Extra Innings

by Stevens, Lynn

  “I can’t believe your family room is in a completely different building,” he said as I sat beside him. But not too close.

  I laughed, harder than I should have. “Don’t make me do that. It hurts.”

  “Sorry.” He pushed me forward and adjusted the heating pad.

  The heat made my eyebrows sweat. “Will you do me a favor?” I asked. “Will you keep all this between us? I don’t want the other guys to think I’m some rich bitch looking for a cheap thrill.”

  “Says the girl who drives a Beemer.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Point taken.”

  Daniel leaned back into the plush leather sofa and put his feet on the table. “Don’t worry, Vic. I wouldn’t want them trying to hoard in on all this anyway.”

  The TV remote was just out of my reach. I pointed at it, but, like most guys, he snatched it and started flipping through the stations. Daniel found the Cardinals pregame show. I’d watch baseball twenty-four seven if I could. Grandma was tired of the games already, but that wasn’t going to stop me.

  “Hey, Daniel,” I said, drawing him away from an interview with a just-called-up minor leaguer. “Can I ask you something?”

  He shrugged and kept his eyes on the TV.

  “Will you be honest with me?”

  He looked at me then muted the TV.

  “How bad did it look?” I already knew how bad it looked to me, but I wanted his opinion.

  “Pretty nasty.”

  My stomach sunk into my knees. “Great. I bet the other guys think I’m a wuss.”

  This made him laugh for some reason. “They think you’re crazy, Vic, but not a wuss.”

  “Crazy?” I didn’t know if I liked the sound of that.

  “For going after CroMag man. For trying to practice hurt. For playing in the first place. Most of the guys think it’s kinda cool you’re on our team.” He lifted the remote to turn the sound back on.

  “Most? Who’s the exception?” Each guy’s face passed in my mind. But I knew the answer.

  He sighed. Loudly. Then put the remote back in his lap. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Yep.”

  “Jayden thinks you’re making a mockery out of the game. His words, not mine.”

  I nodded. “He’s pretty intense, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah. His mom works two jobs to stay in the neighborhood. His dad’s out of the picture. Most of us, including you, aren’t going to have a problem getting into college. Jay’s depending on a scholarship.”

  “There are other ways –”

  “He’s not the sharpest guy with the books. He tries, but he knows his GPA isn’t going to help. Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t stupid. He works hard to get okay grades. There’s no way he can get any academic scholarships. It’ll have to be athletic.”

  We sat in silence. I’d never thought that one of the guys might need baseball. The heating pad had cooled off and the throbbing in my back ached. “Is that why he never talks to me?”

  “Pretty much.” He glanced at the TV then back at me. “Okay, my turn.”

  I waved my hand at him and closed my eyes.

  “Why’d you ask me to stay?”

  It was a valid question. Why did I ask him? It’s not like I don’t spend plenty of time alone. I shook it off and grabbed the nearest game controller.

  “To kick your ass at ‘Swords of Fury’, of course.”

  “Oh, game on.” Daniel smiled and reached for the other controller. He turned on the game console. “You aren’t the only one with this game, princess.”

  We played until the game came on. Daniel would warm up the heating pad for me. A couple of times, I hated to admit this, I would cheat and kill his avatar. That only made the competition worse. He started bumping into my arm and I’d give it right back to him. I even faked pain in my back to get him to stop. He caught on to that pretty fast though.

  Then he elbowed my arm too hard and I lost my balance. Daniel did too and landed on top of me. We both forgot about the game. His breath smelled like cucumbers and mayo from the sandwiches Lilly had brought us. He stared at me for a moment then pushed himself back into sitting position.

  I laid there in shock before forcing myself to sit back up beside him. He gripped my arm and helped pull me up. My skin burned where he’d touched me. The throbbing in my back had increased with the added pressure of Daniel’s weight.

  “I think I better go.” He stood up, stretching his arms above his head. His shirt rose to expose his thin stomach and the black band of his boxers. Not that I’d normally notice such things. He dropped his arms with a scowl souring his face. “Great. I forgot to call Dad.”

  I opened my mouth suggest calling a cab when a car pulled around the back of the house. Mom used a service when she went to the Tea Room just in case she had too much “tea.”

  “Come on. I know how you can get home.” I brushed by him and immediately regretted it. He might think it was intentional. Whatever just happened between us, I didn’t need to encourage it to happen again.

  Mom stood in the driveway while the driver took her shopping bags from the trunk. She eyed Daniel with clear suspicion. In a matter of minutes, Daniel was gone.

  Before Mom could play Spanish Inquisitor with me, I took off to my room and closed the door. It may have been princess era hell, but it was still mine. I checked out my back before climbing into the four-poster bed. The swelling had gone down even though it looked greener than before. Within twenty minutes, I was asleep and dreaming of a Korean boy.

  The next two games were uneventful. I was suspended for the Thursday game, which we won by one run. For Saturday’s game, I expected to be back in the lineup. My massive bruise still scarred my back, but it looked uglier than it felt. The lineup card did not have my name on it. Hiding my disappointment, I warmed up with Shane and T.C. It felt good to stretch and loosen up.

  It was the bottom of the ninth with one out and our team down by one run.

  “Hudson, you feelin’ up to hittin’?” Coach growled.

  My response was to grab my bat and batting gloves.

  “Just get on the bag. And for God’s sake, get outta the way of the ball.” He trotted back to the coach’s box at third.

  A couple of the guys laughed as I stretched again and eyed the pitcher. My back was too tight to turn on a pitch. I’d have to loop it to right field. And I knew the pitcher would offer up a fastball down the middle. Boys never learn.

  He didn’t smile at me or acknowledge me in anyway. The fastball I so cockily expected ended up as a curveball on the outside of the plate. And I totally missed it by swinging over the ball. It had great curve. No wonder this guy was the closer.

  I stepped out and looked for my sign. Coach nodded. I was on my own.

  Bunt.

  They were playing me to hit but not hard and not too far. They weren’t playing me to bunt. If I laid it down the third base line, I could beat it out. But if I faked a bunt, I could draw them in and then pop it into right.

  I squared.

  The first and third basemen moved in and everyone adjusted.

  The wind up. The release.

  I pulled my bat back then slapped the ball over the second baseman’s head. If I’d been at full strength, I could’ve turned it into a double, but I stayed at first. Coach sent Freddie in to run for me. High fives went around the dugout from everyone but Jayden. Daniel grabbed my hand for a second too long. His face started to turn pink and he let go, walking to the other end of the dugout. Thankfully, none of the guys noticed. That would’ve been awkward.

  My cell rang in my duffel. I looked over at it and shook my head.

  “Gonna pick that up?” Daniel asked, sneaking up behind me with a sneer on his lips. He knew it was Theo. Stupid ringtone.

  “Of course not. I’m a little busy at the moment.”

  He smirked as I brushed by him to rattle the fence and annoy the other team. Daniel joined me. I was all too aware of how close he was. Even if I wasn’t with Theo,
I couldn’t go out with Daniel. It would mess with the team.

  Freddie was at third now with Jayden coming up to the plate. If they were smart, they’d walk him with first base open. They didn’t, and he made them pay. One pitch and Jayden jacked it out of the park in dead center. We greeted him at home for the walk-off celebration, jumping up and down like we just won the World Series.

  During the mandatory round of handshakes with the other team, their pitcher grabbed my hand and held onto it for a moment. Daniel stood too close behind me and I felt him tense up. The pitcher grunted.

  “Nice hit,” he said. Then he moved on.

  Smiling like a moron, I almost skipped back to the dugout.

  “What did that dude say?” Daniel asked, hurrying to catch up with me.

  “Why?”

  “He looked like a dick. What’d he say?”

  I stopped and glared at him for a moment. “He told me I had a nice ass.”

  He scowled. I could’ve sworn that was smoke coming out of his ears. It was both flattering and annoying.

  “What would you have done if he’d called me a bitch? Beat him up for me?” I snapped. “I can take care of myself, you know.” I threw my glove into the dirt. “God, don’t be such a –”

  “A what?”

  “A guy!”

  He glared down at me and I could’ve sworn the imaginary smoke was real.

  “What’s your problem, Daniel?”

  He shook his head and strode to the dugout. I bent down and grabbed my glove, not entirely sure of what just happened. Daniel didn’t turn around or even glance at me as he took off to the parking lot. It bothered me more than it should have.

  I stomped into the dugout and plopped on the bench.

  “Damn, Vic. Why you gotta be so hard on him?” Reggie asked as he threw his glove into his bag.

  “What are you talking about?” I yanked my cleats off without untying them.

  “You’re an idiot.” Adam sat beside me, draping his arms across the back of the bench. “He likes you. Everyone knows it.”

  I shook my head. “No, you’re wrong. Daniel knows I’ve got a boyfriend.”

  “And you think that stops a guy from liking a girl? What the hell is your momma teaching you?” Reggie laughed. “Get serious, Vic. The guy’s got the hots for you.”

  My cell rang again.

  “And you better turn that off next time or Coach’ll have your head,” Adam said as he stood up and grabbed his own bag.

  Theo’s smiling face on the screen made me want to chuck the phone onto the field. I didn’t want to deal with him. Not now. I pushed the button to silence the damned thing and dropped my head into my hands.

  I didn’t need this.

  TOP OF THE 3RD

  Coach gave us Sunday off. Instead of heading with Grandma to beautify some neighborhood garden, I went over to Chez Hudson. Grandma didn’t push it, but she did give me her patented stink eye. The conversation with Reggie and Adam weighed my thoughts. It hadn’t occurred to me that one of my teammates might like me like me. It hadn’t crossed my mind that I might like one of them. The other thing that hadn’t crossed my mind much lately was Theo.

  He called me a couple of times since he left. I only called him once, but I’d emailed him details of the games he never asked about. He never mentioned them or responded to the emails.

  After swimming a few laps in the pool, I called Theo like a good girlfriend should.

  “Hello?” a groggy voice answered. It sounded somewhat familiar and was most definitely not Theo’s. Or male at all for that matter.

  Uh-oh. I also hadn’t thought about what time it was there. “Is Theo around?”

  Whoever it was dropped the phone. I heard it hit the floor.

  “Victoria? Do you have any idea what time it is?” Theo sounded quite clear and quite awake.

  “Yeah, it’s around noon.” The tone in his voice made me squirm on the chaise lounge.

  “I mean here.”

  “No, Theo, I don’t know what time it is there.” I sighed so he would hear me. “You called yesterday. I was just calling you back. That’s all.”

  Something shuffled in the background. Papers? Maybe.

  “Look, I’ll just talk to you later,” I added. The shuffling continued and curiosity got the best of me. “What’re you doing anyway?”

  “We’re on a train heading back to Paris.” A girl giggled near him. “Why didn’t you answer your phone yesterday?”

  “I was in the middle of a game. Who’s with you?”

  He paused. “What?”

  “Someone else is with you. Someone else answered your phone and it was a girl. Who’s there?” Something was wrong. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach.

  “That’s Stacey. You remember her, right? She was in our poli-sci class last spring.” He tried to keep his voice casual, but it cracked on her name. “Rod and Leslie are in here too, but you didn’t wake them up when you called.”

  “And why did she answer your phone, Theo?” I was seething inside. That’s why I knew the voice. Stacey had been chasing Theo since the minute he asked me out.

  “I don’t know. Her phone looks the same as mine –”

  “Don’t pull that crap with me, Theo. I can see through it. Just …” I took a deep breath. “Tell me the truth.”

  I heard the sound of the door sliding open then close.

  “Victoria, it’s not –”

  “Don’t patronize me either.”

  “She’s a friend –”

  “Who’s sleeping in your compartment?”

  He didn’t say anything. I could almost see him leaning against the doors to his sleeping compartment and staring out the window of the train, northern Italy flashing by outside but barely visible.

  “It’s not what –”

  I hit end. It was the oldest song in the book and I didn’t want to hear it. I fell back onto the lounge chair and waited for the tears to come.

  They never did.

  Practice on Monday was tense. At least for me. Daniel wouldn’t talk or even look at me. Not once. Reggie and Calvin made fun of my “owie.” Now that it no longer hurt, it was acceptable to insult me. Ian and Reid jokingly ducked whenever I threw the ball from third to first. Apparently, I grunt when I throw. I didn’t realize that until Adam pointed it out. Ollie and I chatted about pulling the ball. T.C. helped me work on bunting. Jayden ignored me.

  When practice ended, some of the guys started talking about going to get lunch.

  “Hey, Daniel, we’re going to Hansen’s for a burger,” Adam shouted as Daniel hurried toward the street. “Want to come?”

  He shook his head no and kept walking.

  “What’s up with him?” Delvin asked.

  Adam, Walter, and Reggie looked my way.

  “What?” I snapped. “You seriously can’t blame this on me.”

  “Just go talk to him, Hudson,” Walter said.

  “And what am I supposed to say?”

  Reggie slapped me on my shoulder. “I’d start with ‘hi’ or ‘what’s your problem, Cho.’”

  “Whatever you tell him, go easy on the guy,” Walter added.

  “Yeah, the last girl that broke his heart put him in a slump of monumental proportions,” Adam said. “Personally, I don’t think I could deal with that again. Plus, we’ve got a real shot at the city championship this year.”

  “It won’t do anything to the team,” I whined like a five-year-old girl. This was not looking good for me.

  “Of course it will. He couldn’t hit worth his weight in coal last year after Shelby dumped him.” Reggie tossed his bag over his shoulder. “And he was an ass to be around.”

  “What affects one of us, affects all of us. It’ll mess with the team, Vic. You know that already,” Adam said. He smiled with a hint of sadness. “Man, I was so sick of hearing about Shelby. Every time I pitched, I wanted to throw at Daniel’s head and knock some sense into him. It wasn’t good. Just talk to him. Then come over t
o Hansen’s so we know what to expect tomorrow.”

  They walked to the parking lot in a group. I stared down the street where Daniel disappeared. This wasn’t going to be pretty, but the guys were right. I needed to make my intentions clear. No dating my teammates. I didn’t need any distractions, especially with my relationship with Theo up in the air.

  Daniel had made it to the entrance of the park when I pulled up beside him and honked. He stopped but didn’t look my way. It took all my power not to honk again or to get out and yell at him to stop being a douche.

  I waited. He turned and got into the car without looking at me.

  “Wanna go to Hansen’s?” I tried to figure out what he was thinking. His face was expressionless. “Or we could go –”

  “Hansen’s is fine.”

  “Okay, cool. Where is it?”

  He laughed. For a moment, I thought everything would be okay. Then he said, with as much sarcasm as he could, “How’s the boyfriend?”

  I so did not want him to think that I was available just because Theo and I weren’t on the same page. This was not the time for the truth about that to come out. I put the car in park and turned to face him. “Last time I talked to him, he was heading back to Paris.” With Stacey.

  “He doesn’t treat you right.”

  I couldn’t argue that, but I tried. “You don’t even know him.”

  “I know his type. You aren’t important enough. He never asks about what you’re doing. He only talks about himself. Right? He treats you like a trophy.”

  “Don’t. Ever. Call. Me. That.” The calm in my voice frightened me. I punched him as hard as I could in the arm. He winced, but I didn’t give him a chance to complain. “I’m nobody’s trophy. And you based your opinion on two partial conversations you overheard. You don’t know what we are really like together.” I slammed my hands on the steering wheel. I couldn’t stop myself from getting more and more pissed.