Page 23 of Heat Advisory

I rolled my eyes at her teasing, but I agreed with her on the fact that it would have been nice to have her here with us. Mostly because I wanted her here to celebrate with me.

As I walked back into the living room, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It showed an unknown number, but I had a good feeling about it, so I answered and immediately put it on speaker so my dad could hear too.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Jay Rainer?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Yes, this is Jay.”

“My name is James Floyd, and I’m the general manager here for the team in Houston. Just wanted to let you know that we’re drafting you with our next pick in the second round.”

I said nothing as my eyes practically bulged out of my face. My gaze went directly to my dad.

“You there?” he said at my silence.

“Uh, yes. Sorry, sir. I didn’t think your team had a need for another pitcher, so I’m just a little shocked, that’s all,” I explained to him, trying to play off my shock.

“In the last week, we’ve lost two pitchers to call-ups to the majors and two more to injuries, so we need another pitcher in a bad way.”

I’d heard they’d had some players drop off their roster but hadn’t realized it was that bad.

“It also means we would need you to come out here sooner rather than later,” he added.

My mind was swirling as he gave more details over the phone. My dad took over talking as he handled most of the negotiations.

Within forty-eight hours, I went from thinking I was going to play baseball in California nearby to being drafted and signing with a team in Houston and hopping on a plane to begin practicing.

It was exciting as hell, and I loved every minute of it, except for one thing—Cora.

Because she was in Disneyland, I hadn’t been able to see her before I left.

I knew I wanted more with Cora—more kissing, more movies, and more late-night chats, maybe even some naked chats. But she also needed to finish school.

I struggled all night with what to do. Did we try the long-distance thing while I was away? Did I try to get her to apply to schools in Texas and attend college there instead of in California?

Was I getting ahead of myself? Probably. Hell, Cora had just turned eighteen, and I wasn’t far from nineteen myself. Obsessing over a woman I’d had one kiss with—even if it was amazing—seemed a bit extreme.

Over the next two weeks of practice, my mind was focused on the team and moving into a new place. But most nights, alone in my new apartment, I spent thinking of her. There were so many times I’d see someone up in the stands who looked like her and wished it was.

“You keep staring up at the stands, you’re gonna get a foul ball to the face, Rainer,” my teammate Vargas muttered beside me, his eyebrow lifted in question.

I blinked. “What?”

My neck had been craned to look out into the audience while our team was at bat.

“You keep looking up there like you’re waiting for someone to show up.” Vargas grinned at me as we stood up against the front railing of the dugout.

“Nah, just looking,” I lied.

I was waiting, but I was waiting for something that would never happen.

“Ahhh, so you’re scoping out the ladies,” he teased, a small grin on his face. “Talk to Herrera first. He’ll point out the crazy ones that you don’t want to mess around with. Unless, of course, you like the stalker type.”

“Uh, no. I’ll check with him, thanks.”

I wouldn’t, but he didn’t need to know that. I turned my gaze back to the game to try to refocus.

Four months later, I sat in my cab headed to the stadium, my cell phone in hand. I typed out and deleted at least six different messages to my sister. Messages I wanted her to pass along to Cora. But I just couldn’t quite seem to get the words right.