Caught (Men of the Show Book 3) (31 page)

Just as he twisted around toward the field, a cap of blond hair caught his eye. A stroke of familiarity passed through him and he turned back, his jaw dropping. Shannon sat in the stands a few rows behind the dugout next to Karen and Maddie. Her attention was on him, not the game, and when he spotted her, she gave him a small smile. She appeared timid and unsure, but happy nonetheless. He was shocked to see her there, although he wasn’t sure why. Her brother-in-law was the Ace of the team.
 

His heart skipped a beat, missing her with a fresh wave of pain, and longing weighed him down. His shoulders ached, his body tired and his heart heavy from the unfinished business still hanging in the air between them. But he wouldn’t let her see his heartache. She’d moved on and probably had a new job in some big fancy law firm, working hard to make a name for herself. There was no reason to wear his emotions on his sleeve because he didn’t want her guilt. He wanted her to be doing what was right for her, happily following her dreams, which, unfortunately, didn’t include him. Therefore, he resisted launching himself over the top of dugout in order to rush to her side, tell her he missed her and still loved her, begging for another chance. He simply lifted his hand in a small wave with a smile, before returning toward the field and turning his back to her.

*
 
*
 
*

“I love you, Bucky,” a shrill voice screamed behind her, causing Shannon to cringe. She spun around and spotted the teenage girl almost hyperventilating, believing Matt had smiled and waved at her.

Shannon started to feel sorry for the young girl, since Matt had been smiling and waving at her, but suddenly she was worried that perhaps she was wrong. Maybe he hadn’t seen her and
had
been eyeing the girl behind her. That would suck.

Shannon slouched back in her seat and let out a heavy sigh. The entire game she’d kept her eye on the dugout, hoping at one point she’d spot him and be able to let him know she was here rather than approaching him after the game out of the blue, taking him by complete surprise. She’d also wanted to gauge his reaction at seeing her to determine if she should even try to contact him when the game ended. And, truth be told, even after doing as much, uncertainty remained. He’d definitely seemed surprised and happy to see her, but then just as quick, his face turned neutrally pleasant. His smile wasn’t that big and his eyes weren’t that bright. He’d reacted as if he’d come across an old, casual acquaintance, and she supposed that was exactly how he thought of her now.

So much had changed since the last time she’d talked with him. They hadn’t left things on a good note, and she took some blame for that. But she’d come so far since then, needing the space to clear her head and sift through the confusion and guilt constantly weighing on her, and in doing so, she’d finally found herself.
 

Now the time had come to tell Matt everything, lay her heart on the line, and pray he didn’t laugh at her and walk away. She had to believe he still cared for her as she did him, he still loved her as she did him, and they were meant to be together, otherwise she’d be lost. If they weren’t, why did she still ache for him?
 
Why did she miss the sound of his voice, the feel of his arms around her?
 
Why couldn’t she go one minute without thinking about him?

She had to try. If he turned her down, then he turned her down, but she’d prove to him she was serious about him, about them, and would do whatever to make them work. Not only that, but she was her own person making these decisions, no other influences drove them—not him, not her father—and she was doing what she wanted, not what anybody else wanted her to do.

She had to go after her happiness, and her level of happiness relied on the big hunk of a man sitting a few rows down in front of her with
Buck
splayed across his broad shoulders. He leaned his arms against the railing, resting his chin on his hand, taking in the game in front of him. From the telling slouch of his back, she could tell it was killing him to be watching rather than playing, especially since Jerry had said Matt was getting back into his old form.
 

Given the tied score lit up in bright lights on the scoreboard, his comeback most likely wouldn’t be in this game. Shannon eyed his wide back and sighed. On one hand, she wanted him to play in order to reestablish himself in the game he loved that had almost been taken away from him, but on the other, she wanted the game and the season to be over so she could spend time with him.

Karen reached out and squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be okay, sis.”

“I know. I feel so bad watching him sit there like someone’s stolen his favorite toy.”

Karen smiled as she turned her attention back to the game. “It’s hard to be on this side of things. It always drives me crazy watching Jerry, especially when he’s struggling. I want to run out there, grab him off the mound and flip off everyone who’s booing him.”

Shannon laughed as the Rockets’ left fielder caught the pop fly for the final out of the inning. “It’s probably better that Matt isn’t playing. If he was in this game, I’d be so nervous for him.”

“You’re nervous either way,” Karen told her.

“You’re right. I hope they can pull it out. Maybe if they make it into the playoffs, then he’ll have a chance to play.”

Shannon glanced down toward Matt and disappointment tugged at her seeing he’d left his perch to disappear back into the dugout. She took a deep breath and waited for the Rockets to come up to bat. She struggled with patience and hoped someone would get a run right away, because she wanted the game to end. She was done with waiting. She wanted Matt and nothing else mattered at this point.

*
 
*
 
*

Matt sat down on the bench as Jason walked up to the plate, causing the crowd to cheer loudly. In his first year with the club, Jason had won them over with his quick, flashy play either in the field or with his bat. He didn’t have a lot of power in his swing, but he consistently got the ball in play. Once on base, he wowed everyone with his speed and now led the team with stolen bases, something the Rockets had lacked in recent years. He brought excitement into the game with him, which the fans appreciated. It also didn’t hurt that all of the women adored him. Matt never understood it, but the ladies loved Jason’s curly hair, worn just long enough to peek out from under his cap, brushing at the back of his neck. Matt’s personal opinion was that it was too long and having his hair that length would drive him nuts.

As expected, Jason got the signal to bunt and placed down a beauty toward the third base line, slowly rolling through the grass toeing the foul line. Jason tore down the base path, stretching out to touch the bag before the ball hit the seat of the first baseman’s outstretched glove. When the umpire called him safe, the entire stadium erupted, including his teammates. Everyone was pumped and ready to put this game in the books with a win.

The next batter hit a grounder to first, which allowed Jason to get to second. With one out, the next Rockets’ hitter battled hard, fouling off one pitch after another, wearing the pitcher down, but he eventually went down with a strikeout. The Rockets were down to their last chance to win the game without the need for extra innings. The dugout stirred restlessly, not wanting to lose the chance to score since they had a runner in scoring position, but unless someone hit to bring him home, the game would move into the tenth.

Before the next Rockets’ hitter standing in the on-deck circle removed the doughnut from his bat and headed toward the plate, Coach Brooklyn called him back into the dugout.

“Buck, you’re up,” Coach yelled.

Matt jolted in surprise, and stood unmoving, momentarily frozen with shock.

“Is there a problem?” Coach asked when Matt hadn’t moved toward the cubby where they kept their batting helmets.

“No, not at all,” Matt said, coming out of his stupor as he rushed over to grab his gear.

His heart threatened to pound out of his chest as he pulled on his gloves and walked up the stairs out of the dugout. While he warmed up, Coach Brooklyn went over the lineup change with the umps. The crowd, quickly realizing who the new batter was, yelled and screamed. Out of practice, Matt struggled to ignore the frenzy, internal and external, and empty his head of all thoughts other than putting the ball in play in order to get Jason in for the run to win the game.

What a situation to put him in. He hadn’t played a game all year, this being his first one, and the game, the season potentially, was on the line. This was what he wanted, but damn, he would have liked to have been a bit more prepared for it.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to work the stress out of his shoulders, determined to be calm and relaxed when he went up to the plate. Anything else, he would surely get a fly out or a strikeout. He’d faced this pitcher before, and the guy’s play would be to pitch him low and away, not giving him anything to take out of the park. But Matt would be patient and when he had the pitcher in a hole, when he had to throw down the heart of the plate in order to get the out, Matt would take him deep. Either that or he would take a walk, but he hoped it didn’t come to that. One thing he knew for sure, there’d be no repeat of last year. This time, he refused to go down.

*
 
*
 
*

Standing up, Shannon grabbed Karen’s arm. Her nerves had shot through the roof once she’d seen Matt stroll out of the dugout with his bat in his hands and his helmet on his head. He appeared calm and collected, but he had to have some butterflies beating around in his stomach. She had no idea how he handled the pressure—she was dying from it and she wasn’t even in the game.

“I can’t believe they’re putting him in,” Shannon said.

“He’s one of their best bats. They want him to end it for them,” Karen told her.

“But what if he gets out?”

“Then he gets out,” Karen replied, unconcerned. “They go into the tenth inning.”

“But what if he has to run?” Shannon asked, still unconvinced he should even be in the game.

“Shannon, they wouldn’t have put him in if he wasn’t ready for it. He’s fine,” Karen promised.

As Matt slowly walked to the plate, his attention on nothing but the pitcher, Shannon closed her eyes and turned away. “I can’t watch.”

“Stop it, yes, you can,” Karen said with a laugh. “You need to watch your hot man do his thing. Come on,” she said as she turned Shannon back around.

Matt stepped up to the plate and raised his bat, waiting for the throw. The pitch came in hot, straight down the middle, and he swung hard, hitting nothing but air. A collective gasp emanated from the crowd. Shannon clenched her fists, watching for any signs of discomfort as he untwisted his body from his huge swing. He didn’t seem to be favoring anything as he stepped back, tightening his grip on his bat. Palpable relief flitted throughout the stands when it was apparent he was okay.

He readied himself again and this time the pitch came in low and away. Matt let it go and took the ball. The pitcher did the same thing for the next two pitches, but Matt refused to chase and the count sat in Matt’s favor with three balls and one strike.

“This is torture,” Shannon complained.

“He’s right where he wants to be,” Karen murmured. “Johnson has to throw something right down the plate. Matt knows it and so all he has to do is connect with it. Jason will be running with the pitch, so hopefully he can get around third and home if Matt gets something over the head of the second baseman and into the outfield.”

“I don’t know how you can be all cool and assessing with this,” Shannon said as she tried to calm herself down, a hopeless cause since her anxiety was so high she couldn’t even take a deep breath.

She wanted Matt to succeed and she wanted it so badly. He deserved so much after all he’d been through. Until he had baseball back completely, he would feel incomplete.

Matt stepped back up to the plate, waiting for the pitch, and Jason took a healthy lead off second. Johnson, the Buffaloes pitcher, eyed Jason for a second, contemplating a throw over to the bag in order to shorten Jason’s lead, but then decided against it and turned his back on him. Johnson threw, right down Broadway, just as everyone had anticipated, but Matt stood ready and swung with everything he had. A resounding crack filled the stadium and everyone, already on their feet, watched the ball sail through the air over everyone’s head. The centerfielder backtracked all the way deep into center field and stopped at the wall as the ball crested over the top at the deepest part of the ballpark.

Everyone erupted at once, screaming their heads off as Matt trotted around the bases, cementing the Rockets’ win with a walk-off home run. The entire team gathered at home plate. Matt rounded third base, the grin on his face growing bigger at the sight of his teammates waiting for him to come home. He tossed his batting helmet to the ground toward the dugout and jogged the remaining ninety feet. Once his foot touched the plate, the team surrounded him in celebration.

Shannon and Karen hugged as they bounced up and down in their seats, their eyes filled with tears of joy. The crowd was so loud they couldn’t have heard each other despite standing next to one another, but nothing needed to be said as they both were thinking the same thing.

Matt was back.

Chapter 25

The celebration continued in the locker room. Showers of champagne drenched Matt, and someone handed him a cigar along with a bottle of beer. With the win, the Rockets had clinched the division, putting themselves ahead in the standings and out of reach from Cleveland since not enough games remained in the season for them to make up the points. Because of that, it was official and, as soon as they’d made their way off the field, the PR staff handed everyone black T-shirts proclaiming their conference win.