Page 106 of The Strike Zone

PARKER

“Is that Scout?” asked Tanner when the buzzer for the elevator sounded, indicating someone was on the way up.

I nodded. “Yup.”

“Why didn’t she just get a ride home with us?”

Grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge, I kicked the door closed, just as another strike of lightning lit up the living room. The heavens had opened twenty minutes after we left the field, and it didn’t look like they were going to close anytime soon.

“Because we’re trying not to be seen together. We have to stay a secret until she hears about the job.”

“Dude—”

“Not now, Tan,” I snapped, interrupting him before he could say any more.

I was already in a bad mood because we’d lost to the Cubs, I didn’t want it to get worse by Tanner warning me,again,that I needed to get the form signed before Coach found out.

“And don’t bring it up this weekend either,” I added as an afterthought.

The last thing I wanted was for Scout to get more stressed out about her job, or get annoyed with Tanner.Orme. The few sleepovers we’d had so far had been at hers, and this would be the first time she’d ever stayed over at my place.

Therefore, I kind of wanted it to go well, and Ireallywanted her to come back again.

He held his hands up in surrender but thankfully stayed silent as he continued his nightly search through the cabinets for a bedtime snack, which inevitably ended when he found either the Froot Loops or the Cocoa Pebbles.

“Thanks, man,” I called out, while sprinting across the living room to where the elevator doors opened directly into our apartment. “Appreciate it.”

I made it with a second to spare, and the moment I saw Scout standing in front of me, all the annoyance about losing the game and all the thoughts about the unsigned form vanished.

Yeah, she was totally worth dodging Coach for another few days.

“Hey.” She smiled, tucking a loose blonde strand behind her ear.

Holding my hand out, I tugged her from the elevator and pulled her into me. “You’re here.”

Taking her face in my hands, I pressed my lips to hers and breathed her in. Immediately my entire body relaxed and calm washed over me, taking with it all the tension I’d been carrying since the game finished. Scout was in my apartment where we’d stay for the next thirty-six hours, and I wanted to savor every single second.

“C’mon, let me show you around.”

Easing her bag off her shoulder, I took hold of her hand and guided her into the main room. Just as everyone did when they first stepped around the wide column separating the living room from the elevator, she stopped dead in her stride.

The floor-to-ceiling, wraparound windows provided one of the most incredible views in all of Manhattan, and it was always a lively discussion over which time of day showed the city at its best.

Ace liked sunrise, not that he was ever up that early, so I wasn’t entirely sure how he’d discovered it. Tanner and Lux always went with late afternoon when the sun hit the Hudson just enough to make it look like it was golden.

But me? I loved right now when the city that never sleeps was lit up by a million twinkling offices and the lights of the cabs and cars far below.

Right now was when New York really came to life. You couldn’t see it from this angle, but in my room, the Empire State Building was so huge stretching out in front of me, that I’d lie in bed at night staring at it while I waited for the adrenaline from that evening’s game to subside.

“Wow,” was all Scout managed, which was the standard response.

“Awesome, right?” I laughed, pulling her toward the kitchen where Tanner was pouring out a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles.

“Yeah, it’s really something. I didn’t expect it to be so big,” she replied, tearing her eyes away from the windows as we stopped in front of the kitchen counter. “Oh hey, Tanner. Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“It happens,” he mumbled, shoveling an overflowing spoon of cereal into his mouth.

“Four of you live here?”

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