Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
I swallowed the lump in my throat and drew in a long, deep breath. “Please, Loren.”
It was all I needed to say for her to soften her voice. “Okay. But just so you know, I think he felt something, too, and I’m not so sure he’s going to simply walk away.”
I watched as the camera went to Bryson once again. He was saying something to another player, and then he laughed. I could almost hear that laughter and feel it rumble through my body.
“I’m sure Bryson Robinson will forget all about me and our night together soon enough.”
Loren remained quiet for a few seconds before she said, “You didn’t see him, Rose Marie. I highly doubt he’s going to forget about you.”
A part of me hoped that Loren was right, while the other part prayed she wasn’t. The only thing I needed to worry about now was the part of me that wanted Bryson not to forget, and how it outweighed the other part by a whole hell of a lot.
“Why are you asking me all these questions about baseball?” my younger cousin Nathan asked as he worked a horse in one of the round pens on his parents’ part of our family ranch. Uncle Tanner and Aunt Timberlynn, Nathan’s parents, raised horses as well as ran a rescue for wild mustangs on their part of Shaw Ranch. And while his sister Lily was crazy over horses, Nathan’s current love was baseball and bulls. In that order.
“I’m curious what all these numbers mean?” I said with a smile.
He looked at me with a suspicious expression before he walked up to the horse, patted it on the neck, then walked over to where I was sitting on the pen fence. He held up his hand, and I handed him the phone.
After reading it quickly, he smiled. “Bryson Robinson is one of the best pitchers in the league.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. “So I’ve heard.”
“Okay, so the ERA basically means how many runs the pitcher is allowed during the nine innings. Most don’t pitch the whole nine, though.”
I nodded. I’d figured that out by how many games I’d watched of the Mariners.
“The lower the number, the better. Then this IP is just innings pitched. The WHIP is walks and hits for innings pitched. SO/w is strikeout to walk. This stat is weird to me. The ERA-plus tells you how many leagues are better than that pitcher, which not many are in Robinson’s case.”
His silver eyes lifted to meet my gaze. “Why did you pick Robinson’s stats?”
I shrugged. “I met him while I was visiting Loren in Seattle.”
Nathan’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Wait, you met Bryson Robinson? Like, in person?”
“I did.”
I thought Nathan was going to have a fit right there. “Holy shit! Holy fucking shit! Does Josh know?”
“Nathan!” I scolded. “Swearing in front of a lady?”
He waved me off. “You don’t count. I can’t believe you met Bryson Robinson. Rose Marie, this is freaking huge!”
With my hands on my hips, I replied, “I don’t count? What does that mean?”
It was Nathan’s turn to roll his eyes. “You’re family, you don’t count. Where did you meet him? What did you talk about? Was he nice? I heard he’s nice. He does a bunch of volunteer work. Did you watch him play while you were there? Why didn’t you tell me you met him? Did you tell Josh, and why didn’t you ask Josh about the stats?”
I jumped off the fence and walked over to my cousin. Putting my hand over his mouth, I said, “Jesus Christ, you sound like a damn girl with all the rambling.”
He pushed my hand away. “You just told me not to swear!”
“I’m older, so I’m allowed to swear.”
He stared at me, and it took me a few moments to realize he was waiting for me to answer his questions.
“No, I haven’t told Josh because I knew he’d act like a freak. I thought you were more mature, but I see I was wrong.”
He snarled his lip at me, then waved for me to go on.
“I went to a game with Loren. She wanted me to go to a party afterward at her boyfriend Nick’s house. It’s Nick Rossi.”
“He’s a good player too.”
I nodded and went on. “Turns out, Nick is roommates with Bryson. I walked out onto a balcony, and he was sitting out there. I didn’t know who he was at first.”
Nathan took a few steps back and covered his heart. “I would have freaked! I would have died right then and there.”
Laughing, I said, “Well, he was hiding. He isn’t much of a party type of guy.”
He nodded. “He used to date this hot girl. They knew each other in college or something. She said in an interview once he hated going to parties and functions.”