Page 72 of Nailed at Home Plate

“I can think of no other way to celebrate with mygood luck charm.” He gave me a wink as he ducked down into the dugout. There was another round of cheers and high-fives from his teammates as I floated back to my seat. Part of me didn’t care if they won or lost, Jamie had his triumphant return and that was all that mattered.

It was a wonder to see him in his natural element. The Sillys had a much more lighthearted take on baseball. I only got to see little peeks of his true talent in person in between the dance breaks and other on-field nonsense.

This game was simultaneously exhilarating and going at a snail's pace. Especially with the filthy promises for later that lingered between us every time he went back to the dugout. With each free moment, he stole a glance, shot me a wink, or lifted his mask to enchant me with his knee-buckling grin. Or there was the token sultry comment when his teammates weren't within earshot. Which was a bit difficult given that most of the coaching staff hovered in the corner of the dugout near my seat.

It was finally the top of the ninth inning, and they were up by three runs. If all went well, they could hold on for half an inning to win the game. Jamie managed a home run on his first at-bat then a base hit to first. The other had been a pop fly, but at least he hit the damn ball.

The relationship between Jamie and all the pitchers had to be symbiotic. Jamie and the pitcher had to study their hitting opponents, but Jamie was the one who made the pitch calls. He had to know who would swing on the first pitch no matter if it wasin the strike zone. And who had a weakness against left or right-handed pitchers? He had to know it all.

As he ran out on the field for, hopefully, the last time for the game, I gave him one last bit of encouragement. I caught his eye as he lingered behind everyone else outside of the dugout.

“Keep up the great pitch calls!” I yelled at him with a smile as I hopped from foot to foot. At the stop step, he leaned in as close as he could manage between the netting and padded wall.

“Keep screaming my name. It will be good practice forlater.”

The smooth husky tone that slipped that doozy of a line had me gripping onto the safety net for support. My legs were one breath away from giving out completely. He gave me a wicked grin before he raced after his teammates. How could he drop something as epic as that and just…walk away? I was fairly certain I needed one of those security guards to grab a fire extinguisher for my thighs.

“Please God, if you can give me three pitches and three caught pop-fly balls, I’ll do anything you want.”

The chances were slim as I muttered out the words to the tangerine sky, but hey a girl could dream. Even if the game ended quickly, I still had to wait for Jamie to change out of his uniform and shower before I could jump his bones for the next twelve hours straight. Okay, maybe eight hours. The man did have to sleep at least a little bit before the next game tomorrow.

I didn’t have to bother with sitting down. The opposing team’s second batter was already up to the plate with two strikes. The crowd was on their feet,cheering on the pitcher to make this a quick top of the ninth. And since I had a very sexy reason to want this game to be over, I added my encouragement.

Like Jamie, the closer pitcher was on fire. He struck out the second batter and was well on his way to finishing off the third. The team was like a well-oiled machine with Jamie back in his usual position. The ease with which they fell back into their normal game flow was obvious to everyone.

With one voice, the stadium roared as the game was called with the last strike. You would have thought it was the team winning the World Series. It was bonkers. The announcers gave up on saying anything after the game. It was pointless over the deafening noise of the crowd.

My babe was back and kicking ass.

And I was here to see it.

The horde of baseball players celebrated on the field with special attention on Jamie. He certainly deserved it. From the first inning, he was back in his usual form, with a home run to boot. He certainly deserved to have the player of the game interview tonight.

I stood at the edge of the netted wall, anxiously awaiting Jamie to give him a congratulatory kiss. That was only the beginning as there was a hell of a lot more I had in store for him for the night. There was too much celebrating to do.

Once he managed to get away from the mass of his celebrating teammates, he swaggered up to me with a dusty, sweaty face and a big-ass grin. I didn’t care how filthy he was. He was still utterly kissable. My grin mirrored his as he stepped up to me on the opposite side of the wall. Despite the cumbersomenetting, he still managed to pull me in tightly against him.

“I told you that you looked so fucking good in my jersey,” Jamie mumbled against my lips as the safety netting bit into my skin. “But it will look a hell of a lot better on myfloortonight. Be ready to round the bases, because I can’t wait tonailyou at home plate.” Jamie swallowed my amused snort with a searingkiss.

For Life

(Epilogue)

KYGO & ZAK ABEL, FEATURING NILE RODGERS

“Cadence, report to the bullpen fifteen minutes before start time.” I stopped in my tracks. That was an odd request coming from Topper. I always had spots in the ballpark during games. Watching the game from the bullpen was not one of them.

“What? Why?”

“Something with management. I don’t ask questions.” He shrugged nonchalantly as he shuffled out of his office and into the locker room. What in the actual fuck? My stomach suddenly dropped. Oh no, maybe this really was it. Unlike last time when I stressed over the possibility of being fired, but instead, it was Jamie’s surprise. But that was well over a year ago at this point.

Glancing down at my watch, it was already close to the time Topper said I needed to be out there. With a heavy sigh, I turned on my heel and headed to the access tunnel leading to the bullpen by the LED scoreboard. Maybe it was something embarrassing? Or could it be something good again?

As I stepped out into the bullpen, there was a buzz about the crowd. Nervously I fingered thenecklace I’d received as a gift from Jamie during his first night back in the majors. He had a matching keychain made and told me that it was baseball that brought us together. It was only fitting for both of us to have a piece of it.

Everyone I told the story to wilted at the gesture. Except for Tiffiny. I was pretty sure she dry-heaved. Deep down I knew she was happy for me. She made me promise to make her the maid of honor at our wedding. Hah! A wedding. Yeah right. Maybe one day. Jamie and I never really had a serious conversation about it.

Sure, it came up in little comments here and there. Jamie and I had been living together ever since the off-season after we met. And damn, that was one hell of a doozy of an off-season. Even though the baseball season for Philadelphia ended in the first week of the postseason, we still celebrated the end of baseball season.

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