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She rolled her eyes and then ran to the field with her dog while Fletcher walked with me to the truck.

“What’s with the new phone?” he asked on the way.

“A girl showed up last night while I was at my house with Mags.”

We stopped by the bed of my truck, and he looked at me, eyebrows raised. “You got Maggie to go to your house with you?”

“Yeah, and it was going really well until fucking Darlene showed up and asked if Mags wanted a threesome.”

Fletcher tried so hard to stifle his chuckle he started fucking choking.

“Don’t fucking laugh.”

That just made him laugh harder.

I lifted the lid to the toolbox in the bed of my truck and pulled out my baseball mitt, throwing it at him.

He caught it, still recovering, and said, “So what did you tell Maggie after Darlene left?”

“I broke my phone to pieces and said I was getting a new number.”

Fletcher sobered. “Damn, you really like Mags.”

“I always have,” I said, my voice haunted. Those months after she left... I didn’t want to remember them. And the years that passed after? It always felt like something was missing.

Fletcher motioned behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Maggie walking toward us. She looked adorable in her pink jersey, denim capris, and flip-flops with pink stuff coming from the straps. Her toes were painted silver to match.

“Hey, Coach,” she said to me. “Fletch.”

Fletcher nodded, taking the bag of baseballs from me, and walked off, leaving Maggie and me alone.

“I got a new number,” I said. “Liv’s programming contacts in my phone now.”

Maggie smiled guiltily. “You really didn’t have to do that.”

I scratched my neck. “Yeah, I did.”

She laughed. “It didn’t hurt.” We began walking toward the practice field where Maya and Graham were racing around the bases. “I was meaning to ask you,” she said. “What do Cam and I need to bring for the rodeo? It’s harder to get things here than it is in Austin.”

“If you’d like to wear something lacy, that’d be nice,” I popped off.

Her cheeks instantly blushed, making me smile. “I meant supplies for the camper that will be getting a new name.”

I bumped her shoulder as we walked, liking the feel of us being on good terms. “Just your beautiful self will do.”

She looked down at the ground, smiling, and we stopped by the dugout. “Ready for our first game?”

I nodded. “We’re going to crush them. What kind of stupid ass name is ‘Fire Stars’ anyway? Fucking redundant.”

Mags’s laugh tinkled, sending a warm feeling through my chest. “Maybe don’t say that in front of the girls.”

I cringed. “Got it.”

More players were showing up as Maggie and I got the dugout set up with drinks for the girls and hooked bats through the chain link fence. Then an older woman in a Fire Star jersey walked our way. The jersey looked just as dumb—a yellow star with a blue flame on it.

She introduced herself as their coach, and we went through plans for warmup. The Fire Stars would practice at the bases first while we took the outfield. When she left to talk to her team, I gathered up mine.

“Unicorns!” I yelled. “Follow me!”