Kaden lifted the bat into position and shifted his feet apart. “Is this better?”
“Oh, yeah. Much better. Just think of home plate as a box. Position your body square with the bat just above your shoulder.” Once Kaden caught on, he took a step back. “Now that we got that sorted, you’re playing baseball and not softball, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Okay, then.” With a smirk, he looked over to me and replied, “We need to get your mom to stop throwing it underhand.”
Kaden’s eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head with embarrassment. “She’s not my mom. She’s … uh … my sister.”
I knew I looked bad. My hair was a mess and I hadn’t taken the time to put in my contacts, but it was hard not to take offense to the mom comment. His lips curled into a sexy smile as his eyes slowly, provocatively trailed the length of my body, and as much as I wanted to hate the way he was looking at me, I didn’t—not at all. My overactive hormones kicked in, and I suddenly felt like a cheap slut. Angry with him and myself, I wanted to say something brazen to knock that sexy little grin off his face, but before I could think of anything, he looked back over to Kaden. “I take it your sister is new to the game, too.”
“Yeah. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
It was one insult too much. I turned to look at the arrogant, obnoxious prick and said, “You do realize I’m standing right here, right?”
“Couldn’t miss you if I tried, sweetheart.” He gave me a quick wink, and then without skipping a beat, he continued his critique of my coaching skills. He motioned behind me as he said, “You know, there’s a reason the pitcher’s mound is back there. It gives some distance between the batter and the pitcher.”
“Yeah?” I responded with somewhat of an attitude.
“Well, you might wanna take a few steps back, so you don’t get hammered with the ball. Wouldn’t want any casualties out here today.”
“Duly noted. Now, do you have any other words of wisdom, or can we get back to our practice?”
“Kaci,” Kaden scolded.
I turned to my brother with a warning look. “What? I’m sure Mr. Michaels has better things to do with his time.”
Mr. Michaels grimaced as he reached down for the handle of my bucket of balls, and then slowly made his way over to the mound. “Actually, I’ve got half an hour to kill before practice starts. And call me, Tucker. Mr. Michaels is my dad.”
I should’ve been tickled to death that this handsome stranger had come to save the day, but I wasn’t—not even a little. Everything about him screamed arrogant asshole, and I wanted nothing more than to give him a piece of my mind. I was about to do just that when Kaden rushed over to me. “Do you know who that is?”
“No.”
“Come on, Kaci! That’s Southpaw Tucker.”
“Who’s Southpaw Tucker?”
“He’s only the best pitcher in the whole world.”
“I kind of doubt that, Kaden.”
“He is! He just got promoted up to the majors. He’s the real deal.”
“Okay. Well, if he’s the ‘real deal,’ then what’s he doing here?”
“Who cares? It’s freaking Southpaw Tucker!”
“Oh, good grief!” I threw my hands up in the air as I turned and started for the dugout. “Have fun with Mr. Michaels.”
Behaving like a two-year-old, I plopped myself down hard on the bench, and as I watched Kaden step up to the plate, I grumbled under my breath, “Blah, blah, blah … It’s freaking Southpaw Tucker. He’s the best. Whatever.”
I sat there glaring out at the field, and my anger quickly subsided when I noticed the smile on my brother’s face. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked so excited. There was something about seeing him happy that had always gotten to me. It’d been like that since the day he was born. I wasn’t exactly ecstatic when I was handed the news that Mom was having another baby. I’d been an only child for so long that I’d become accustomed to being alone. I tried to fight it, but by the time he’d gotten old enough to walk, he had me wrapped around his cute, little, manipulating finger. He learned early on if he wanted something, all he had to do was come be-bopping over to me with that adorable, lopsided grin, and I was a goner.
By the time the rest of the team showed up, Kaden was starting to make progress. As much as I hated to admit it, Tucker had really saved the day. Paying more attention to his knee brace, I noticed him out on the field moving about slowly. I wondered just how badly he’d been hurt but convinced myself he wouldn’t put himself at risk for a Little League team. There was just too much at stake for a guy like Tucker. From the bleachers, I watched in amusement as the coaches directed the kids to their different spots on the field, each one a little more clueless than the next, but they all seemed eager to learn. When they called a break, Kaden rushed over to me with a big smile on his face. “Did you see that hit I made?”
“I did. You’re doing great!”
“I can’t wait to tell that big-mouthed Tyler Noels that Southpaw Tucker is helping out our team.”
“What do you mean he’s helping out your team?”
“He’s the coach’s brother.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, so he’s gonna help us practice while he’s home on the DL,” Kaden explained.
“What’s a DL?”
“I don’t know. He pulled some muscle or something.”
“Oh. Well, I’m glad he’s going to be able to help y’all out for a little while.” Remembering what he’d said earlier, I said, “Hey, wait. I thought you and Tyler were friends.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “We were until he started bragging that his dad is the best coach around, and his team is gonna cream ours.”
“Kaden.”
“What? He’s a butt-face and his team always wins, but this time they won’t.”
“It doesn’t matter who wins. Playing ball should be about having fun.”
His eyes narrowed as he shook his head. “Everybody says that, but it’s total crap, and you know it. It’s all about winning.”
“No, it’s not. And if you have that kind of attitude, you’re going to be highly disappointed. Just wait and see.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He reached for his drink, then turned and started back towards the field. “We have Southpaw Tucker. And with him, we’re gonna win.”
Tucker