Cam winds up and throws a roaring inside fastball at the left-handed batter, who swings and misses.
Strike fucking three. That’s two outs, baby.
Without skipping a beat, I grab the ball from my glove and fire it at a waiting Heath. Fernandez slides, but he’s not fast enough for the rocket I threw at Heath, who is already there with the ball in his glove. He tags the runner, and the infield umpire holds up a fist, calling him out.
And that’s three.
I love silent plays like this, where I’m in sync with my teammates and all we need are hand signals. Don’t get me wrong, PitchSpeak—a tiny little device that allows catchers and pitchers to communicate—is handy as fuck. But nothing beats a classic.
The crowd agrees as they erupt into ruckus cheers. That play closed out the inning and ended the game. This win keeps the Evaders at the top of the league in our division.
I’m taking off my gear and riding high on our win when it hits me. Tonight was our last home game. We hit the road for a week tomorrow.
Fucking hell.
I chuck my glove onto the bench and sit down. I finally made some progress with getting Savannah to see me in a different light, and now it’s all going to go to shit.
She wanted me to kiss her last night. I felt it when she leaned into me, closed her eyes, and parted her lips. I was so fucking close until her phone started ringing. She ran out of my apartment like her ass was on fire.
It was disappointing after I had worked so fucking hard to get Savannah to lower her walls and let me in during dinner. Whoever called freaked her out, and I could see her building those walls back up, brick by brick.
“Where’s your head, Romero?”
Tugging my gear off, I look over to find Heath sitting beside me.
“Just thinking.” I place the kneepads and chest protector in my bag for the ball boy to lug back to the locker room.
“I used to do a lot ofthinkingtoo.” He winks at me, so I punch him in the thigh.
“Fuck off.” I leave him laughing on the bench, but he catches up to me easily.
“So, you weren’t sitting over there thinking about a girl?”
“I didn’t know you were such a nosy fuck,” I grumble.
The problem with becoming friends with your teammates is they want to know all your business.
Heath has another hearty laugh at my expense. “I’m not. But there was a vote, and I lost.”
“Bunch of Chatty Cathies,” I mumble. As I walk into the locker room with Heath, all the guys look away. Their guilty faces refuse to meet me in the eye. “Whose idea? Miller?”
“Hell no. Miller voted to stay the fuck out of your business. Also, he doesn’t want to know anything because he can’t keep secrets from little Romero.”
“Smart man.” I knew I was starting to like my brother-in-law for a reason. I glance at the guys, each trying to keep a straight face. “Let me guess, McKay?”
“Bingo.” He snaps his fingers.
“Figures.” McKay is one of the nosiest motherfuckers on the team. He’s been giving me grief for being MIA the last few times the guys have gone out.
“Just throw them a bone.” Heath slaps me on the back.
I’ll throw them all right.
I grab a towel out of the laundry cart and give it a few tight spins. As McKay bends over, I whip the towel, hitting him right in the ass. The crack is loud, and I know I got him good.
Reed jumps, knocking his head on the shelf in his locker. “Ow, what the fuck!”
“Stay out of my business, you nosy dick.” I flick the towel, this time hitting him on the upper thigh, close to the goods.
