Page 169 of Out of Left Field

“Do you?”

“No. Why wait? Be happy. Life is short. And too often it's cruel. Grab the good with both hands, my friend.”

“And you think Seth is good?”

She smiled so softly it made my chest ache. “You know I do. I love you, Annalise Ryan. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“You know, you’re kind of like my fairy godmother, pushing us together.”

“Pffft.” Jeri laughed. “Oh hell no. That was just a little matchmaking. Do not liken me to some matronly lady with a magic wand and singing mice. Nope. No.” She shook herself and sat up straight. “Can I talk to you, team captain to team superstar?”

The color drained from my face. After my days off I was supposed to focus. I was supposed to come back to myself and the rest of the season. I was supposed to get back to posting magical social media content.

But I’d done none of it. I had gone through the motions at best. Any time I tried to string together a post I deleted it. I could feel Owen watching, waiting for some clue to my life he could exploit.

I was paralyzed.

And now my best friend was about to give me the lecture I needed. “Give it to me.”

“Give it to you?” She frowned.

“Tell me how I need to step up, how I can’t let Owen affect my game, that I’ve been shit at practice.” We had a game tomorrow that I was, quite frankly, not prepared for.

“Shit, Ryan. No. You’re fine. We’ve got your back. We’re a team. When one of us needs help, the rest of us step up.”

Because I was the weak link. “I’m sorry.”

She grabbed my shoulders and gave me a soft shake. “You’re not hearing me. Yes, you’re distracted. We all are. We’re a team, though. We work together. And that’s what I wanted to ask you.”

This wasn’t going the way I expected at all. “Okay?”

“You remember that fire I liked? At the game a couple weeks ago?”

“You mean the one where I screamed my head off?”

Jeri grinned. “That one. Bring that Ryan to the game tomorrow. The team needs her passion. I think if you bark some orders at us we’ll snap together just fine.”

I was about to ask her if she’d lost her mind when I got distracted by Hunter Holland missing a softly hit ground ball that hit the edge of the outfield grass and soared into the air. I shot to my feet. “Oh come on Holland! Charge that ball next time!” I threw my hands in the air as Seth scooped it up and threw it in to Erik Cassidy, covering second.

Hunter hung his head while Erik and Seth traded smirks. I collapsed back into my seat to find Jeri grinning.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what we need. Bring that to the game tomorrow and we’re golden.”

24

SETH

Rhett decided to hold an impromptu barbeque so I decided it was time to break out of this funk Annalise and I had been in. Especially since she chose to wear a sexy as fuck sundress. It was like throwing up the Bat Signal.

I asked her to wear skirts. She was in a fucking skirt.

So after we said our hellos and enjoyed a plate of barbeque, I led her outside to the pool deck, snagging one of the loungers in a dark corner between the house and the porch. It was as private as we could get while still being completely out in the open.

Annalise frowned at me when I sat in the only lounger. “I guess I can pull up another.”

“Nope. You’re sitting right here.” I slapped my thighs.”

She arched an eyebrow. “On your lap?”