Page 3 of Curve Balls and Second Chances (Pickwick Pirate Queens #1)

CHAPTER THREE

“L et’s run it again, ladies!”

Rose blew her whistle and clapped her hands, her voice sharp and sure despite the heat bearing down on the field.

Groans rose from the ladies facing her. She couldn’t blame them.

Sweat clung to her neck under her messy ponytail, and the late-afternoon sun glared off the metal bleachers, but the team was humming with energy despite the groans.

Practices always got more intense in the weeks leading up to the regional invitational, and this year’s squad had a real shot at taking the title.

“Ginny! Glove up on the hop this time. Maggie , if you’re gonna call it, you have to catch it”

“Yes, Coach ,” came the familiar chorus from the group gathered around her in the dugout.

Rose smirked. “ Let’s not make me get mean.”

“Too late,” Tasha muttered, loud enough for a ripple of laughter to follow.

Rose was still grinning when a familiar voice—low and irritatingly warm—floated from behind her.

“You always this tough on your team?”

She froze. Took a breath. Turned around.

Acen Wheeler stood behind the dugout fence, arms slung casually over the rail like he had every right to be there. Like a bad dream that just kept coming back. Dreams made her think about bed, which led to thought of Acen there, which made her temper flare.

“Don’t you have a porch to haunt somewhere?” she said in a low voice, ignoring the delighted glances being cast at Acen . Like moths to a candle flame. If only they knew what he was capable of, then they’d think twice about those lecherous looks.

“Okay, ladies. Y’all know the drill. Get on out in the field and put it into practice.”

She and Acen watched in silence as the team headed out and took up their positions. Which still left the batter and catcher too close for comfort. Rose edged them over to the bleachers. No point in the whole team knowing her personal business.

“Riley invited me.” Acen said as they stopped by the hot metal seats, not daring to sit in the heat and risk burned backsides. He hoped lightning didn’t strike him from the clear blue sky for the lie. But maybe Rose would take his proposal better if she thought Riley was on his side.

That made her pause. Surely he hadn’t said what she thought he’d said. “ He did what?”

“Figured I might help with drills,” Acen said, stepping to the side of the dugout out of the direct glare of the sun. “ You’ve got a good lineup, but they’re tight on fielding. Thought I’d lend a hand.”

Rose narrowed her eyes and kept her distance.

“ Are you sure he didn’t mean you can help with his team?

I don’t recall mentioning I need help with mine.

” She cast an eye over the girls who were hitting and fielding balls like she’d asked.

“ We’re about to compete in the regional invitational, in case you haven’t heard.

His team is not, so that’s the one that needs help. ”

“I’m sure,” Acen said with that infuriating half-smile. “ He thinks you’re too stubborn to ask for help and the regionals will be tough. At least according to him.”

Could her brother have actually set her up like this knowing how she felt about what Acen had done all those years ago?

He must have lost his mind if that was the case.

She’d never let anyone assistant coach for her before.

And if she decided to go that route, Acen Wheeler would be the last person she’d trust to be that for her.

His piercing blue eyes sent a secret shiver down her spine as he gazed at her. She wished she had her sunglasses on and was too proud to put them on now and give him a hint of the turmoil he was creating.

“As you said. Riley’s team didn’t make regionals, so I know he meant your team.

Look ” he pushed a hand through his hair, cut his eyes to the cluster of interested women out on the ball field, and said, “ I know this might be a bit awkward, but Riley said you really want to pull off the state championship this year.”

And just like that the stench of graduation night rose around them like a dark cloud.

Her questions, his lack of answers or any acknowledgment that anything had happened at all for that matter.

Did he really think he could just show up back here all these years later and all was forgiven without any words being spoken.

From the pitcher’s mound, Ginny called out, “ Who’s the snack?”

Rose spun on her heel, angry energy coursing through her veins. Lord save her from young, nosy women.

“Focus, Ginny !”

And then felt bad about taking her own emotions out on her pitcher. Ginny looked surprised by the vehement reply to her teasing question and quickly got busy studying her gloved hand. Dammit . She didn’t need this emotional trauma floating around in her head.

Acen chuckled, bringing her attention back to him. “ Glad to know I haven’t lost all my charm.”

“Keep talking and you might.” She snapped.

But she was already calculating. The girls did need help if they were going to make it to state champions. And Acen was a professional player. That didn’t mean she wanted him here. It just meant she had to decide which mattered more: her pride or her team.

After a beat her team won out and she tossed him a glove from the equipment bag at her feet. “ You drop one ball, and I’m kicking you off this field.”

He caught it one-handed, grinning. “ Deal .”

The next hour passed in a blur of drills, fly balls, and shouted instructions.

Rose hated to admit it, but Acen still had it—fluid, confident, encouraging without coddling.

The girls responded to him like he was a magic charm, and by the time practice wrapped, they were laughing and high-fiving like they’d won something already.

Rose leaned on the dugout bench, arms crossed, watching him joke with Maggie and Tasha like he’d never left. She ignored the twist in her gut. Nothing good for her heart was going to come from this deal with the devil.

Acen high-fived all around once more and loped to his truck parked in the adjacent lot. Tasha came to the dugout and sat down, nudging her elbow. “ So … you gonna keep pretending he’s not fine as hell?”

“I can acknowledge a man’s face and still want to throw a bucket of Gatorade at it.”

“Sure,” Tasha said, smirking. “ That’s healthy.”

When the players had cleared out, Rose turned to find Acen watching her, glove in hand.

Startled, she glanced around but everyone else was gone. “ I thought you left.”

“I forgot to ask you about practice scheduling.”

“You’ve still got that arm,” she said, nodding toward the diamond.

He shrugged. “ Muscle memory.”

“Not all muscles forget,” she said without thinking.

Silence stretched between them. Not tense exactly—but heavy. Loaded .

“You were good with them,” she said finally, brushing a hand over her arm like it could wipe the past off her skin.

“I missed this,” he said softly. “ Not just the game. The people. You .”

Rose looked away. “ You don’t get to say that like nothing happened.”

“I know.”

“You left, Acen . You didn’t just choose Briana . You left . And I had to stay here and?—”

“I know.”

His voice was quiet. Steady . And it hurt worse because he didn’t argue.

“I thought about you every day,” he added. “ Still do.”

Rose’s breath caught.

But before she could answer, Riley’s voice rang out from behind the bleachers.

“Hey! You two gonna make out or kill each other? I’m taking bets.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “ Neither . Practice is over.”

She turned her back to Acen and headed toward her truck, heart thudding against her ribs like it had twenty years ago—only louder.