We had one major disappointment left before the summer came to an end. The Soft Serves battled for first place in our league, and the determination of season champion came down to the last game of the season.

We squared off against the toughest team in the league. They beat us 6-3 earlier in the season, and they had beaten us every time we squared off in the history of our team.

When I arrived at the field, Billy walked up to me and handed me a twenty dollar bill. He said, “You were right about Blake. I owe you this.”

Then I watched Billy and Blake jog across the diamond and hold their own little private planning session standing in the corner of right field while everyone else tossed balls around to warm up. Antonio pulled the rest of the team together and led a victory cheer to boost us before the game ever began.

As we jogged to the dugout, Antonio waved to the bleachers. I asked, “Who’s out there?”

He stopped and pointed. “It’s my hubby Lex. Isn’t he handsome?” Antonio acted as if his knees were buckling and he tapped the left side of his chest while a huge smile spread across his face. Lex was dressed in khakis and a dress shirt. I could see him laughing and shaking his head while Antonio hammed it up for my benefit.

Billy and Blake jogged in from the outfield just as the rest of the team reached the dugout. I asked Blake, “Do you have it all planned out now?”

Blake smirked at me and asked, “Is there a game? We were sharing ideas about flower arrangements.”

I gave him a swat on the ass and gathered the team together in a huddle. I said, “I don’t really have much to say other than this has been one hell of a season. We just have one game left to make the season complete. Everybody just go out there and do your very best, and we’ll let the chips fall where they may.”

Antonio started a chant of, “We’re gonna win! We’re gonna win!” that eventually broke into an ear splitting chorus of squeals and shouts. I caught Billy shaking his head but smiling, too.

We hung tight through the first four innings. As we jogged off the field to bat to lead off the fifth inning, Blake pointed at the stands and said, “I’ll be right back, Ian. I’m sixth in line to bat this inning, and I’ll be back well before that.”

I watched Blake leave the dugout and jog up to the bleachers. Just before he reached them, I saw who he had spotted. It was the two teenage kids from the baseball game. They were sitting close on the bleachers. The taller boy had his arm wrapped around the waist of his friend. I looked closer and decided they might be more than just friends.

Blake climbed into the bleachers and hugged them each in turn. A tear came to my eye watching Blake look so happy and relaxed. He posed for selfies with each of them individually and then all of them together.

Blake was out of breath when he returned to the dugout. He said, “They’re gay, Ian. I can’t believe they’re gay.”

I said, “I sort of wondered about that.”

He asked, “What? You know Joey and Shane?”

While Marshall stepped up to the plate with two outs attempting to drive in Lowell from second base, I explained to Blake that I met them when I came looking for him.

His eyes opened wider as he asked, “You came looking for me? You wanted to track me down? That’s so incredibly sweet.”

Then Blake grabbed me, and, in front of the entire team and anyone else at the softball field, he gave me a passionate kiss. Silence suddenly reigned in the dugout, and then Billy dropped the ball he was holding. It thudded against the concrete floor and rolled until it rested at Antonio’s feet.

I heard a faint call of, “Strike two,” in the distance.

Antonio asked, “Y…you’re a couple?”

Blake said, “He’s all mine.”

After another thirty seconds of silence, the entire team applauded. We missed Marshall’s single driven into left field and the scoring run that put us into the lead. The eyes of the team members in the dugout were all focused on Blake and me.

The celebration was broken by the umpire barking, “We need a batter out here!”

Lowell’s run was the last that we scored that day. In the seventh inning, our opponents hit a walk off home run and took home the league championship. We all had to settle for second place. For the Soft Serves, it didn’t feel like settling. The team had never approached second place in its history, and we were already talking about next year. Billy looked at Blake when he said, “With a second straight man on the team, we just might do it.”

Blake wrapped an arm tight around me and reached out to ruffle Billy’s long, dark hair with the other. He laughed when he said, “We just might indeed.”