The Screw Ball (Indianapolis Lightning Book 3) Page 2

  “I think the timelines look great. Do we have a headcount, yet?” Carly asks.

  “I know we’d discussed having two days, but in the end, we’re going with just one for this year. We’re completely full with two hundred kids signed up.”

  “If this goes well, then we can add a second day or session next year.”

  “I completely agree. I think two hundred for our first year is a good start. It will be hectic, but as long as everyone does as they’re assigned, I’m confident we can pull it off.”

  “Agreed. Just tell me what you need from me next and consider it done,” Carly states. She’s been a great addition to our team. She started around the beginning of the year and has quickly become my right hand in all things.

  “Thanks. I’m going to call Janet and see what they need from us, and then I’ll let you know what our next steps are,” I tell her, noting that I need to call the event company.

  Three

  Lucas

  I stand in the batters’ cage, adjust my glove, tap the bat against the ground and then take my spot at the plate. The machine makes a whooshing sound as it sends a fastball my way. I swing, missing the ball completely. I right my stance, ready for the next ball that it sends my way, this time ball and bat connect, and the ball goes flying into the outfield.

  “Damn, boy. We need you to hit like that in the game tomorrow night,” Justin “JJ” Johnson, our catcher, states, walking up to the cage. He watches as I hit a few more balls.

  “That’s my plan,” I tell him as I take a break, sucking down half of my bottle of Gatorade. It is hot as hell out here today. I’ve soaked my tank top, so it doesn’t do much when I pull up the hem and attempt to mop the sweat off of my face.

  “I heard you got on Carmen’s shit list,” he says, toeing the dirt with his cleat.

  “I guess you can say that.” I smirk and think back to how hot she was when yelling at me. Seeing her all hot makes me want to see what she’d be like in bed. I start to get hard just thinking of her curvy body pressed against my own. What her skin would feel like under my fingertips. How expertly I could play her body, pulling multiple orgasms from her, all while she’s screaming my name. “She wasn’t too keen on the fact that I followed a stripper home last night.”

  “Damn, boy.” He laughs, not even hiding it behind the fist pressed to his lips. “Guess someone has to take over my place on the team as the playboy. I was always causing her trouble before my daughter showed up on my doorstep.”

  “Yeah, what’s that all about?” I ask. I never really pay attention to the tabloids and what they’re saying about other players. I know how they like to take a picture and run with whatever crazy story they can come up with that they think will sell the article for them.

  “Eh, a girl I used to hook up with never bothered to tell me she got pregnant, until she showed up on my doorstep when our daughter was a few weeks old. She’d tried to do it all on her own but realized she wasn’t cut out for it, so she brought Evie to me. It’s been a whirlwind few months, but the best months ever, at the same time. She’s everything I never knew I needed in my life; and she also brought me the love of my life, so like I said, it’s all been for the best. Kinda funny how things work out that way.”

  “I don’t think I’d look at that situation the same way,” I tell him honestly. “Plus, the thought of settling down with one woman gives me hives. Women equal drama,” I state.

  “Six months or a year ago, I would have agreed with you, one-hundred percent. But when the right woman drops into your lap, you’ll know it. She won’t like you or want you because of the uniform you put on, or the car you drive, or the connection you can get her for her social media following. She’ll like you for you. For the way you treat her and the way that you only let your guard down for her. When you make her feel special and like she’s the center of your world, she’ll do the same to you.”

  “Aren’t you dating Derek’s sister or something like that?”

  “Yep,” he says, popping the p before continuing on. “Riley came to my rescue when Evie was dropped off. Like, dropped everything and moved into my house to help me. I didn’t know my ass from my elbow when it came to babies, and Evie was less than a month old when she arrived. Riley had been a nanny before and knew exactly what to do. Whatever she didn’t know, Derek’s wife, Jillian, was right there to answer. We both fought the connection for as long as we could, but in the end, we decided to see what came of it, and well, it’s the best decision we’ve made.” He gushes, all in love like. It almost makes me want to puke.

  “Sounds like a messy situation.”

  He laughs at my comment. “It was definitely messy.” Our attention gets pulled for a few seconds to a group of guys that are all laughing as they come out of the dugout and onto the field. “Have you gotten all settled in, now that you’ve been here a few weeks?” JJ asks.

  “Yep, got all moved in to my apartment. I’ve been exploring the city when I can, finding the best places to blow off steam, if you know what I mean.” I smirk, knowing that he damn well knows what I’m talking about.

  “Yeah, I heard all about you blowing off steam.” He chuckles. “Just keep yourself out of the spotlight, and you can blow off all the steam you want,” he adds.

  “I can’t help it if the camera loves me.” I strike a pose for the pretend photographer.

  “An attitude like that will do nothing but get you into trouble, and being in trouble will forever keep you on Carmen’s shit list,” JJ says.

  “What’s her deal?” I ask, hoping that my interest isn’t glaringly apparent.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he warns. “She isn’t your type, or better yet, you aren’t hers.”

  “I was just wondering why she’s always so pissed off or acting like she’s got a stick up her ass.”

  “When you cause problems she’s got to clean up, you aren’t going to see her fun and friendly side. Maybe try doing something that brings you good publicity and see how she reacts.”

  “Eh, what’s the fun in that?” I joke. “I’ll be honest, I kind of like seeing her all worked up.”

  “Keep those thoughts to yourself.” He barks out a laugh. “She’ll be the first one to put you in your place if you try and come on to her,” he warns.

  “I’ll take that as a challenge.”

  “Whatever, man, just don’t go pissing her off. You make the entire team’s lives miserable; we’ll make your life miserable. Understand?” he asks, giving me a stern glare.

  “Got it,” I tell him. I don’t have any plans on pissing off the rest of my team. I worked my ass off to get called up; no way I want to piss anyone off and have them sending me back down.

  I step out onto the field and look around at the empty stadium. It won’t be long and the gates will be opened, and the fans will fill all the seats. I remember back to the first time I ever played in a stadium this large. It wasn’t anything compared to playing for the Lightning, but it was still an incredible experience. I was in college when it happened, now playing here is always special. I’m used to the big lights and the sounds of the massive crowds.

  I run a few laps around the outfield as I warm my body up in my pre-game ritual. I’ve fine-tuned what works best for me over the years, changing up little things here and there that help me play to the best of my abilities. The last thing I want to happen is to get hurt bad enough I end my career before it ever has time to really take off. I’ve put in way too many early mornings and late nights staying up to practice to throw it all away now that I have my future and dreams in the palm of my hand.

  I wipe the sweat from my face, the afternoon sun beating down on me. I’m hopeful the temps will dip a little once the sun goes down and isn’t shining directly on the field with an evening game. I look over to the dugout and see a few people milling about. A few other guys are out here stretching and warming up. The grounds crew is out perfecting the dirt, lining the field with the chalk lines, and putting in the bases befor
e the game. I notice Carmen talking to a few people I don’t recognize, pointing to different parts of the field, and now my curiosity has piqued. What are they discussing? Is she really having to explain the game and where players spread out to on the field? I pick up my glove, ball, and water bottle and head back toward where she’s standing. I have to pass right by them to head back inside to the locker room so I can get dressed in my uniform and ready for the official warmups before the game.

  “Lucas,” Carmen greets me as I approach. The disdain practically drips from her voice as she says my name.

  “Carmen,” I greet in return and watch her reaction from behind my polarized sunglasses. I know she can’t see my eyes behind these lenses, which allows me full range of taking in her luscious curves. What I wouldn’t do to get her under me, or on top of me, or hell, against a wall for all I care. There is just something about this woman that drives me fucking crazy. “I didn’t realize giving tours was part of the PR department’s job.” I smirk.

  “I’m not giving a tour; we’re going over station placement for the Fan Fun Day that is next week,” she informs me. “Don’t forget. Everyone is required to attend and help. You’ll have a specific job that day, so don’t screw it up,” she says, turning to face me fully as she stands her ground. I take a small step forward, effectively closing the gap between us. I don’t have any intentions of touching her since she’s in her business attire while I’m standing here sweaty in a tank and basketball shorts.

  “Sorry, what day is that again? I might have made other plans,” I state, just to piss her off some more.

  “It is on Thursday. I don’t care what other plans you might think you’ve made; cancel them. This isn’t negotiable,” she grits between clenched teeth.

  I hold up my hands, palms out, as if I’m going to hold her back from attacking me. “Damn, I was joking,” I tell her. “I don’t have any plans that day, and I’ll make sure to be here.” I pause long enough to take a drink of my water. “I’ll even show up early if that will make you feel better,” I offer.

  “You’re such an ass,” she says, giving me a smile that I know anyone else would think was sweet or friendly, but I can tell standing just inches from her that it is anything but sweet or nice, and that has me thinking once again what her lips would look like wrapped around my cock. Fuck, I can’t be thinking about that while on the field.

  “I aim to please,” I toss out as I step away and head down the few steps into the dugout and then inside.

  I head straight for the locker room, where I find most of my teammates milling around in a mixture of half-dressed states. I pull the tank I had on from my body, wiping at my torso with the fabric to wipe away some of the sweat that is still on my skin. Before getting my uniform on, I hit up the bathroom, then head back to my locker to get dressed.

  Many athletes have a specific system. They might always put on their left sock before the right, or always eat a particular meal before every home game or run a specific number of lines across a field. I’ve done all of those things myself at one point or another, and today is no different. I started with my warmup; now it is time to get my uniform on in a particular order. Clean compression shorts followed by a compression tank to help with the sweat. My uniform pants come next, followed by my socks, then my top, and finally my cleats. Always done in that order. I snag my hat before leaving my locker, sliding it on my head as I head out of the locker room and into the dugout.

  Four

  Carmen

  I rush around the stadium, making sure everything is where it is needed. The guys have started to arrive, which I’m thankful for. I’ve stressed myself out over the fact that some of them might skip today and make things not go to plan. The day is young, so I’m not counting out something might still go against my well-thought-out plan, but I’m also hoping that everything goes smoothly.

  “Carmen, did you want me to take these bags down to the dugout?” my assistant Carly asks.

  “Yes, please. I think Derek and Justin are here already, so if you need some muscle, I’m sure they’d be willing to help you,” I tell her, mentioning one of our star pitchers and catchers for the team. They also happen to be best friends, and it won’t surprise me if they end up being brothers-in-law, since Justin is dating Derek’s sister, and I think things are pretty serious between the two of them.

  “I’ll see who I can round up,” Carly calls before she grabs a box of the goodie bags we’ve put together for all the kids to take home at the end of the day filled with team swag, and heads for the tunnel that will lead her out to the dugout.

  I head up to the concourse to check in with catering to ensure they’ve got everything in place for lunch today. I’m sure I have nothing to worry about; it isn’t like they aren’t used to a packed stadium with upwards of forty-plus thousand people here each and every game.

  All is good with catering, so I head back down to wait for everyone to arrive. We’d asked the players to get here an hour before fans will be let in, mainly so I can go over with them what their duties will be and a quick overview of the day’s events. They were already given most of this information, but I’ve learned that some guys don’t retain these types of instructions for long. So, I just planned to go over everything beforehand; that way, no one is surprised about anything happening over the next few hours.

  “Janet, is everything set up on the field how you wanted?” I ask the coordinator from the event company we hired to help us pull today's event off. Like me, she’s been running around all morning, making sure things are in place.

  “It is all perfect; we just need some kids now to fill it up,” she says, her excitement causing her to bounce on the balls of her feet.

  “Perfect! I can’t thank you enough for all of your help with this. I think it will be a fantastic event for us to continue for years to come.”

  “I think you’re right. The kids are going to love it, and I believe the guys will have more fun than they imagine.”

  “Carmen,” Ian Rogers, the team manager, calls my name from the doorway of his office. I turn on my heel and head his way.

  “Yes, Ian?” I ask in greeting when I reach his office.

  “Did you want to give your speech to the guys now?” he asks. “We’re only missing a couple of them, but I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

  “Of course,” I tell him, and he leads me down the hall and into the locker room where they’ve all congregated.

  This isn’t my first time in the locker room; I’m actually in here quite often. As the team's lead PR person, I deal with the media daily. Many of them have access to this very room, but only when I give the green light that they can enter. We also have a time limit they can spend in here with the guys. It works really well, and most of the media abide by those boundaries. We have a few that like to test the limits, but all it takes is me revoking their pass for one game, and they shape up pretty quickly.

  I look around the room, finding all but three of the locker bays filled with one of the guys. All of them did as requested and are wearing team-issued clothing. I didn’t think that was a hardship, seeing how many different items they are given.

  Two of the three empty lockers don’t surprise me, as they are for guys that are out injured, and they were given the option to be here today, rather than it being mandatory. The one that has my blood pressure rising is none other than my thorn of a player, Lucas Black.

  Ian must realize my assessment of who is missing, as he’s quick to speak up. “I’ve called Lucas already, telling him he needs to get his ass here. So far, he hasn’t replied, but I assure you, he’ll be appropriately disciplined for missing a mandatory team event.”

  “Of course he isn’t here,” I mutter under my breath. “Thanks for that; I’ll make sure his station gets covered until he arrives,” I tell Ian.

  I watch as he slinks away, probably to go call Lucas again. I don’t know why I believed him when he told me he’d be here and on time. I guess, fool me once, shame o
n him. I won’t let him fool me twice, that’s for sure.

  I quickly go over everything with the guys. What I’m asking them to do isn’t much different than any other fan event; this one just happens to have everyone here at once rather than just a few of them at an hour-long appearance.

  Before I know it, the first few hours have passed by in a blur of laughter and fun. Everywhere I look, kids are having a blast, as are the players. Lucas still hasn’t shown up, and the last I heard from Ian, he won’t be here anytime soon. I’m not sure what was so important, but Ian assured me that he’s dealing with the situation and I don’t need to worry about it. That has my mind spinning, wondering what trouble he’s gotten himself into and what mess I’ll be cleaning up in the press later today or tomorrow.

  We lead the kids up to the concourse and through the lines so they can all get their lunches. Much like down on the field, this space is filled with so much chatter and laughter that I can’t wipe the smile off my face at what we’ve accomplished today.

  “Hey, Carmen,” Derek Smyth calls out from down the hall once almost everyone has left. I stop and turn in his direction as he approaches.

  “What can I do for you, Derek?” I ask, giving him a polite smile.

  “I just wanted to tell you how much fun I had today. As wary as I was about having so many kids here at once, it was a really well-planned out and executed event, all thanks to you,” he compliments.

  “Th-Thank you.” I get a little choked up at his praise. “I really appreciate it. I hope that we can continue this each year,” I tell him honestly.