Yanking a bat up, Drake hefted it for a moment, gave a simple swing to get the feel of it, and moved to the plate to take his spot. Before stepping in the batter’s box, he extended the bat toward Steff with a mischievous smirk on his face… and blew her a kiss.
The crowd went wild, but Steffi?
She smirked, lifted her wrist, and tapped her watch – and Drake laughed.
Oh yeah, he was gonna slam it outta the park.
Drawing in a deep breath, Drake stepped into the batter’s box and swung the bat up, holding it above his shoulder as he adjusted his grip a bit, shook his butt, and flexed his feet – poised and ready to go. The pitcher wound his arm, moved in what felt like slow motion, and Drake swung the bat instinctively.
“Strike!”
Crap.
Drawing in his breath again, he stepped out of the box, taking a second to realign himself and focus, locking down his mind as he stared, taking it all in. Corey threw to the right, slightly fast, with a slight arc. He needed to put his body into the line, swing strong with zero hesitation, and follow through with the swing once he made contact. In his mind, it would all fall into place, one motion at a time.
Stepping forward, Drake assumed his stance once more and braced himself, waiting. Corey did his wind up, his body movinglike a pendulum in a smooth motion as Drake stepped forward, the bat moving like a well-oiled machine.
I’ve got this one…
*crack*
Drake grunted with the vibration that carried up his arms from the impact – and instead of running, he felt a smile spread on his face. Oh yeah, this was a beautiful shot, he thought – and boldly looked at Steffi, before taking an obnoxious bow. The players were running and scrambling for the ball in the distance, thinking they were gonna catch it, but Drake knew better.
Steffi’s eyes met his.
He stood up and casually chucked the bat to the side. He could hear the roar of approval from his fans, but his eyes were only looking for her approval, her recognition of what he’d done. The ball soared over the fence in the distance. Her lips parted, a smile exploded on her face, and she looked at him.
Time to lay it on thick…
Drake began kissing his hands, tossing the invisible kisses left and right, as he winked deliberately at her and began jogging to first base so he could move out of the way of Jeremy who was running toward him from third base. Naw, he wasn’t in any hurry… in fact, he was going to milk this for everything it was worth.
He did a flip, chuckling – and then pirouetted like some sort of mocking ballerina as he moved toward second base, ignoring all the mouthy comments from the other team.
“What unsportsmanlike conduct…” he tsked and then did a mocking jump, spun, and then did a little dance before sliding his foot toward third base. Chancing a look at Steffi, he saw her being interviewed by a reporter, distracting her from his moment of glory.
That was not gonna work.
Drake stopped between third and home – pausing to put his hands on his hips as he tapped his cleat impetuously, waiting for her to notice him. He saw her start as the reporter said something to her, and Steffi turned. Their eyes met, and he smirked before beginning to skip playfully toward home. Stopping right before the plate, Drake hopped pointedly, throwing both arms into the air as if to say ‘Ta Da’ – and the crowd screamed in approval.
He bowed again to Steffi.
She rolled her hand in front of her a few times, bowing in return, and winked, acknowledging him.
Oh yeah, whatever this was budding between them – he was here for it in a way that was anything short of madness.
8
STEFFI
Trudging up to the front door of the house, she paused when she saw Drake standing there, waiting with a bored look on his face. He looked at his watch, glared at her, and then immediately launched into an attack, or so it felt.
“I thought you mentioned you worked until six tonight.”
“Yeah,” she offered – and shrugged.
“It’s almost eight.”
“So?”
