Page 58 of I Wanna Text You Up

Caleb:Yes…

Caleb:Zoe?

Caleb:Hello? Zoe? What are youdoing?

* * *

Caleb Mills is hot.

Caleb Mills in a baseball cap?Hotter.

Caleb Millscoachingbaseball?Holy shit, hold mypanties.

Sitting in my car like a creeper, I watch as he stands before the team, hands on his hips and grin across his face. There’s no denying that he loves the game, no disputing his complete commitment toit.

Watching him in his element ismagical.

I pop open the door and casually make my way over to the bleachers, grabbing a seat closer to the action. Caleb’s still giving the team a talk, and they’re listening with raptattention.

I get it, kids. I getit.

“…and I’ll see you all on Wednesday. Have a goodweekend.”

A little girl runs up to Caleb. “Mr. C! Mr. C!” She jumps aroundexcitedly.

He goes down on his haunches. “What’sup?”

Their conversation is just out of earshot, but I love the way her face lights up when he agrees to whatever she’sasked.

He helps the kids gather their things and shakes hands with a few parents before making his way over to the bleachers and taking a seat next tome.

“You didn’t have to come out here, you know. I could have taken thebus.”

“And miss seeing you in action?” I bump his shoulder with mine. “Noway.”

“Well you missed me almost getting whacked in the face by a flying bat because I was textingyou.”

“Shutup!”

“So serious. It camethisclose”—he pinches his fingers together—“to hitting me right in thedome.”

“Little league soundsdangerous.”

“I see your lipstwitching.”

My smile breaks through. “Sorry.”

“Not sorry,right?”

“Guilty.”

I rest my arms on my knees and glance out at the empty field. It looks damn near brand new, and I know that’s all thanks to his collegeteam.

“The field looks great. Your fundraiser last year must have raised a ton of money forthis.”

“Hell yeah it did. We brought in over $200k. Totally worth having to go on a date with that handsy seventy-year-oldbroad.”

“Handsy,huh?”

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