Page 65 of The Strike Zone

“I’ll leave you to work.” Hitching his bag up, he held my gaze for a second. “See you on the plane.”

I shook my head, and my eyes fell away. I couldn’t look at him. “I’m not coming.”

“What?” he barked out, frowning deeply at me. “Seriously? You didn’t come last time.”

“I have a lot of work to do, the job application needs to be submitted next week and I haven’t started it yet.”

“Oh.” He tried to hide his disappointment, but his face dropped before he could stop it. I fared no better. Worse, even. Because from the way my belly was swirling, there was no denying it anymore. I liked Parker King. Like, a lot. “In that case, staying behind is a good idea. You’re going to nail that job, Davison. I can feel it.”

“You’ll be back before you know it,” I replied quietly.

“I guess I’ll have to miss you instead.” He leaned in. “And you know what they say?”

I shook my head, my breath catching in my throat. “No, what?”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” He winked.

It wasn’t until he boarded the bus that I could finally breathe again.

SEVENTEEN

PARKER

Parker: Texas coffee sucks

Scout: I’m from Texas

Parker: That explains it then

Scout: Have you ever been to White Plains?

Parker: For the Jungle Kings?

Scout: Yeah, what’s it like?

Parker: They’re a lot of fun. Tanner played there before he moved up to the big leagues. Why?

Scout: Working on my presentation, just trying to come up with some ideas

Parker: My brain is for hire if you want to borrow it

Scout: Thanks

Parker: And any other part of my body you might need too

Scout: *eye roll emoji*

Parker: How’s New York? Miss me yet?

Scout: Quiet. And no.

Parker: Never counted you as a big fat liar, Davison

Scout: Awesome home run

Parker: Just giving you the content everyone wants. My lack of presence on TikTok recently has been noticed

Scout: Oh really?

---