Page 14 of The Perfect Play

“Done with practice so soon?” I asked. When he grinned, I nodded, turning back at the sound of a ping off the bat and scooping up the ball that rolled in my direction. This was the first time the baseball coach had let them out at a normal time since that first day of tryouts.

“Coach Maddox figured we could use the rest after yesterday’s win. Nice game today.” He pointed to the pitcher’s mound where I’d been playing several minutes before.

I looked down, dragging my cleat along in the dirt of the warning track. “Uh, thanks. It felt good to get that first game over with.” For that moment, I felt like I’d been sent back in time and had my best friend back.

“One suggestion,” he said, pausing to see what I’d say. And there went the good feelings just as fast as they’d come.

My gaze moved to his face, trying to decide if I wanted his advice or not. I finally nodded, and he said, “I can see your change-up from here. You need to mask it a bit more. Make it not as noticeable to the other team.”

I frowned, knowing I shouldn’t have let him say a thing. “What are you talking about? I struck out at least five girls on it.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Same old Penny. Getting defensive when I try to point things out. You fidget an extra couple of seconds and then show your grip of the ball to the world before you start rotating your arm around.”

I bit my tongue, reflecting on a few of the instances I’d thrown the slower speed pitch throughout the game. He was probably right. He’d always been right about things like that, able to pick up on the littlest things just by seeing them once.

“You might be right about a few of them, but you weren’t here the whole game,” I said, my defenses rising.

“I’ve been here since the third inning. I told you Coach let us out extra early today.” He rested his arms atop the chain-link fence and gave me a half-smile, the one that seemed to add a few more cracks into the wall I’d built against him.

“Why would you come to a game and stay that long? I’m surprised you don’t have some girl hanging off your arm, waiting for you to make out with her in public.” It was petty and childish, but I’d seen him locking lips with a fair share of the girls at our school.

Something passed over his eyes, and I couldn’t tell if it was anger or hurt, but it was gone soon enough, leaving the cocky Jake behind.

“Most girls don’t want to watch other girls playing a sport.”

“Oh, and you do?” I asked, walking toward him, hoping my voice sounded more like the challenge I wanted it to be rather than the warble I heard in my ears.

“Davis, get in here! We’re about to start the game!” Coach Ambrose’s voice broke the tension I felt as I stared into Jake’s dark brown eyes.

I turned and ran back to the dugout, trying not to think about him watching me. Once I stopped, I couldn’t tell if my heart was beating so quickly because of the short jog or because of the brown eyes still burned into my mind. I tried not to look in his direction, but it was like a magnet kept pulling me that way. He’d moved to the stands, and after talking to a few of the spectators, he walked up the road that led back to the parking lot.

Jake White was an anomaly, and if I wasn’t careful, I’d be crushed just as much as when he left the first time.

Chapter 12

Jake

The rest of the guys called me crazy for wanting to stay and watch the softball game after practice. Sure, I had a million other things to do before working at the diner that night. It was the first night Penny wasn’t working the same shift, and I felt the draw to see her.

When I mentioned the one negative I noticed in her pitching, I’d neglected to tell her how much she’d improved over the past few years. Her speed and precision with each pitch was something I marveled at, knowing where she’d started when we were kids. And like the fiery girl she was, she was offended for a few seconds before silently agreeing with me.

It had always been like that. She’d get mad when I told her she needed to fix something, saying it was good enough. But then she’d focus on it almost to obsession until it was perfect.

I considered that while walking back to the Jeep. As I thought about our conversation that first night at the diner, I realized she’d been doing the same thing for me. Telling me to step it up, that I was better than just a kid who played baseball in high school but didn’t go further.

I was only a junior. I still had time to think about all that, but I’d spent so much of the past three and a half years knowing I couldn’t go far from the house that I’d pretty much crossed off college from my list of future opportunities. My mom was fragile from the last time my father had hit her, and I didn’t want it to escalate.

Penny’s curiosity about the girls I hung out with told me she cared, at least a little bit. So she hadn’t been completely blocking me out all this time like I thought she had. There were so many layers to that girl, and I seemed to like each one even more than I had when we were younger.

“Jake, I didn’t expect to see you here still.” Coach Maddox’s voice caused me to come back to the present.

I lifted my head and smiled. Pointing a thumb behind me, I said, “I just stopped by to watch the girls’ game for a few minutes.”

“I hear their pitcher is pretty good this year. Coach Ambrose was talking about some of the contacts she was working to come and check her out this season. It would be good to have a few kids head off to college in the next few years. Yourself included, Jake.” Coach Maddox gave me the typical look a person of authority does when you aren’t quite meeting your potential.

“A few people have mentioned that lately. We’ll see. I’d need to work on my grades a bit for that.”

“The school has plenty of tutors, so don’t hesitate. I’d like to see you playing under the lights someday.” Coach slapped me on the shoulder and said goodbye before heading to his beat-up Chevy truck.

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