Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“Has your coach mentioned getting scouted at all?” I ask Hunter, whose eyes widen.
“No, but I go to a private school and I’m only in middle school, so we only play a few other teams.”
“If you keep that up, you could get drafted,” I tell him honestly. He still has a few years left, but with his accuracy and speed, and the fact he can also catch and bat, he has a damn good chance.
“Are you Landon Maxwell?” someone asks from behind me. When I turn around, a teenage boy is standing there, smiling. He’s probably a junior or senior in high school if I had to guess. “Holy shit, you are!”
“Watch your language, kid.” I nod toward Ella and Harper. “There are ladies around.”
“I’m so sorry, sir,” he mumbles. “Could you sign this?” He extends the Boston Reds hat he was wearing and a pen. “I’m a huge fan.”
“Sure.” I sign my name. “Do you play ball?”
“Hell—I mean heck yeah. I’m a pitcher too.” He grins proudly.
“How old are you?” I ask.
“Sixteen, sir. I play varsity.”
“My friend Hunter plays too.” I nod toward Hunter, who’s watching our exchange. “Wanna see what you got?” I point to the game.
“Against you?” the kid asks.
“Against him. I’ll play the winner.”
The boys start the game, and three balls in, I already know Hunter is going to win. While the kid is good, throwing between sixty to sixty-five miles per hour, he isn’t as fast or accurate as Hunter is. We spend the next hour taking turns playing the pitching game and then eventually move on to other games.
Harper kicks my ass in air hockey, and then Ella has me race with her on a motorcycle. We must play every game at least once, until all their coins run out. Then we spend thirty minutes with Ella picking out toys with her thousands of tickets, since Hunter gave her his when she pouted she didn’t have enough to get what she wanted. I’m almost positive he did it to try to get right with his mom for earlier, but nonetheless it was a nice thing to do.
Once we’re in the parking lot, everyone says their goodbyes, and then we head over to Harper’s SUV since she’s giving me a ride home.
We’re not even two minutes into our drive when Ella says, “Mom, is Landon your boyfriend?”
I stifle my laugh and glance over at Harper, who’s gripping the steering wheel awfully tight. I bet she was hoping her daughter would forget.
“Umm…” Harper clears her throat. “We’re getting to know each other.” I’m not thrilled with her answer, but I’ll let it slide for now. If it were up to me, we would slap a label on what we are, but I know Harper isn’t there yet.
“I thought you already knew him,” Hunter says.
Harper groans. “We knew each other when we were younger,” she explains. “It’s been a really long time since then, so we’re getting to know each other again.”
Hunter laughs from the backseat. “Just admit you’re dating. I saw you two kiss in the arcade.”
“They kissed?” Ella asks her brother. “Then you are boyfriend and girlfriend! Manny kissed me on the playground and said I’m his girlfriend.”
I cough loudly to hide my laugh. This is the most I’ve ever been around kids. I had no idea how intuitive and straightforward they are.
“Ella, you should not be letting Manny—” Harper’s words are cut off by the sound of the phone ringing throughout the vehicle.
“Answer call,” Harper says with evident exasperation in her tone.
“Hello,” a male voice comes over.
Harper groans and throws her head back. “I should’ve checked who was calling,” she whispers.
“Daddy!” Ella squeals. “Hi, Daddy!”
“Hey, sweetie. What are you up to?” Richie asks.
“We just left the arcade and Mommy’s boyfriend, the one Hunter saw kissing her, is with us. And”—Ella takes a deep breath—“his name is Landon. Remember he was Mommy’s friend?” She doesn’t wait for Richie to answer before she continues on. “He’s going to build me a balance beam and I’m going to paint it bright pink just like Jo Jo’s bows!”
Harper’s gaze quickly leaves the road and meets mine, her eyes as wide as saucers. I don’t blame her. Ella just said all that in less than ten seconds. There has to be a world record somewhere she just broke.
There’s less than a second of silence before Hunter picks up where his sister left off. “Hey, Dad, I beat Landon in a throwing contest at the arcade and he said if I keep throwing like I am, I could get drafted into the Major Leagues.”
“What the—” Richie starts, probably to bitch at Harper, but Hunter cuts him off before he can.
“And since we bet over the game, he’s taking us to a Reds game.”
“Harper, get me off speaker phone,” Richie demands.
“I can’t. I’m driving. Call you later,” she says quickly, in an overly upbeat voice, before she presses a button to end the call.