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“No, I think I’ll be okay.” Jane stood up and lifted her arm over her head, stretching in a new direction. It pulled her top across her chest, the fabric hugging her breasts. My palms itched to cup them, to bring her nipples to stiff peaks. Not here.

“I think a few minutes of moving around should be enough to get me through the game.”

We walked around the concourse, stopping long enough to buy another drink and some popcorn from the students operating the concession stand. I wanted to take Jane’s hand in mine to signal to everyone that she was with me. I wanted this to be a real date. Nothing would make me prouder than to claim her in public.

We made our way back to our seats as the seventh inning stretch was ending. The score was still in Red Rock’s favour, although Calgary had scored two more runs to cut the lead to three. Red Rock needed six outs to claim the championship. I wanted this so much for Ethan, and he would be devastated if Calgary came back and Red Rock lost. I had faith, but I’d seen teams with bigger leads lose in the final innings. Anything could happen.

The eighth inning went smoothly—three up, three down for Calgary. Red Rock didn’t score again in their half of the inning, and then it was the ninth, with Ethan’s team needing only three final outs to clinch the win.

Jane laced her fingers through mine, squeezing them hard. “I hate this. I love baseball, but I hate when Ethan has so much riding on this win. I’d hate to see him disappointed in the final inning.”

I stared out at the field as the first Calgary batter stepped into the box. The pitcher wound up and threw a curveball that missed the strike zone by several feet. The next pitch bounced in the dirt a foot in front of the plate. I held back a curse. The Red Rock relief pitcher was having control issues. After walking the first batter on four pitches, the catcher went out to the mound to talk to him. His next pitch was a wicked fastball that the second Calgary batter swung at wildly, connecting just enough to pop it up in the infield. One out.

The second out came quickly, and it started to look like Red Rock was going to end the game easily. The next batter worked the count until it was full, then got a pitch right in the zone. He didn’t miss it, the bat connecting and driving the ball over the shortstop’s head. The runner on first moved fast, going from first to third on the base hit.

That brought the tying run to the plate, and what had looked like an easy win became very complicated. The Red Rock manager came out to the mound, taking the ball from the pitcher and calling for a new reliever.

Jane was squeezing my hand so hard her fingers were white, so focused on the game she didn’t seem to realize. I didn’t care. She wasn’t hurting me, and I loved that she was turning to me for support.

The Calgary batter came to the plate. The new pitcher wound up and threw the pitch. Crack.

I squeezed Jane’s hand tighter as I watched the ball fly high, hit hard out to center field. Ethan was racing to catch it, back to the fence. I was sure the ball was going over, that the game would be tied, when Ethan leaped high enough to grab the edge of the outfield fence, hanging on and raising his other arm. The ball thumped into the leather of his glove.

I jumped up, unsure if he’d caught the ball, until he held up his glove with the ball inside. The game was over. “YES!”

Jane grabbed me around the waist, jumping and hugging me, screaming and crying. “They won! They won!”

She smiled up at me, and I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her.

I was incredibly proud of Ethan, and that didn’t come close to how happy Jane was for him. We waited for a signal from the coach, then streamed down onto the field with the other families to celebrate.

“I’m so proud of you.” Jane hugged Ethan hard, then congratulated his friends.

“Good job. That was an amazing catch. You and the team played hard, and you earned that win,” I told him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chad making his way toward us, along with a guy who looked familiar. I couldn’t place him, but my guess was he was a scout. I tensed. Would Chad make a scene on Ethan’s big night?

“Ethan! I want to introduce you to Don Cummings. He’s a scout for San Francisco. I played with him for a year back in Texas when you were just a baby.”

I moved to stand closer to Jane as Ethan shook the scout’s hand. Chad saw our linked hands and gave us a dirty look but said nothing. Probably because of the scout, and to protect his own reputation.

“You made a great catch, Ethan. Very impressive,” Don said.

“He’s a special ballplayer,” Chad agreed. “I tried to get him to be a pitcher, like I was. I told him every team needs pitching. I mean, I was an all-star five different years because of my pitching. Not a lot of other players can say that. I’ve had experiences that I can share with other players, help them develop.”

Don looked uncomfortable that Chad was dominating the conversation, and I was annoyed that he was using Ethan to get closer to Don. It was obvious Chad was using Ethan to try to leverage some type of job offer from Don. Typical. Chad always made everything about him.

As Chad was monopolizing Don, Ethan came closer to Jane and me. He was grinning and wrapped Jane in a hug so tight she was gasping.

“Put me down, kiddo. You should go celebrate with your teammates. Do you need a ride to town, or will you come back with the team?” Jane asked. Her voice had an edge of pain in it.

Ethan shook his head. “I’ve got a ride. You and Carter should head back.”

Jane turned and walked off the field, ignoring Chad. He was still upsetting her, even after she’d kicked him out, which infuriated me. I also hated that he’d taken Ethan’s big moment and tried to make it about him. I wanted to do something.

The next morning, I parked my Jeep in the lot of the tractor dealership Chad was running and turned off the engine. Was I doing the right thing? It wasn’t my business, but I wanted to protect both Jane and Ethan. And I had come up with something that might solve all our problems, including Chad’s.

The parking lot was almost empty, with only a couple of half-ton trucks outside the service doors. I did see Chad’s Mercedes in the lot, though, so he should be here. Inside, the showroom was smaller than I expected. There were a couple of lawn tractors on display, and a small earth-moving machine. I guessed that made sense; the full-size tractors were massive, and were all outside. There were a few racks of branded clothing, and replacement parts lined the walls.