Flirting With First Read online

  “Rabbit!”

  “Hey, Rabbit!”

  Most of the time he ignored them. Today his eyes went straight to his seats. Empty. His gaze skirted over the stands, going up the stairs to the entry. No Trista. He looked away. Now he was gonna have to check every five seconds to see when she got there.

  He frowned. She hadn’t texted that morning. Or last night, come to think of it. He was getting used to her checking in every day. Sometimes he answered, sometimes he just read it a hundred times. What if she’d given up on him already? He knew she would someday. But maybe things were picking up with this Trevor guy.

  The ball cracked against a bat, and Ryker almost swallowed his tongue. Where’s the ball? It flew high and to the left. Foul ball. He forced his heart to calm down. That was too close. He bent his knees, rocking back and forth, his right foot wedged up against the base. This time, Fritz threw him the ball from the mound. “You with me, Rabbit?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Whoa, no quote comeback?” Nickel shook his head and bent his knees, his stance similar to Ryker’s

  He had a point. Ryker was not on his game. Trista not showing up was doing all sorts of stressful things to his brain. He couldn’t be worrying about this stuff during a game. His gaze went up to his seats. Still empty.

  Fritz sent something low and easy towards the batter, and sure enough, Ryker had a runner heading his way. He wedged his foot tighter against the base and held out his mitt, ready for the pass. Nickel got it at second and whizzed the ball to him. It smacked in his mitt just as the guy’s foot pounded the base.

  “Safe!” The first base ump shouted.

  The fans erupted. in outrage. “He was out. You blind, bluey?”

  “I think we got the little league guy today.”

  Ryker ignored them. He was starting to feel his zone. He murmured to the guy on base, Thad. “Did you hear what we got planned for seventh?”

  “What?” Thad tried to ignore him. All the guys did, but he always got to them.

  “Something really important.” He adjusted his mitt.

  The batter got another piece of Fritz.

  Ryker called out, “Elephants.”

  Thad turned. “What?” And then he booked it faster to second. Nickel caught the ball just as he got there.

  “Safe!” The umpire shouted.

  The fans were in an uproar.

  Ryker grinned. Now Levi was up to bat, and the guy on first was firmly ignoring him. “Don’t try any of your stunts, Rabbit.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you know what Yogi always says?”

  He ignored him.

  “Your last game was decent.”

  The guy turned away.

  “I mean, if you call striking out twice and getting out at second decent.”

  Ryker knew Levi was sending this guy home. He could tell by the guy’s stance. He was committed. Fritz was still throwing easy.

  When he heard the crack, a thrill went through him. The ball sailed high out past centerfield. He always thought of Cole out there, and into the stands.

  “Tell Roy on third hi from me,” he called to his solemn first base visitor, and then Levi was coming, all smiles.

  Their knuckles connected. “Timberrr,” Ryker called as he ran by.

  The jumbotrons replayed the knock. And the hashtag #Belltownsixpack flashed on the screen. He smiled. Any time the guys were able to bring attention to their alma mater, Belltown University, he was happy.

  His eyes found the stands. He told them not to, but he had lost all control over anything to do with Trista. Including his palms, which were suddenly clammy as a nervous teen’s. She had just sat down in his seats. Bree sat beside her. He waited as she twisted in her chair, adjusted her drink, and then looked right at him.

  Play it cool.

  She waved a few fingers and said something to Bree.

  She came. Something about that gesture was doing things to him, other things. He wanted to nod in return, like he’d seen the other players do, subtle. But his hand went up and, his fingers waved, a mirror of hers, and the fans immediately erupted in laughter, their heads craning to see what he was waving at.

  “Oooh.” Their high-pitched girly sounds and their fingers doing the girly wave back to him made his cheeks burn with embarrassment. He looked away and bent his knees. Maybe inviting Trista to his game was not such a great idea. Not if he couldn’t act normal. Come on, Rabbit.

  One more out and he could go in and regroup. Then when he was up to bat, he’d be normal again. Sure, no problem. Up to bat with her watching him. He shook his head. He’d side-eye her for sure and then strike out. He needed Levi to smack some sense into him.

  Fritz struck out the last guy. Finally. And they ran back to the dugout, Ryker watching the ground.

  Chapter 7

  Trista had followed Bree down the stairs toward their seats. She never in a million years would have pegged her as Ryker’s sister. Where his hair was a brilliant blond, hers was nondescript brown. Where he was always carefully dressed, she’d shown up in leggings and a long t-shirt. Where he seemed to light the room with his confidence, she tried to hide.

  “Thanks, Bree, this is awesome.” Trista scooted into their row.

  Bree nodded with a half-smile. She’d barely said hello when they met.

  Ryker was on the field. She leaned back and smiled. Had he seen her? It seemed ridiculous he’d even notice them from the field. There were fans everywhere. But then his head turned in their direction. She held her breath. He had to be looking. She felt his eyes burn through her in a captivating sense of self-awareness. She lifted her fingers.

  Had he seen her? Did she just imagine his gaze?

  Then he raised his hand and waved his fingers back at her. Happiness bubbled up inside of her as if she was fully alive for the first time. Wow, all that with the wave of a few fingers.

  Bree smacked her forehead with her palm. “He did not just do that.”

  Uh oh. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  Then the guys from the stands started waving back to Ryker with a few fingers and high voices.

  Were they making fun of him?

  Oh boy. She started to stand, but Bree held a hand out and shook her head. So Trista slowly lowered back into her seat. “What’s the matter with them?”

  Bree eyed her, and Trista felt foolish, but she stood her ground.

  “It’s called heckling. It’s normal. And he deserves it for waving like that to the crowd.”

  When Trista frowned, she added, “But it’s a good sign for you. Only an idiot half in love would have done something like that.”

  In love? She almost choked.

  “Jury’s out on whether he’ll ever tell you, though.”

  Trista considered that piece of information. Interesting. She didn’t know if she believed it, but one hopeful thing had come of being here. Ryker might be at last feeling something towards her. And if that was the case, she was happy about that.

  Trista leaned forward as far as she could to watch the last bit of Ryker’s uniform disappear as he walked into the dugout below them. “Oh no. Are they done? Did I miss the whole thing?”

  Bree snorted. “You don’t know the first thing about baseball, do you?”

  That was the longest sentence the girl had spoken since they got here. Trista laughed. “I need your help. This is important to your brother, so I gotta start following it.” She exhaled long and slow. “Start understanding it.”

  “It’s really not complicated. Sometimes it involves some math, but that’s usually not necessary.”

  A gold ray of hope lit her heart. “Math?”

  Bree tilted her head. “Yeah, you like math?”

  Trista leaned closer. “Most people don’t understand why, but I love it.”

  “What? No way, so do I!” Bree smiled, and Trista was struck by how beautiful she was. She had no makeup on at all as far as Trista could tell, but she had beautiful features. Bree�
�s face turned calculating. She started to list a series of numbers.

  Trista joined her in quoting the numbers of pi. She laughed. Who did this? Overjoyed at her own nerdiness, she kept going and Bree kept going until they announced Ryker in the batter’s box.

  “Oh, he’s up.” Trista lost track of where they were as she strained to see him.

  “Almost. See, he practices his swing and his stance right there until the other guy goes.”

  Trista leaned forward. “Could he hear us?”

  “We could shout down to him. At away games, the crowds try to distract the batter, so the players are pretty good at tuning everything out.” She pointed. “See what he’s doing there?”

  Ryker shook his hips from side to side, which she found adorable. Then he shuffled his feet, brought two fingers to his mouth and gripped the bat. “What is all that?” she asked. It looked like some of the meditation rituals she had before she went on set.

  “It’s his stance. His routine before he bats. He does the same thing every time, and it’s how he finds his zone.”

  “He looks so good in his uniform.” She sighed, and Bree laughed.

  “Oh boy, does he know he does this to you?”

  “No way. Check him out during his game? I’ve never been to one of his games before.”

  “I bet he’s dying.”

  “Why?”

  “Sometimes it messes with their heads if someone new is at the game. It depends what you mean to him or how comfortable he is around you.”

  She thought about that and then shook her head. “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure he just wants to be my friend.” Though he had set up what felt like their first real date for next week.

  Bree’s gaze bore into her a little bit, but Trista ignored it. She didn’t know this girl well enough to bare her soul to her. But maybe that could change. “The SixPack think you’re awesome,” Trista said.

  “You met the guys? I love them. In fact…” She pulled out her phone. “Let’s send them a selfie.” She laughed and seemed to enjoy the idea so much that Trista nodded. Once the pic was sent, Bree’s phone flared up. “Oh look, some of them have games later. They’re responding.” She laughed and typed back until Trista held out her hand. “I believe I deserve to see this conversation since I helped start it.”

  Bree paled. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that.” She handed her the phone and looked away.

  “No, it’s not like that.” Trista blushed. “I’m just kidding.” She rested a hand on Bree’s shoulder. “I’d like to be friends.”

  Her face brightened at that. “Do you know I loved you in Game Plan? You were amazing. Your costumes and that scene at the end.” She held a hand over her heart. “Sorry I’m over the top, but I’m such a huge follower of that geek lore.”

  “No, it’s great. I get stuff like that all the time. Everywhere I go, actually.”

  Then Ryker stepped into the batter box, and Bree went tense. He repeated his ritual again when he went up to bat. So interesting. Trista didn’t know any of this stuff even existed before today. Besides the bat, ball, and mitt requirement, she was clueless about the game.

  He wiggled his hips and rotated his bat. The pitcher wound up and threw.

  Ryker swung and missed.

  “Oh!” Trista shouted and then put her hands up to her face.

  Ryker turned to look right at her. He nodded and then went through his stance again.

  “Did I disturb him?”

  Bree shook her head. “I don’t think so. Look, he’s back in the zone again.”

  He waited, waited, then swung and missed.

  “Oh no,” Trista said in a much quieter tone.

  “It’s okay. He’s gonna connect.” Bree gripped the armrests. Trista wondered if she held her breath. Trista began to count. Forty five pillars across the way on the opposite side of the stadium. Attention back at Ryker. The plate had five sides. Ryker rocked seven times, wiggled his bat three.

  The ball left the pitcher’s hand and flew at Ryker. It seemed to be going faster than ever. Ryker shifted his weight, wiggled his hips, and swung. His bat connected with a crack and sent the ball flying out into the outfield.

  Ryker took off running, and Trista had never seen anyone run so fast. “Wow. His legs are almost a blur.”

  Bree’s grin grew. “He’s amazing. Fastest guy out there.”

  “I believe it. Look at him.” He’d rounded second before the ball dipped into the stands, a homerun. The crowd went crazy, everyone standing and cheering. Bree and Trista jumped up and down and hugged each other. Trista was so caught up in the whole thing, her happiness filled her. When he stepped onto home plate, he blew a kiss to her and Bree and then met the guys standing out in front of the dugout. Their loud cheers and back pounding made Trista smile. “I love baseball.”

  Bree laughed. “Already? That’s good news. ‘Cause around here, we watch a lot of baseball.” She leaned back, eyeing Trista with what looked like new interest.. “Where do you live? Like, I know you have to shoot movies all over, but where is your home?”

  Trista shrugged. “I like New York. I have a condo up there and a house in LA. Home is basically wherever I want it to be, but it sure is convenient for me to have LA and New York covered.”

  Bree looked thoughtful. “That’s easy too if you want to come down here more often.” Her eyes held hope, and Trista wondered if they could be friends. She wanted to make that happen. Maybe if she reached out...“

  “We should totally make a girl’s day of it sometime.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Makeovers, hair, nails, clothes, the whole deal.” She hoped not to challenge Bree’s awesome natural style. “I know people who work with your own style and give you suggestions.”

  “Wow, I’d like that. Maybe you can show me how to do makeup and dress like I didn’t just wake up, you know, for the days when it matters? Ryker’s always telling me to do more with myself. He’s such a clothes snob.”

  Trista laughed. “He is?” He absolutely was. He always looked great.

  “Sure, haven’t you noticed?” Her eyes travelled over Trista’s clothes, and then she laughed. “You’re one too, aren’t you?”

  Trista didn’t know if that was good or bad in Bree’s eyes, but she loved being the same as Ryker, so she took it as a compliment. “I guess.” She shrugged. “How old are you?” Trista asked.

  “Seventeen.”

  “What? I thought you were at least eighteen.”

  “Everyone says that. Ryker says I need a different hairstyle.”

  “He might think he knows all about it, but trust me, we’ll get you taken care of. You free tomorrow?” Trista pulled out her phone to check her schedule. “I can set things up for the afternoon.”

  “Awesome. I’ll be free.”

  Ryker won. And Trista was happy he’d probably be hyped up and ready for fun. After the game, they waited outside the locker room, and Trista felt supremely uncomfortable. “What if he doesn’t want me here?”

  “Why wouldn’t he?”

  “This is his space. We’re not really anything.”

  “Oh, you must be something.”

  “I don’t know.” Trista shrugged. “Really, I think we’re friends.”

  “I just know you’re the first girl ever to get those seats.”

  Trista tried to temper her smile, but she couldn’t. “Wow, really?” Suddenly she felt more special than she had at her last magazine interview, or any other time she’d been the center of Hollywood attention.

  Bree shook her head. “You’ve got it bad.”

  Trista gasped. “Don’t tell him that. I’m not sure what I’ve got. He’s fun...”

  Bree looked uncomfortable. “Well, you like him, at least, right? I mean, you came to the game…”

  “Oh, of course!” She was messing things all up. She didn’t want Bree telling Ryker she was into him and she didn’t want her telling him she didn’t like him. “Ryker’s the best.
Who wouldn’t like him?” She swallowed her fear. “Honestly Bree, we’re just super new.”

  But Bree just laughed. “Your face is a dead giveaway. I’m sure he knows. Everyone probably knows. Do the guys know?”

  “Who? The SixPack? Yeah, I think so. They make comments.”

  “Good, then you’re in.”

  Ryker stepped out of the locker room, wearing what looked like a long, baggy housedress.

  “What is he wearing?”

  Bree ran up to him. “I wondered what you would wear.”

  Trista joined them just as Levi walked toward them wearing the same dress.

  Ryker put his arm around Trista’s shoulders in his typical “we’re just friends” stance. “This, is what happens when two people win a bet.”

  “What?”

  Bree waved her hands. “Every time one of the guys plays another, they bet something, and today they both won their bets and they both lost their other bets. The punishment is something like this or to buy the other dinner or whatever.”

  Ryker grunted. “Yes, so take our picture. That’s part of the deal. Then we’ll change and buy our own dinners.”

  Levi frowned for the picture. “Deal.”

  They left to change, and Trista liked him even more.

  Loud shouting and flashes came toward them from down the hall. “Oh no.”

  “What?” Bree craned her neck to see.

  “Sounds like the paparazzi.”

  Bree snorted. “Ryker will be glad he took off his muumuu.”

  Trista laughed, but her nervousness grew. So far, the press had left her alone. And she was happy for her and Ryker to not be a big deal to anyone but her for now. But this sound, echoing in the underground hallway, sounded all too familiar.

  They came round the corner, with Trevor leading the pack.

  Her mouth fell open before she could school her features.

  “Babe!” he shouted, arms open.

  She smiled, the insta-paste smile, and asked through her teeth, “What are you doing here?”

  “We saw you were here and wanted a few shots for our date.” He air-quoted the word date.