Page 43 of The Perfect Game

He nodded, looking more terrified than I’d ever seen him.

“Well, for the record, you’re a pretty great kisser.” I giggled as his neck, face, and ears all turned bright red. I glanced down at his lips but was surprised when he leaned forward, kissing me gently. After a few seconds, I pulled back, laughing. “What was that for?”

He grinned. “Just trying to block out those other kisses from your mind.” We laughed together and he said, “How about we watch a movie?” He slid his hand around mine, interlocking our fingers.

“Sounds like a great plan.” I leaned into him, unable to wipe the grin off my face. Things were going well, I just hoped we’d continue like this for longer than a couple of weeks.

Twenty-Six

Ben

It was the end of day two of the Texas Elite Baseball Camp, and I’d never been as exhausted as I was dropping onto the bed in the dorms we were all assigned to. I’d thought I was in decent shape before I arrived yesterday morning, but my legs were jelly and so was my brain. After being assigned to the group of pitchers, I realized how much I’d been lacking in my abilities.

The coach in charge of us had pointed out several times that as a pitcher, we had to be better than just throwing pitches. We had to think through scenarios, look for weaknesses in the hitter’s swing, and know what we could throw to strike them out. I was a baby while the other guys were toddlers or even young kids when it came to this kind of stuff. There were times I thought it would’ve been better had Coach Maddox recommended someone else to fill the spot.

There had been moments when I heard my father’s voice telling me it wasn’t worth it and my baseball career wouldn’t pan out, but then I’d remember Serena’s words, along with my mom’s and Daniel’s encouragement that I could actually make it through this.

Most of the other guys had stayed out tonight, playing some games in one of the other dorms. I lay down on the top bunk, opening my phone to see a few messages.

One was from Serena.

Good luck tomorrow! You’re amazing, and you’ll do great. Know I’m thinking about you.

My chest swelled with pride as I thought of her. It was funny to think about how prickly she’d been when we first sat by each other in the theater almost three months before. But from the message she’d sent, it was like she’d just needed someone to listen to her and she’d started to come alive.

I clicked out to the next message, knowing I’d want to spend some more time on the words I’d send her. The next message was from Penny. From my screen, I could see we’d only messaged once before, and I was curious as to what she could need right now.

Call me when you’re done with your camp for the day.

I glanced at the time stamp, seeing it had come in only a few minutes ago, an hour after Serena had sent her text. Something hadn’t happened to Serena in that time, right?

I dialed the number, hoping to ease the panic surging.

“Ben.” Penny sounded out of breath. “I’m glad you called me back. I needed to talk to you about something really important.”

“Is everyone okay?” I’d originally thought of Serena, but maybe Jake had been in an accident. With how easily he’d broken the window at the diner, I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that happened to him again.

Penny chuckled. “Yeah, as far as I know. Why? Are you worried?”

I blew out a breath, grateful to hear that. “I just don’t get texts from you very often, so I figured you had some news about something.”

“Well, I’ll know to add ‘emergency’ next time. Okay, so Serena’s birthday is this Friday, and we’re planning a little surprise party for her.”

“That would be fun.” Should I have been the one to plan it? I was probably the worst boyfriend on earth at the moment. But at least Penny had called me about it.

“Yep. She’s never had one. We’re going to have it at Kate’s house, and the guys are all going to be there too. You’ll be able to make it, right? I mean, the camp ends that afternoon?”

I pulled the phone away from my ear to clear my throat and returned it there, hearing Penny’s light breathing through the line. “As far as I know. I think we get done at about four.”

“Okay, you’re about ninety miles away,” she said, her voice going soft like she was talking to herself. “Friday afternoon traffic on the highways home. Let’s have you plan to pick Serena up at her house around seven thirty. We can figure out an excuse for why you’re stopping over at Kate’s house, and then we’ll surprise her.”

“What if I get stuck in traffic?”

Penny groaned. “Don’t be sending those vibes out, Ben. Positivity. Okay, never mind. We’ll come up with another plan. Either Brynn or I will get her to the party, but you need to show up as soon as you’re back in town. She’s never had a surprise party, just like she’s never been to a school dance, and as much as she won’t admit it, she wants both things to happen at some point.”

“Wait, are we talking about the party or are you talking about a dance? We haven’t even started school yet for the year.”

“Focus on the party. That’s goal number one right now.” She paused a moment, her voice dropping in volume. “Do you want me to pick up a gift from you?”

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