him regarding the whole punching-Adam-in-the-face episode. The voicemail she’d left when he declined her call was full of cuss words and threats, but she hadn’t said another word about it.
“Not really. Spent some time at the hospital yesterday and have been catching up with some old friends.”
By old friends, he meant all the riffraff he’d been cultivating as leads for the last two years. He kept busy roaming the streets and trolling for information from anyone who would talk to him.
Diego, a low-level drug dealer for one of Manuel’s competitors, told him that Manuel was looking to add dealers to his payroll. Diego claimed he was too much of a hard-ass and would never work for him.
He told Mitch about a friend of his who worked for Manuel, who’d been badly beaten for not selling enough cocaine one month. They’d made him an example to show others what happened when you didn’t move enough product.
Mitch figured the beating probably coincided with Manuel’s return, which he’d pinned down to a couple of months ago. Manuel had returned to his operation inshambles. Most of his dealers were either hooked and using all the product or had gotten lazy and couldn’t be bothered to work. Manuel had apparently laid down the law for all those who had slacked off in his absence. From what Diego told him, it sounded like he’d cleaned house and was now recruiting to fill the empty slots.
The only other useful information came from a hooker Mitch had befriended. She let it slip that Manuel had been seen at the Lady Luck strip club several times since his return. He seemed to like a girl they called Candy.
Maggie was standing again and yelling like a lunatic. Toby had actually hit the ball and, head down and legs churning, was running toward first base. He got there just as the shortstop overthrew the ball to the first baseman. Adam was yelling at him to keep running, so Toby took off toward second.
Mitch and Jenny jumped to their feet, joining Maggie in the screaming and clapping. The first baseman finally retrieved the ball, and even though his coach was telling him to hold it, he attempted a throw to second base. His throw was wildly inaccurate and ended up midway between the shortstop and the left fielder. Toby rounded second and was almost to third when the other team’s shortstop finally got to the ball. Adam was at third base waving Toby on to home.
“Go, go, go—all the way, buddy!”
By now, everyone in the bleachers was on their feet. This was probably the most exciting thing that would happen all season.
The shortstop threw the ball with as much heat as he could muster. The catcher stood ready.
“Slide, Toby. Slide.” Adam ran alongside him.
Toby slid, dirt flying everywhere. His foot crossed home plate seconds before the ball fell into the catcher’s glove. The ump made a dramatic gesture calling Toby safe, and the crowd went wild.
Toby ran into Adam’s arms with an ear-to-ear grin. Adamhugged him hard and then let him go to get high fives from the team.
The rest of the game was anticlimactic. The boys’ team won, and Jenny invited everyone over to celebrate.
“Hey, buddy, you did awesome. That was a great home run!” Mitch and Toby were walking side by side, lagging behind the others, headed toward the parking lot. “I already made plans to have dinner with my mom and brothers, so I can’t come celebrate with you, but I wish I could.”
“That’s okay. I understand.” Toby was mature for a kid his age. “After my next home run, you can come over.”
“Of course.” Mitch slapped him on the back and turned to say goodbye to Jack, but Adam was already helping him into the back of the truck. He watched as Adam buckled him up and then opened the door for Jenny. He grabbed her around the waist, and she threw both arms around his neck to give him a quick kiss. He gave her a pat on the butt as she climbed into the truck, and the smile she gave him was so genuine and full of happiness, Mitch felt like an intruder watching them.
He waved at Jack and turned toward his SUV. They all seemed to be in their own little happy world and didn’t need him anymore.
Maggie was getting into her car as he drove by.
