Page 38 of The Perfect Hit

I turned to Brynn and whispered, “What happened?”

She pointed to the line. “If the ball is on this side of the line, it’s in. If it’s on the other side, it’s foul and he has to come back and hit again.”

Okay, I could understand that.

I clasped my hands together, hoping for a good outcome. We had one runner out on the bases, and from something Penny said, we might be able to score if Colt got a good hit.

The next pitch came in, and he swung, nearly twisting himself around with the effort. The ball snapped in the catcher's glove, and the umpire did the hand motion he had done for all the other strikes on other batters.

“Keep your eye on the ball,” Penny called.

“Yeah, do what Penny said,” I yelled. I was probably the worst sports fan ever, but I knew what it was like to not have anyone in your corner, or the people you cared most about. Hopefully, he knew I was cheering for him.

The next pitch he hit, but instead of going between the white lines, it ended up going behind and over the net.

“Foul ball,” the umpire called.

“I thought they only get three strikes,” I said, my voice a little louder this time as Colt jogged back to pick up the bat. “Why isn't he out?” Not that I was hoping for that, but I guess I needed some kind of rulebook for this game so I could actually understand it.

“When they have two strikes, if they foul it off,” Brynn said, keeping her voice low, “they can go until they either hit the ball, strike out, or walk.”

That seemed like a lot of options.

The next pitch came in, and Colt swung, the ball missing the bat by a few inches.

His head dropped, and he looked like he was struggling with something.

The team ran out and took the field, Colt grabbing his glove and hustling out to his spot on the corner of the dirt. I could see the disappointment in his shoulders, slumped over like he'd just lost the championship in this one game.

“You've got this, Colt,” I yelled. “Don't even worry about it.”

Colt turned and looked at me, straightening up again.

Ben threw several pitches before the batter hit the ball, sending it right for Colt. He fumbled it a bit, but from the crazy sound the umpire guy behind first made, it looked like he still threw the runner out.

“That's one of Groveton’s best hitters,” Brynn said, clapping loudly. “The fact that Colt fielded it well is a good sign.”

I nodded, slowly understanding what she’d been trying to tell me. Colt just took away a scoring opportunity from the other team.

The game came down to the wire, and it took a last-minute long hit to the outfield by a new kid Penny said was named Adam Taylor for us to pull off the win.

It had been fun hanging out with the girls, and I’d learned a lot about the game. Maybe I could use a few phrases I’d learned to show Colt I was trying to understand the game he loved.

We waited for the stands to clear before leaving. Penny pointed to where the team had gone and said, “They have a little post-game chat after every game. Most of the time, just a quick recap of what worked and what didn’t.”

I nodded, trying to find Colt in the group. Once the team headed back toward us, I could see him lagging behind like he was still beating himself up over the batting attempt.

The girls all found their boyfriends, and seeing them all together, especially Brynn, made half of me swoon while the other half felt more alone than I had in months.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Colt asked with a big grin.

I glanced up and saw he was talking to me.

He turned to see where I’d been looking and said, a little louder than usual, “Oh, should we hug to join the group?”

Before I said anything, he pulled me into his arms. That same smell of dirt and body odor wafted to my nose like it had the night I’d helped him inside after he’d hurt his ankle. Was it weird that I actually kind of liked it?

He took a step back, and I realized I wasn’t ready for him to let go. Being in his arms helped me with the insecurities roaring through me. Was he not into Marcy like I thought?