Hitching the Pitcher

by Rebecca Connolly

  “Well,” Sawyer said with a nod, “anybody who can honestly tell me they’re crazy about my mom is already in my good books, so that’s a good start. And you’re a Belltown man, which also boosts your scores. And then there’s your girls…”

  Todd grinned, then nodded like the proud father he was. “I knew we raised them right for a reason.” He sobered just a little. “Though I can put most of that credit on their mother.” He laughed to himself suddenly. “If you ever went to one of Tara’s soccer games, you’d have heard her. She whistled louder than anyone I’ve ever met.”

  “No way, that was her?” Sawyer laughed as well. “Man, that was always epic. She came to a couple of our games, and that whistle was legendary.”

  “Yeah, she was passionate about Belltown.” Todd exhaled softly, still smiling. “It’s never really easier, you know. Being without them. Just different. You get used to it, as horrible as it sounds, and it becomes part of you. But there’s always a sense that something’s missing. Like when you forget to wear your watch one day and everything feels off.”

  Sawyer looked at Todd with interest, finding a sudden kinship and understanding there. “I know the feeling. Hate it.” He cleared his throat as his sudden feelings about Erica came to the surface. “So does my mom make that better?”

  Todd nodded, his expression warming. “Yeah. Doesn’t take it away completely, and I don’t take it away for her. We’ve talked about that in depth. I’m always going to miss Sarah, and she’s always going to miss Charlie. But we feel better together. And we would like to continue to do so for a long time.”

  The mention of his dad made Sawyer surprisingly emotional, but he didn’t miss the hesitation in Todd’s voice as he finished. “You… what?”

  “I’d like to ask your mom to marry me, Sawyer,” Todd told him, straightening slightly. “I wanted to ask for your blessing before I do anything. We’ve talked about it, but I haven’t asked her yet. I think it would mean a lot if she knew you were okay with it.”

  Sawyer blinked, momentarily without words. “Whoa… This is…” He cleared his throat again and looked down for a second, then met Todd’s eyes again. “Do you love my mom, Todd?”

  He nodded. “Very much.”

  “Why?”

  “Why?” Todd repeated, a crease appearing between his brows. “Why is an interesting question. Hard to describe. Because she makes me laugh so hard I cry. Because it feels perfect to hold her hand. Because she paints her face when we go to Belltown games. Because she looks just as good in sweats as she does when we go out. Because everything makes more sense with her. Because I’m better with her. Because she’s everything.”

  Sawyer felt himself smiling, and he felt a coil of tension in his gut slowly ease. “I’ve never heard it like that,” he murmured. “But it makes more sense than anything I’ve heard.” He inhaled, then exhaled roughly. “Yes, Todd Landers, I give you my blessing to marry my mom. And I think my dad would want you to be the next guy for her.”

  Todd grinned outright and reached his hand across the table to shake Sawyer’s. “Thanks, Sawyer. That means so much. I can’t even tell you. I promise I’ll take care of her.”

  “I know you will,” Sawyer replied, gripping the handshake hard. “And I don’t think she’ll give you much of a choice, if I know my mom.”

  The waitress appeared with their omelets then, breaking the moment.

  “Now time for victory or death by omelets…” Todd said as he tucked a napkin into the neck of his shirt. “Not a word to your mother.”

  Sawyer crossed his heart with his fork. “Not a word. Good luck.” He smiled at the man who would soon be his stepfather and wondered, faintly, if he could find a way to be better too.

  Somehow.

  * * *

  “This is insane. This is absolutely insane.”

  “Stop saying that; it isn’t insane.”

  Erica looked up at the bearded duo escorting her dubiously. “It is insane, and you two ganging up on me doesn’t make it any easier.”

  Mace and Grizz shared a look. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mace said in a poor attempt at a nonchalant tone.

  “Me neither,” Grizz recited blandly. Then he winked at her. “Come on, Erica, you know this is right.”

  She sighed reluctantly. “Yeah, I know. Doesn’t make it less insane.” She stopped as they reached the door, and she faced them, eying Mace first. “You sure he’s alone?”

  Mace nodded. “Positive.”

  “Okay.” She looked at Grizz next. “Promise you’ll kill him if I run out crying?”

  Grizz raised a hand somberly. “On my honor. And then I’ll bring him back to life so the other guys can kill him, too.”

  “Perfect.” She smiled and nodded, then turned to the door, exhaled a shaky breath, and walked into the now-empty Black Racers team room.

  Well, almost empty.

  Sawyer sat in a folding chair to one side of the room, remnants of a celebration of sorts on the floor of the room, a few hand towels and water bottles also dotting the scene. Sawyer was freshly showered but lost in thought, his game bag on the floor next to him, his hands absently turning his cell phone over and over in his hands.

  “Must have been some party,” Erica said, shoving her hands into her pockets. “Did you jump out of the cake?”

  Sawyer’s hands stilled, and slowly his head rose, his eyes wide as he stared at her, disbelief etched in every pore. “Erica?”

  Her heart lurched at the almost-whisper, and she managed a smile. “You’re looking a little roughed up, Sawyer. Maybe you were the piñata instead.”

  He managed a very weak laugh. “I feel a little like a piñata right now. What are you doing here?”

  “Grizz sent me,” she replied. Then she rolled her eyes. “And Mace. They’re worried about you. Say you’re not yourself. So they double-teamed me while I was home. FaceTime with two scary pro catchers.” She curved her lips to one side. “Try explaining that one to my mother.”

  “Why did they call you?” Sawyer asked, not taking the bait of her joke.

  Erica lifted a shoulder. “They think I can help you. I know better.”

  Sawyer swallowed roughly. “So do I.” He blinked hard and looked down. “Believe me, so do I.”

  Erica hesitated just a moment, then slowly walked towards him. “You’re lost, Sawyer. You’re trapped in your own head. No one can get you out but you.”

  “I know,” he murmured. “I’m trying.” He looked up at her, his hands turning his phone over again. “I’m so sorry, Erica. I’m sorry I didn’t ask you to stay. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a reason to. I’m sorry that…” He shook his head. “I don’t have an excuse. Not one.”

  Erica took another step towards him. “Sawyer, I don’t need an excuse. I don’t.”

  “But you deserve an explanation, and I can’t…” He grunted and held up his phone, the screen showing an airline-ticket receipt. “I literally just booked a flight to come see you. To try and explain, though I hadn’t figured that out yet myself, and to beg for your forgiveness.” He swallowed and lowered the phone. “And to beg you to come back with me, if I could manage the other two parts without screwing up.”

  He had been coming to her? To ask her back?

  Her heart leaped into her throat, awkwardly tap-dancing there for a minute while she tried to process. “I’ll walk with you every step of the way to get you out of this funk, if you’ll let me,” she promised, fighting the urge to run at him. “But you have to take that first step. Remember what your dad used to say? The only way out is through. Find your path, find the way.”

  Sawyer’s jaw tightened, and a tight smile formed. “Yeah, I remember. But I’m honestly not sure what the way is here. I’ve thought about what Dad would say, but...”

  She took pity on him and set her purse down on the nearest couch, coming even closer. “Well, for starters, I think we need to reset that head of yours with something completely unrelated to baseball. M
aybe a movie? Something that makes you laugh, I think. Then you’re getting some decent sleep, and since tomorrow there is no game, you get to actually take the day.”

  “Still have practice,” he reminded her, his smile becoming more relaxed.

  “Yes, and Mace is handling that aspect of things.” She quirked her brows, grinning at him. “You and the other pitchers and the catchers are doing something different, and I have no idea what he and Coach Damien are up to.”

  Sawyer shuddered dramatically. “That’s a frightening thought.”

  Erica laughed, tilting her head at him, warming to this exchange more and more. “And I’m going to sit in my seat in the stands for the rest of the preseason, and most of the regular season, meet you after every game, and keep you on task with your classes so we can get you that degree. You won’t lose the connection to your dad—you’ll enhance it. I promise, you’ll feel that.”

  “Why?” Sawyer asked her, his eyes bright and intense as they held her gaze. “Why are you going to do all of this for me?”

  “Because Grizz said he’d buy me a new four wheeler for the farm if I did.”

  Sawyer tossed his head back on a throaty laugh, and his look turned adoring, making the arches of her feet tingle.

  Erica bit her lip, shrugging a shoulder. “Because I still love you, idiot. That’s not going to change. So will you please stop cutting me loose? It’s getting old.”

  He slowly rose, his smile curving crookedly, and then opened his arms.

  She was to him in an instant, her arms clenching around him, her hands fisting in his shirt. His hold on her was tight and almost cradling.

  In that moment, she couldn’t have said if she was holding him or he was holding her.

  She wasn’t sure it mattered.

  “I love you so much, Erica Moore,” he murmured against the suddenly burning skin of her ear. “I’d ask you to marry me if I weren’t a complete headcase right now.”

  She laughed and arched into him, putting her mouth next to his ear. “Well, we’ll work on the headcase part and then you can ask me. And if you ask me nicely, I’ll probably say yes.”

  He reared back. “Probably?” he demanded.

  She shrugged again. “You never know. Grizz might ask me first.”

  Sawyer kissed her hard then, effectively shutting her up, and she was more than willing to end the conversation like that. His lips were insistent and warm, wringing pleasure after pleasure from her, giving as much as taking, and she felt herself spiraling almost deliriously into the delight that was Sawyer Bennett.

  “I missed you so much,” he whispered against her mouth, grazing against her. “So much.”

  “I missed you too,” she told him, laying a hand along his cheek and smiling. “I missed this.”

  He smiled back and kissed her quickly. “This is the best.” He frowned a little. “How are you actually here? What about the museum? They aren’t going to let you off that long.”

  Erica grinned and looped her arms around Sawyer’s neck. “I decided it was time I live a little and listen to my heart. Well, the part that wasn’t already running back here to you. So I left my job at the museum.”

  Sawyer gaped. “You did what? Babe…”

  “Listen,” she insisted with a laugh. “I didn’t do it to come running back to you, although it was a perk. I had a better offer. Belltown likes what I’ve been doing with the classes, and I had some great recommendations from the other universities I’ve been adjunct for. They’ve invited me to continue online teaching but in a new program they’re developing for people just like you who want to finish their degrees but aren’t at Belltown anymore. Mostly online stuff, but I’ll be loosely based at Belltown as a full-time employee. The only stipulation is that I get an advanced degree in one of their education programs to qualify for promotion and official professorship, and I’ll only have to pay half tuition to do it. I can be a teacher, Sawyer, and not just part-time.”

  “And a Belltown one at that!” He whooped and picked her up, swinging her around and around, laughing with her. “Oh, babe, this is the best! You deserve this, every bit of it. You know what this calls for.”

  She pulled back, grinning already. “Sure do.”

  On cue, they threw their heads back and bellowed, “TIMBERRRRRRRRR!”

  Erica squeezed her eyes shut, exhilaration soaring through her. “Gosh, this feels good, doesn’t it?”

  Sawyer lowered her to the ground, his hand running over her hair, bringing her attention back to him. His thumb ran over her lips gently, and he nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, babe, this feels really good. It feels perfect. It’s everything.”

  Then he leaned down and gently, but firmly, kissed her again.

  EPILOGUE

  The fireworks were still going and probably would be for some time, given what had just happened.

  No one had expected the Black Racers to beat the Mustangs, and they especially had not expected a three-game sweep.

  Their postseason chances had been looking good as it was, but now? Things could only go up.

  And Sawyer needed to find Erica, and he needed to find her now.

  He searched over the heads of the other family members and friends hanging around the clubhouse, many of whom thumped him on the arms or back. He’d pitched one of the best games of his life, and Jesse had closed the game brilliantly. The Six Pack would be all over his phone shortly, if they weren’t already.

  The onslaught of messages could wait.

  His girlfriend came first.

  He saw her then, decked out in her Black Racers gear—his jersey and cap—her smile as wide as humanly possible, her eyes barely visible.

  Gosh, she was stunning.

  She squealed as he neared and ran to him, jumping into his arms and letting him swing her around. “Babe! Holy cow, that was amazing!”

  He laughed and set her down, kissing her hard. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Not a single pitch, baby. That was all you.”

  Erica slugged him in the arm impatiently. “Shut up! That was you and your raw talent and training, Skeet!” She hugged him again. “Ugh, I’m so proud of you!”

  Sawyer chuckled, kissing the top of her head. “Thanks, sweetheart.” He cleared his throat and picked up the bag he had dropped, slinging it over his shoulder as he wrapped his free arm around her waist, leading them both out of the park. “All right, tonight we are celebrating. We are going all out and seeing Columbus, Ohio in a whole new way…”

  “Huh-uh, History of Sport exam,” she insisted, jabbing a rather pointy finger into his ribs. “You promised.”

  He coughed in surprise. “Not tonight! Babe, this is a huge win!”

  “Immense,” she agreed. “Massive. Incredible! And it’s August. We had a deal. Call for pizza; we've got a study date.”

  Sawyer scowled, tugging Erica a little closer. “If only I had a fiancée to talk some sense into my tutor.”

  Erica sputtered impatiently. “Set up a meeting when you get one, and I’ll explain myself to her.”

  He winced. “Pity I can't propose over pizza and actually tell that story with any pride later.”

  “Your problem, not mine,” she quipped with a shrug.

  “Guess I'll have to come up with something else.”

  “Guess so.”

  “Something unexpected.”

  She nodded. “Usually works best.”

  “Great.” He dropped his bag, stopping just out front of the best view of Crossroads Park, and turned to kiss her, taking great care to be gentle but thorough.

  Erica looked up at him, a little dazed as he broke off. “Whoa,” she breathed. “What was…?”

  “I love you,” he told her without any fanfare. “I’m better with you. I’m everything with you and nothing without you. You bring out the best in me and aren’t afraid of the worst in me. You are the friend, partner, and teammate that I want with me through everything, good and bad. Every moment, every minute, for the rest of our lives.”


  He swallowed hard and bent to take one knee, pulling out of his pocket the ring box he’d been carrying around for a month. “Will you marry me, Erica Moore?”

  Erica stared at him, then at the ring, then at him, her mouth hanging wide open. “Sawyer?” she gasped.

  He quirked his brows, grinning. “I told you I would, and you said probably…”

  She managed a weak laugh. “I remember.”

  “So?” He held the ring up a little further. “Will you?”

  She laughed again, this time through tears. “Yeah. Yeah, I will. I’d love to.”

  Sawyer jumped to his feet and slid the ring onto her finger, his hands shaking as he did so. “I love you, sweetheart,” he whispered as he looked back into her eyes.

  Erica wiped away a tear, smiling up at him. “I love you too.”

  He kissed her softly, then pulled her into his arms, exhaling with more relief than he’d thought possible to feel.

  Now life was perfect.

  Absolutely perfect.

  Well…

  He broke away from her, holding up a finger, grinning with excitement.

  “Oh no,” she moaned. “What are you…?”

  He whirled around, cupped his hands over his mouth, and bellowed, “TIMBERLINE!”

  With perfect timing, the entire Six Pack sprang out from behind cars and bushes just in front of them, yelling in scattered unison, “HEAVE-HO!”

  Erica shrieked, her hands flying to her mouth. “WHAT?” she cried, practically dancing where she stood. “None of you are supposed to be here. You all have games!”

  Axel grinned as he stepped over the chain, coming over for a hug, the others following. “And Big Dawg has a private plane courtesy of Daddy, so we borrowed it! No sweat, Teach, we’ll be back before anyone knows we left!”

  “Yeah,” Cole snorted, giving her a bear hug. “You think we’d miss this?”

  “No way, Teach,” Levi echoed with a high five and a hug. “No freaking way.”

  Grizz and Ryker hugged her too, and the whole Pack pounded on Sawyer in congratulations, which he accepted with gusto.

  “I can’t believe this,” Erica exclaimed, shaking her head. “I just can’t believe it!”