Page 53 of Fake Love

“Hey, Maddox?” Jen breaks the silence, her voice low and soft.

“Yeah?”

“Are you still freaking out about being called up?” She asks and it takes me a second to understand her question.

Then it hits.

I had told her at the beginning of this call that I was freaking out. I was still wired.

But now, a few minutes of joking around with her and bantering back and forth, I feel relaxed.

More relaxed than what I felt talking to my mom.

Heading to the field tomorrow will just be like any other day.

A small smile forms on my lips. “No, I guess I’m not.”

“Good because the way I see it, you deserve to be on that field.”

“Thanks, b…” I stop myself before the whole word makes it out.

I almost called her baby. All because at this moment, this all feels real. But it’s not.

Nothing between us is real.

“Thank you.” I say, composing myself.

“You’re welcome,” she answers as if she didn’t hear my slip up. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

I nod. “Yeah, I might play though, but I’ll still leave the tickets for you and Selena at the box office.”

“You’ll play. Goodnight, Maddox.”

“Goodnight, Jennifer.”

The call ends and it has me wishing it could be more between us, but it can’t.

This is going to be a long season and not because of baseball.

16

MAY 17, 2022

Jennifer

“C’mon, Ump! Your zone is all over the place. That was a ball and you know it!” Selena yells out, causing me to jump a bit.

I can't help but laugh a little before looking over at Hunter.

“But she doesn’t get that worked up during one of your games, huh Hunty?”

Hunter looks over at me with narrowed eyes. As much as he wants to, he won't call me out on it, because he knows I’m right.

In the years since they’ve been together, Selena has become a football fan to an extent. Mostly only being one when Hunter is on the field. She definitely cares a lot more about the sport than she did before they got together, but it's definitely not her favorite.

Her currently yelling at the umpire from our box seats informs everyone which sport is her number one.

“Maybe not, but she definitely gets work up after the game,” he says, throwing me a wink at his innuendo.

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