Page 42 of Pitcher Perfect (Big Shots #4)

Robbie got the call as they were walking hand in hand up the driveway looking like they’d just survived a week in a tropical

rainforest.

“Shit.” He looked down at the screen of his phone. “It’s one of the coaching assistants. Hauer. This dude never has good news.”

“What could it be?”

“I don’t know. Last time he called me, it was to set up a meeting with human resources over an offensive sweatshirt I’d been

photographed wearing.”

She raised a brow. “Offensive how?”

“Uh.” He brought her tightly held hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “Don’t worry about it.”

Skylar decided to let that mystery go unsolved for now. Her knees were still weak from what they’d done in the forest. Maybe

when an orgasm was so intense it rendered a woman punch-drunk, she deserved a certain leniency. “You better answer the call.”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, brought the phone to his ear. “Hey, Hauer.”

Skylar studied Robbie while he listened intently to whatever was being said on the other end of the line.

Whatever it was, he didn’t seem happy about it, although his body language was more resigned than angry.

Then and there, she decided that whatever the call was about, she wouldn’t let it disrupt this perfect state of.

.. togetherness. Perhaps words spoken in the heat of the moment couldn’t be deemed official, but it seemed like they were really doing this.

They were on their way to being a couple, an outcome she couldn’t have foreseen in her wildest imagination.

Robbie and Skylar.

Skylar and Robbie.

Together for real?

Yes, it seemed so, but... they were far removed from Boston this week. She couldn’t help but hold on to some trepidation that they could make this work once

they returned to real life, but she was there to try, dammit. She was there to give it her everything, because she couldn’t

envision a world where they went back to Boston and didn’t see each other. Being near Robbie, talking to him, feeling his

skin on her skin had fast become a given. He was well worth fighting the doubt. They were worth it. The thought of living a totally separate life from him after this week made her wet clothes feel colder. Icier.

Can’t do it.

Even with the newfound confidence she’d earned this week throughout the Page Stakes, their family breakthrough, and her private

lessons in love with Robbie, there was still the tiniest voice in the back of her head making her question how long she would

be enough. Old hang-ups were hard to break.

Skylar shook herself free of the conflicting thoughts when Robbie hung up the phone. “Bad news. Coach called a last-minute

practice tonight. Apparently, he’s been living in the offices watching game tapes on the Oilers and he’s mounting a new strategy.

He wants us on the ice by seven.”

“Meaning you’d need to leave...” She went up on her toes to read the time off the screen of Robbie’s phone. “Like, now.”

“Like, now.” He let his head fall back. “No, Rocket. The talent show.”

Having seen these regrets coming, she was already shaking her head.

“Stop. We’ll reschedule it or compete another time.

You can’t miss practice. Not right before playoffs.

” Ignoring the useless disappointment in her middle, she hooked her arm through the crook of his elbow and tugged him toward the house.

“Come on, you can borrow my car again. I’ll put together some snacks for the drive while you pack up. ”

“Who knows me like you?” She tossed him up a smile, but it dimmed when she found him looking down at her with unfiltered intensity.

“You’re not even going to make me feel guilty about leaving, are you?”

Surprise slowed her steps. “What? No. Of course not.” Following instinct, she leaned in and kissed the valley between his

pecs, which, thanks to his sodden clothing, were prominently displayed. If only the talent show were a wet T-shirt contest.

They’d win by a landslide. “You play a sport. Competitively. Inconvenience... and FOMO is part of the deal. That’s how

we got to where we are. We missed stuff in order to practice.”

“Missing stuff that involves you is different.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Redbeard.” Ignoring the subtle weight of uncertainty on her chest, Skylar continued. “If we’re going

to... to do this... us...”

Robbie’s jaw flexed. “Oh, we’re doing us.”

“Okay, well, we’re going to have scheduling conflicts. Probably a lot of them. Let’s start being understanding about it now.”

“Skylar.” He seemed at a loss for words, tucking the same strands of hair behind her ear over and over, even when they had

been well and truly tucked. “I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that I’m fucking crazy about you.”

“You have—”

He cut her off with a hard kiss. “It bears repeating,” he said against her mouth.

“Could you two kindly stop Frenching in the driveway?” Elton complained on his way down the front steps, doing a double take when he saw their disheveled state. “How did you guys spend the day? Re-creating scenes from The Notebook ?”

“Shut up, Elton,” Robbie and Skylar said simultaneously.

Her brother only laughed. “Who’s ready to get their asses handed to them in the family talent show? You won’t see mine coming.”

“Magic tricks?” Skylar drawled.

Elton gave her a death stare. “You ruined it. Happy now?”

“Obscenely.” She could still feel Robbie staring at her profile. “Robbie got called back to Boston for a late practice, so

we’ll have to postpone.”

“Oh shit.” Despite the rocky start he’d gotten off to with Robbie, her brother couldn’t hide his disappointment. “Sorry, man,

that sucks.” He looked at his watch. “Traffic gets heavy around... never mind, it’s always heavy in Boston.”

“Truth.” Robbie reached out and slapped Elton on the shoulder. “Sorry to leave when the competition is heating up. On the

bright side, this gives you an extra day to work on your magic tricks.”

“Let’s hope he’s going to make himself disappear,” Skylar teased.

Robbie chuckled, while Elton gave her a sour look.

“Listen, your sister is coming to my home game on Thursday next week. I’ll try and hook you up for the next one.” Robbie shrugged.

“If you want to watch how a real sport is played.”

“Hilarious.” Elton rolled a grudging shoulder. “Yeah, fine, I guess I can suffer through it.” He sighed. “I’ll go break the

news to Mom and Dad about the talent show. Pretty sure I overheard them practicing a reenactment from their favorite episode

of Blue Bloods , so don’t cry too hard over missing that.”

The men engaged in some kind of ritualistic backslapping routine that Skylar interpreted as a display of friendship, but she couldn’t be sure.

A minute later, she followed Robbie into the house, parting ways in the hallway so he could grab his things while she quickly put together a chicken salad wrap and a bag of multigrain chips, tucking the road meal in a reusable tote bag and waiting for him in the kitchen, still aglow from.

.. everything. The incredible day they’d spent together.

Robbie’s truce with Elton. The fact that she had plans to see him again.

Skylar’s phone vibrated in her pocket, pulling her from her daze.

A text from Eve had her sitting up straighter. Finally.

Eve: Hey. Could I bring the kids over for a while later?

Skylar let out a breath she’d been holding since the night at the Gilded Garden.

Skylar: Yes. Please come now for dinner.

Eve: We can’t stay too long I’m working tonight. But I don’t want to miss you before you go back to Boston. I’m sorry I didn’t have more time, Skylar.

Skylar: Don’t apologize. We’ll talk when I see you. Fair warning, my parents will be battling the whole time to come out on top as

the kids’ favorite.

Eve: Spoiler: It’s whoever has the candy.

Skylar: Noted. See you soon.

Robbie emerged from the hallway—regrettably, in dry clothing—with his duffel strap over one shoulder, his gaze seeking her out at the kitchen table, expression warming. “Hey, Rocket.”

“Hey, Redbeard.”

“Walk me out?”

“Sure.” She stood and he held up his left arm, wordlessly inviting her beneath it and she went, her shoulders settling into

the warm nook of his body like she could never belong anywhere else. “But you should know, when you ask a pitcher to walk

you, it has a totally different meaning.”

His body shook with a quiet laugh. “I have an entirely new language to learn.”

She kissed his shoulder, looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes. “Maybe this time, I’ll tutor you in something. Do you

think you’ll be as good a student as I was?”

He made a sound that was part pain, part amusement. “See, this is why we’re going to cancel dates. You going around saying

shit like that. Now I’m seeing you dressed like a librarian, drilling me on softball terminology.” He leaned down and caught

her mouth in a kiss. “How am I supposed to drive?”

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“You’re right, I’m not.” They simultaneously hip-bumped each other.

They proceeded down the steps, stopping at the trunk of her car, Robbie popping it open and tossing in his bag. Gathering

her back into his arms. “I’ll call you tonight.”

“Okay.” Skylar closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead. “Eve is coming over. She’s bringing the kids.”

He pulled back quickly, brows aloft, and she could see he simply knew.

During one of their many conversations in town that morning, she’d filled Robbie in on the fraught scene at the Gilded Garden and how the exchange had ended with the discovery that Eve was now caring for her sister’s twins—although, for some reason, Skylar had left out the fact that Madden had also been there.

That they’d shared a drink together. Skylar ignored the stab of guilt now, focusing on Robbie’s sympathetic expression.

He knew how much it meant that Eve had finally reached out.

That they were going to see each other. “I’m so glad, Skylar. You’ll let me know how it goes?”

She nodded, masking how shaky she felt over his imminent departure. “Drive safe.”

Robbie pulled her into a bear hug and she gave in to the urge to wrap her arms around his waist, absorb the scent and size

and strength of him. “Believe me, I’ll be driving safer than ever from now on,” he said.

A few minutes later, as she watched her car turn right at the end of the driveway, she was more certain than she’d ever been

that her relationship with Robbie had the potential to be solid. But it wouldn’t be long before she found a weak spot.

She never expected to be responsible for it.