It's the bottom of ninth inning and I'm ready to have a heart attack. The Phillies are hitting now and the Brewers are ahead by two runs. Scott is at third, Bryce is at first, and there are two outs. Rhys is up to hit and my heart is pounding. They need to win, Rhys needs to hit this home run.
The first pitch is a ball, dropping low just like my heart. The next pitch is a strike, one Rhys swings and misses at. Scott is itching to run home, I can see it in the way he leads off third.
"Come on, Rhys," I whisper, leaning over my legs. "Come on, Rhys." He hits the ball and my heart leaps into my throat. "Yes. Yes! Yes!" I yell, standing up to watch the ball soar back towards center field—right towards Christian.
The ball sinks and I fall back into my seat as Christian catches the ball. "Shit," I curse under my breath, putting my head in my hands.
"Oh, Grace Kingery!" I look up to see Christian grinning widely, holding up the ball he just caught. "I believe you owe me a date."
"I don't know. I'm going out with Scott and Bryce for drinks tonight," I say with a smile.
"Come on, we are clearly the superior team. We actually hit them over the fence," he chuckles. I furrow my brows, his comment leaving a bad taste in my mouth as one of his teammates laughs.
"No thanks. I don't want to go on a date with a narcissistic douche," I huff, gripping my phone tightly before following the crowd up the stairs. I can hear him yelling my name, but I don't want to turn around, not after that rude comment.
I follow the flow of the crowd before separating to go down to the Phillies clubhouse. There's no cheering excitement today, only a silent disappointment no one speaks of.
"Hey, Scott," I say quietly, putting my hand on his shoulder.
"Please don't try to make this better, Gracie," he sighs, shaking his head.
"I'm not going to. Sure you guys had errors, every team does, but you all played well," I tell him truthfully, turning him around in the chair. "Scottie, everyone has a bad day. You guys won yesterday and you're going to win tomorrow, I have full faith in that."
"It still sucks, Gracie," he sighs.
"Hell, of course it does. You love baseball and you want to be the best, but sometimes that doesn't work out in the end. Get up and do better tomorrow, that's all you can do," I encourage him, using our dads words he told us during our college games.
He smiles, nodding his head. He stands up to hug me tightly, my phone buzzing in my back pocket. I hug him tightly, knowing the buzzing is Christian. "You're an amazing sister," he whispers.
"Can I get in on this hug? I'm in need," Bryce says with a pout. We nod, opening our arms to pull him into our hug. "You guys give the best hugs."
We both laugh at that, letting Rhys into our hug too. Rhys is beating himself up, we can all see that in the way he slouches.
My phone starts to buzz again, Scott leaning back to look at me with narrowed eyes. "Why are you not looking at that? You always do," he says with narrowed eyes.
"Because it's probably Christian and I don't want to talk to him. He made a comment that didn't sit right with me, joke or not, it was shitty to say," I explain with a sigh.
"So what I'm hearing is that we need to beat him up?" Bryce says, nodding as he adjusts the sleeves of his shirt. "Let's go, boys."
"Chill out, Agent Harper," I chuckle, pushing his shoulder. "No one needs to get beat up. Maybe Lucas, but that's it."
"Fine," he groans.
"By the way, that was a good hit, Rhys. Christian just got lucky," I say with a smile. Rhys nods, forcing a weak smile before hugging me tightly. "You're definitely coming out for drinks with us tonight, Rhys. Have to get you loosened up for your home runs tomorrow."
He chuckles, nodding as we separate. "That sounds really good right now."
My phone rings again and I huff, picking it up. "I don't want to talk to you, asshole," I say sharply.
"Guess I'll go jump off a bridge then. Yeesh." I laugh quietly at Aaron's voice, shaking my head.
"Sorry, Judge, I thought you were someone else," I admit with a small smile.
"Damn, do I want to know who you thought I was? It better not be Lucas harassing you," he says, his voice getting deeper. "Is it Lucas?"
"Honestly, I wish it was him. Think of the opposite end of the spectrum," I tell him with a sigh, walking out into the hallway away from the guys.
"Wait, Christian? What happened?" he asks suddenly.
"He made a dick comment. I may have called him a narcissistic douche before walking away, too," I sigh, sitting on the ground with my legs out straight in front of me. "It's just . . . I don't even know. I had so much fun hanging out with him and if he says something like what he said once it's bound to slip out again."
"But no ones perfect, Gracie. All of us get cocky after a win; I've said some douchey things too in the past. What'd he say?"
"So we made a bet, and if the Brewers won I had to go on a date-date with Christian. He came over to talk to me because I was behind their dugout. He said 'at least we hit them over the fence' because he caught Rhys's hit for the last out. It just didn't sit right with me."
Aaron sighs. "I wouldn't like if someone said that either," he admits quietly. "I get where you're coming from, really. That's a douche thing to say for sure. But don't you think players are going to try to act tough after catching the ball that would have given the other team the win? Christian is the MVP and he's going to act big but I don't think he means it in a rude kinda way. You feel me?"
"Yeah," I sigh, running my hand down my face. "Do you think I overreacted?"
"Yes and no. Just don't take it too personally right now," he instructs me just as he always does. Aaron has always given the best advice for everything. "You good, Gracie Boo?"
I chuckle. "Yes, I'm all good, Judgey Boo," I smile. "Did you just call to check up on me?"
"Obviously. I miss you."
"I miss you, too. And Gleyber," I laugh, Aaron chuckling. "You better try to visit me in Chicago. I need to see my best friend's face sooner or later."
"You really think I haven't already planned the trip? You have little expectations of me, Kingery," he teases, most likely shaking his head like usual. "I get to meet the famous Charlie too. He better not replace me."
"No one could ever replace the boy that gave me my very awkward first kiss," I joke, earning a quiet laugh. "But I really miss you, Aaron. It's weird."
"Bitch, please, you know you miss me after a day of not seeing me," he says in an annoyed, teasing voice. I snort, covering my mouth with my hand. "Yes, I got a snort!"
"Shut up, Aaron. It sounds like you just got me to snort coke or something." We always talk like this. Ten years of friendship hasn't changed and I'll forever be grateful.
"Grace." My heart stops and I look up at Christian who's standing a few feet down the hallway from me.
"Gotta go. Love you, bye," I say in one breath, hanging up on Aaron to stand up.
"I'm sorry for what I said. It was a douche thing and it just . . . came out," he says quickly, his lips twisting to the side. He adjusts his bag on his shoulders, looking down at his feet awkwardly.
"I shouldn't have yelled at you," I say first. "At least not call you a narcissistic douche in front of your team and the fans that were still nearby. I kind of get it but I got defensive. But thanks for the apology. Aaron kind of . . . set me straight."
"Judge seems like a nice guy," he says with a small smile. "But I am really sorry. Rhys had a solid hit and I got lucky it didn't go over the wall which was. . . three feet behind me."
"Exactly, lucky," I grin. "But I'm still saying no to that date. I'm hanging out with the guys tonight because lord knows when I'll see them again."
"And what about me?" he pouts.
"You have a game in Chicago in two weeks. Yes, I looked at the Brewers schedule," I admit, earning a cheeky smile from him. "Family comes first, Christian."
"You are literally the perfect woman," he chuckles. "And apparently a serial killer."
"Better believe it, Yelich. Watch your back," I smirk.
"Oh I will," he laughs.