Caught (Men of the Show Book 3)

by Rhonda Shaw

  Shannon laughed as the Rockets’ left fielder caught the pop fly for the final out of the inning. “It’s probably better that Matt isn’t playing. If he was in this game, I’d be so nervous for him.”

  “You’re nervous either way,” Karen told her.

  “You’re right. I hope they can pull it out. Maybe if they make it into the playoffs, then he’ll have a chance to play.”

  Shannon glanced down toward Matt and disappointment tugged at her seeing he’d left his perch to disappear back into the dugout. She took a deep breath and waited for the Rockets to come up to bat. She struggled with patience and hoped someone would get a run right away, because she wanted the game to end. She was done with waiting. She wanted Matt and nothing else mattered at this point.

  * * *

  Matt sat down on the bench as Jason walked up to the plate, causing the crowd to cheer loudly. In his first year with the club, Jason had won them over with his quick, flashy play either in the field or with his bat. He didn’t have a lot of power in his swing, but he consistently got the ball in play. Once on base, he wowed everyone with his speed and now led the team with stolen bases, something the Rockets had lacked in recent years. He brought excitement into the game with him, which the fans appreciated. It also didn’t hurt that all of the women adored him. Matt never understood it, but the ladies loved Jason’s curly hair, worn just long enough to peek out from under his cap, brushing at the back of his neck. Matt’s personal opinion was that it was too long and having his hair that length would drive him nuts.

  As expected, Jason got the signal to bunt and placed down a beauty toward the third base line, slowly rolling through the grass toeing the foul line. Jason tore down the base path, stretching out to touch the bag before the ball hit the seat of the first baseman’s outstretched glove. When the umpire called him safe, the entire stadium erupted, including his teammates. Everyone was pumped and ready to put this game in the books with a win.

  The next batter hit a grounder to first, which allowed Jason to get to second. With one out, the next Rockets’ hitter battled hard, fouling off one pitch after another, wearing the pitcher down, but he eventually went down with a strikeout. The Rockets were down to their last chance to win the game without the need for extra innings. The dugout stirred restlessly, not wanting to lose the chance to score since they had a runner in scoring position, but unless someone hit to bring him home, the game would move into the tenth.

  Before the next Rockets’ hitter standing in the on-deck circle removed the doughnut from his bat and headed toward the plate, Coach Brooklyn called him back into the dugout.

  “Buck, you’re up,” Coach yelled.

  Matt jolted in surprise, and stood unmoving, momentarily frozen with shock.

  “Is there a problem?” Coach asked when Matt hadn’t moved toward the cubby where they kept their batting helmets.

  “No, not at all,” Matt said, coming out of his stupor as he rushed over to grab his gear.

  His heart threatened to pound out of his chest as he pulled on his gloves and walked up the stairs out of the dugout. While he warmed up, Coach Brooklyn went over the lineup change with the umps. The crowd, quickly realizing who the new batter was, yelled and screamed. Out of practice, Matt struggled to ignore the frenzy, internal and external, and empty his head of all thoughts other than putting the ball in play in order to get Jason in for the run to win the game.

  What a situation to put him in. He hadn’t played a game all year, this being his first one, and the game, the season potentially, was on the line. This was what he wanted, but damn, he would have liked to have been a bit more prepared for it.

  Taking a deep breath, he tried to work the stress out of his shoulders, determined to be calm and relaxed when he went up to the plate. Anything else, he would surely get a fly out or a strikeout. He’d faced this pitcher before, and the guy’s play would be to pitch him low and away, not giving him anything to take out of the park. But Matt would be patient and when he had the pitcher in a hole, when he had to throw down the heart of the plate in order to get the out, Matt would take him deep. Either that or he would take a walk, but he hoped it didn’t come to that. One thing he knew for sure, there’d be no repeat of last year. This time, he refused to go down.

  * * *

  Standing up, Shannon grabbed Karen’s arm. Her nerves had shot through the roof once she’d seen Matt stroll out of the dugout with his bat in his hands and his helmet on his head. He appeared calm and collected, but he had to have some butterflies beating around in his stomach. She had no idea how he handled the pressure—she was dying from it and she wasn’t even in the game.

  “I can’t believe they’re putting him in,” Shannon said.

  “He’s one of their best bats. They want him to end it for them,” Karen told her.

  “But what if he gets out?”

  “Then he gets out,” Karen replied, unconcerned. “They go into the tenth inning.”

  “But what if he has to run?” Shannon asked, still unconvinced he should even be in the game.

  “Shannon, they wouldn’t have put him in if he wasn’t ready for it. He’s fine,” Karen promised.

  As Matt slowly walked to the plate, his attention on nothing but the pitcher, Shannon closed her eyes and turned away. “I can’t watch.”

  “Stop it, yes, you can,” Karen said with a laugh. “You need to watch your hot man do his thing. Come on,” she said as she turned Shannon back around.

  Matt stepped up to the plate and raised his bat, waiting for the throw. The pitch came in hot, straight down the middle, and he swung hard, hitting nothing but air. A collective gasp emanated from the crowd. Shannon clenched her fists, watching for any signs of discomfort as he untwisted his body from his huge swing. He didn’t seem to be favoring anything as he stepped back, tightening his grip on his bat. Palpable relief flitted throughout the stands when it was apparent he was okay.

  He readied himself again and this time the pitch came in low and away. Matt let it go and took the ball. The pitcher did the same thing for the next two pitches, but Matt refused to chase and the count sat in Matt’s favor with three balls and one strike.

  “This is torture,” Shannon complained.

  “He’s right where he wants to be,” Karen murmured. “Johnson has to throw something right down the plate. Matt knows it and so all he has to do is connect with it. Jason will be running with the pitch, so hopefully he can get around third and home if Matt gets something over the head of the second baseman and into the outfield.”

  “I don’t know how you can be all cool and assessing with this,” Shannon said as she tried to calm herself down, a hopeless cause since her anxiety was so high she couldn’t even take a deep breath.

  She wanted Matt to succeed and she wanted it so badly. He deserved so much after all he’d been through. Until he had baseball back completely, he would feel incomplete.

  Matt stepped back up to the plate, waiting for the pitch, and Jason took a healthy lead off second. Johnson, the Buffaloes pitcher, eyed Jason for a second, contemplating a throw over to the bag in order to shorten Jason’s lead, but then decided against it and turned his back on him. Johnson threw, right down Broadway, just as everyone had anticipated, but Matt stood ready and swung with everything he had. A resounding crack filled the stadium and everyone, already on their feet, watched the ball sail through the air over everyone’s head. The centerfielder backtracked all the way deep into center field and stopped at the wall as the ball crested over the top at the deepest part of the ballpark.

  Everyone erupted at once, screaming their heads off as Matt trotted around the bases, cementing the Rockets’ win with a walk-off home run. The entire team gathered at home plate. Matt rounded third base, the grin on his face growing bigger at the sight of his teammates waiting for him to come home. He tossed his batting helmet to the ground toward the dugout and jogged the remaining ninety feet. Once his foot touched the plate, the team surrounded him in celebration.
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  Shannon and Karen hugged as they bounced up and down in their seats, their eyes filled with tears of joy. The crowd was so loud they couldn’t have heard each other despite standing next to one another, but nothing needed to be said as they both were thinking the same thing.

  Matt was back.

  Chapter 25

  The celebration continued in the locker room. Showers of champagne drenched Matt, and someone handed him a cigar along with a bottle of beer. With the win, the Rockets had clinched the division, putting themselves ahead in the standings and out of reach from Cleveland since not enough games remained in the season for them to make up the points. Because of that, it was official and, as soon as they’d made their way off the field, the PR staff handed everyone black T-shirts proclaiming their conference win.

  Matt had his shirt on as well as his uniform pants and everything was soaked, but he didn’t care. The champagne stung his eyes and hurt like hell, but he didn’t notice because they’d won and they’d won because he’d hit one out of the park. The sweetest home run he could remember hitting. Not only because the run cemented their place in the playoffs and was against the same team he’d failed to beat the year before, but mostly because he’d connected in the best way possible his first game back. He hadn’t been sure he had it in him, sometimes finding his timing was still off, but once he’d seen the ball coming straight at him, instinct had kicked in. He’d put as much strength behind his swing he could muster and watched as the ball soared majestically through the air. It was a thing of beauty.

  Jason came over to him looking like a drowned rat, but a huge grin split his face from ear to ear. He pulled Matt into a one-armed hug. “Amazing night, my friend. Amazing. I knew you had it in you.”

  Matt smiled. “You didn’t know I was going to get in.”

  “I had a feeling that was exactly the situation Coach was waiting for. He knew you would be perfect.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I’m glad I pulled it off.” Matt puffed on his cigar.

  “Feels good, doesn’t it?” Jason took a hit of his stogie. “You’re back, man.”

  Matt nodded and couldn’t stop grinning. “Not all the way, but I’m getting there. Once I’m catching again, then I’ll be solid, but this is pretty damn good, that’s for sure.”

  Jerry walked over to them and put his arms around both of them with a big smile on his face. “Here they are! The two heroes!”

  “It’s about time some of us minions got the spotlight,” Matt said to him. “You’re always hogging it because you throw a ball faster than one hundred miles an hour.”

  Jerry hooted. “Glad to share the limelight, especially with that beast of a home run you hit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one go that deep in this park. That was a helluva long way!”

  “Matt’s good at that, always had been,” Jason said. “Why do you think he’s consistently in talks for being the Home Run Champ or a possible Triple Crown contender?”

  Matt gave a small shrug as his smile fell slightly. “Not this year…”

  Jerry squeezed his shoulder. “You’re back, Buck. That’s all that matters. You’ll get it back and next year you’ll be right back in those talks.”

  Matt nodded and took a sip of his beer not wanting to experience anything but elation at the moment, but some anger and frustration remained at all he’d missed this year. He would get past it, eventually. Time could only help.

  Jerry tilted his head. “Come here, I want to show you something.”

  “What?” Matt asked.

  “Come on, I’ll show you.”

  Matt didn’t miss the look that passed between Jerry and Jason, and he stopped. “What are you guys cooking up?”

  “Just go,” Jason said with a grin. “It’s worth it, trust me.”

  Matt frowned at Jason as he followed behind Jerry. His teammates patted his back, pouring more drinks over his head as they included him in their celebrations when he passed. He rubbed his eyes trying to keep the champagne out of them and stepped into a hallway behind Jerry.

  “Where are you…,” Matt started to ask, squinting past the burn in his eyes, but then stopped when he stood face-to-face with Shannon. She was stunning and beautiful as always, but since this was only a friendly visit, her coming to congratulate him most likely, he kept his reaction neutral.

  “Hi,” Matt said as Jerry patted his back with a smile and returned to the party inside the locker room.

  “Hi.” Her gaze passed over him from head to toe. “Did you shower with your clothes on?”

  “Champagne, beer…and whatever else, I guess,” he said with a grin as he tried to find a dry spot on his T-shirt to rub his eyes with. “My eyes sting like hell.”

  “They are red.”

  “Worth the pain.”

  “Congratulations, Matt. That was amazing. I’m so happy for you.”

  “Thanks. Just doing my job,” he said, a bit shy from her praise.

  “You did more than that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ball hit that hard before. Another one for your shelf?”

  “Maybe,” he said with a chuckle. “If they can find the fan who caught it and bribe them.”

  Shannon smiled and after an uncomfortable pause, she cleared her throat. “Um, I was wondering if we could talk.”

  “Oh…sure,” he said. “Uh, right now?”

  She glanced over his shoulder as if she could see the celebration through the closed door, and disappointment fell over her face. “Well, I guess not. I mean, you probably want to get back in there…”

  “Yeah, I probably should.” Part of him wanted to hear what she had to say, but part of him didn’t. If she was going to tell him sorry again or that she’d taken a job in New York or some other state, and only wanted to say good-bye one last time, he didn’t want to hear it.

  “Okay, well, I’ll give you a call, then?” she asked, but Matt could tell she didn’t want to.

  “Yeah, that’ll work.”

  “Okay. I’ll talk to you later then,” Shannon said, wooden and formal, the awkwardness between them palpable.

  “Okay, sounds good.” He turned to the door when she started to walk away and, just as he opened it, she called his name, stopping him.

  “Matt, wait,” she said.

  He let the door close behind him. With determined strides, Shannon walked over to him and pulled his head down to hers. Her lips smothered his as she plastered herself to him, not caring that her T-shirt and shorts were getting wet. Matt dropped the beer bottle and cigar to wrap his arms around her. He pushed her against the wall and leaned into her as their tongues tangled. He’d missed her so much and she felt so good in his arms that he didn’t care she would soon walk away from him again. He was going to enjoy the moment before he lost it forever.

  She squirmed against him and broke off the kiss, her breaths coming out in huffs. “God, I’ve missed you so much.”

  He continued to kiss down her neck and along her jawline. “Me too.”

  “I didn’t take the job,” Shannon stammered out in between kisses.

  “What job?” he asked, with his lips against hers.

  “The job, in the firm,” she said.

  In order to understand what she was trying to tell him, he needed to stop kissing her and give her some air. Matt leaned back a bit, but still kept her pinned against the wall underneath him. Her eyes opened and her blues eyes were dark with lust.

  “What job are you talking about?”

  She took in a deep breath. “Any of them. I haven’t taken any of them. I don’t want any of them.”

  He frowned, not sure where she was going with this. “Okay…”

  She took another breath. “I need to start from the beginning.”

  “I think that would be best.” Matt finally stepped away from her and took her hand, leading her down the hallway to a quieter spot. “Okay, what are you talking about?”

  “Well, let’s see. I was at this interview and overhead another attorney basicall
y say she had no life with her kids or her husband and I realized that’s exactly where I would be headed. So, I had a fight with my dad and told him he needed to butt out, that I didn’t want a job like that, no matter what he tried to say, and he had to let me live my own life.”

  Matt’s eyebrows shot up. “How did he take it?”

  “He’s upset. He’s not talking to me and things are tense, but hopefully he’ll get it one day.”

  “And that’s it? He’s just backing down now?” Matt asked, not quite believing her father would give up so easily.

  “I mean, he’s not happy, but he told me he’s done helping me, basically stepped out of my life.” She waved her hand at him. “But that’s not what’s important.”

  “It’s not?”

  “No, even if he tries to tell me what to do again,” Shannon said, her eyes strong on his, “it doesn’t matter because I know now what I want and who I am. Before I was so confused since I didn’t want to believe my wants could be as simple as being a wife and a mother, that I had to be part of something bigger or more important to matter. But now I know that’s not what matters.”

  “What matters?” Matt asked her, still trying to catch up.

  “What makes me happy, that’s what matters.”

  “And what makes you happy?”

  Shannon smiled at him. “You.”

  Matt still wasn’t quite sure what she was telling him. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be thinking here.”

  “I guess,” she said with some hesitation, “I’m wondering if you still want to try…with us…”

  “Shannon,” he said. “I never didn’t want to try, but it didn’t seem like it could work. Not including things with your dad, we both want two very different things.”

  “I’ve worked that out.”

  “What do you mean, ‘worked that out’?”