Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Everyone knew we were together by now. It hadn’t been hard to figure out, and I was sure some people had put two and two together the minute he showed up and we started having lunch together. But several weeks ago, I was approached by Principal Runnels with a waiver, casually mentioning that Graham had come in to sign one and that I needed to as well. It was touching in a weird way, and I happily signed the paper stating that I had entered into a personal relationship with another member of the staff and made all the promises one has to in a professional setting.
The students caught on quickly, and while I didn’t hear a whole lot about it other than the swooning of some of them about him, apparently Graham got ribbed about it a bit. He didn’t seem to mind. He said he would take a million jokes about it if it meant he still got to be with me.
The first two innings had zipped by without a whole lot of action on my part. Sticking me in right field was certainly the correct call. I was not great at catching the ball and tended to shy away from it. I was also pretty terrible at throwing it, too, so I was just a mess. But now in the bottom of the third, I was going to lead off batting for the ladies’ team.
Everyone expected Graham to pitch the beginning of the game, but at the last minute, it was announced that Principal Runnels would do it. Graham promised everyone they would see him pitch during the game, but that he wanted to give the principal the chance since he’d never gotten to pitch in school. He turned out to be pretty good, and as the bottom of the third came and I grabbed a bat, I was expecting to see him out there, blocking the sun with his rotund size and making me giggle with the ultra-serious face he made in his windup.
But as I walked out to the plate and the boys took their places on the field, I noticed Dustin was wearing catcher’s gear and heading to the plate. It confused me, and when he took his place in the backstop, I looked around for who the pitcher was going to be. I should have known.
In a wildly unfair move, Graham came trotting out to the field, abandoning his position at first base and taking the mound. Even injured and rusty, Graham only half-trying was better than everyone else the team had. My jaw was locked open as I watched him take the mound and begin to warm up, tossing a few pitches in and hearing the smack of the catcher’s glove matching the roar of the people in the stands. He was really slinging them in there.
It made sense when I thought about it. Of course, they did this. They wanted to see the showdown of the couple. It was theater. Suddenly, I felt much more at home.
If they wanted a show, I was going to give them one.
Waving dramatically as I walked to the batter’s box, I smiled at the crowd and took a few hard practice swings. I blew a giant bubble with the gum in my mouth, popping it and spitting it out behind the plate. I didn’t want the distraction. Lots of YouTube videos of famous hitters’ stances got me to find one I liked, and I kicked the dirt before settling into it. The bat bounced on my shoulder as I stared down at Graham, who was grinning.
You ready? he mouthed. I pursed my lips and glared back at him.
There was something awe-inspiring about seeing Graham’s full windup and toss from the batter’s box. Suddenly, in that moment, it was real, and I felt the unnerving sensation that I was sure many batters had felt facing him in the big leagues. That there was no chance I had to do anything to this man. He was in complete control, and I was going to be lucky to make contact at all.
To be honest, it was kind of sexy.
Graham slung the ball in, and I froze. The smack of the glove was thundering as the umpire called a strike. I shook it off and waited as the new catcher threw it back to him, letting the bat hang between my legs for a moment and then picking it back up to my shoulders. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me how heavy these damn things were?
Another pitch, but this time it was way outside and low, hitting the dirt and sending up a cloud. I worried instantly that something was wrong. Graham didn’t miss like that, not when he was a professional. If he missed that badly, it was on purpose to get the player to swing at something terrible. But he knew I wasn’t going to do that. I just hoped he hadn’t hurt himself.