Foul Pole by Tina Gallagher
Chapter Thirty
Leo
I squattedbehind the plate and Trey went into his windup then delivered a perfect changeup. The second it landed in my glove, I hopped up and threw the ball down to second base and watched Jack Reagan snag it right at the bag.
After two weeks of games, I’m back in the groove and I feel great. My back is loose so every movement behind the plate isn’t accompanied by a stabbing pain like it was at the end of last year.
The batter stepped into the box and I settled behind the plate. Trey is a master at painting the corners, so when I gave him the sign for a fastball inside, it skidded right over the edge of the plate, just above the knee, and smacked into my glove. I had him follow that up with the same pitch, but on the outside corner. The hitter fanned at it, but couldn’t catch up. After that, I set up right in the middle and slowed things down with a slider. The batter swung way ahead, catching a piece of the ball with the end of his bat, ticking it right into my glove for the first out.
I called a similar pattern for the next two batters. The second guy fouled three pitches off, before popping up to Jimmy Chavez at third base. The third flew out to Dan McMullen in center field.
“You’re looking good,” I told Trey as we settled onto the edge of the bench in the dugout.
“I feel good.” He took a long drink of water then looked at me and smiled. “And I’ll be even better when Nori gets here.”
“Yeah, tomorrow can’t come soon enough.”
Anjannette, Keera, Nori, and Angie are all flying in tomorrow, which works out well because Trey and I don’t have a game so we’ll be able to spend the whole day with them. Some of the guys are coming over for dinner so Keera can have her fangirl moment.
“Well that was a short break,” I said as Kasprzyk, Monte, and Chavez got out in quick succession.
“That’s better than having a long break that would fuck with my rhythm,” Trey said as we headed back onto the field.
The game turned into a pitcher’s duel, so the next few innings went by just as fast. We’re in the top of the eighth and each team only has one hit and no runs have scored.
Trey is done for the day and Ricky Parrish is next on the mound. A southpaw with a nasty curve, he’s a great pitcher to follow Trey because their styles are so different. His warm-up pitches are right on the mark, which is a good sign of how the inning will go.
Ricky stood at the back of the mound rubbing the ball between his hands as the batter walked up to the plate. I squatted into position and he stepped up next to the rubber and waited for my sign. Since the guy in the box is probably expecting a curveball, I went with a fastball. His late swing sent a weak ground ball right back to the mound. Parrish scooped it up and tossed it to Monte for the first out.
We got ahead of the next batter with a four-seam on the outside corner followed by a filthy curve. Unfortunately, the next pitch went a little wild and hit the batter on the thigh putting him on first base with the clean-up hitter up next.
I asked for a time out and jogged out to the mound.
“Skinner has good speed,” I said, referring to the guy on first base. “Try to keep his lead short. I’m going with all fastballs so when he does try to steal, I have a chance to shoot him out. And I want to keep the pitches low to draw a ground ball in case they go with a hit and run instead.”
“Got it.”
Ricky doesn’t have the same pinpoint control as Trey or Rusty, but he’s usually close enough to be effective. I set up on the inside corner but instead of giving a sign, I pointed toward Skinner, who as predicted, had taken a huge lead. Parrish fired the ball to Monte, who slapped the tag a split-second after the runner’s hand hit the bag. The same thing happened for what would have been the next two pitches then Skinner finally took a lead I was comfortable with. It was shortened enough that when the ground ball was hit to second base, Oskar Marquez snagged it and flipped it to Jack Reagan who brushed the bag with his foot before firing the ball to Monte for a perfectly-executed double play.
I jogged back to the dugout and since I’m up second this inning, removed my gear. After taking a quick drink of water, I grabbed my bat and headed onto the on-deck circle. Shawn Riggs stepped up to the plate and I watched him take three balls in a row as I loosened up my shoulders and back, then took a few practice swings. There’s a new pitcher on the mound for Houston and it seems he’s having trouble finding the plate.
With three balls, Riggs was taking all the way and the pitcher threw a fastball right down the middle for strike one. He followed it up with a curveball that bounced in the dirt, sending Shawn down to first base.
I tightened my batting gloves as I walked over to the plate then stepped into the box. Since four out of five pitches this guy just threw were balls, I won’t swing until I see a strike. After throwing two balls high and outside, he managed to put one over the plate. With a count of two and one, I was ready. So when he hung a meatball, I stepped and swung. The bat vibrated in my hands a second before I heard the telltale crack as I made contact and sent the ball flying in a high arc over the left field wall.
Flipping my bat toward the dugout, I started my trot around the bases. Riggs held his hand up for a high-five as I crossed home plate. As I headed toward the dugout, I glanced up into the stands and froze in place then did a double-take, figuring I was hallucinating. When Anjannette stopped clapping to wave down at me, I knew I wasn’t.
Anjannette
“Well,I’d say you surprised them,” Angie said.
“Seems that way,” I said, not taking my eyes off Leo.
After Trey popped his head out of the dugout and looked up at us, he leaned against the railing in front of it instead of going back inside. Leo joined him a minute later wearing his gear and every once in a while they’d glance up at us.
“You know ladies, the field is out there.” Keera pointed. “And there’s a game going on.”
“I’m good with what I’m looking at,” Nori said.
“Yeah, me too.”
“With the way Leo is eye fucking our girl here, I think we should make ourselves scarce for a couple hours after the game,” Keera said to Angie. “There are just some things I don’t want to hear.”
“Eewww, that’s my brother you’re talking about.” Angie made a gagging sound then chuckled and said, “But you’re right.”
Leo glanced back at me.
“In fact, maybe we should get a room for the night. I’m not sure a couple hours will be long enough.”
Before Angie could comment, I decided to divert the subject from my sex life.
“So what’s happening here?”
“I’m gonna have to get you a Baseball for Dummies book. You can’t be dating a
ballplayer and not have at least a basic understanding of the game.”
“As great as that sounds, it doesn’t help me right now.”
“Of course, if you were watching the game instead of staring at Leo’s ass, you’d probably have a better idea.”
“Could we please not talk about my brother’s sex life or any of his anatomy?”
The crowd cheered and we looked toward the field.
“Looks like Riddle cleared the bases with a double,” Nori said.
There was a short lull in the action while Houston changed pitchers.
“Listen to you speaking baseball,” Angie said. “I’m so proud.”
“I’ve learned a lot since last year.” She looked at me. “When Trey and I met, I didn’t have a clue either. You’ll catch on.”
The game started again and the first Waves’ batter hit the ball but got out. The one after that hit the ball way out in the outfield and made it to second base, but the next two batters struck out.
I watched Leo jog onto the field. He looked over at me and smiled then put his helmet on and squatted behind home plate.
I’ve really missed him these last three weeks. We spent so much time together leading up to the start of spring training, it was strange coming home to an empty house after he left. Especially since said house is his. We FaceTimed every night which is better than nothing, but it’s definitely not the same as waking up with him beside me every day.
I’m still struggling to find the balance in this relationship. As Keera keeps pointing out, Leo isn’t Travis, which I understand, but I still never want to be so dependent on another person again. But I really do love Leo. He’s so amazing and open and generous, I don’t want to hold myself back from experiencing what we can be. Plus holding any part of myself back wouldn’t be fair to him.
I’m thinking about making an appointment with my therapist to discuss my feelings and
see if she has any suggestions or any strategies for when I get triggered. She was with me though my whole breakup with Travis, so I’m sure she’d have some insight on how I can navigate this.
Keera clapped next to me pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked toward the field and saw the players throwing the ball around the infield. Shifting my attention to the scoreboard, I searched for the word Outs and saw the number two glowing beneath it.
A batter stepped up to the plate and the first pitch was a ball. He swung at the next one and I watched as Leo’s mask flew off and he fell back onto his ass then stood, holding his jaw.
“What just happened?”
“The batter ticked the ball back and it hit Leo’s mask and knocked it off.”
Two men walked over to Leo and when he moved his hand, I saw blood on his face.
“Oh God, he’s bleeding.”
Angie patted my hand.
“It’s okay, he’ll be fine. He’s had worse things happen to him behind the plate. One time the ball hit him square in the throat.”
“They’re bizarrely resilient,” Nori said. “One time Trey got hit in the middle of the shin with a line drive and kept pitching. I would have been on the ground curled up in a ball crying for at least an hour if that happened to me.”
The one man had a fanny pack around his waist and pulled out a piece of gauze and sprayed something onto it then dabbed at Leo’s face. After inspecting the area he’d just cleaned, he wiped it with a clean piece of gauze then placed a bandage on it. He said something to Leo who then put his mask back on and nodded. And that was it. The men went to the dugout and Leo walked back behind the plate.
The batter got back into the box and I sat on the edge of my seat as the pitcher threw the ball again. Thankfully this time when the batter hit it, the ball went out toward the field instead of in Leo’s face. Jack Reagan caught it and threw it to first base for the third out.
So that’s it. The game is over and the Waves won.
I watched Leo walk toward the dugout and disappear inside.
“So is there somewhere we can go meet them or should we just call a car and head to the condo?” I asked.
Keera’s eyes widened then she pointed toward the field.
“Uh, there’s the answer to your question.”
The crowd started cheering and I turned my head just in time to see Leo and Trey hop over the wall and run up the steps toward us.
“Oh my God. Can they do that?” I asked.
“I don’t think anyone is gonna stop them if they can’t,” she said with a chuckle.
Trey ran over to the other side where Nori is sitting and Leo stopped at my row and reached out his hand. I took it and he pulled me out onto the step and into his arms. Cupping my face, he flashed a dimple-popping smile then lowered his head and pressed his lips against mine.
God how I missed him.
Everything faded away except for the man kissing me. I dug my fingers into Leo’s biceps as his tongue twirled against mine and he added a slight suction that I felt in every erogenous zone in my body. I squeezed my thighs tight to ease the throbbing ache between them and fought the urge to climb him like a tree, wrap my legs around his waist, and grind against him.
Leo slowly ended the kiss and the sounds of the crowd filled my ears once again. They were cat-calling, whistling, and cheering and I should have felt embarrassed at our very public display of affection but my joy at being in his arms again just wouldn’t let me.