Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 86158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Reb, obviously,” Charlie said, choosing first.
“Hey,” Kara yelled in outrage, throwing her arms in the air.
“I’m in it to win it,” Charlie told her best friend, grinning.
“Will,” Tommy picked.
“Kara,” Charlie said, laughing when Kara grumbled.
“Tommy, if you don’t pick your wife we’re gonna have an issue,” Hawk said, striding toward her husband without waiting for him to call her name.
“Draco,” Charlie said, pointing.
“Molly,” Tommy said.
“You know, if you don’t pick some young ones this isn’t going to be very fair,” Charlie teased. Then she looked over the crowd. “Dad.”
“Little Mick.”
“I didn’t mean that young,” Charlie whispered loud enough that everyone started laughing. “Brody.”
They went down the line and I got more and more irritated the longer Charlie didn’t pick me for her team. She seemed to be making a point, but I wasn’t sure what it was. About halfway through the process, Tommy acted like he’d forgotten my name and just pointed to me. “You.”
I walked over to his side and stood next to Molly and Will. She leaned a little and bumped her shoulder into my arm.
“I know Charlie’s really good,” she said consolingly. “But don’t discount Will and Tommy. They’re surprisingly athletic for guys that sit on their asses all day.”
“Hey,” Will said, pinching Molly’s ass. “I have a labor-intensive job.”
“Sorry,” she joked. “He stands around looking at cars all day.”
“Motorcycles, too,” Will said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “You weren’t complainin’ about how lazy I was last night when—”
His words cut off as she slapped her hand over his mouth.
As soon as the teams were picked Tommy and Charlie made a big show about flipping a coin. I couldn’t tell who the winner was, but our team ended up batting first.
“I’m not playing in heels,” Hawk said to me as we lined up. She wrapped her hand around my arm to keep her balance as she pulled off her shoes. We both looked down at her feet as she wiggled her toes in the grass. Her toenails were painted black.
“Good call,” I said as she let me go.
“Can you run in those boots?” she asked. “Because this game might seem all friendly and fun, but the minute it starts they’re all going to be out for blood.”
“I’ll do alright,” I said with a laugh. I’d run in everything from work boots to flip flops—that’s what came from being a juvenile delinquent and constantly having the cops on your ass.
“Hey,” Will yelled as he took a couple practice swings. “Charlie can’t pitch.”
“Says who?” Charlie yelled back.
“At least give us an even playing field,” Charlie’s uncle Grease said with a laugh.
“Fine! You guys are a bunch of whiners,” Charlie complained, waving Draco’s grandma Brenna over from third base so they could switch places.
“That’s my girl,” Poet shouted, making everyone laugh. “Give ’em hell, lass!”
Will walked over to home plate and nodded at Brenna. The woman had a surprisingly good arm.
“Damn,” I muttered.
“She’s a drummer,” Charlie’s older sister Lily murmured from behind me. “Good muscle tone.”
“No kidding,” I said as Will got a hit and made it to first.
Tommy struck out even though he’d tried his best to get hit with the baseball so he could take a base.
“Cheater,” Charlie yelled.
“Fuck off,” Tommy yelled back, laughing.
Molly struck out.
Heather was right in front of me and she walked out to the base like she was going to the gallows, giving the bat a couple of halfhearted swings. Then, like a fucking boss, she hit the softball with a loud thwack, and half our team screamed with glee as she took off running.
Charlie’s team was grumbling by the time they’d recovered the softball and got it back to the pitcher.
“Just one more out,” Charlie called to Brenna.
I looked across the field and met her eyes. Then I pointed over her head, making her laugh.
“This kid’s got balls,” I heard someone joke behind me.
“Watch him strike out,” someone else said, laughing.
Brenna was a passable pitcher for a pick-up game of softball and she’d been doing really well. But she was so focused on getting the softball into the glove of the catcher, that it wasn’t anything fancy.
I didn’t swing at the first pitch. I could’ve, but it was a little lower than I would’ve liked.
“Strike one!” Charlie’s dad Casper yelled behind me. Then he lowered his voice. “You gotta swing it, kid.”
“You won’t have to catch this one,” I murmured back.
After I’d hit the softball so far into left field that all the kids had to go searching for it, I took a second to grin at Charlie.
“Run, jackass,” she yelled, laughing as she waved her arm at me, motioning for me to go.
I jogged around the bases, watching the field while the little kids argued about where the ball had gone and Draco ran out to help them find it.
“You didn’t tell me you played baseball,” Charlie accused as I reached her.