“Yeah, and you love me.”
“I do, very much. This game is for my girls. I hope to make you two proud.” My voice turns hoarse, my emotions threatening to take over.
“We’re already proud of you. Just don’t lose your balance and you’ll be great,” she teases, a callback to when I lost my balance and toppled her and me to the ground.
“I’ll do my best.” I shake my head as a laugh slips through. “I love you,mon coeur.”
“I love you too. Kick some ass!”
We hang up, leaving me with a smile on my face as I pocket my phone.
Ian slaps me on the shoulder as he comes to sit beside me on the bench.
“You ready?”
“More than ready.”
“You seem oddly calm.” He looks at me skeptically.
I roll my shoulders, feeling loose and better than I have in a while. “Because no matter what, I’m already winning.”
Ian throws a hand over his face as he laughs.
“I mean, I’m happy you love my sister, but wow, you sound like a corny asshole.”
“You’ll understand it one day,” I say as I stand and shake my legs out.
“God, I hope not,” he replies, sounding mortified at the idea of being in love.
“Listen, if I pitch as well as you did yesterday, this will be an easy game to win,” I say, taking him by surprise with my compliment.
Ian’s expression turns serious as he stands so that we’re eye level. “I was only trying to be as good as you.”
“You’re already there, kid,” I say as I slap him on the back, then grab my glove and make my way to the field for opening ceremonies.
We’re in the bottom of the eighth inning, with a score of two to zero for us.
Ryker hit a homerun early on in the game, followed by a scoring run by Cole in the fifth. While Florida has struggled massively because I’ve got a no-hitter going currently, which is unheard of.
Never in the time of major league baseball has there been a no-hitter in a World Series game.
It has the fans going fucking wild. The energy was already crazy to begin with, and now, it’s electric.
I focus on doing my job, on what I’ve been good at for the last twenty years of my life. And knowing that if we win, I’m done for good and can just be a dad is what gives me the drive to keep the momentum going.
Pauly signals for a slider, and I give him a nod as I get myself into position. Leaning back slightly, my leg lifts as I wind up and release a killer slider, earning us our first out of the inning.
Two more to go, and we’re champions.
Landon comes up to bat, Florida’s best hitter, and where one would expect nerves to come up, I remain calm.
I know he has a hard time with inside balls, and I plan on serving him nothing but that.
The first one he swings at and misses, making the crowd erupt into shouting and clapping. Not wanting to have him think I’m sending him another inside ball, I release a quick curveball.
He makes contact, sending the ball deep into left field, only to be caught by our fielder.
The stadium explodes at that because it means there’s only one more out until we’re World Series champions.
