The Perfect Game (The Perfect Game 1)

He rubbed his eyes before slamming his palm down on top of the clock radio. “I don’t want to get up. I need sleep. ”

“You get to pitch today,” I reminded him, my voice groggy.

“I get to sleep today. ” He laughed before grabbing me in his arms and squeezing.

“You’re going to kill me,” I choked out sarcastically. “I’m dying. I can’t breathe. Hello? Earth to Jack?”

“Clearly you’re not dying if you’re still flapping your gums. ” I wanted to smack him, his grin was so wicked.

“I hate you. ”

“No you don’t. ”

*****

The rest of our weekend together consisted of two more baseball games, floating around the pool, and the constant reminder of how much we enjoyed being together. Jack’s pitching was amazing during his outing on Saturday, which prompted rumors to spread that he’d get moved up to Double-A soon. Which was fast, even by baseball standards.

When he dropped me off at the airport on Sunday evening, I cried. It was like saying good-bye to him for the first time all over again. Seeing him made it harder to be away, which was sort of fucked up, if you asked me.

“I hate saying good-bye to you. It sucks. ” I buried my face against his shoulder.

“I know. Me too. ” He kissed the top of my head as his fingers caressed my back.

I pushed myself away from the protection of his arms. “I’ll call you as soon as I land, okay?”

“You better,” he teased before cupping my face in his hands. “I love you. ” His mouth pressed against mine as his tongue swept across my lips.

“I love you too,” I said, pulling away from him.

I shut the car door before walking through the sliding glass doors of the airport entrance. I headed toward the security checkpoint, thankful that it wasn’t crowded. Once my bag and my body were cleared, I found my gate and plopped into an empty chair, the weekend’s activities catching up to me. I yawned as my cell phone rang with Jack’s song.

“What’s up, babe?”

“Cassie,” he shouted, the wind whipping through the air, forcing the reception to crackle. “Can you hear me?”

“Sort of. Are you okay?” I grabbed my bag and looked for a more private setting.

“I just got off the phone with Coach. They’re pulling me up to Double-A. I leave for Alabama in two days!”

“Oh my God, babe, that’s amazing! Congratulations. I’ve always wanted to see Alabama,” I added, so happy for my guy.

“Is that so?”

“Yep. ”

“In that case, I can’t wait to fly you out. ” He laughed. “I’ve gotta call Dean and Gran. I just wanted to tell you first. ”

“I’m so glad you did. Congratulations again, babe. I’m so proud of you. ”

“Thanks, Kitten. Love you. Call me when you land. ” He hung up and I couldn’t stop my face from grinning.

FIFTEEN

JACK

The state of Alabama welcomed me with open arms. That was the good news. The bad news was that the air there was so thick with humidity I thought I might choke. I’d never experienced heat that felt almost solid in form, hitting you in the face when you stepped outside. But the people were friendly and the city boasted that small-town feel I thought only existed in movies.

All the shifting in the Diamondbacks organization caused a group of guys on my team to lose a roommate. This worked out perfectly for me, considering I was looking for some. I moved in right away, taking not only the other guy’s room in the house, but his spot on the roster too.