Free Third Base (The Boys of Summer Book 1) by Heidi McLaughlin

with her elbows leaning on the visitor dugout, watching our second baseman, Bryce Mackenzie, take his swings. She hasn’t noticed that I’m on the field yet and as much as I want to go over and talk to her, I can’t. I need to maintain some sort of professionalism right now.
    Instead, I walk over to the stands and start signing autographs. The little kids, and even some big ones, flock down to the fence to get a signature on their ball, glove or bat. A few of the other guys join me, making this a team effort.
    I move along the fence, making sure everyone is getting a chance instead of having to wait in a large crowd. I really like giving kids one-on-one attention. The bigger kids tend to squeeze the little ones out, and that annoys me. I take a ball from a little guy dressed in BoRe gear. His toothless grin reminds me of myself when I was about his age. For the longest time, I missed my four front teeth. Eating food that summer was difficult, especially popsicles.
    It’s still not my turn for batting practice so I move over to the third base side of the field, just steps away from Daisy. I know she can see me now and I when I look toward her, she’s smiling. I’ve impressed her, or at least I think I have. I’m waiting to see if she’ll come down to the opening. Each time I glance at her it seems like she’s thinking about it. I sign a few more items before moving to the other side of the dugout where Daisy is standing.
    A few of the fans rush down, but my eyes are locked on hers. Before I left the clubhouse, I grabbed a brand new baseball and wrote: Will you go to dinner with me tonight? I did this with the intent of giving it to her after the game started, but I don’t want to wait. She walks down the few steps to get to get to me, saying ‘excuse me’ along the way. At first the fans balk, but I think they get the drift that I want to see her because before I know it, she’s standing in front of me.
    “Nice hat,” I say as I tap the rim. It’s the same hat she wears for every game, but my brain can’t come up with anything else to say right now. She makes me fumble through my thoughts just to say the simplest things. I don’t know if it’s her smile, her eyes or her sheer presence that gets me tongue-tied, but I don’t want this feeling to stop. What I do want to stop is the twitching my hand is doing. I have a hard enough time around her as it is that I don’t need her distracted by this ailment. I pull the ball out of my back pocket and squeeze it, trying to control the shaking.
    “I think you might like my jersey,” she says with a hint of humor in her voice. She turns around slowly, showing me my name and number on her back. A few of the adults near us snicker, making me wish I could flip them off and tell them to get the fuck lost so I can bask in the fact that this girl, that I really like, is going to sit in the stands with my name on her back. If I didn’t have my cup in, everyone would see the fucking woody I’m sprouting right now because this is hot... not to mention that it’s also a sign that she’s actually into me.
    “Wow,” I say, stepping closer. My hands rest on the railing that she’s pressed against and I let my right hand touch her thigh. I have to lean down to do this, but it’s worth it. Even with all the cell phones out, it doesn’t stop me from touching her. “You really know how to impress a guy.”
    “Davenport, you’re up.” I look over my shoulder and nod. “I gotta go,” I tell her as I fight every muscle in my body from leaning forward to kiss her. We are going to have our first kiss soon, I just don’t know when. I do know that I’m going crazy with the need to feel her lips pressed against mine. “I have this for you.” I hand her the ball and her finger tips brush mine, sending a jolt to my system.
    Daisy reads the words and looks up, her green eyes piercing mine. “Yes,” she says loud enough for me to hear, giving me the sweetest smile in the