The Ninth Inning (The Boys of Baseball #1) - J. Sterling Page 0,98

flashed back to the memory and smiled.

“He just loves to point that hat thing at you, doesn’t he?” Lauren shook her head, and I didn’t bother correcting her this time.

The scouts behind us were talking loud enough that I could overhear. It took everything in me not to turn around and engage them in conversation, so I did what any good girlfriend—am I Cole’s girlfriend?—would do; I eavesdropped. They were arguing over who was going to talk to Cole first after the game tonight and which team they thought he’d rather play for. I couldn’t help but feel proud. Cole was going to get everything he’d worked so hard for, and no one deserved it more.

When the game ended—we won, by the way—I decided not to wait around. I still wasn’t sure what Cole and I were, and I knew that he had scouts literally lining up to talk to him. He needed to focus on his future.

“We should go,” I said to Lauren, and she balked at me. “Why the face?”

“I just figured you’d stay, like usual. I go home, and Cole brings you there.”

“We aren’t back together.”

“Technicality.”

“Regardless. You heard the guys behind us. And that was just them. Who knows how many other scouts want to talk to him? He needs to handle that first.”

“But you’ll call him tonight, right?” She stomped her foot and narrowed her eyes.

“I promise.” I held out my pinkie, she wrapped hers around it, and we shook.

“Fine. But when Cole asks, I wasn’t a fan of this idea.” She turned and stalked toward the exit, immediately swallowed up by a sea of people as I followed.

I glanced back at the field, but Cole wasn’t anywhere to be found.

We’d only been home for less than ten minutes when our front door opened, and Cole flew through it, still wearing his uniform. I was shocked that Lauren hadn’t locked it behind us like usual.

“What are you doing here?” I asked at the same time Lauren yelled, “How do you always get in?”

He looked at Lauren first and pointed at her. “I have impeccable timing.” Then, he pointed his finger at me. “Why’d you leave?”

“The game was over.”

“But I left you tickets. I asked you to come,” he said, sounding flustered as he stepped closer to me.

“I know. I was going to call you later,” I tried to explain, not understanding what the big deal was. “Wait. Why are you here? I overheard the scouts. They were going to talk to you. Didn’t you see them?”

He laughed. “Of course I saw them.”

“Well, what’d they say?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged.

“You don’t know?” I shouted.

“I left.”

“What do you mean, you left?” I started freaking out because this was the one thing that Cole had always wanted. I’d known it since the first day I met him.

Cole Anders was baseball. This was his dream, his goal, his whole world.

“Why would you do that? You’ve been working for this your whole life! Oh my God, go back. Go back there right now.”

“Christina,” he said my name so sweetly that I knew he wanted me to calm down, but how could I be calm when he was telling me something like this? “I asked them to wait.”

“You asked Major League Baseball scouts to wait?” I repeated the idea like it was the most insane thing I’d ever heard in my whole entire life.

He gave me a smirk and a nod. “I told them to pretend that I was taking a shower. A really long shower. And that I’d be right back.”

“Cole!” I shouted again, but he only laughed. “Get out of this house right now and go away.” I swatted his back and tried to shove at his large body, but it refused to budge. Stupid, strong shoulders.

“No,” he said, and I heard Lauren giggling. I’d almost forgotten she was there.

“This is your dream,” I started to say, but he closed the space between us and pulled me against him, leaving the rest of the words to die in my throat.

“But you’re my dream too,” he said.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders like I couldn’t pull him close enough. Our bodies talked in silence, spilling apologies and hope and all the things we needed to say to each other but hadn’t yet.

Cole broke the hug, moving barely an inch away before those blue eyes looked right into mine. He tipped my chin up with his hand. “I could have baseball, and I would still be missing something if I didn’t