Page 49 of My Three Hometown Alphas

The rest of the game is fairly uneventful, with my run the only one scored by either team. We’re playing a different team than the usual ones from Aspen Springs. It’s the Fourth of July, so teams from the nearby towns have come for the holiday tournament.

We’re down several guys because of injury, vacations, and wives having babies. It’s a miracle we won two out of the three games today.

“How are we going to make it through the rest of the season down three players?” one of the guys says from the far end of the dugout after the game.

“We could bring in other players for the rest of the year,” Will says, packing up his bag.

“The Rivers brothers,” Owen suggests.

“There’s three of them,” one of the guys points out, laughing.

They live pretty far out of town, but if they’d be game, that would be awesome. All of them are ripped as shit, so if they have any hand-eye coordination, they’ll probably knock it out of the park.Literally.

“I’ll ask,” Owen says before walking toward the parking lot.Oh… my broody brother.

The rest of the team laughs but agree it’s the right call.

Will and I walk side by side toward his truck with our bags slung over our shoulders. Rounding the dugout, we find Owen with Lyla on his shoulders.

She’s laughing hysterically, looking like she’s going to fall off at any second. She’s eight now, a lot bigger than she used to be. She doesn’t exactly fit up there anymore.

She’s making me a little nervous, so I can only imagine how Will feels. He always gets far more worried about things than Owen or me.

Owen would never actually let her fall, though. His hands are firmly gripped around her legs, holding her in place.

“Run,” Lyla shouts.

She barely has a chance to wrap her arms around his head before Owen starts sprinting toward Will’s truck. Lyla’s screeches and squeals continue as Owen takes lap after lap around the truck, while the rest of us make our way over at a much slower pace.

I glance at Avery who’s standing beside me. Her eyes are glued to Owen and the smile plastered on his face.

There aren’t many things that make Owen smile like that. Just Lyla… and now I’m pretty sure Avery can be added to that list, too.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Avery

With my glassof iced tea in one hand and my book in the other, I turn toward the back door.

We got back from the softball games about an hour ago, and now my plan is to relax in the backyard for the rest of the evening. I don’t know where they’ll set off the fireworks, but maybe I’ll be able to at least get a glimpse of them from here.

There’s a sharp knock at the front door. Shifting my book to the crook of my elbow, I open it. Will stands there, staring back at me.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Umm… I was going to go read out back.”

“No.”

“No?”

“You’re coming to the barbecue with us.”

My eyes dart to the side, seeing his knuckles turning white from how tightly he’s gripping the doorframe.

“Oh… Do you need me to watch Lyla?” I ask. They are all going to a barbecue at the guys’ parents’ house.

“No.”