Page 18 of Another Love, Another Time
“Hey, Aug.” She has a wide grin on her face. Logan comes up beside me and gives her a hug, too.
“Where’s my shirt, Riv?” Logan pouts.
“Don’t worry, Logan. I’ve got you covered,” Riv says. Her family is just now making it to us. She grabs Brock by the shoulders and turns him around.
“Alright, my man.” Logan lifts his palm to give Brock a high five. “I thought you all were still fifteen minutes out?”
“I lied. I wanted to surprise you,” River says. She gives me a wink. “So, are you all ready to play?”
“Yeah. We start in thirty minutes,” I say and glance over. My coach has arrived and has started to pull out his gear. I look back at River. “We should start warming up, too.” I pull her into another hug and let her go. “See you after the game.”
“Okay, good luck!” she sings and starts walking towards where our families have set up their chairs.
~~
We are in the bottom of the sixth inning. It’s a close game, but we are up by two. We have the field, so we are trying to hold the other team from scoring any more runs. Even though I can’t see River, I can definitely hear her.
The umpire yells, “Strike!” as I catch the ball in my glove. It’s our third out, and the team starts to jog into the dugout to prepare to bat. I take off my helmet for now until it’s closer to my turn. I don’t want to take all my catcher’s gear off and then have to go back out on the field.
One of my teammates leans over and says, “Man, River has gotten hot this summer.” All my teammates know River is my best friend. She has come to several tournaments over the years.
I scowl at him. “Back off.”
“All I’m saying is that she’s hotter than the last time I saw her.”
I look over at River, and she’s cheering for our batter. I look back over and just shake my head. I know she’s pretty; she was already pretty. I don’t want to think about other boys looking at her.
A few girls walk up to the dugout. I think they are some of my teammates’ sisters. “Hey, Auggie,” they coo.
“Uh, hey.” I give Logan a pointed look for help.
“Hey, ladies. What’s going on?” he starts.
“What hotel are you all staying at?” they ask.
Logan looks at me with eyebrows raised. “We aren’t staying in a hotel,” he replies. “Our families rented a house, and we are staying by the beach.”
“No fair. That sounds like so much fun!” One girl looks back at me.
“Are you all having any team parties?” another asks.
“No, it’s just our families,” Logan responds.
The girls pout. “Well, maybe we will hang out at the next tournament.” They giggle as they walk away.
“Hunt, you’re up!” someone shouts.
I pop up off the bench and start to take the rest of my catcher’s gear. I then grab my gloves, bat, and helmet to the batting box. Bases are loaded. There is one out. Time to bring my boys home and win this game.
~~
The following day, our families watch River play. We are all sitting on the benches right behind the batter’s box. She’s behind the batter’s box in her catching position. The pitcher throws the ball to the batter, and the batter makes contact. The ball is a pop-fly. River throws off her catcher’s mask and backs up to prepare for the catch. She catches the ball, and the batter is out.
We practice this a lot when we hang out. I’m sure we will practice it sometime this week. She is one of the better catchers I’ve seen at the tournaments we play at. She’s good, like really good. I cup my mouth and scream, “Good job, River! That’s my girl!” She turns around and gives me a wide smile. I know she wants to strut around like a peacock, but she will save that for later.
River’s team ends up beating the other team by five runs. Just as I predicted, River comes strutting out of the dugout like a dang peacock towards me. “Did you see that, Auggie?” She wraps her arms around me, wanting me to give her a piggyback ride. Her dad grabs her ball bag so she can jump on.
“Yeah, you killed it, River,” I say.
