Star-Crossed in the Outfield (All About the Diamond #4)

by Naomi Springthorp

  “Yes! I love it. I wish they’d hire me to the position permanently.” Kristina gets a daydreaming look at the thought.

  “Good luck. I know you’ll do great today. I’ll be listening to your voice while I’m playing. Can I see you after the game?”

  “I might come by if you win today.” I have my hands in my pockets, to keep my hands to myself. But, she doesn’t. She reaches her arms up around my neck and goes up on tiptoes to kiss me. She presses her lips to mine softly and holds them there for what feels like a long time, but I know it’s only a couple of minutes at the most. She pulls back and I see her drag her teeth over her lower lip as she looks at my mouth.

  She turns to leave and I can’t help myself. I grab her and hold her against me. I bend down and kiss her neck at her ear, breathing in her scent. “I know you want me, too. Stop fighting it. Give us a chance, Kristina.” I kiss her on the lips with the intent of things that I can’t even understand myself and turn away as I walk back into the restaurant. I look out to the parking lot when I sit down at the table and see that she’s still standing there.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - Are you okay? I see you standing there in the parking lot.

  From @Kristeeeeeena - No. I need another kiss.

  I smile uncontrollably and get up, running back out to the parking lot. She’s watching me run toward her with a huge grin. I take her in my arms and swing her around, holding her up to my lips. I kiss her, letting her know how much I want her, it’s almost a need. Fuck, I need her. I need to have her. Her lips are so soft and giving, she tastes like my waffles. Out of breath, I set her back on the ground, “We can kiss for hours after the game.”

  She gets in her car, “I’m still not giving you my number,” and she drives away.

  I sit back down with the Senos and eat the remains of my breakfast while Seno chuckles and Sherry provides commentary.

  “Well folks, she came and ate most of his breakfast. Then she kissed him. Then she called him to the parking lot wanting another kiss. But, she’s not giving up the digits and won’t go out with him. The only hope he has is if the team wins today, she might visit. I’d say it’s a pretty good bet, what do you think Mr. Seno?”

  Seno nods, “We need to make it a win for Cross today, so he can make out later. You should send her flowers or a note or something, so she thinks about you.”

  “I was thinking about changing my walk up song, like a message for her.”

  “I like that, too. You could do both. Maybe tie them together.” Seno continues.

  “Okay, take me home so you two can have some guy talk. I can’t handle this right now.” Sherry has had enough.

  Chapter Nine

  Kristina

  Am I truly considering Chase Cross as a potential boyfriend? He’s everything that I avoid. I can’t be in the same room or the same parking lot with him and maintain control. And his kiss! It’s like potato chips, I can’t have just one. Or, maybe M&M’s, except I melt in his hands when he kisses me. I need to stay away from him, but, what if I don’t want to? His fucking lips! One touch and I’m willing to give him anything. Distance is the answer. How am I going to do that when we work at the same place?

  Can I be with a baseball player? My body wants to. I can’t let my head give in.

  I’m sitting in my car in the stadium employee parking lot and don’t remember how I got here. All I can remember is how his lips feel pressed to mine, soft and warm. The happy grin he had when I wanted another kiss and how fast he ran to me, like he was stealing second. When he kisses me, I’m the only thing in his world, and his job is to please me and protect me. He takes my breath away with his touch. I wish I had his confidence. He believes we belong together. He must be crazy.

  Chase

  Mason catches me and Seno walking into the clubhouse, “Michelle knows absolutely nothing about baseball. I’m fine with it, but she wants to learn about the game. I need help with this. What do I do?”

  Seno and I reply at the same time, “Sherry.”

  “Get her the seat next to Sherry for a few games and she’ll know more about baseball than you do.” Seno smiles, “Make sure both of them know what you’re doing and tell Michelle to check with Sherry for what is acceptable food to eat around her that day. Garlic fries have been making her nauseated the last few days.”

  “She wants to come to the game today and I need to get her a ticket.”

  The three of us invade Carter’s office. “I need a ticket to the game today for my girl and I want her to sit next to Sherry,” Mason starts.

  “It’s a day game, so she’s going to need a cap. Get her the game day cap and have Mason and his number put on it for her. While you’re at it, have a game day cap made up with Cross and his number on it, too, and have it delivered to Kristina in the control booth. Oh, and take Sherry some chocolate soft serve ice cream in one of those little helmets and a bottle of water around the fifth inning please.” Seno takes control of the situation.

  “And, can you take Kristina some flowers with the cap please? I want to write a note to put with it, if you can. I want to change my walk up song, too.”

  “Hold on… Two caps, a ticket for the game, ice cream, water, flowers and change a walk up song. Is that everything?” Carter inspects the trio curiously.

  Mason adds, “Can you get my girl a shirt with my name and number, too? And, do you think she can get in early to watch BP with Sherry?”

  “No BP today, but I’ll get her added to the early entry list. What’s the new walk up song?”

  “‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ by the Beatles.” I find a piece of paper and a pen, to write a quick note.

  Kristina,

  Hope you like the flowers. Listen for my walk up song, changing it for you. Please come by later, I have kisses waiting for you.

  Chase

  I get it folded up and sealed in an envelope, leaving it for Carter to deliver with the flowers and cap.

  “Alright, I’ll get it handled. Now, get out of here so I can get working on it all.” Carter evicts us back to the clubhouse and we all walk away satisfied with ourselves.

  I walk out of the dugout to warm up before the game, earlier than usual because there’s no batting practice today. Some of the team have been in the batting cages down in the stadium, but I need to get outside. I need to get some extra stretch time in and run some sprints, plus I want to see what everything looks like on the social side of things. Sherry and Michelle are sitting behind home plate all chummy and talking. Sherry looks excited, so they’re probably talking baseball. Michelle is proudly sporting a new baseball cap and a Seals shirt. I can’t see the back, but I know she’s marked with Mason. I look to the control booth wondering what Carter managed to get done for me and there’s a bright colored bouquet of flowers laying on the desktop near the microphone, but no cap and no Kristina. The Jumbotron is on an automatic slide rotation and there’s music playing, but no announcements yet. I check the time and scan the stadium, hoping for a glimpse of Kristina. I want her to be wearing her cap with my name on it as proudly as Michelle’s wearing Mason’s, but I never know how she’s going to respond to things. She might hate it or not wear hats.

  I hear a female yelling, “Jack ass!”

  I hear Sherry calling me, “Chase!”

  I turn to run over to Sherry and she’s pointing to Kristina, so I change course for her. I’m happy that she’s looking for me, but then…

  Kristina

  “Jack ass!” I can’t believe he had flowers and a cap with his number on it left in the control booth for me. In the control booth! I’ve worked so hard for this and he’s going to ruin it for me! Why can’t he leave me alone? Damn it! The flowers are gorgeous and I want to wear his cap!

  “What the hell are you doing? You know I’m trying to land a permanent gig here and you go sending me things to the control booth! Don’t embarrass me! Don’t make me look like a fool or a player chaser!” How many times do I need to tell him no? Why can’t he fuck me out of hi
s system and be done with me? Or just leave me alone!

  He stands there in all his baseball player hotness, staring at me without a response. I’m entranced by his shining light green eyes and watch them darken as I grab his jersey and pull him to me. I yell at myself internally as I kiss him and feel him smile against my lips. What the hell am I doing? I can’t help myself. I hate baseball players! I press my lips against his harder, needing more and needing to have him. My heart beats faster and I feel his energy run through me, pushing me to give him more. I slide my tongue into his mouth, needing a taste of him. Damn it! What am I doing! Baseball players suck! I break the connection and try to hide that I’m breathing hard. I whisper in his ear, “Thank you.” And as I’m running through the stands so I can get to the control booth on time, I yell back at him, “Now go win, jerk!”

  Chase

  Her lips were on me like never before, she sent a new electricity running through my body and I feel like I can do anything. I’ve never been so happy to be a jack ass and a jerk and get shoved away.

  I turn back to the field and walk to Sherry and Michelle. They’re laughing and Sherry points at me, so I question my decision to go talk to them. “Hello, ladies.”

  Sherry can’t maintain herself, “It looked like she just went off on you, then took a kiss and shoved you away, but I couldn’t hear anything other than the jack ass part in the beginning.”

  “She did say thank you and told me to win, too.” I smile at the whole interaction. “She doesn’t want me to have things delivered to her in the control booth.” If she’s going to kiss me like that when she gets mad at me, I’m going to keep pissing her off. I look to the control booth and see Kristina sitting there now, reading the note with her flowers while she wears the cap with my number on it backwards with the headphones over the top. It’s perfect, even if all she wants to do is kiss me.

  The rest of the team comes out for warm up. Mason goes directly to Michelle and I hear giggling. Everything else is the way it’s supposed to be, other than my distraction of Kristina as PA Announcer and that really isn’t a distraction—I like to hear her voice. She announces the lineup and I love the way she says my name. I know she does all of them the same, but mine feels different to me. She reads through all of the pre-game and we take the field.

  I’m first at bat for the Seals and as I stand in the on deck circle swinging my bat I hear “I Want to Hold Your Hand” start to play, my new walk up song. The other team is still throwing the ball around the field and I take the opportunity to glance up at Kristina and see if she gets it. It’s pretty straight forward. It’s one of the first things you do when you meet someone or start dating someone—hold their hand. I’ve managed it a couple of times with Kristina and I love the way her hand feels in mine with our fingers locked together. Her skin is soft and while she’s not delicate, her hands and fingers are feminine and slender. More so in my large man hands that have been beaten up by the sun and the game. When I hold her hand, she doesn’t pull it away from me. It’s like when we kiss, she meets me halfway. Kristina’s smiling up in the control booth, but I don’t know if that’s my walk up music or her happy to be the PA Announcer again today.

  “Chase,” Sherry gets my attention, “Did you change your walk up song on purpose?”

  “Yea,” I think to myself that at least Sherry noticed, “What do you think?”

  “I like it and it’s very sweet.” She gives me a happy nod of approval.

  “I hope Kristina feels the same way.” I look at Michelle for feedback since she’s Kristina’s friend and roommate, but all I get is a shoulder shrug.

  I step up to the plate, digging my cleats into the clay and I hear her announce my name. Her voice wasn’t as stable as it had been and I want to think that I could detect some emotion there, but it could be wishful thinking. The first pitch comes in low, then the second is outside, the third was high and inside causing me to lean back quickly to avoid getting hit by the wild 96 mile per hour fastball. That’s when it happened. I heard the audible gasp come over the loud speakers throughout the park. I knew it was her. I knew I was in trouble because she would think that she’d messed up her opportunity for a permanent gig and it’s my fault. I don’t want to make things hard for her, but her gasp is proof that she cares. It means the ball getting that close to me scared her or worried her. While I don’t want to scare her or worry her, I’m warm all over knowing how she feels about me. I knew she wanted me. I step out of the batters box to get my head straight and swing the bat a couple times, then get right back in there ready to get on base. I hear Sherry cheering for me and Michelle is yelling, too. The next pitch is low and I walk to first base without even swinging my bat.

  Mason is up to bat next and just slams the ball on the very first pitch, hitting a home run to the left field upper deck. I think it’s his first homer of the season. It’s gotta be Michelle and she’s out of her seat, yelling at the top of her lungs, “Go JJ!” and clapping. I cross home plate and wait for Mason to catch up with me, celebrating with him as he jumps on home plate. 2-0 Seals. Mason is focused on Michelle, I can see them smiling at each other and flirting as we walk back to the dugout.

  Mason got a hit at each of his at bats, scoring three times and bringing three of his teammates home. Final score 10-3 Seals. The other two runs were home runs from Martin and Seno with Mason on base. I wasn’t much help at the plate today, but I was all over the outfield like a dog playing fetch and had to climb the outfield wall to keep a ball from getting out of the park.

  The way Mason hit today, you’d think he’s a new man. They slept on my couch last night, there’s no way he got laid. Then again, maybe he’s being smart. I should probably take a lesson. Hannah grabbed him for the on field interview and I check to see if Kristina is still in the control booth while Seno walks over to the net checking on his woman. Michelle’s eyes are locked on Mason doing the interview, I guess it would be different if you’d never been to a game before. Playing the game and giving interviews are part of the day for us, typically nothing special. Kristina’s still sitting at the microphone, watching the interview. She must not be done announcing yet. I wave at her and smile, but she doesn’t acknowledge me. I know she wants to kiss me. Even if she’s mad, she wants to kiss me. I go to the clubhouse to get cleaned up and change. It’s early and the team is coming over. I want to talk to Kristina and make sure she’s coming over, but I don’t want to appear needy. I guess it’s my turn though, she did come find me to yell at me and kiss me before the game. Is it a problem that thinking of her yelling at me makes me happy? I must be a sick puppy.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - Will you go out with me?

  From @Kristeeeeeena - Give it up

  To @Kristeeeeeena - Can I have your phone number?

  From @Kristeeeeeena - Why would I give you my phone number?

  From @Kristeeeeeena - You sent me gifts to the control booth! Jerk!

  From @Kristeeeeeena - I totally screwed up today and it’s your fault!

  I wonder if her complaints that no other chick would complain about are some type of foreplay. I can’t help myself.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - You should give me your number, so you can kiss me sooner.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - Phone number = quicker access

  To @Kristeeeeeena - How did I screw you up?

  I know, the gasp at the high and inside wild fastball. I want her to say it. I wait and get no response.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - When you kiss me, I feel like I’ve won.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - Your lips are soft and you taste sweet.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - I want to hold your hand.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - I want to hold you with a blanket by the bonfire.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - Your hand just feels right when our fingers are locked together.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - Please come over. You can stay over if you want to.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - We can go surfing in the morning.

  To @Kristeeeeeena - Whatever you
want.

  I’m ready to apologize for whatever I did to screw her up and I don’t think I did anything. Why won’t she respond? Twelve messages in a row. Shit, I look like a stalker. What am I thinking? I can’t think straight with this chick. I shove my phone in my pocket and go home to get ready for the team. I don’t want to play games with her. I want her. I hope she comes to find me.

  Chapter Ten

  Kristina

  I refuse to lose what I’ve worked so hard for when I’m this close. I’ve replayed my reaction to Chase almost getting hit by the ball over and over in my head. Every time the shock and concern gets me. Every time I gasp louder than I did live in the game. I’ve watched the video replay and it looked worse from my vantage point, like it almost hit his chin. In reality, it was almost straight across the top of the Seals lettering on the chest of his jersey. Not much difference, but the difference of a potentially life altering injury and it didn’t stop him. I don’t want to be known as the announcer that can’t control her emotions or isn’t professional. This is my first big break and I can’t screw it up. I can’t afford the wrong reputation. I don’t have any other professional experience to prove who I really am.

  I really am this girl that can’t help but be affected by the man she wants getting hit by the ball or injured in the game. It’s expected when you care about someone. I don’t have the luxury to show it and get where I want to be professionally.

  Baseball players are out for me. I need to stay away from him. If I'm outside of his atmospheric pull, I’m able to maintain my composure. That’s it. No going to his house. I need to keep my distance.