Page 12 of Stealing Second

As soon as I open my eyes, I feel like that weight I begged Hudson not to carry—a weight I didn’t realize I was carrying still—is being lifted off my shoulders.

“You good?” Amias Steel asks.

“Yeah.” I laugh. “Fuck yeah, I am.”

We walk past our manager, José Evans, who is wearing his signature scowl as he talks to the bench coach, Thomas Johnson, and out onto the field to warm up.

Despite the fact that I wasn’t supposed to look for my family, they’re hard as hell to miss when Hudson and Jillian are standing on the seats, holding up a banner with my name and number on it, and Mom’s got a foam finger flying in the air. I allow myself a moment to share this with them because it’s theirs, too. I tap my chest and point to them, and they give it back.

* * *

I’m up to bat, following Locke. Steel’s on third, and Turner’s on second. We have two outs, and I’m on deck.

“You know what you gotta do, kid?” Dave Thompson, our batting coach, asks.

“Make sure I don’t pop out.”

He nods. “If Locke makes it to first, your job is to get Steel home, put a run on the board.”

No pressure, I think.

Locke makes it to first.

“You got this, man!” Nour and AJ yell as I make my way to the plate.

Bat in one hand, with the other, I make a cross over my chest. “For you, Gran.”

I tap the bat once before getting to the plate, and then I get into my stance.

“You know God favors Texas, right?” the catcher taunts.

“That so?” I ask, keeping my eyes on the pitcher.

“Most definitely.” He chuckles as the pitcher throws one in.

Typically, you don’t swing at the first pitch, but that’s precisely what the pitcher is expecting when he throws in this one.

I swing and hear the crack of the bat against the ball. I do not hesitate, and I run my ass off.

“Solid hit, kid.” The first-base coach slaps my hand. “First RBI of your career.”

“It’s preseason,” the first baseman, Lowell, huffs.

“Hey, man, why the attitude? Didn’t you know God favors Texas?” I laugh.

“Learn your place, rookie,” he huffs.

“I just did.”

The game ends with Texas winning, but only by one.

3

Foreplay, Gym Bro, and Hot Neighbor

… Oh My

Friday night, and I’m surrounded by a sea of swaying bodies as music pumps through the speakers, pulsating, electric, and alive. Above the baseball field, the lights shine bright, a colorful transformation high above the otherwise cloudy sky. Spotlights’ bright beams reach up to the heavens, their intense glow piercing through the night sky. They swirl and dance, casting patterns across the empty stage, hyping us all up for what’s to come.

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