Page 65 of Wild Pitch
The feminist in me cringed. I hated it had taken Sam to pull her out of those depths, but my sister had come back to life.
Four hours later, we stumbled out of the cafe. Kelsey giggled as Sam pulled up in front and she slid into the passenger seat of his car. Kendra and I poked our heads in the back, where Crew waved and babbled at us, so happy as usual.
“Where are you heading now?” Kendra asked.
“I think I’m going to put a cherry on top of the afternoon and finish it off with a good dicking.”
Kendra laughed, hugged me goodbye, and I set off on the two-block walk to Luc’s place.
Me: On my way.
Luc: See you soon.
I unlocked the door with the code and walked into Luc’s place, practically skipping with the buzz that I’d tied on during lunch with my sisters.
Luc sat at the island, and I stalked over to him, sliding my body between him and the cool granite. I buried my hands in his hair and kissed him as if we’d been apart for months, and I hadn’t crawled out of his bed hours before.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” A throat cleared from across the room.
A man, Luc’s height and build, with similar sharp features, was behind me, standing at the entrance of the kitchen.
“Kylie, this is my brother, Jack.”
Unwinding myself from Luc’s arms, I crossed the room and took Jack’s hand.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in town. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have interrupted your visit.”
“I had kept my visit quiet. The Minutemen are still playing ball, but my season is over. I was finalizing negotiations for a one-year deal to play in Boston next season. I wasn’t ready to end my career, and I’d always wanted to do this thing with my brother.”
Luc beamed. He also seemed surprised by this development.
“And I’m glad you came,” Luc said, his eyes meeting mine. “I’ve told Jack a lot about you.”
Oh God, I was far too buzzed for this admission. Being introduced to his brother was a step toward mixing our lives. Something I wanted desperately but knew would never happen. Meeting his brother less than an hour after seeing Kelsey, highlighted the biggest problem Luc and I had.
“And here I am, ruining everything, slightly drunk in the middle of the day. I had lunch with my sisters?—”
“No, I was hoping to meet you while I was here. Luc told me you were from Boston. Can you give me five reasons Boston is better than LA. Sell me on it, please. I’m having a hard time imagining what it would be like to give up endless sunshine.”
I thought carefully about it, comparing my time on the two coasts.
“Well, outside of Boston being the best city for sports in the world, I love the seasons, and that alone is much more than one reason. Have you ever watched the leaves go from green to flaming orange and red? Or did you have a reason to burrow under the covers and read all day on a crisp, cool, and otherwise dreary Spring day? And blizzards—there is absolutely nothing better than when the world stops for an entire day, and the only thing youhaveto do is shovel your driveway and sip hot chocolate by the fire.”
“I’ve never heard such a passionate romanticization of shitty weather. I like her,” Jack said.
“Me too,” Luc said. I cursed to myself as that statement caused my heart to slam into my ribcage.
CHAPTER 30
LUC
The entire baseball world had been awaiting Jack’s retirement announcement, and when it didn’t come, the Minutemen’s management had put out feelers. While Jack wouldn’t be able to support our team in the playoffs this year, he would be a phenomenal off-season addition to the roster.
Fuck, I wanted to work with him every single day. We had dreamed of playing on the same professional team since we were kids, and we would now be very close to living that dream.
Kylie attempted to extract herself from the visit more than once, but when Jack asked her to plan out a Boston food crawl, she lit up. We explored the North End, enjoying Kylie’s curated culinary choices.
“What are you feeding me at the game tomorrow night?” Jack asked.
