Page 19 of The Strike Zone

“Hey, guys, what’s going on? Are we all set up?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself. Jeez. How was itthiscold in April? Last week the weather guys had sworn summer was coming early.

Cyrus glanced over from where he was positioning a small video camera and microphone on a tripod, in front of which, Joey was hopping about.

“What about now? This good?” He took four paces back. “Or here?”

“Yeah, stop, stay there.” Cyrus nodded, secured the tripod in place, and pointed behind him. “As long as everyone walks in via that door, we’ll catch it all.”

“Where’s the sign for everyone to read?” I asked.

Joey turned around and picked up a large piece of card stock I hadn’t noticed, along with a stand. “Right here.”

“Cool. Have you seen anyone arrive yet?”

He shook his head. “No, no one’s been through. And I checked with Pablo, it’s all still quiet.”

Flipping my phone over, I checked the time. “The early birds should start arriving soon. There are usually two or three who come for the gym or a steam, plus everyone who has PT scheduled. Then the rest seem to arrive all in one go.”

As I was talking, a blacked-out Range Rover drove past us, heading around to the players’ parking lot.

“Head’s up, Joey. Jupiter Reeves is always one of the first to arrive.”

“What?” His eyes shot to mine. “That was Reeves? That’s Reeves’s car?”

I nodded, and watched the boys try to contain their excitement. Joey especially was a big fan, he’d made it quite clear on his internship application that the New York Lions was his club. He came from a family of Lions diehards, and Jupiter Reeves had quickly become his number one favorite player.

While I didn’t have a relationship with baseball or New York from my family, I understood the love and affiliation you had for a team. My dad was in the armed forces, and I’d been born in the hospital on the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Originally from Texas, we supported the Longhorns, because that’s where my dad had been at school, and college football was the focus for us.

As I said in my interview,I enjoy sports, but I’m better at my job. Not being a fan of the Lions means I’ll be more objective and focused, and I’m not going to be fangirling over the players.

This was clearly not the case for Joey, who was now smoothing down his T-shirt and checking his reflection in the glass doors as Jupiter Reeves headed our way, holding the hand of his fiancée, Marnie Matthews, who also worked here.

“Dude, chill,” muttered Cyrus, who didn’t seem any more chill than Joey, given how red his face had turned.

“Good morning, Mr. Reeves,” they greeted in sync. I could almost see their heart eyes.

Jupiter grunted his response with a single head nod, attempting to power past them, but Marnie pulled him back.

“Jupiter—”

“What?” he barked.

She pointed to the board, now set up on an easel. “You need to answer the question.”

“Otherwise we can’t grant you entry,” Cyrus joked, only for his smile to die on his lips as Jupiter scowled.

“What question?”

“This one,” replied Joey, moving away from the board he was standing in front of.

Jupiter squinted at the question. “Who was the last person I called on my cell?” He glanced at Marnie and shrugged. “I dunno. You, probably.”

Marnie rolled her eyes. “Jupe, you literally just hung up on Drew.”

“Oh yes. Yeahhh. So, I did.” A very rarely seen, broad smile spread across Jupiter’s face—making it clear why underwear ads of him along Sunset Boulevard had caused fender benders and traffic jams—and he looked directly into the camera. “The last person I spoke to was my brother-in-law, Drew Crawley, to remind him he still owes me a thousand bucks, because I won our fantasy football league this year.” Jupiter peered around the camera to Joey. “You’re putting this on TikTok or whatever, right?”

Joey nodded.

“Great.” Jupiter grinned at the camera again. “And now everyone else knows, too, and you should all feel free to message him on his social channels as a reminder. Tag him in the post at Drew Crawley.”

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