The Perfect Pitch (Indianapolis Lightning Book 1) Read online

  Mariah: You deserve a night to unwind. Maybe find yourself a hot guy to take home for the night. :winky face: If anyone deserves a wild night filled with no-strings-attached sex, it’s you.

  Jillian: I’m not interested in a one-night stand, so don’t even go there tonight. And no trying to fix me up with anyone either.

  Tara: Some good dick would do you some good. And you know what they say, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.

  Jillian: What is this, gang up on Jill day?

  Tara: No, the opposite. We’re looking out for your best interest. When was the last time you got some good dick? Like, fireworks going off, sweat-slicked bodies, can’t catch your breath nor walk the next day type fucking? I agree with Mariah, you need some good dick in your life.

  Jillian: Sigh. So, are you free tonight?

  Tara: For you, I’m free. Let me just break the news to Adam that he’s on kid duty and that I’m going out.

  Jillian: Do either of you have a suggestion on where we should meet? I can be ready in twenty or so minutes.

  Mariah: My suggestion is downtown. We can start at St. Elmo’s and then hit up some bars in the area as we see fit.

  Tara: Sounds good to me. Meet you there in an hour, I need time to shower and change. I haven’t left the house all day and need to wash the kids off of me.

  Jillian: Works for me.

  Mariah: See you both then. I’ll call and see if we can get on the list now for a table.

  Jillian: Probably a good idea. It is a Saturday night, after all.

  I pull up a playlist saved to my phone and get back to applying some makeup. I don’t go overboard since I don’t usually wear any with being home all the time and not really having anywhere, I go on a regular basis that requires me to be all made up. Once I’m happy with the reflection in the mirror, I spritz on some perfume, straighten my top, and head for the kitchen. I down a small glass of water, then grab my keys, phone, and purse, and head for the garage. I’m so used to having two little ones to get loaded and buckled, I almost feel like I’m forgetting something. I know they’re safe and happy with Derek. If I think about the three of them too much, I’ll lose it and start crying, and God knows I’ve cried enough tears over that man. Making the decision to end our marriage wasn’t something I did lightly. I stressed over the decision for months. But I needed to be strong for my girls and show them I’m strong and did this for everyone’s best interest. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, or that it wasn’t a difficult choice.

  I get lost in listening to the radio as I make my way downtown to the restaurant where Tara suggested we start. I’ve been here a few times before, so I find it easily. Thankfully, parking is a breeze as another car is pulling out just as I pull in. Once parked, I check my reflection in the small mirror in my visor, then grab my purse and step out of my car. Inside, I find Mariah waiting with a small square pager in her hands.

  “Hey, have you been here long?” I ask as I come up to stand next to her.

  “Just a couple of minutes. They said they should have our table ready in the next five to ten minutes.”

  I look around the packed restaurant. “That’s not so bad.”

  “I didn’t think so, either. How did today go?” she asks, and I blow out a big breath.

  “Okay, I guess. Kind of weird.”

  “I can only imagine. Was he a dick?” she bluntly asks.

  “Not at all. The complete opposite, actually. Texted on his way, offered to bring me coffee, which I declined but he brought anyways. He was short a few times when I reminded him of P’s allergies, but I also have to remember that he is their dad and while he might not do things the way I do, he’s still a good dad and won’t do anything on purpose to harm them.”

  “I’m sure it will be weird the first few times but will become easier to hand the girls back and forth,” she reassures me.

  “I hope so,” I reply as Tara joins us. We chat about our days for a few minutes while we wait for our buzzer to go off.

  “To being single and ready to find some new dick!” Tara calls out, holding up a shot glass of vodka. I hold up my own, trying to shush her as I see multiple people around us at the bar turn to look at us. We clink glasses and I quickly shoot the shot down.

  “God, that was horrible. I haven’t taken a shot like that in years,” I tell her, then pucker my lips once more at the aftertaste.

  “Evening, ladies. Can I buy you a round?” a guy asks as he tries to join our circle.

  “That depends…” Tara says, looking him up and down. “What do you expect to come of buying us a drink tonight?”

  “Ummm…” He stalls, obviously trying to think on his feet as to what answer she’s looking for. “Nothing, just want to help three beautiful ladies celebrate whatever it is they’re out celebrating tonight.”

  “If you’re sure, then, yes, we’ll accept a drink. But that’s it. None of us will be going home with you or accompanying you to the bathroom for a quick fuck or blowjob.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he says, turning to flag the bartender down.

  Once our free drinks are in hand, the guy bids us goodbye, getting the hint none of us are open to more.

  “I can’t believe he went through with actually buying us a round,” Mariah says, laughing into her martini.

  “He was pretty cute,” Tara adds, then points at me. “He looked like he could have rocked your world tonight.”

  “Not interested,” I remind her as I finish off my own martini. “I’m going to be in so much pain in the morning.”

  I set my glass down on the bar top, then flag down one of the bartenders and order a bottle of water to help flush some of the alcohol out of my system.

  “Down some water, take a few ibuprofens when you get home, and sleep it all off. When are the girls coming back?” Tara asks.

  “Derek said he’d bring them by sometime between six and six thirty.”

  “Perfect. You have all day to recover,” she says, attempting to hand me another shot glass.

  “No, no. I’m done for the night,” I tell her, pushing the shot glass away from me.

  “Come on, live a little!” both of them say in unison as they hold up their own shots and place mine in front of me. I look down at my watch and see it’s already pushing midnight.

  “When was the last time you let loose and did whatever the fuck you wanted?” Mariah asks.

  “I can’t even remember.” I bite my bottom lip as I look around the bar.

  “Then let go, Jill. You deserve a night to forget. To let loose. To enjoy being a single, twenty-something woman.”

  “You mean a single, divorced mom of two toddlers, who has no job?”

  “Tonight, though, you have no demands. Unless this shot can be looked at as a demand. You have no little ones depending on you. No ex-husband to worry about what he’s out doing. It’s time that you stopped thinking about everyone else and put yourself first. So, here, take this and let go.”

  “Fine,” I say, accepting the shot glass and downing it.

  Everything else in my life has gone to shit. I might as well enjoy tonight.

  Five

  Derek

  “Are you ready to go see Mommy?” I call down the hall to my girls. They were picking up their toys we bought yesterday and making sure they had everything that needs to go back with them.

  “Yes!” they both yell as they come barreling down the hallway. I change my stance, in case they don’t stop in time—I don’t need them toppling me over and potentially hurting one or all of us in the process—but they both skitter to a stop just in front of me.

  “Are you still staying to read us bedtime stories?” Penelope asks.

  “Sure am, bug,” I tell her, picking them both up in my arms. It’s a good thing I work out on the regular, as they are both getting big. It won’t be long before I can’t lift them both at the same time. “How many stories do you think we should read tonight?”

  “Five!” she call
s out with a giggle.

  “Five! That’s a lot of stories. What do you say?” I turn my head to Addison.

  “Umm, how about seven?!” she exclaims.

  “Seven! That’s even more than your sister suggested. How about we read as many as we have time for. You girls need to go to bed on time. You have preschool tomorrow. But until then, let’s get packed up. Go get your shoes on.” I plant a kiss on each of their foreheads before setting them back down on their feet.

  “Everyone ready?” I ask a couple minutes later. I’ve grabbed their overnight bags Jillian packed for them, and now just need to load them up into my truck.

  “I’m ready,” Penny says, hopping up off the floor where she was sitting, putting her shoes on.

  “Daddy, I need help,” Addison tells me as she struggles to get her shoes on.

  “Stand up and place your foot on Daddy’s knee.” I offer my hand to help her up. She accepts and stands before me, placing her foot on my knee as I instructed. I fix the shoe, allowing her foot to slip inside of it before I secure the strap.

  “Ok, girls, let’s hit the road,” I tell them, opening up the door for us to walk out of. I quickly get them loaded, placing their bags between the two car seats in the back seat of my truck. “We’re going to stop at the store and pick up dinner, then we’ll go to Mommy’s house.”

  “Can we get ice cream?” Penny asks as I drive down the street.

  “Maybe. Let’s see how well you behave as I get the other items we need,” I say over my shoulder.

  Once at the grocery store, I grab a few meals from the Chinese counter. This was always one of our go-to “we don’t feel like cooking” or “let’s stay in and have a date night after the kids are in bed” kind of meals.

  “How about we bring Mommy some pretty flowers?” I ask as we walk past the florist section.

  “Yes!” they both agree. “I think she’ll like these ones,” Addison adds, pointing at a big arrangement.

  “Do you both like that one?” I ask the girls. I don’t really think it matters which one we get, as she’ll just enjoy receiving them in general. I realize I didn’t buy or send her flowers nearly enough while we were married, but I guess that’s just one more thing I can add to my list of things I need to work on as I win her back.

  They agree on the one bouquet, so I add it to my cart. Before I direct us to the checkout, I stop and grab a bottle of Jill’s favorite wine, and then to the ice cream section to let the girls pick some for after dinner. “Okay, girls, let’s go. Time to go have some dinner with Mommy.”

  We make our way over to the self-checkout and they help me scan the items. They love getting to help, so I hand them each a twenty to feed into the machine once I’m ready to pay. They get an even bigger kick when the machine spits out the change and receipt a moment later. In no time, we’re back in the truck and on the road again.

  “Mommy!” our girls call out as soon as Jill answers the door. My hands are full, between the bags and flowers from the grocery store, and their belongings.

  “Hi, my babies!” she greets them, dropping down to her haunches to pull them into her arms. They both latch on to her neck, not seeming to want to let her go. You’d think they hadn’t seen her in a month, not a mere thirty some-odd hours later.

  “Mommy, we missed you!” Penny tells her.

  Jill kisses her on the forehead. “I missed you, too, Pen.”

  “I don’t mean to interrupt this moment, but can I come in? My hands are a bit full and I don’t want to drop anything.”

  “Oh, of course!” Jillian says, standing and moving the girls to the side so I can slip by them. I head for the kitchen, setting the bags of food down as I open the cabinet where I know she keeps the vases. I add some water, then place the bouquet inside.

  “These are for you. The girls picked them out just for you when we stopped at the store for dinner,” I tell her, winking at my girls.

  “Oh, did they now?” she asks, leaning in to smell the flowers. “They sure are pretty and smell amazing.”

  “I’d have to agree, just like all of you,” I state, making sure she damn well knows it.

  Jillian is the quintessential girl-next-door, every teenage boy’s wet dream. She’s got that natural beauty you can’t replicate with any amount of makeup. She can pull off a ratty old t-shirt and yoga pants or a designer dress and heels that cost thousands of dollars. It was one of the many things that drew me to her when we first met in college. I was the tall, skinny, hadn’t quite grown into myself yet, baseball-playing jock. She made me work for it, but man, was she worth the chase.

  I still remember the first time I saw her from across the quad that first month of freshman year. She walked by with a group of her floormates. Her caramel-colored hair blowing in the slight breeze. She had on skintight jeans, and a tank top that did little to hide her curves. All I know is I almost fell off the bench I was sitting at with some of the guys from my team. They gave me shit about it for weeks. It took me another two weeks to find out her name and a few fucking months before she agreed to go out on a date with me.

  “So, did you have a good time while we were gone?” I ask, changing the subject.

  “You could say that,” she says, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.

  “Wild night?” I ask, jokingly.

  “You could say that,” she repeats, her blush deepening. Fuck. Please don’t tell me she was out fucking some random dude. “I met Mariah and Tara downtown for dinner and drinks. They encouraged me to let loose and enjoy my night of freedom. After a few drinks, I finally gave in and we might have closed down the bar. I’ve been nursing quite the hangover today,” she confesses.

  “Sounds like a good night. Did you come back here last night?” I ask, fishing for more information about her wild night.

  “Yep, we ordered an Uber and I came home. Took some meds before crawling into bed and woke up feeling pretty good, considering. I’ve had a small headache, but no puking or anything like that. It could have been so much worse than it was. After lunch, Tara and Adam came and picked me up, and he dropped us both off so we could get our cars back home.”

  “Did you get any of your errands done that you wanted?”

  “The important ones, yes. The fridge and pantry are stocked for the week. Everything else can be done while the girls are at preschool this week.”

  “I don’t have anything going on this week, so if you need me to come by and give you a break, just call me,” I tell her.

  “Thanks, I’ll let you know. And you know that you’re welcome to come see them or pick them up whenever you want, right? I don’t want to keep you from them. That’s never been my intention with all of this.”

  “I know, and I appreciate that,” I reply sincerely.

  “Are you not training at all this offseason?” she asks.

  “I am, but Josh is out of town. He went to visit family for the week. I’m sure I’ll hit up the gym and go throw some balls at the cages, but nothing too demanding. I am allowed to have some downtime during my off months,” I say teasingly. “Speaking of downtime… I was thinking that maybe we could take the girls down to Florida and to D-I-S-N-E-Y-W-O-R-L-D.” I spell out the word, so the girls don’t overhear. “I was thinking maybe the week after Thanksgiving. I know they’d have to miss preschool, but I figured they’re still young enough that missing a few days of school isn’t a big deal yet.”

  “Missing school is fine, but I don’t know, Derek.” She sighs. “Not many newly divorced couples go on vacation together. Wouldn’t that be kind of weird?”

  “I don’t think it would be. We’d be doing it for the girls. Each getting to spend time with them. Seeing the excitement that it brings to both of them, together. We’ve got lots of milestones to make it through over their lifetimes, so what’s wrong with taking a vacation together as one of those memory-making times? And if you’re worried about the money side of things, I’ll pay for all of it. I don’t expect you to pay for a portion of it out of
the child support I’m paying.” I pause for a second and give her arm a squeeze. “And you know that if you ever need more, just tell me. I don’t want you to have to put the girls into daycare because you have to go back to work. They thrive being at home with you, and that isn’t something that I want to take away from the three of you just because I’m no longer living at home and we’re no longer married. I still love you, Jillian, and would do anything for you and our girls. I fucked up and I know it, but I’m going to prove to you that I’m changing. The three of you are now my priority. It really fucking sucks that it took me so long to hit rock bottom and realize that. But hearing that judge hit the gavel on her desk was the wake-up call I needed.”

  I observe Jill’s body language as she takes in and digests everything I just word vomited on her. I realize everything I dumped was a shit ton to take in and process, so it doesn’t surprise me she’s quiet for a few moments.

  With her eyebrows furrowed, she really looks at me. I can faintly hear the girls playing in the other room, so thankfully, they aren’t listening in on our conversation. “I-I don’t really know what to say right now to all of that.” She pauses, and takes a deep breath, almost as if she’s trying to keep herself calm in this moment.

  “You don’t have to say anything. Just know I’m going to win you back. You were the best thing to ever happen to me and I want that back. I want to know that when I come home at night, it will be to you. That when I crawl into bed at night, it will be your warm, sexy body that I get to curl around,” I tell her as I walk around the island counter that has been separating us, stopping only when I’m standing a foot or so away from her. I reach my hand out and cup her face. My big palm covers the entire side. I sink my fingertips into her hair and swipe my thumb across her plump bottom lip. “And just so you know, you’re the only woman who has my eye. We might technically be single, but I can promise you that the next woman I kiss, the next woman I fuck, the next woman I make love to, will be you.”