Page 22 of Blow Me Away
“You’ve come too far to throw this game away now, do you hear me?” She said, and the calmness in her voice compared to the harshness of her words almost made him chuckle. “You are Cooper, mother-fucking Hearst. You’re the captain of this team, and the best goddamn pitcher there is. You are a winner, Benny. So get out there and win.”
He nodded before he leaned forward, lining up to kiss her through the fence. She beamed as he walked backwards a few steps, maintaining eye contact before he turned around and ran back to the mound.
Elliott stayed where she was, right next to the home bench, her fingers still wrapped up in the fence as she watched him stand with that familiar confidence radiating off him. She cast a glance over at the batter to see him getting into position before she noticed the catcher calling for another curve ball.
Cooper shook his head subtly as he tossed the ball up in the air and caught it in his glove. The catcher then called for a fastball, and he returned into his stance as he got ready to throw the pitch.
“Strike two,” the umpire yelled, and Elliott hollered along with the crowd as she clapped loudly.
The bench beside her was going nuts, every single player on their feet and eagerly gripping the chain-links as she had, shouting support for their senior pitcher. Elliott let her eyes quickly scan the crowd as an enormous smile graced her face, knowing how much they all loved and believed in him.
Cooper looked over at Elliott once more, sending a wink her way. She brought a hand up to her mouth and blew him a kiss, but as soon as he turned his attention back to what would hopefully be the winning pitch of the game, her face fell in anxiousness.
She folded her hands together and held them in front of her mouth as she kept her eyes closed, unable to watch, sending up a silent prayer that he’d throw one last strike. The crowd had fallen silent, anxiously waiting as they all watched on.
Elliott opened her eyes when she heard that unmistakable scrape of his cleats in the dirt that let her know he was just about to throw the ball. The batter didn’t swing; the ball collided into the catcher’s glove, and everyone stayed silent as all eyes turned to the umpire.
“Strike three, you’re out!”
Everyone erupted into cheers, and Elliott threw her hands up in the air as she jumped up and down while the team ran out onto the field and surrounded Cooper. Before she knew what was happening, she had gotten swept up in the crowd as they all ran onto the field and surrounded the team.
She fought her way through the crowd, trying her best to find Cooper. She wasn’t sure how much time passed when she finally saw him with a few of his teammates in the center of the circle that had formed. Without a second thought, she ran to him, leaping into his arms and sending him stumbling a couple of steps backwards when he caught her.
Elliott laughed loudly as he spun her in a circle as people sprayed water bottles all around them in celebration. She pulled her face out of his neck and moved her hands to his face, cupping his cheeks in her palms and bringing his lips to hers.
They shared a passionate kiss, both of them seeming to have forgotten they were surrounded by over a hundred people—or maybe they just didn’t care.
Half an hour passed before the crowd had dispersed, everyone heading to the baseball house where a victory party was being held that would no doubt continue until the sun came up.
As they walked off the diamond, Cooper’s arm around Elliott’s shoulder as hers stayed wrapped around his waist. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he realized he had won in more ways than one.
“I’m just going to run into the locker room and get my stuff,” Cooper told her as he turned so their chests were pressed against one another. She looked up at him with her chin resting on his chest, and he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. “I have someplace I want to take you.”
“We’re not going back to the house?” She asked in surprise, her eyebrows furrowing as she pulled back slightly. “This party is for you, Benny. You won the game. You don’t want to go celebrate?”
Cooper’s hand drifted down her arms and looped around her waist, going down to give her ass a squeeze. “Who said I wasn’t going to celebrate? I have better ideas in mind that’ll be way more fun for me than watching other people get drunk.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she responded softly, tilting her head upward to press their lips together. “Hurry and let’s get going.”
He spun around and practically ran off towards the locker room, Elliott’s laughter echoing behind him. She shook her head before she turned and took a seat on one of the bleacher benches. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of the zip-up hoodie Cooper had given her to wear over his jersey, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as pride soared through her.
“It’s rare I find you alone,” Johnathan said as he appeared beside her and sat down, leaving a few inches of space between them. “Kara and Benjamin didn’t want to come?”
“They had prior obligations,” she told him with a shrug. “Unfortunately, it was a family matter Benji couldn’t get out of and Kara didn’t want him going alone. I did FaceTime them, though, for most of the game at least.”
Johnathan nodded. “At least they got to see most of it. Shame they missed that last inning, though. Cooper was on fire.”
“He was, wasn’t he?”
The adoration in her voice didn’t slip past him as a knot of yearning took hold in his stomach. He turned towards her, admiring her for a moment as flashbacks from their time they used to spend together flashed through his mind.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, the words slipping past his lips before he could stop them.
“John,” she breathed out uncomfortably as she shook her head, moving so there’d be more space between them. “Please don’t do this.”
Johnathan sighed loudly, forcing a hand through his hair as he forced out a laugh. “No, I know, I’m sorry. It’s just hard to see you be with someone else, how I wished you’d been with me.”
“We were just friends,” she reminded him. “Cooper and I are just friends, too.”
