Page 30 of Pitcher Perfect
“Whoa. Personal.”
“We’re going to be sharing a bedroom for a week. Might as well start getting personal now.”
She squinted an eye. “Should we lay some ground rules for that, by the way? I mean, we’re notactuallytogether.”
Out of nowhere, there was a rock stuck in his windpipe.
“I know you’re going to be passing on some tips and tricks,” she continued. “But we’re here for a purpose.”
Robbie did his best to maintain his affable expression, even though his lungs felt deprived of oxygen. “I don’t exactly need a reminder after you nearly fainted at the sight of ol’ Madden in the front yard. Should I be carrying smelling salts on me at all times?”
“Am I that obvious?” Skylar winced.
“Yes.” He cleared his throat.Stop now before you start to sound jealous.
Washe jealous?
Come on, guy. You’ve been jealous since the coffee shop.
The sick feeling in his belly worsened now, minute to minute. “If you want ground rules, lay them. Otherwise, we’ll stick to your calendar. You tell me what is a yes or a no.” He looked her in the eye. “I know how to listen, Skylar.”
They maintained eye contact for several seconds, him impressing on her that she was safe and in control, her searching him with surprise for the second time since they’d walked into the room. “My pregame ritual is listening—in my AirPods—to Whitney Houston sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in1991,” she blurted, seeming a little shocked that she’d admitted it out loud, but also excited to share. “Have you seen it?”
“I... don’t know.”
“You would know,” she said, full of passion.
“Then I haven’t.”
“Try it someday, before a game. It’s the best live performance by anyone. Ever. It makes me want to go out and pitch the innings of my life. It makes me want...”
“Immortality.”
“Yeah.” Skylar breathed a laugh that left a smile on her face and it hit Robbie, right in that moment, that there was definitely no one more beautiful than her in the fucking world. “Yeah, it sounds weird, but I want to leave something like that behind.”
“I throw up before every game,” he said, distracted enough by her sparkling eyes to ruin the moment. Or he might have ruined it if Skylar was someone else. But she wasn’t. She was a person who’d pushed their body to limits it couldn’t handle and... visibly understood.
Damn. Ihave tofind me a woman who doesn’t get grossed out by throwing up.
You did.
She’s right here.
And she’s in love with someone else.
“Wow. Interesting choice to bring up pregame rituals when that is yours.”
“I should have lied and said I listen to Lil’ Wayne,” he managed on a chuckle, feeling more than a little winded.
“Why didn’t you lie?”
Mildly insulted, he drew back. “I wouldn’t tell you I know how to listen to yes and no, then lie to you in the same breath.”
Skylar scrutinized him from a distance that had definitely grown smaller since they walked into the room. Who had movedcloser? And when? “Maybe it’s premature to say this, but I’m not sure anymore that... you’re exactly who I thought you were.”
It wasn’t easy, but Robbie managed not to show on his face how relieved he was to hear that. How... honored. “Thank God for that.”
Skylar seemed to realize their bodies were about to brush and stepped back, quipping, “To be fair, you’ve still got alongway to go.”
