Page 11

After a short walk, Quinn and Rae came to a stop at a two-story cape cod on Oak Street where Chris Watson, his little brother, Tyler, and Jett Miller were in the front yard playing catch.

The pair waved and greeted their friends, Quinn jogging up the driveway and into the garage where he knew the spare sports equipment was kept.

He grabbed two gloves and a bat, tossing one of the gloves to Rae as he walked back out and joined the circle.

"What's the plan today?" Chris asked, throwing the ball overhand to Quinn.

"Apparently Rae thinks she needs batting lessons," Quinn replied.

"I do," said Rae. "We've set up how many neighborhood games now, and I've had like two decent hits. I need practice."

"Uh, my question," Jett chimed in, "Why are you wearing a skirt? Isn't that gonna be weird when you slide into home base and flash everyone your panties?"

"Charming, Jett," Rae threw the ball hard to him, "and it's a skort."

"A what?" Chris and Jett both looked confused.

"It has shorts under it," Quinn explained, blinking the image of his best friend's panties out of his head.

"Aaah, smart," said Jett. "It's a diversion. The other team thinks they're about to get a peek at girl panties, so instead of watching the ball they're waiting for you to slide. Clever strategy, Rae. I like it."

"I'm not wearing it to create a diversion," Rae said, defensively. "I'm wearing it because I think I should be able to play sports and still be a lady." She gave a dainty curtsy.

"Ladies don't make guys think they're gonna see their panties," Jett said.

"Can we please stop talking about Rae's panties ?" Quinn groaned, wincing at the last word.

"Thank you, Quinn," Rae nodded in his direction. "I guess you're the only one I can trust around here to respect my privacy."

Quinn swallowed guiltily, averting his eyes from Rae and throwing the ball to Tyler instead.

"Does this mean we need to go to the park then?" Chris offered. "If so, we should probably get going."

The group agreed and, after letting Mrs. Watson know where they were going, they set off toward the public ballpark.

Once there they set up positions, Rae getting to bat first to get her practice she insisted on, Chris pitching, Quinn catching, and Jett and Tyler between bases.

Before squatting down to catch, Quinn helped Rae get in her stance near the worn piece of ground that was recognized as home plate.

"You don't want to be too close or too far from the plate.

" Quinn placed his hands on Rae's shoulders, looking down at her black and white low-rise Chuck Taylors, positioning her to the right spot, "It's easier when there actually is a plate, I guess.

" He looked up at Chris on the pitcher's mound and determined this was the right spot, "Okay, let's see your stance. "

Rae held the bat up and behind her right shoulder, with her left elbow up and her right elbow pointing more toward the ground.

"A lot of people do this." He got behind her and gently moving her right elbow up higher, "The tip of your bat should be facing up, not behind you.

And you're leaning too much to the back.

You want to load all your weight onto your right leg just before the swing, but you don't want to stick your butt out.

" He placed his hands on her hips and shifted her right hip slightly.

Why were his hands shaking?

"You two need a room?" Jett shouted from second base.

"Don't be jealous, Jett!" Rae hollered back. "You'll get to put your hands on a girl when you bring your cousin to the homecoming dance next month!"

Quinn let out a snort of laughter, his tension and nerves easing up significantly.

"Okay, so I shouldn't be able to push you off balance.

" He walked around and gave her pushes from different angles, on her shoulders, back, and just for fun he pushed in next to her hip bone where he happened to know she was extremely ticklish.

Rae jumped back with a squeal, not able to stop herself from giggling. "Hey! That's cheating!"

"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it," Quinn said through a light laugh.

"Okay, for real now…" Rae got back in her corrected batter's stance and Quinn got behind her again, now positioning her hands low on the bat. He held his hands over hers, his arms wrapped around her. So much for his nerves subsiding. Her butt was up against his crotch where only an hour or so ago he’d been sporting some wood.

Swallowing, he tried to focus on the game and not on how good she smelled. Tangible things. Baseball. The bat. All of his friends watching. Her thighs resting against mine…

No! No, no. Not that.

We’re swinging a bat. Just swing...the bat.

Guiding her path through the swing, he helped her get a feel for the motion of it. "The beginning of your swing, you load onto your back leg, and the power of your swing should come from your legs and your core, and you want to hit through the ball. Your swing doesn't stop when you make contact."

After a few more guided swings he had her practice a few on her own.

Once her swing was looking good, he called to the boys in the field who had started playing catch again, to let them know they were ready.

He squatted down behind Rae and got his glove up, ready to catch.

Before volunteering to catch he hadn't considered how much more distracting her skort would be from this angle.

Come on, man, we just got past this.

Quinn shook any unwelcome thoughts about her lean, sun-kissed legs or her new curves that seemed to fill out her clothes a little better out of his head and focused on the game. He couldn't have the ball come flying and hit him in the face because he was gawking at his best friend's...assets.

Chris sent in a solid pitch, Rae swung, but the ball ended up in Quinn's glove.

"Early," Quinn said, throwing the ball back to Chris, "but the swing was good."

Again, Chris wound up and sent in a close pitch this time.

She pushed her hips back and jumped away from the ball to avoid taking a hit to the side, and Quinn missed the ball, distracted by the shape of Rae's butt as it stuck out when she hopped back.

His face burned scarlet, wondering if anyone had noticed where his focus had been.

He found the ball and threw it back over to Chris, shouting out "Ball! "

Focus, Quinn. She's your friend. Friends don't think about each other that way. Friends don't check out each other's curves, no matter how good they look in a skort.

"I think Jett was right about that skort," Chris chortled.

"Head in the game, man!" Jett exclaimed as he and Tyler laughed in the field.

Rae turned and looked at Quinn over her shoulder curiously, "You gonna be okay back there?"

Trying to stifle his guilty grin, knowing he'd been caught, he shrugged, "It's not a bad view back here."

Oh my God, did I really just say that?!

To Quinn's relief Rae just shook her head with a breath of laughter, "Boys…"

Chris sent in the next pitch.

Crack!

The bat hit the ball hard and sent it over the guys' heads, far into left field.

Rae took off sprinting toward first base and dropped her bat on the way.

Quinn stood up to watch as Tyler chased the ball into left field.

An excellent runner, Rae was already approaching third base before Tyler had the ball to throw to Jett.

Quinn broke his eyes away from Rae, knowing the ball would be coming to him- it was going to be close.

He watched as Jett threw the ball, as it arced over Chris from second base, simultaneously aware of Rae advancing in his periphery.

The ball was falling toward him now as he heard the whoosh of dirt rush toward his feet.

Rae had slid into home base a fraction of a second before the ball landed in his glove.

"Safe!" Quinn shouted, arms out to his sides, signaling the call.

Rae leaned her head back onto the ground, eyes closed in a sigh of relief.

Her signature bright smile lit up her face as she extended her hand out to Quinn and he helped her up to her feet.

She pulled him into a tight hug and he immediately wrapped his arms around her, too.

He liked how she felt in his arms and concentrated on every sensation.

Her warm skin, dewy with summer heat and sweat, her hair that smelled like coconuts and vanilla, her breath was hot on his neck as her breathing came in heavy after her run around the bases.

When she pulled out of the hug he was struck by how beautiful she was up close with her blonde hair whipping around underneath his baseball cap.

He liked her wearing his hat. It made him feel like she was his.

Just as he registered this last unexpected thought, Rae planted a kiss on his cheek and whispered, "Thank you. "

Quinn thought his heart must have stopped.

His voice caught in his throat and upon realizing that he'd failed to respond he gave a quick and indistinct nod.

She turned to face the guys and let out a triumphant cheer for herself, pumping her fist in the air.

As he watched her walk over and pick up the discarded bat, he knew.

It hit him with a resounding thud in his chest. He was falling for his best friend.