Hotbox (16 page)

“Oh, I’m not picky. Thank you very much.” She looked at me with a s
mile and took a sip of the drink
. “How’d you get out of getting me a hot dog?”

I leaned in and softly said, “I had to distract him with something while I whisked you off to the batting barn.”

Saturday’s game was at nine in the morning. Jayden was supposed to go boating with the
Davis
’s for the day
, but she claimed she
didn’t want
to.
We had discussed it the night before and I thought I had convinced her to go, but I saw her sitting with Megan after we fielded the first inning.

She smiled and blew me a kiss.

I was thrilled to see her
,
but also worried why she didn’t spend the day on the boat. I guess I wasn’t as convincing as I thought I was, or something changed.

We won the game and were scheduled to play again at six. I anxiously gathered my gear and headed for the stands. Jayden was waiting for me by the railing; the same railing she was standing at the first
time
we
ever
talked to
each other
.

“Nice game, catcher.”

“Thanks, beautiful spectator.”

“Oh, I’m not just a spectator; I’m your biggest fan.”

“Yeah? Can I take my biggest fan to lunch?”

“Sure, I would love that
.”

“But…I only have an hour to spare
for lunch
. I’m supposed to head home and ‘rest’ before our next game.”
I
took
her hand
in mine
and we walked to the parking lot.

“Rest? You mean…take a nap?”

“
Something like that. Sit around,
not go anywhere…”

“Can I ‘rest’ with you?”

“I would love that but…don’t you have people to see today? What happened to going boating?”

“I didn’t really want to go boating. I told you that.”

“Is Cali going to hate me?”

“No,” she
chuckled
. “Cali is very understanding.”

The way she said it finally made sens
e to me. “Ah, so Chris hates me.
Jayden, y
ou don’t have to choose. You shouldn’t miss out on time with your friends
just to watch a baseball game. There are more to come.”

“Ty, I don’t think you understand.
I don’t want to go boating.
Seriously. And if you must know the
exact
reason why… I don’t know if I have one. I just don’t feel like it. I’d rather watch you play.”

“Okay,” I said, giving in.
“So w
hat do you feel like eating?”

Jesse and Aaron were both at the house when we got there. Jesse was on the couch watching TV and Aaron was in his room asleep. I had been up since six, so I was a little tired, too. Jayden sat on the couch and talked to Jesse for a little bit while I showered and changed my clothes. I’d have to put my unif
orm back on in another few
hours, but at least I could hold my girlfriend without smelling like dust and sweat.

I stood at the end of the hall and watched her for a minute.
I admired the way she conversed with people
so naturally
. She was very friendly, listened well, and was truly interested in what people had to say. I especially liked how she spoke to
me
,
but
the way she looked at me caused me to lose my wits sometimes.

They were talking about
regionals
,
and Jesse was informing her that it would be
in
Seattle
. She caught a glimpse of me and tilted her head with a smile. I motioned for her to
join
me, so she got up and
followed me
to my room. I
left the door cracked open
, smiled at her, and stretched across my bed.

“Is it nap time?” she asked.

“Yes.” I patted the bed next to me.

She raised her eyebrows and smiled
cautiously
, but slipped her shoes off
and walked toward me
.
“I’m not in the habit of sleeping with guys, you know,” she said with a coy smile.

“I surely hope you aren’t. But…maybe you’ll make an exception…just for me?”

Her smile grew just a little bit, but she still seemed apprehensive.

“I’ll behave myself,” I promised her.

With that she laughed. “I’m sure
you will. I’m just not sure
I
will.”

The comment surprised me and I smiled. “Well you’ll just have to try really hard, ‘
cause
I’m tired and I need a nap. If you’re
gonna take advantage of my vulnerability to you
, I’d rather be awake.
”

With a
nother
l
augh she cuddled up against me
and
I held her in my arms
.
I
had to smile when she fell asleep before I did.

Chapter Ten

“Ooh, that’s a pretty threatening
look
,” Jack
observed. “I think Devin’s right; he’s out for blood. You’d better be careful, man. I’m serious.”

I watched Garrett Freeman
at shortstop
and he did seem to have a nasty scowl on his face. His issues weren’t my concern, though. I was only there to play baseball and that’s what I was prepared to do.
Unfortunately
,
I was focused on what Jayden and Coach Tucker
could possibly be
talking about
at that moment
. She had walked by to find a seat, and i
t looked like C
oach had greeted her, and then they began talking with one another. I assumed maybe he was talking to her about her singing, possibly inviting her to do it for another game. But she looked my way as I was watching them, and I had to assume they were talking about me. I was a little worried at first, but then she smiled and gave me a wave.

We batted first as a visiting team. Devin struck out, Jack got out on a pop fly, and Aaron got on base with a single.

When I was up to bat and my name was announced, I heard Jayden’s whistle well above the other cheers. It was very recognizable, and very loud. I stepped away from the plate after the first ball was called and could easily see her from where I faced. Memories of our first
date in the batting cage came
to mind, and it made me smile as I waited for the next pitch.

I was so in love with her.

On that thought, I gave the bat a nice easy swing
on a
n inside
fastball and sent it
over the fence
for a homerun. I passed Garrett Freeman on my way around second but I didn’t bother to look at him. I was actually surprised that
his
team let me hit instead of walking me like they sometimes do, but I was grateful for the occasion—I hated being walked.

The score was still 2-0 by the
fifth
inning. Garrett stared me down whenever he came at bat, but I didn’t indulge him with the
eye contact. He got on base twice
, but his team wasn’t able to get him around for another battle at home plate.

After my first hit,
I was walked every time I came to bat. Jesse got a base hit, which was great. If Jesse gets on base, he can usually work his way around them pretty well.
Jesse and Jack are
our fastest runner
s
, and Jesse is second in the league for stolen bases
.

The score was 3-1 by the end of the eighth
,
and we were able to hold until the conclusion of the game.

Jayden had
parked her car at my house and walked to the game, so after grabbing milkshakes, we sat in my truck in my driveway to be alone. Aaron and Jesse were both home, but there were also a few other cars there as well.

“So you and C
oach look
ed
like pretty good friends,” I had to say to her.

She smiled and nodded her head. “Yep, we’re pretty tight.”
She knew I was curious about their conversation, but from the little gleam in her eye, I could tell she might not inform me of what it was about.

“So you two are conspiring against me, huh? Fine, I get it. I won’t ask.”

She laughed. “We’re not ‘conspiring’ anything. I only found out a certain piece of information that…I’m still mulling over.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Piece of information, huh? That sounds
a little
scary.”

She was still smiling as she scooted closer to me on the seat. “Actually it is a little scary.”

For
some reason that made my heart
beat
quicken
and I was suddenly worried about all of the “scary” subjects that could have come up. Coach Tucker was closer to me than
any man I knew
, but I couldn’t imagine him sharing things with Jayden that I wouldn’t want her to know.

“Ty,” she said softly. “I’m really…impressed with you.”

That made me raise my eyebrows again. “I’m not following you.”

With a smirk she asked, “How are all your extra workouts going? And how is cleaning all the gear, the dugouts, and doing extra field prep?”

She paused for a moment to study me. I didn’t say anything in response since I didn’t know where this was heading. She took my hand and held it softly, and while she was looking down, I enjoyed the opportunity to stare at her
up close. She was so beautiful
and I felt like the luckiest guy in the world to be with her. Yeah, I was envied by most of the guys that knew us, but what Jayden did for me couldn’t even be defined. Maybe it could, but I wasn’t used to having someone in my life that I would do anything for. Being in love wasn’t a feeling I was familiar with, and
she
meant so much to me, I was seriously scared to say or do anything that could possibly end it all.

She looked at me with a smile. “I think it’s very admirable to step up and be responsible for your choices, Ty. Admitting to your coach that you had broken
a team rule
is very…valiant. I just want
you to know that your integrity is what draws me in so much, and
it’s what makes you so special
and sets you so far apart from all the others.” 

She scooted even closer so she could kiss me, and it was one of those moments where I wanted to be impulsive and just tell her that I loved her. But I let the kiss complete the moment because I figured everything Jayden said was always perfect, and anything that I might add could easily ruin the night.

“Anyways,” she smiled, pulling away to look at me. “I just thought I’d tell you that I know what you did
,
and I’m glad the team captain is all that his coach really claims he is.”

“And how is it that all of this came up?”

“Tucker asked me if I’d sing the anthem at an upcoming game. I told him no,” she smiled. “Then he bribed me, so I said yes.”

“He bribed you?” I laughed. “With inside information?”

“Yep. Said he’d give up a pretty good secret about you if I agreed to do the anthem. I’m a very curious girl, Ty. I had to accept.”

I laughed again. “He’s something else. Leave it to Tucker to tell my girlfriend something I’d rather her not know.”

“And why is that, Ty? What makes you so humble?”

“Humble? I screwed up, Jayden. It’s my responsibility to make it right. It was just the right thing to do. There wasn’t anything admirable about it.”

“No, that’s where you’re wrong. It’s just another example of how
honorable
you are. Do you know that Tucker is aware of all the things you guys do? He knows who’s breaking curfew; he knows where you guys are all the time. The one thing he wants from his players is for them to be accountable for their own actions. He said there have been many players over the years that could have been
more
successful if they had learned just one lesson on accountability
, and another on integrity.
To him it’s more important than winning games. I know you know this, Ty, but you should also know that you’re a great example to the other players. They see how you conduct your life, on and off the field, and whether or not you’ve become a di
rect reason for them to live a more
honest life, you’ve made an impressio
n on them already. That is the kind of person you are, Ty, and that is the kind of person I am very thankful to share my life with.”