Page 56 of Fake Love

I watch him through the screen as he throws the first pitch. Every one of his moments is like a dance that you wouldn’t think a man of his size could be capable of.

Strike one.

He’s fluid and calculating with every one of his moves, and honestly I’m a little turned on at the moment.

Now I know why Selena may be getting all worked up after one of Hunter’s games.

Maddox throws another pitch, this time the batter making contact. The ball goes soaring into the air and I’m holding my breath watching it come down.

The breath doesn’t leave my lungs until it falls into an infielders glove.

He did it. Maddox got three batters out.

There’s not much of a reaction from Maddox that is shown on the screen, everything about him is cool and collected. Just another day at the office type of way.

I have a feeling though while on the outside he's collected, on the inside he isn’t able to control his excitement.

The rest of the inning has the Miners scoring two more times, giving them a bigger lead.

When the start of the ninth inning comes along, my nerves start to get the best of me when I don’t see Maddox walking to the mound. A new pitcher taking his place.

Selena calms me down when she explains that this new pitcher is the teams closer. I guess because of the Miner’s lead, they thought it was best to have him close out the game instead of leaving Maddox in.

I guess it makes sense, but I’m still slightly disappointed by it.

When the game ends, the three of us make our way down to the field, where some of the players are interacting with fans while others are doing interviews.

Maddox just so happens to be one of the players being interviewed.

As we walk down the stairs, Hunter getting stopped a few times by fans, and makes it to the point where the field and the stands meet, my eyes never leave him.

From the way he looks as he talks to the reporter, he looks happy, which is a good sign.

Between questions, Maddox looks up and meets my gaze, giving me a small smile and a wink before turning back to the reporter.

Something that catches the reporter’s attention because she turns back and looks at me as Maddox answers her question.

The stink eye she throws in my direction is definitely not going unnoticed either.

Once Maddox finishes up the interview, he says his thank yous to the reporter and makes it over to were me and Selena are standing.

Hunter is still getting hounded by fans. Maybe bringing him down here while there were still people in the stadium was a bad idea.

As my fake boyfriend closes the distance between us, I notice that the reporter is conspicuously taking a phone call while keeping her eyes on Maddox.

She’s watching his every move.

Might as well as give her something else to watch.

“How was the game?” Maddox asks when he’s a few inches away from the wall.

Instead of answering, I reach my fingers through the netting, grabbing a small piece of his jersey and pulling him in until my lips meet his through the net.

There’s not much you can do with rope digging into your skin, but it's enough for the people left in the stadium to figure out that Maddox Bauer is taken.

Maybe until the end of the season but still taken, thank you very much.

“The game was great, I just wish that you were able to pitch more.” I tell him as I pull away from him, giving him a smile.

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