Page 10 of Midnight Player

Because Jake Fletcher, the bad boy rake of baseball, had been ghosted after the hottest night of his life.

And he didn’t even know her last name.

All he knew was that she was a writer at the conference. Which meant she would be here again tonight after the game. He’d find her. And he’d give her shit for ghosting him while enticing her back up to his room.

He needed to buy more condoms since they’d used up the entire sleeve. But he knew the dark, lusty place where she lived and just how sensual she was in bed. He’d use that knowledge against her and make her addicted to his cock.

Glancing at the clock, he swore at the time.

Shit.

He couldn’t worry about Willa. It was time to get ready for the biggest game of his life. And he had to get himself mentally prepared. They had practice and media interviews all day long.

But as he headed into the shower, he couldn’t expel the images from the previous night. She’d accomplished a feat no other woman had ever done before. Because she’d stuck with him. Above and beyond all the nameless and faceless women he had taken to bed, not a single one stood out among the crowd—except Willa.

She might not know it yet, but he was playing for keeps.

7

That night, Jake stood in line with his teammates on the side of the field as mega popstar Kelly Whitley sang the national anthem. As much as he had tried, he couldn’t banish Willa from his mind. And win or lose, he wasn’t sticking around the ballpark after his obligations were met.

Even if he had to walk back to his hotel, he would do it and find her. If it meant he had to ask every single person at the writers’ conference where he could find Willa, he would.

But he’d start first with Nocturne.

They took the field at the top of the first. Ishii was on the mound tonight. The Japanese transplant was two years younger than Jake and at the top of his game. He and Ishii worked like peanut butter and jelly.

In the first inning, they kept the Howlers from scoring a base hit. By the second inning, he believed they would pull this game off.

But in the third inning, Phelps made an error at second base, and Houston was up by two.

In the fifth inning, Harrison hit a straight-line double and tied the game.

He loved baseball. When he looked into his future, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after he retired. He could coach. The front office was making rumblings about hiring him after he retired while offering him a multi-year contract to potentially finish out his career playing for them.

But all of it was a moot point if he couldn’t have Willa.

Why had she left without saying goodbye?

He threw out a runner at second in the bottom of the seventh to end the inning. All they had to do was score one hit, and they would win. But the two teams proved how evenly matched they were with the tied game.

The roar and boos of the fans were background noise. In the bottom of the seventh, they got a pair of base hits to put runners on first and second. But a pop-out fly into center field ended the inning without their team scoring.

In the top of the eighth, the relief pitcher Henry was put in. Even with Ishii putting up a stink in the dugout that he could finish the game, that his arm was great and he had more in the tank, Coach Davis yanked him.

Behind home plate, he had a bird's-eye view of the field. Henry struck out the first batter. One down, two to go. But the next player at bat hit a line drive and scored a double. Jake signaled Henry the sign for him to brush it off and let it the fuck go.

The next player at bat, Henry wound up walking.

Rising from his crouch, he called time, heading to the mound. Henry couldn’t always maintain a level head.

“Hey, you okay?” Jake assessed him. His jaw was tightly clenched, and Jake could see the nervous tick.

Henry blew out his breath, stress etched over his features. “Yeah. I got this.”

“You sure? If it’s too much, we can put Parker in. He’s warmed up and raring to go.” Nolan Parker was their Cy Young closer and one of the best in the game. If there was anyone he trusted to come in and pitch the game of his life, it was him.

“I can finish the inning.”

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