with scouts in the stands all the time, but it never hurt to reassure the guys. They were here because we were champions. They came to scout us, not the other way around. The welfare of my team was paramount, and by the time we stepped out on the field, we were all rocking the winner’s mindset.
But Baylor’s words stuck with me.
Not because I was in any danger of getting my heart broken, though Baylor thought there was a good fifty-fifty chance. They stuck with me because instead of being fully focused on the game, like I always was, I was thinking about Honor watching in the stands, wondering if she was enjoying herself, waiting for the moment when we brought home this W, so I could speak to her again.
“So, his real name’s James Alexander Malcom Mackenzie Fraser?” I said. “That’s just crazy. Who has that many names?”
“I know,” Chase said. “But Jamie’s like the man. He’s an outlaw from Scotland, who’s loyal and brave, even though he’s gone through all this terrible stuff.”
“And he meets the love of his life because of some stones?” I asked, still not understanding.
“Yeah,” Chase said, eyes bright. “But she has to travel through the stones first. It’s time-travel and adventure and historical romance all rolled into one.”
I shook my head still not really getting it.
Chase sighed. “Maybe you should just read the book.”
Before I could pump him for more info about this guy Honor had been dreaming about, our teammates joined us, fresh from the showers as we left the locker room. The talk switched immediately from books and went straight to baseball.
“Man, I was on today,” T.J. was saying. “Did you see my catch in the fourth to end the inning? It was a thing of beauty.”
“You want to talk beauty,” Mitch Snider said, “let’s talk about my double or that perfect slide into Homeplate. That was on point.”
“Yeah, and unnecessary,” Chase mumbled from beside me.
It was true. Mitch had only slid into home because he could, not because he had to, trying to make it look more dramatic, hoping to catch the eye of one of the scouts no doubt. But he’d obviously forgotten about the errors he made in the second and fifth innings and how he’d struck out a few times before hitting that double. Snider only focused on the stuff that made him look good—which was why he had such a high opinion of himself.
“Those scouts would be crazy not to offer me a spot after this.”
No one answered, but Snider didn’t need any encouragement.
“The girls in stands sure were eating it up,” he smirked.
“Yeah,” Baylor said, unable to help himself. “It was a nice hit. Maybe you’d get a few more if you weren’t so focused on hamming it up for the crowd.”
T.J. rolled his eyes as Snider glared. “This coming from the guy known for pointing to left field before he bats like he’s freaking Babe Ruth or something? You’re one to talk.”
“You do do that,” T.J. muttered.
“I know,” Baylor said with a shrug. “It’s one of my many loveable quirks.”
Parker Graves stepped in then. “Yeah, yeah, but can we talk about my man Chase here a second? If anyone’s getting scouted it’s this guy. That arm is fire.”
Chase opened his mouth to respond, but Snider spoke over him.
“Are you kidding? After that slide into home?” he laughed. “Sorry man, but I do believe I stole the show.”
Outwardly, I kept my face a mask, but mentally, I scoffed. If Snider thought his one measly hit was anything to my brother’s stellar pitching, he really was delusional. Chase had only allowed two runs to score and five hits total the whole game.
“Everyone played great,” I said. “Like Coach said, this win puts us in a good place going into to tomorrow’s game. Which means our opponents will want to win even more since we schooled them today. But we’re not gonna let that happen, right guys?”
They nodded.
“Rest up, eat well, and I’ll see you for game two in the morning.”
As my teammates dispersed, I saw Honor up in the stands. She was there with June—I’d noticed them during the pre-game warm-up and was glad Honor hadn’t had to sit alone. June always came to our games. Home or away, she loved baseball and was one of our most devout fans. Though there were other girls, too, who weren’t so in love with baseball who made it a point to be at nearly every game.
A group of