Page 10

CHAPTER NINE

KAMRYN

I ’m sitting in the stands at Bailey’s basketball game, cheering for my sister. She’s a true superstar. One of the best basketball players in the country. I’m so proud of her. I love watching her shine doing what she loves.

There are two rows of college coaches watching her play and she’s only a freshman in high school. I find myself calculating which of those colleges also have great softball programs. I need to end up at the same college as my sister. She’s too na?ve and innocent to be in the real world without me protecting her. I think we’re both good enough at our respective sports to earn scholarships.

Running through the list, I’m realizing that there’s no overlap. I’m being recruited by schools on the West Coast and in the Deep South. She’s being recruited by schools in the Northeast and Midwest.

I start feeling anxious. Sweat pours from my body at the thought of four years away from the other half of my soul. I can’t imagine it. There will be people lined up to take advantage of her innate kindness.

My mind drifts to that night five years ago. The one that haunts me every single night of my life. What would have happened to her if I wasn’t there?

Nope. Not happening. I need to find a way to keep her by my side.

I smile as an idea starts to take form in my head.

I jerk awake in the middle of the night. Looking around, I realize that I must have fallen asleep on our couch. The words on the laptop lying across my stomach are staring at me in the face.

A suffocating feeling of guilt washes over me for manipulating my sister into playing softball. It wasn’t her passion, basketball was. It still isn’t her passion, working with children is. Yet I continue to push her to play. I’m such a horrible person. Sometimes I truly hate myself.

Suddenly there’s a soft knock on my front door. I look at the clock on my laptop. It’s three in the morning. Who the fuck is knocking at this hour?

I look down at myself in sleep shorts and a tank top with no bra. I notice that my nipples are visible. Standing and wrapping a blanket around myself, I open the door a small crack and see bright carrot-orange hair.

Opening the door a bit more, I scrunch my eyebrows together. “Justin? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

He twists his lips. “I saw your light on.” He offers me a mug with steam billowing out of it. “I made you some warm milk. It sometimes helps me.”

“Oh…umm…thanks.” I reach for it. A normal woman would assume she’s about to be roofied, but I’m a good judge of character and I think Justin is harmless. He’s just fucking weird. That, and he’s so scrawny I know I can beat the shit out of him, even if I’m drugged. “Do you want to come in?”

He gives the sweetest smile. “I would love to.”

He steps inside, and I notice he’s wearing an Anacondas T-shirt and gym shorts. Yep, fucking weird .

Looking around, he says, “Wow, you guys did a great job with this place. I have the same layout, but this looks so much better.”

I’m just now realizing that I’ve never invited him inside despite the fact that he’s brought me dozens of goodies throughout our first few months here. I’m sort of an asshole.

I shrug. “My sister has a good eye. We need to keep it down. She’s asleep.” And I want to make sure he knows we’re not alone in this apartment in case he’s related to Jeffrey Dahmer.

He lowers his voice to a near whisper. “No problem.”

“Can I get you anything?”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m good.”

I sit in a big chair so he can’t sit next to me. Curling my legs in, I tightly wrap myself in the blanket and sip the milk. It’s actually pretty good. No signs of poison, but I’ll wait another minute or two before I take another sip just in case.

He happily plops himself down on our sofa before looking at me. “You don’t sleep either?”

I shake my head. “No. Not for years.”

“How come?”

He doesn’t need my deepest, darkest secrets.

“I’m just one of those people who require very little sleep to function. I should have been a doctor. What about you? Why don’t you sleep?”

He looks down, breaking our eye contact. “Let’s just say that I’ve endured a good amount of bullying in my life, including a time in high school when the entire football team snuck in through my bedroom window and beat the shit out of me in the middle of the night.” He points to the large scar on his forehead and another through his lip. “I left that town behind, but some scars never heal.”

My heart breaks for him. I give a hopeful smile. “For what it’s worth, women love scars. Men too. Whichever you prefer.”

He offers a nervous laugh. “It’s women, not that any notice me. ”

“Do you go out? I’ve never seen you leave your apartment.” Not once.

He shakes his head. “I’ve had some…anxiety since that night. I work from home. I’ve lived here for a year, but I don’t have any friends. It’s a little daunting to go out alone in a big city.”

This poor guy. He’s got to be in his mid-twenties and all he does is sit home alone. I’m so sad for him. I have a sudden urge to help him as an idea occurs to me. “Do you ever come to our games?”

“No, but I watch them all on TV.” He smiles. “You’re amazing. All four of you. I feel like I live across from huge stars. I was never into sports, but I’ve researched softball since you moved in, and I think I mostly understand what’s going on.”

“The fourth game of our championship series is tomorrow night. I’m going to leave you a ticket at the box office. I have a friend who’s coming alone. Will you sit with her to keep her company?”

We cruised through the first few rounds of the playoffs but are down two games to one in the best-of-five championship series. We need to get our acts together and take the next two games in a row. The next game is at home, and then, if we win, a winner-take-all game five in Miami.

The Cougars are in the World Series. Philly is electric for both teams. Our popularity has continued to surge throughout the season. We’re now sold out for every single game. I have a handful of endorsements and am making decent money. At Bailey’s request, Tanner Montgomery has been helping to negotiate my contracts, as he does for Ripley and Arizona. My sister continues to refuse to do any modeling.

Justin’s eyes widen with concern. “Her?”

I nod. “Yes. She’s kind of shy too. Can you help me out? I’d really appreciate it.”

He gives me a nervous smile. “O…okay. If it helps you, I’ll do it.”

“It does. What’s your last name? I’ll need it for the ticket. ”

He winces. “It’s…umm…Bieber.”

I swear I try hard not to laugh, but a small one bubbles in my throat. “Your name is Justin Bieber?”

His shoulders fall as he nods. “Yep. It’s been a big problem for me for a long time.”

Poor guy. He’s a nerdy ginger and has the same name as a person famous for basically being attractive. I suppose there’s some talent there, but he wouldn’t have become a star if he wasn’t cute. Not so much in my opinion, but most people consider him to be.

“I think it’s cool. I’m a Belieber. You should grow your hair like his and lean into the whole red-headed Justin Bieber thing.”

He laughs. “I don’t think I could pull it off.”

“You never know until you try.” I stretch and yawn like I’m tired, even though I’m not. “I’m going to head to bed. I’ll leave you the ticket and look for you in the stands.”

He gets up from the sofa and smiles. It’s the biggest smile I’ve seen from him yet. “Great. Thank you. I’m really excited to watch you play.”

“Thank you . You’re the one helping me. Just remember, she’s super shy. I need you to be the one to break the ice and talk to her.”

He visibly swallows. “I’ll try.”

As soon as he leaves, I pull up my text string with Amber.

Me: I need your friend Trisha to do me a favor.

The Cougars had a home game this afternoon which they won. They’re now up two to one in the World Series’ best-of-seven.

The good news about them having an afternoon home game is that they can come to our game tonight. If we win, we’ll head down to Miami, so this is the last time they’ll watch us play this season.

I see all the guys sitting together with Tanner and Harper. Cheetah and Harper are laughing and dancing together. He’s cute with her. He’s kind of the perfect man. Too perfect for me.

I know my ghosting him the way I have is upsetting him, but it’s better this way. It’s funny how much shit the guys give him when he’s far and away the classiest of the bunch. First-class men deserve to be around first-class women, and I’m no such thing.

It’s been weeks since that night in the club. I put on the performance he needed to see to hopefully move on. I felt bad doing it to him, but I’m doing this for him.

I do get a kick out of the fact that he’s wearing a cowboy hat, as he has for every game he’s attended since he heard my walkup song. I love watching him laugh. His smile lights up everyone around him.

Maybe in a different life, if I were a different kind of woman, I would be worthy of someone like Cruz Gonzales. In this life, I’m not.

As I throw my grape bubblegum into my mouth, I look over to the front-row seats I left for Justin and Trisha. She’s seated, looking uptight and nervous. He’s walking down the steps, looking at me. I wave to him. He smiles and waves back, but he loses concentration and trips down three steps.

Fucking hell. This poor guy is hopeless.

He lands right at his seat on the aisle, so Trisha immediately moves to help him up. He seems okay. Maybe this will be a conversation starter for them.

I look around the stadium. It’s filled to capacity. I feel so fortunate.

Arizona throws her arm around me. “Isn’t it amazing how many fans we have? We’re so lucky that we get to do this for a living. Sometimes I need to pinch myself.”

I nod. “I was just thinking the same thing.” I nod toward Ripley warming up in the bullpen. “What’s going on with her? ”

Ripley is the best pitcher in softball. There’s no denying that. But she’s been distracted this week and isn’t throwing her best stuff. I would never blame any loss on one teammate, but her being distracted has undoubtedly played a significant role in us being down in this series. We’re the better team.

Arizona shakes her head. “I don’t know. Something is up but she won’t talk to me about it. She was on the phone with June all morning chatting about her mechanics, so maybe she’ll get it together for the next two games.”

I gasp. “Mama June!” I love Ripley’s mom. June St. James is the mother I wish I had. She’s a great mom and one of the funniest, least-filtered people I’ve ever met. She was an Olympic pitcher who coached Arizona and Ripley from their early childhood until they left for college. She still lives in their hometown in Northern California. She embarrasses Ripley, but I love her sense of humor, playfulness, and adventurous side. She and I ended up dancing topless on a bar one night when she visited us in college.

Arizona nods. “Yep. Let’s hope June fixed her.”

I see Reagan Daulton approaching us with a tall, attractive, muscular, older blond man. She smiles at us. “Kamryn, Arizona, are we ready to kick a little ass and get back into this series?”

We both nod, and I answer, “Hell yes. It’s in the bag, your highness.”

She smiles while the man chuckles. Reagan points to him. “This is my uncle, Declan McGinley.”

“The photographer?” I ask. Declan McGinley is a well-known professional photographer. He’s unique in that he photographs both landscapes and models. Most photographers do one or the other.

Reagan nods. “The one and only. At my gentle urging, he was just commissioned by Hubba Bubba. As in five minutes ago.” She points to her private club box in the stands. “The CEO is my guest tonight. He’s flipping over the excitement for this game. Kamryn, keep blowing big bubbles and hitting bombs. I’m this close,” she pinches her thumb and index finger so they’re close together, “to selling you as their next spokesmodel. It would be real money for you. Do your thing.”

I smile. “Thanks for the added pressure. Lucky for you I’m a diamond and thrive under pressure.”

Declan, who I assume is in his fifties, gives me a big smile. “I like you, Kamryn. I hope this works out. I’d love to photograph you.”

“Are you flirting with me, Declan?”

He lets out a laugh before he winks at me. “I don’t think my beautiful wife, the love of my life, would like that.”

Reagan lets out a laugh. “Yep, his wife definitely wouldn’t like it. She’s my mom’s husband’s ex-wife. She’s also one of my mom’s best friends.”

We give her a dumbfounded look and her smile widens. “Welcome to my crazy, fucked-up family tree. My mother’s other best friend married my stepbrother.” She wiggles her fingers. “Anyhoo, have a great game. Kick some ass.”

She and Declan laugh in amusement as they walk away.

Arizona and I stare at each other. She fans her face. “I have no idea what she just said, but fuck, he’s hot. He should be in front of the camera, not behind it.”

I nod. “Totally. Too bad I don’t have a daddy fetish like my sister.”

As if on cue, Bailey walks over to us. “Who was that guy with Reagan? He’s so sexy.”

Arizona and I both start giggling uncontrollably. Of course my sister is attracted to the old fucker.

Coach Billie calls us into our pregame huddle. With determination written on her face, she commands, “Ladies, it’s time to show the monkey the snake.”

What the fuck does that mean? I look around in bewilderment and notice all my teammates with equally baffled expressions on their faces. Coach Billie has a knack for making weird snake puns. I’m usually able to figure them out, but not this one.

She continues, “I’m proud of every single one of you. You’ve worked your asses off, and I don’t mean only this season. All I ask of you is that you leave nothing on the table. Don’t walk off the field with regrets. Nothing is worse in life than missed opportunities. You’ve sacrificed too much. Take advantage of it. As a new franchise, people assume you’re undeserving of winning a championship. You haven’t bled enough for it. I call bullshit. They don’t know shit about you. You deserve to be here. Every single one of you. Keep the negative voices out and just hear my voice. You. Deserve. Everything.”

She makes eye contact with each of us, ending with me. Frankly, I’m not sure if she’s talking about the game or life.

She places her hand in the middle. “Spear them with our snakes on three.”

CHEETAH

This is the most edge-of-your-seat, exciting game of softball I’ve ever watched. I take in my surroundings. The stands were half full at their first game three months ago, and now they’re packed to the gills. There are both Cougars and Anacondas signs everywhere in town. It’s so awesome.

I still can’t take my eyes off Kamryn. The tight pants and those Princess Leia hair muffs never fail to send my dick into overdrive. And then there are the constant purple bubbles. She’s effortlessly sexual. Every single thing she says and does. I wish she’d give me a second chance. I can’t even look at other women. No one does it for me like she does, even when she’s being cold to me .

I’m wearing my K. Hart , number nine jersey, along with my cowboy hat. I’m holding out hope that one day she’ll want to ride this cowboy again.

Before the game started, Layton, Ezra, Quincy, and I all removed our shirts to reveal a huge continuous anaconda painted across all our chests. The tongue is on me. Harper was laughing hysterically when I rolled my belly, making the tongue move with it. She’s so freakin’ cute.

We’re down one run in the bottom of the last inning. My heart is pounding so hard. I want them to win this game to send it to a decisive game five down in Miami. Unfortunately, we’ll play at the same time as them, so we won’t be able to watch it, but I want this for them. They deserve it.

Arizona and Bailey are on base with one out when Kamryn makes her way to the batter’s box. They start playing her walkup song “Save a Horse [Ride a Cowboy]”. Harper and I are dancing to the music, though we’re holding hands because we’re both so nervous. I hear Tanner tell Harper that Kamryn is the best hitter in the league. This is who they want up to bat in a big situation.

My chest swells with pride. Kamryn is the best hitter in the league. She’s so fucking awesome.

I take Harper’s hand and cover my eyes. I can’t watch. She giggles as we all stand and clap for what we hope will be a big moment.

After the first pitch is called for ball one, the second pitch comes in and Kam smacks it for what will likely be a double to the left-center gap. Arizona easily scores to tie the game. It should move Bailey, the winning run, to third base.

Suddenly, the third base coach inexplicably sends Bailey home. What is she doing? Bailey will be out. We all look at each other in bewilderment.

If it’s possible for twenty thousand people to collectively hold their breath, that’s what’s happening. The ball beats Bailey to home plate by a mile, but she does some sort of Olympic-worthy gymnastics somersault up and over the catcher and then slides in safely across home plate. Game over. Anacondas win on a walk-off double by Kamryn and a Cirque du Soleil move by Bailey.

Kam lifts her hands in the air in victory as the dugout empties and piles on top of her. She’s the big hero.

Kam is now being interviewed by every news channel. She tries to pull Bailey into the interviews, calling her the real hero, but Bailey is content to let Kamryn shine. Bailey hates the limelight. Kam was born for it.

I can’t tear my eyes away from her as she makes every newsperson interviewing her laugh with her larger-than-life personality. Fuck, I’ve got it so bad for her.

We’re waiting on the field for them to finish interviews and other postgame business. Harper and I do a little dance number while we wait.

Bailey makes her way to Harper. Their mutual affection is more than apparent. I notice Tanner running his eyes up and down Bailey’s body. Hmm. Interesting. Layton mentioned that he thinks Tanner has a thing for Bailey. Perhaps we should talk to Tanner about it. Bailey is an awesome chick. Maybe she could bring Tanner out of his self-imposed post-divorce funk. It’s been over four years. It’s time.

Kam is giving what appears to be her last interview. I make my way over to her and tip my cowboy hat. “Howdy, ma’am. I’m a cowboy offering riding services.”

Without hesitation, she jumps on my back and shouts, “Yeehaw.”

The reporter laughs and asks, “Are you two an item?”

I wink at her. “Not yet.”

Kam answers, “Not ever.”

The girls play in Miami tonight for the decisive fifth game. We have a game, but management said if the Anacondas are winning, they’ll momentarily stop our game and play the last out on the big screen.

That’s exactly what happens. Our game is stopped as we all, and I mean all players and all forty thousand fans, have our eyes glued to the big screen.

On a great defensive play by Arizona, their game ends in an Anacondas league championship. We watch on while the girls all pile on top of Ripley as they celebrate.

Our dugout is full of smiles, none bigger than Layton’s. He’s playing the best ball he has in years, he’s happily in love, and his girl just won a league championship. My heart swells for my best friend and his happiness. He deserves this.

The universe must have had other plans in mind because less than an hour later, Layton breaks his leg in the worst sports moment I’ve ever witnessed. His leg is twisted at an angle that is hard to watch. Tears stream down my cheeks as I watch an ambulance leave the field with him inside, knowing that it’s likely the end of his career.

The team couldn’t get it together after the loss of our leader, and we lost the game. I’ve been at the hospital all night with Quincy, Ezra, Trey, and Tanner.

Arizona arrives, and once Layton awakens, she kicks us all out. It’s the middle of the night as I exit the hospital. The guys offer me rides, but I tell them I’d rather walk. It’s a good two miles, but I need the fresh air to try to wrap my mind around what happened to my friend and the uphill battle he’s about to endure.

A few hours ago, he was playing in the World Series, watching the love of his life win her league, and in about two weeks, he was supposed to leave for a two-month worldwide swimsuit photo shoot with Arizona. He’d have his hands on her mostly naked body all day long while posing on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. They’d undoubtedly stay in five-star hotels and eat amazing food. Now he’ll spend the next two months in bed, unable to move. Life can be cruel sometimes.

I’m only five steps out of the hospital front door, just getting lost in my thoughts, when I hear a familiar voice shout, “Why doesn’t a snake have balls?”

I snap my head up and see Kamryn sitting on a bench outside the hospital. “What are you doing here? You should be partying in Miami.”

She shrugs. “Once news of Layton’s injury broke, the party atmosphere kind of fizzled. Arizona left right away with Reagan Daulton. A bunch of the girls flew home early commercially. I decided to join them.”

“Why?”

She runs her lip through her teeth as she looks down at the ground for a moment before looking me in the eyes. “I know how much he means to you, Cruz. I thought you could use a friend.”

I try to swallow down the obscene happiness running through my body that she cared enough about me to do that. I look at her and deadpan, “No, not why are you here, why doesn’t a snake have balls?”

She smiles, knowing that I’m lightening the mood. “Because then it would look like a penis.”

I let out a laugh. I’m realizing it’s the first time I’ve smiled in hours.

She stands as I approach her. Wrapping her arms around me, she says, “I’m sorry. It must have been even worse to watch it in person. I know he’s your best friend. What can I do to help?”

I squeeze her in return and take in her unique Kam scent as tears pool in my eyes. “You’re doing it. Thanks for being here, Kam bam. I know you should be celebrating.”

She’s always in a rush to pull away from me, but not right now. She’s letting me hold her and it’s everything.

She rubs my back. “Why don’t we find something where we can be both sad and happy at the same time?”

“At three in the morning?” I ask.

She pulls back and nods. “There’s an all-night diner with shockingly good ice cream sundaes near my apartment.”

“I’d like that.”

She reaches for her suitcase, which I’m just now noticing. She must have come here straight from the airport. My heart swells at the notion as I immediately take it for her.

We sit in the diner until sunrise, talking, laughing, and eating way too much ice cream. Even though I’m slightly disappointed that she sends me on my way when we leave, the whole experience was just what I needed, and I’m grateful to her for being here. I know she cares about me.

And I may fall just a little harder for Kamryn Hart.