Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“No one asked you and it’s different. I just had to deal with my ex at the time and was drunk off my ass. I didn’t realize what I had in front of me. I barely knew my name.”
“Fair enough. Then, know that I do realize what I have in front of me and I’m not going to do something stupid if there’s a chance that I have a shot.”
“You like my sister that much?”
“I spent hours playing fetch with a damn cow. What do you think?”
He laughs. “You must not scare easily if you withstood Mom and Hamburger.”
“Your mother might be crazy, Green.”
He laughs. “Wait till you see all of us together,” he winks as he gets up. He starts to walk away and then stops. “You know a lot of people say Petal is just like my mom.”
“Petal?” I ask, completely clueless. For all I know Ida Sue may have a pet rattlesnake.
“Another sister—she’s married so don’t get any ideas,” he warns. I flip him the bird which makes him laugh. “Anyway, everyone says that she’s the most like Mom, but you know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think Marigold is just like Mom,” he says, patting me on the back. “Now, get out there. You’re up and we need Parker to score. I want the lead going into the next inning.”
“Two points coming up,” I brag, getting up and grabbing the bat that’s propped up by the dugout.
I think about everything Green said as I walk up to the plate. I know he’s trying to scare me off. What he doesn’t realize is that I enjoyed my time with Ida Sue. She’s crazy as hell, but it’s clear she loves her family. To a man who has never had that in his life, it shows a life I never knew existed. I want more of the Lucas family craziness, but most of all I want more of Marigold.
With that thought in mind. I swing my bat once to warm up my shoulder and look up at Marigold. Even from this distance I can tell she’s look right at me. I swing once more with a grin. Then I hold a finger up in the air as if I’m testing the wind, then I point at her.
“For you,” I yell. I don’t know if she can hear me, but the crowd has died down, so maybe she does. I know she stands up and is smiling and that’s good enough for now. I nod to the umpire, then the pitcher, take my stance and then wait. This pitch comes fast and high. I watch it hurl toward me as the angle switches and I know it’s going to hit right in the middle. I swing, putting all my might behind it. Determined to hit like I’ve never hit the damn ball before. The crack of the ball against the bat echoes around me and I can hear the crowd screaming. I swear to God, at one point I’m pretty sure I hear Marigold yelling, “Way to go Bat-Boy!”
That means I’m laughing as I run the bases. The ball goes over the fence I hear Fieldez—the third baseman for the other team—cuss. I make it home easily. I look over at Green and hold up two fingers. He holds up one—the middle one.
I grin bigger, as I look up at Marigold. She’s not getting away from me.
I won’t let her.
CHAPTER 11
Marigold
I’ve never been nervous when it comes to guys. I’m just not that type. I have too many brothers and have been labeled just one of the guys a lot in my life. Admittedly, that lessened after I grew boobs, but it does still happen. Right now, though, I’m so damn nervous I feel like I’m jumping out of my skin. I thought about leaving, but I know I’d just be postponing the inevitable. Slater is not going away and if I’m honest, I don’t want him to.
“Are you chickening out?” Kage asks laughing.
“No,” I grumble, and the tone of my voice just makes her laugh harder. “I’m serious. It’s just you know how much baseball players…”
“Play?” she laughs.
“Yeah, I don’t really want to be the next round of fodder for the team to dissect.”
“Well, for one, that will never happen because Green would kill them all.”
“Yeah, probably. Still, the idea of getting dumped when he moves on to a Bat-Bunny is somewhat humiliating.”
“You want him, right?”
“Have you seen the man? A girl would have to be an idiot not to want him.”
I sigh. I don’t mention that I’m totally in hormone overload when it comes to Slater Daniels. I’d rather not look like a complete idiot—which is what I feel like.
“Then, why not be the player in this scenario?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, my brows knitting with my confusion.
“You don’t want a relationship, right? Lord knows you preach on that enough.”