The Ninth Inning (The Boys of Baseball #1) - J. Sterling Page 0,102
but I was too nostalgic and emotional to take the bait.
“Thank you for letting me play travel ball in the summer, and for all the time and money it took to support this dream. I couldn’t have gotten here without you.”
His eyes shone as he gripped my shoulder, “It was my honor, son.”
“You didn’t have to, you know? You could have told me that we couldn’t afford it, and I would have been sad, but I would have understood. But never once,” I sucked in a breath, “Not once, did you tell me that I couldn’t play.”
“Watching you play ball brought a smile to my face when nothing else did,” he said, his voice shaking. “I feel like I should be thanking you.”
A breath hitched and I suddenly remembered that we weren’t alone as my dad’s eyes shifted away from me. I turned to see the camera crew filming us. I hadn’t even noticed them approaching.
“I swear to God, lady, if you put any of that on the air, I’ll hunt you down,” he warned Alpine and I knew it was only because he would never want something that personal to be up for public consumption.
“Dad,” I said before reaching for Alpine, noting her shocked expression. “That was kind of personal. It wasn’t meant for anyone else to hear,” I tried to explain before realizing that I wanted them gone. “I’ll give you a brief interview, but then you need to go. I want to be with my family and friends, and you can’t be here anymore.”
“Okay, sure. I understand. And I won’t air that clip,” she said before looking at her cameraman and demanding, “Delete that footage.”
He looked shocked, his eyes questioning, but then quickly pressed some buttons and did as she’d asked. “Done.”
“Great. Let’s just go in your backyard,” she suggested, and I followed behind, telling her to make it quick.
Once I wrapped things up with Alpine and got the crew out of the house, I looked for Christina, but Chance and Mac stopped me on their way out the door.
“Congratulations. We’re so happy for you, man,” Mac said, and I gave him a big bear hug.
I had no idea when I’d see either of them again. Life was taking us in different directions.
“Are you going to go grab Alpine’s number before she leaves?” I gave Mac a look, and he slapped my shoulder.
“Nah. She scares me,” he said, and Chance and I both laughed.
“I didn’t know any girl could do that to you,” I said.
Chance held out his hand, and I took it, the two of us shaking like business partners who’d just closed a deal.
“Congratulations again. I’m so happy for you. You’re going to be great. Just keep picturing Logan’s head on all those curveballs,” he said, and I laughed because he wasn’t that far off.
“Thanks, bud. I’m happy for you too.”
Chance had been invited to play in the most exclusive summer ball league program in the country. He was going to show everyone there what real baseball players were made of.
“It’s a big deal, you know.”
“I know,” he said, but it wasn’t cocky. Chance was never cocky. “Hey, my dad said to tell you congratulations and that it couldn’t have happened to a better guy.”
“Wow.” I cocked my head back in disbelief. “Tell him thanks so much. Ah hell, I’ll text him myself later. Thanks for coming over, you guys. It means a lot.”
“Of course. We’re Team Cole all the way,” Mac said, and I rolled my eyes.
“You literally sound like my teenage sister. You realize that, don’t you?” Chance said, pretending to be annoyed.
“Then, your sister must be awesome,” Mac sniped back.
“Okay, we’re leaving,” Chance announced before grabbing Mac and giving him a shove.
“Guess we’re leaving. Bye, everyone,” Mac shouted into the house before Chance could get him outside.
I watched them walk down the driveway and toward their car before I wandered back in search of my girl. I found her sitting with her parents and Lauren, eating chips and salsa at the kitchen table, and it reminded me of the first time we had eaten Mexican food together in the commissary at school. I remembered asking her if the word salsa did anything for her, like an idiot.
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Travers. May I borrow your daughter?” I asked, making sure I sounded polite and respectful. I’d never had to impress parents before, and it was important to me that I did—impress hers, that was.