Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Eli

My phone ringing wakes me up the next morning. Yawning, I reach for it, then look at the time—nine in the morning. I get a jolt of energy when I see it's Liza calling me.

"Good morning," I answer sleepily.

Her giggle makes me smile. "I'm sorry. Were you still asleep?"

I run my hand down my face, rubbing my eyes. "Yeah, but no worries."

"Did you have a late night?"

"Nah. Just hung out at Ben's. I didn't have practice today, so I slept in. What did you do last night?"

"I was exhausted after the lake and crashed not long after you dropped me off. I can't believe you went out after that."

"Yeah, Ben's house is chill though. We just watched the Yankees game."

"Do you have plans today?"

"You're finally awake!" Ava says, running into my room and jumping on my bed.

I hide under the covers from my little sister's tickle attacks. "I'm awake. I'm awake."

"Ava," Mom yells after her. "I told you to let him sleep."

"He's awake. I heard him talking on the phone," she replies.

I flip the covers off of me and give her my own tickle attack, making her break out in a fit of giggles. "It's okay, Mom. I was awake, and she's getting what she deserves for coming in here."

"Stop tickling me!" Ava says, laughing hysterically.

I stop and pick the phone back up, saying to Liza, "Sorry. I had to show my sister what was up."

Ava jumps on me, barely moving me an inch. "Who are you talking to?"

"Liza."

"Can I say hi?"

"Sure." I put Liza on speakerphone and hand Ava the phone.

"Hi, Liza. I'm Ava."

"Hi, Ava. It's nice to meet you," Liza replies.

Ava clicks the button to FaceTime Liza. "Let's FaceTime. I want to see what you look like. I heard Eli telling Mom you were really pretty."

"Ava," Mom reprimands.

"It's okay. Liza can know I think she's pretty," I say just as Liza switches the call to FaceTime.

Ava shows our mom the phone. "She is pretty. Look!"

My mom waves at Liza, and then Ava turns the phone back to herself.

"When are you going to come over?"

"Maybe sometime soon, but that's why I was calling Eli—to see if he wanted to come to a barbecue with my family today," Liza says.

I take the phone from Ava, smiling when I see her beautiful face looking back at me. "Yeah, I can do that. What time?"

"We're going to Tucker and Justine's around noon."

"Can I come too?" Ava calls out, jumping into the screen again.

"Come on, Ava. We don't invite ourselves to people's parties," Mom says. "Let's leave Eli alone."

"Okay," Ava says, scooting off my bed. "It was good to meet you, Liza."

"You too, Ava," Liza says.

Once my bedroom door is closed, I set my pillow up on my headboard up and prop the phone on my leg so I can see her better. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be. She's adorable."

"She's lucky she's cute, but don't let her fool you; she can be annoying as hell sometimes."

She laughs out loud at my thoughts about my sister. "You only feel that way because she's your sister."

"Yeah, probably. So, tell me about this barbecue. You know I'm down for anything with you and food."

"I hoped that would be the case. It will just be us and Justine's family. You can come to my place first, and then we'll head there."

"Sounds good. See you soon."

We hang up, and I send Dalton and Ben a text. We were supposed to work out today, but plans change.

Can't make it today.

Whoever she is, she must be hot.

Ben's response makes me laugh.

If only he knew.

I don't respond though. I'm not ready to tell them about her yet. I want to keep her to myself before I tell everyone.

I arrive at Liza's place a few minutes before noon, and I love the fact that she comes outside to greet me. She's dressed in a white summer dress that looks amazing against her darker skin tone. Add in her hair, curled just enough to look like she put effort in, but wanted to still be casual, and I'm struck with awe by her natural beauty.

I step out of the truck and meet her halfway.

"Hi," she says, standing with her hands behind her back and on the balls of her feet with an amazing smile gracing her face.

I head straight to her, picking her up a few inches and kissing her hello. "Hey there. Good to see you again."

"You too. My aunt and uncle already went over there, so we can head straight out."

I turn around, holding her hand as I do. "Let's go then."

I open the passenger door for her, then hop in the driver's side to start the truck. "Lead the way."

She gives me directions to Justine and Tucker's place, which is only a few roads over so we're there within a few minutes. We enter their home by walking through an open gate that leads to the backyard.

"Hello," Liza calls out, announcing our arrival.

Multiple people yell out, "Hello!"

I recognize her aunt Heidi, who comes to greet me first. "Eli, it's so good to see you again. Let me introduce you to everyone." She points to a woman who I would guess is in her low thirties in age, who's carrying a bowl full of cut fruit. "This is my daughter, Justine."

She places the bowl on the table and comes to shake my hand. "It's good to meet you. This is my husband, Tucker." She points to the man behind the grill, who waves at me. "And our daughter, Emily, is playing over there with Matthew and his wife, Hannah. I've heard you know Matthew."

Matthew hears his name being said and walks over to join us. "Yeah, good to see you again, Eli."

We shake hands.

"Yeah, long time no see. How's the hitting facility going?"

"Good, good. I have practice tonight for a twelve and under team heading to Cooperstown next week. If you're still around, you should stop by. They'd love to see a guy like you hit a few balls."

"Yeah, that'd be cool." I turn to Liza. "Think we can stop by there?"

"Of course," Liza responds.

"Great. So, I know everyone asks you …" Matthew pauses, his eyebrows lifting slightly. "But have you decided if you'll declare for the draft or not?"

I shrug. "We'll see how this summer goes. Then, I'll have the school year to make my final decision. But"—I glance at Liza again—"I'm thinking baseball is the way to go."

Matthew places his hand on my arm. "I always hoped you'd choose baseball, but I'm a little biased for the sport."

"A little?" Tucker joins our conversation, teasing his son and holding his hand out to me. "Tucker Sims," he says in introduction. "Nice to meet you."

"Eli Jones," I reply as we shake. "Nice to meet you too."

"I would hope a guy your size would go for the draft. God blessed you with something that can't be taught, no matter how hard Matthew tries to coach you." Tucker nudges Matthew playfully.

I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I've been told that a time or two before."

"It's the truth. God gives us the tools we need to succeed. It's just up to us to follow his lead."

"I couldn't agree more," I reply with a nod.

"Matthew?" a little girl calls out, who's holding a bat next to a baseball tee. "Hannah doesn't hit right. Have you not taught her yet?"

We all laugh as Hannah places her hands on her hips in defense. "I am not that bad."

"Excuse me as I go save my wife from my little sister's teasing," Matthew says.

Liza

I have had the biggest grin on my face the entire day, and I'm not even trying to hide it. Everything about today has been perfect. Yes, I miss my mom, dad, and sister back home, and I have some friends who were really hard to say goodbye to, but if this is what my life will be like here, then I'm so happy I moved.

I guess you don't realize how unhappy you are until you leave a situation and can look back at it. I see now I was just living day to day, going from one to the next, making sure all my boxes were checked. I've heard of the rat race, and now, I know I was one hundred percent running in it and coming in last place.

Everything in California is more expensive—from the gas prices to the food—and forget about living on your own. No one could afford rent by themselves, so if you were able to move out of your parents' place, you lived with three or four roommates and were barely making ends meet.

I never truly felt safe there either. You never left anything in your car, your doors were always locked, and visiting a park meant you had to deal with the homeless who lived there too.

There's none of that here.

You don't have to look over your shoulder, you can walk the streets at night if you want to just go for a stroll after dinner, and the weather … sigh. It's so gorgeous right now. I know winter will be a brutal kick in my ass, but it's worth it for this weather right here.

All of that makes moving here the right choice for me, and then you add in Eli, and I'm a girl flying high on the choices she's made in her life that all led her to this moment, right here, right now.

Tucker made some amazing ribs that Eli absolutely loves. We all sit around the table, talking about everything from Hannah's band to Eli's baseball and all things in between.

With a sigh, Matthew stands from the table. "I hate to cut this short, but duty calls." He turns to Eli. "You still up for coming to show these kids what you got?"

Eli nods and stands as well. "Sure."

Everyone helps clean off the table and puts things away before we say our goodbyes. Then, we get in Eli's truck to follow Matthew to the facility.

Before we pull away from the curb, Eli turns to me. "That was fun."

Hearing him say that absolutely melts my heart. I've dated guys who wanted nothing to do with my family and thought it was torture, having to eat with them.

I grin at him as I reach to hold his hand, hoping he knows just how much his words mean to me. "It really was. Such a relaxing way to spend the day."

He squeezes my hand to acknowledge he felt the same way as we follow Matthew to his hitting facility.

The large, barn-like structure sits off to the side of a property, where you can park in a field. Matthew slides the door open, then invites us to follow him inside as he turns on the lights.

Eli looks right at home as he starts circling his arms around like he's warming them up. "Looks great in here. I see you've added a few machines too," he says to Matthew.

"I did. You haven't been in here in a while, have you?"

"No, not since last summer."

"Well, you know you're welcome here whenever you want to come."

Eli nods his head. "Thanks. Good to know." He smiles my way. "I'm going to be in Mason Creek a lot more now, so I'll take you up on that."

I swear I feel like I'm Chandler on an episode of Friends , where I want to scream out, Could I be any happier than I am now?

I go to sit on the couch where parents must sit during practice and watch the interactions between Eli and Matthew as they talk baseball while Eli warms up his body.

Matthew hands him a bat. "Here, this should work for you."

Eli takes it and swings a few times, making my eyes open wide. I knew he was big, and I knew he was strong, but seeing him swing a bat like that brings it to an entirely different level.

"Kids should be arriving at any minute, so we can do some front tosses. Then, we can set up the machine so they can really see you hit," Matthew says.

"Yeah, that's cool."

Matthew starts moving a big net on wheels, placing it in front of him while Eli stretches and warms up some more.

With a bucket of balls next to the net, Matthew asks, "You ready?"

Some kids enter the facility as Eli nods that he's ready. Matthew tosses a ball, and Eli swings violently, smacking it to the back of the net. The sound alone makes me jump, and I laugh, now seeing why Matthew has the net set up in front of him.

"Who's that?" I hear a kid ask another kid as they walk in.

I watch them as they stare at Eli and Matthew in awe.

With every swing, Eli looks like a professional player up there, swinging away and making the balls soar through the air faster than the blink of an eye.

"You ready for the machine?"

Eli nods as he drops the bat and heads to pick up the balls while Matthew walks toward an area where all of his equipment is.

"Hey, Coach?" a kid asks. "Who's that?"

Matthew stops what he's doing to reply, "That is Eli Jones. One of the best players from the area. He's a senior out of Leighton River. Plays on the national team out of Billings for the summer."

The way their eyes light up makes me want to giggle at how cute they are, just staring at him.

"Come on. I'll introduce you," Matthew says, having them follow him.

Where they were staring at him before in awe, now, I'm staring at him with the biggest lovey-dovey eyes as he shakes hands with the kids and they talk baseball.

I feel like someone needs to pinch me because this all can't be real. He can't be real. We've only known each other for a very short time, but I am falling so hard. I need to stop myself before I get too hurt. If I've learned anything in life so far, it's if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I bite the inside of my lip in thought while I check him out some more.

Why does he have to be so gorgeous too?

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, ridding myself of any negative thoughts. I can't always think that way.

Everyone says when you find the right person, you just know. Maybe he's my person, and that's why I feel this way.

Because I've never felt this way about a guy. Ever.