***
I walked out of the house that I was renting, into the late afternoon sun, annoyed and unbelievably pissed off.
“What’s that look for?” Sterling asked me.
I handed him the ticket I’d received.
“I got a ticket for a boat parked in front of my house that isn’t even mine,” I told him, walking to the passenger seat and hopping inside without prompting.
My neighbors hated me.
Literally hated me.
I was in a house that I’d rented through the chief of police.
It was nice to have a hookup through my other best friend, Sawyer.
She was currently married to the president of a motorcycle club.
The same club that Sterling belonged to.
Sterling wasn’t wearing his cut, the leather biker vest that he usually wore, which designated him as a member of The Dixie Wardens MC.
But I guessed it probably wasn’t the most comfortable thing to wear when you were outside working out in one hundred degree weather.
“So whose boat is it if it’s not yours?” Sterling asked from my open window.
I pointed at the man across the street sipping his beer with his feet up on the porch railing.
“That man’s,” I pointed at him.
Sterling looked at him, hunching down so he could see through the truck’s open windows, and grimaced.
“Hold on,” he said. “Be right back.”
I shrugged.
I’d already tried talking to the man, but he was a dick, so I just left.
I was planning on going up to the police station tomorrow and talk it out to whomever would listen, but if Sterling wanted to try that for me, then I’d let him.
I had enough on my plate to deal with without something minor like this.
I watched and sipped on my ice water through my Camelback water bottle that cost way too much money for me to own so many.
Sterling topped the man’s front steps and crossed his arms.
I could see his mouth moving, but other than that, I couldn’t make out what was being said.
However, by the tension in the man’s previously loose shoulders, I could tell that whatever was being said wasn’t very nice.
Or appealing to the older man.
“That’s where I’ve always parked my boat!” The man yelled.
Sterling said something calmly to the man, and the man reluctantly took the ticket that Sterling held out to him, ripping it from Sterling’s hands and shoving it down into his pocket.
I blinked, and then blinked some more, as I watched Sterling come down the steps and straight to his truck.
He got into his side, slammed the door shut, and started the engine.
Seconds later, he was driving away from the curb before he explained.
“The man’s going to move the boat tomorrow. And he’s going to go take care of your ticket,” he said without hesitation.
“That’s awesome. I can’t believe he was just going to let me pay it, though. I mean, who does that?” I asked.
He shrugged. “No clue.”
“Not sure why you’d even get a ticket for that. Seems inconsequential seeing as they had two murders in the city last night,” Sterling said, shaking his head.
Not knowing what to say to that, I asked, “Why aren’t you on your bike?”
He grinned as he turned to me, glancing quickly before he turned back to the road.
“It’s hard to carry a bat bag, balls, and plates in your saddle bags,” he said.
Ahh, that made sense.
“Huh,” I said. “So when do you go back?”
I didn’t have to explain what I meant by ‘go back.’
He knew exactly what I meant.
“I have to be back in Belle Chasse in another thirteen days,” he answered as he swung the wheel wide to get out of my neighborhood.
My mouth dropped open. “You’re already going back that quick?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not getting deployed, at least. I’ll be there for about three months while they decide what to do with us next. Normally we would be heading to California, so I’m lucky they’re allowing us to stay close to home.”
I just shook my head.
I just got him back!
“How often will you come back?” I asked softly.
I was fairly sure I was hiding my sadness well, but he placed his hand on top of mine where it rested between us on the seat.
His big fingers forced themselves in between mine as he said, “I’ll probably be back every weekend. Gotta get my boy ready for baseball. And I have a vested interest in someone special.”
I blinked, suddenly hurt.
He had a ‘vested interest’ in somebody?
What was that supposed to mean?
Was he seeing somebody?
I didn’t get the answer before we pulled into the ball park’s parking lot.
We were playing on the city’s baseball field where the older kids played.
It was a normal sized field for baseball, and it was absolutely massive.
The back fence went about as far out as a regulation major league field, which was a big thing for this little town.
Especially when the only person able to hit it over the center back wall was currently walking beside me onto the field.
“So did you really hit that ball, or was it one of those infield homerun’s because it bounced over the fence?” I teased.
I knew it was really a hit.
I’d watched the YouTube video of it.
It’d been a huge thing for the town, especially since Sterling and his Dixie Youth baseball team had put this small town on the map.
Sterling’s team, The Wildcat’s, had been down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth with Sterling up to bat.
He’d gotten two strikes, three balls, and was in the final pitch when he fouled the ball.
He did that four more times before he finally connected.
And connect he fucking did.
It was amazing.
One of the sweetest hits I’d ever witnessed.
Something you’d never expect from an eighteen year old.
The ball had gone over the fence, dead center, and Sterling had gone around the bases with a look of awe on his face.
The video had ended with the entire team, as well as many of the fans, dog piling Sterling.
Now, seven years later, his name was still plastered at the top of the scoreboard next to all the other boys who went to the World’s that year.
“There was no bounce whatsoever, trust me. I hit that fucker so hard that it reverberated through my body and centered in my heart,” he told me solemnly. “I can still feel the way the bat and ball connected.”
“It was fucking perfection!” Cormac crowed. “I’ve never witnessed something so great in my life!”
The animation in Cormac’s voice had everyone around us laughing, and I smiled at the man at my side.
“Seems you have a fan,” I surmised.
He nodded. “The biggest.”
Cormac grinned and bent down to grab the glove and ball at his feet.
“Let’s play ball!”