Home Run Baby: A Sports Romance Read Online Free PDF

John.”
    I roll my eyes. I can’t help it. It’s all Rose has talked about for over a month. John this. John that. Yes, I know halfback is incredible. Yes, the diamond is very pretty.
    Yes, your life in infinitely better than mine.
    “Daisy?”
    I look up from our place in line outside the baseball stadium. “Hmm?”
    “What’s up? You seem quiet.”
    “No, just people-watching,” I claim.
    She glances around. “Yeah, isn’t this a little packed for a minor league game?”
    I nod. “Yep.”
    “What’s got them so excited?”
    “No idea,” I answer. “I don’t follow the minors too closely. I’m a major league kind of girl.”
    “Then, why are we here?” she asks.
    Because you wouldn’t shut up about your wedding this morning and I needed a good distraction.
    “Thought it’d be fun,” I say instead. “Baseball is baseball. And where there’s baseball, there’s big, ripped dudes just waiting to invade our dugouts. And chili dogs.”
    “Gross.”
    A wave hits my stomach. “Yeah, you’re right. Thinking about chili dogs makes me a little nauseous. No chili dogs. Just hot second basemen and our dugouts.”
    “My dugout is taken, thank you.”
    I sigh. “Or you could pretend to have fun for an afternoon. That might be interesting.”
    Rose pauses and glares at me over her glasses. “Well, okay then…”
    I look away and keep my head down until we reach the doors. We travel the length of the place, maneuvering through the thick crowd to find our seats at the far edge of the diamond. Usually, I’d prefer something a little closer to home plate but the last minute nature of this whole outing made that impossible. Those seats were claimed hours ago. I glance around, catching sight of homemade signs littered around the stadium; girls chanting and swooning over a guy called Home Run Hunter .
    “Who is Home Run Hunter ?” Rose asks.
    I nod, recalling the legend. “Oh, that’s the new guy this season on the away team,” I answer. “He managed to hit four home runs in his first game and three in every game since. It’s pretty impressive, actually.”
    “Why aren’t you jumping up and down with a sign, shaking your boobs around?” Rose jabs. “He seems like your type of guy.”
    “Not really in the boob-shaking mood today.”
    She says nothing, but I can tell she wants to. I should probably watch my tone. The last thing I want to do is make this summer even more awkward but my patience seems to wear pretty thin nowadays.
    The game begins soon after and I almost have to cover my ears at the uproarious screams piercing my brain the second Home Run Hunter graces the field.
    “Now batting for New Jersey — second baseman, Hunter Novak!”
    He walks away from the dugout with his helmet on and bat in hand, moving slowly with his head up to milk every damn second of it.
    “Ooo, a lefty!” Rose says.
    I pause and watch as he hovers over home plate with the bat over his left shoulder. “Looks like…” I say.
    The crowd hushes and the entire stadium leans forward, just waiting to see if Home Run Hunter will live up to his name.
    “Why don’t they all wear helmets?” Rose asks, cutting the silence.
    I glance at her. “What?”
    “Helmets,” she says again. “That ball could go anywhere. Blink at the wrong time and bam —” She slaps her palms together. “Dead.”
    “Uh…” I stare at the field. “I don’t know.”
    “It just seems a little backwards that the guy hitting the ball is the only one wearing protection,” she continues.
    I sigh. “Maybe…”
    “Okay, what’s up with you?” Rose asks, nudging my ribs. “This is our thing. I poke fun at baseball, you talk shit about football. It’s fun . What’s going on?”
    “Nothing,” I say, inhaling deep. “Sorry — just a little distracted.”
    “Bullshit.”
    I look at her to find her staring at me. “What?”
    “You’ve been acting strange all summer and I can only think of one thing that could be bothering