And missed.
The crowd stood and cheered. Aubry did, too. The pitcher had dodged a bullet, but he’d looked remarkably calm doing it.
The Rivers were up to bat in the bottom half of the inning. Sanchez was up first.
Sanchez singled just past first base, Fielding hit it right to the third baseman, so he was out. They pulled up a pinch hitter to hit for the pitcher, so it looked like Segundo’s night was over. The pinch hitter, Lopez, took a ball and a strike to start things off. Then Lopez knocked out a single into left field, which moved Sanchez to third base and Lopez to first.
Now it was getting interesting. Aubry leaned onto the edge of her seat, her heart pumping.
With one out, the top of the batting order came up. Gavin Riley was up and hit a long fly sacrifice to deep center field, which scored Sanchez but left them with two outs and Lopez still at first base. They ended up stranding him when the next batter grounded out, but they’d scored another run going into the top of the ninth.
Their ace closer came in and walked one batter, struck out two and the final batter hit a pop fly that was easily caught by Trevor Shay to end the game.
Aubry stood and smiled. Even though she’d only been there for two innings, they’d been an exciting two innings. With medical school and her internship and residency, she hadn’t taken a lot of time for baseball in the past few years. Plus, her parents had always dragged her to games, and she’d had to admit she’d grown to resent it—and the game.
Now, though? She remembered why she enjoyed baseball.
She sent a text message to Tucker. I’m at the stadium. Would you like to meet up?
It didn’t take him long to reply. Yeah. Invited to a party. Wanna come with me?
Did she? She had planned on just having him over to her place for some alone time. A party was something entirely different. It was like . . . dating. And they were most assuredly not dating.
She thought about it a minute, then shrugged and sent him a return text.
Sure. Should I meet you somewhere?
He texted her back. I’ll pick you up in about an hour.
Since she figured she’d have plenty of time because of media interviews and postgame meetings, she dashed home to take a shower and change clothes. She’d headed to the bar right after her shift at the hospital ended and she needed to freshen up. After drying her hair and putting on makeup, she chose a pair of black jeans, heels and a silk top, layering a few of her favorite silver chains over the top. She laid out her leather jacket near her purse, then perused herself in the mirror.
She shook her head. Typically, at the end of a particularly grueling work shift, she’d be home in yoga pants and a tank top, a bowl of popcorn on the side table in the living room and a book in her lap.
The woman looking back at her in the mirror? So not her.
What was she doing, anyway? What was she doing with Tucker? This was so unlike her. Her career was everything to her, and for the past several years it had been the only thing.
Sure, sex with Tucker was great and all, but sex had never been a priority for her. When it came around, great. If it was lacking, she could survive without it. And she’d never been the type of woman who saw herself as incomplete without a man in her life, so it wasn’t like being with Tucker—being with any man—was something she desperately needed.
So what was the allure? Was it loneliness, a piece of her life she hadn’t consciously realized she’d been missing? Or was it Tucker?
Her doorbell rang, so her soul-searching questions remained unanswered for now.
Tucker was there, wearing a black button-down shirt and dark jeans, and looked just damned edible, as always.
“You look hot,” he said, stepping inside and pulling her toward him to brush his lips against hers.
“Thanks. So do you.” She grabbed her jacket and her purse, then turned to face him. “I’m ready to go.”
“Great.” He led her out the door and to his car, opening her side and waiting for her to get in before heading over to his side.
Once they were on the way, she looked over at him. “So tell me about this party.”
“It’s for Liz Riley’s birthday. She’s married to Gavin Riley.”
“I know Liz very well since she works a lot with the team as a sports agent.”
“Right. Sure you do. Anyway, we’re all meeting at Gavin and Liz’s house. Not a big thing, just a few people from the team. Wives, girlfriends, some friends.”
If she’d known about this, she might not have come. Anyone connected to her father—like Liz—like the team—could tell her father about her seeing Tucker. She wasn’t sure she was ready for her dad to know she was dating one of the players.