Page 31 of The Perfect Steal

Swatting at the swarm of bugs in front of my face, I focused on home plate as the batter swung. The sound of the ball connecting to the metal bat rang in my ears, and I searched the dark sky, trying to gauge where it had been hit. The ball traveled down the first baseline, but foul. The next pitch ended up being a high pop fly to Dax.

The next few innings were close, Groveton and our team’s defense keeping the score low. We finally got a home run from Dax in the top of the ninth inning, scoring Jake, who’d been on second base as well.

I ran out to the outfield for the bottom of the inning, knowing that if any ball came our way, I was going to have to react fast and make sure no one scored.

I glanced up at the stands, seeing that Penny, Serena, and Kate were all sitting next to Brynn. That competitive drive in me surged, and I made sure to keep my feet moving so I’d be ready to take off if the ball was hit my way. There was no reason why I couldn’t get her to notice me even if she was here to watch her brother, right?

We got two outs, and then a guy hit a single through Jake and Colt on the infield, the ball rolling out to John. The kid scooped it up and threw it in to Jake since the runner was already at first.

Ben threw the next pitch, going wild so that Dax wasn’t able to catch it, advancing the runner to second base.

“Come on, Ben. You’ve got this,” I called from my spot. The field was so big he probably couldn’t hear it, but it kept me in the game, kept my momentum going.

The opposing coach called timeout to talk to his batter, and I thought back to several memories connected with the sport I now loved.

The last time my dad and I had really done anything together was the trip to the baseball camp in Florida two years ago. It had actually been a fun trip, and my dad had taken a few timeouts from his phone to watch me, surprised that the head coach had switched me to the outfield when I’d always been a second baseman.

And now he was just a few rows away from Brynn. What would he think of her? I shook off that thought, knowing it didn’t really matter.

Ben’s leg sweeping up brought me back to the present, and I watched as the batter connected again, this time the ball heading in John’s direction. He tossed it into Jake, and now it was bases loaded, two outs. We had to get this one.

I glanced up to see Brynn with her fingers intertwined and resting just under her chin. It was easy to pretend that she’d come here for me, and I wondered if this was how it was for the guys to have a girl up there cheering for them.

The next two pitches were strikes on the inside corner of the plate. But the next one was a slider that didn’t move, and the kid connected with it, sending it out my way.

I waited a few seconds before I got a good read on it, turning to run backward. The ball sailed toward the fence. Pushing my legs to run faster, I hit the warning track, the dirt that let us know when we were close to the fence.

The ball was still high, and without thinking, I grabbed on to the chain-link fence, planting my cleat into the middle of one of the openings, and pushed up, stretching my glove out in the hopes of keeping the score as it was.

Everything moved in slow motion, the ball hitting the tip of my glove and my other hand stretching up to cover it in the palm.Then I fell to the red dirt, landing on my back and knocking the wind out of me.

Several seconds ticked by, and the roar of the crowd came in stereo to my ears. John was next to me, yelling in excitement. He stretched out his hand, pulling me to a standing position.

“It’s a good thing you’re as tall as you are,” he said, laughing. We headed into the dugout, the rest of the team slapping my back and cheering that we’d beat Groveton. Again. Before I stepped into the dugout, I glanced up at the stands where my father was still absorbed in his phone. But as I glanced over at Brynn, she had the biggest smile on her face, and she was still clapping.

“I can teach a little bit of speed, but I can't teach height, and there's no way you would have caught that if you didn't have the height you have,” Coach said. “That was a catch for the ages.”

To hear him say that was one of the best pieces of validation I’d received, one I’d needed over the past few weeks.

After a quick pep talk from Coach, I packed up my bag and headed out, smiling and nodding at several of the parents who congratulated me on that catch.

“Great catch there, Everton,” a couple of the dads said as I passed by.

I nodded at them and smiled. “Just a lucky one, I guess,” I said waving to them as I passed by.

“Good game, son,” my dad said, his thumb swiping up on his phone.

Frustration ebbed, and I asked, “Did you even see the catch, Dad?”

He glanced up, his eyebrows stitched together in confusion. “What catch?”

“My last catch of the game. I saved them from getting a grand slam,” I said, anger taking over the frustration.

“The game-winning catch. That was epic,” Jake said, coming up and patting me on the back. “That was seriously good enough for ESPN.” He stepped away, walking toward Penny and picking her up for a big hug. When their lips met, I glanced away, both grossed out and jealous that I didn’t have someone like her in my life.

And then I saw Brynn and wondered if she’d ever consider me as her boyfriend. Things had changed significantly since that first day when she threatened me about working on the project with her. I could only hope it kept going.

I stepped around my dad, heading for the parking lot. My parents had extended my punishment to Sunday, meaning tomorrow I would get the Hummer back. I’d never wanted anything more than my freedom back.

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