Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Eli

The national team I play baseball for is in Billings, so the drive there is a bit of a distance to travel just for practice. Dalton and Ben both play sports with me locally, but I'm the only one who took baseball to this next level by trying out for this national team. Dalton is way more into football and is already committed to Stanford to play, and Ben is like me, not sure what his next step in life will be, but I get the feeling his won't involve sports.

After practice, I hop in the truck and instantly start it to get the air conditioner going as fast as possible. Placing my head on the headrest, I breathe for a second before taking a drink of my water. We're getting ready to travel to Florida for a big tournament, so today's practice was intense, and with the summer heat and humidity, I'm a sweaty mess.

I reach for my towel to wipe off my forehead, then grab my phone that I threw on the front seat when I took it out of my bag before tossing all my stuff in the back. After putting my seat belt on, I put the truck in reverse and click Liza's name to call her before I'm even out of the parking lot.

"Hi," she answers on the second ring.

"Hey. Did you get some sleep last night?"

She giggles, and it's the cutest sound ever. "I did. I slept later than usual. How about you?"

"I wish. I had practice today in Billings, so I had to leave my house by eight. I just got out."

"Dang, that was a long practice."

"Yeah, I'm on a national team, where all of us guys live all over the state, so we only get a few practices in before we travel to play."

"Where do you guys travel?"

"All over. Florida, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina," I start rambling off.

"Seriously?" She chuckles.

"Yep. I told you your summer is booked for the times I'm actually in town and not on the road, playing games."

"I didn't think that meant you traveled all over the country!"

"Summers are crazy, for sure." I pull up to a stoplight and yawn, placing my head against the headrest for a brief moment.

"You sound tired."

"I'm exhausted. This pretty girl kept me up late last night." I wish I could see her face blush as I hear her small laugh. "It was totally worth it though."

"Glad to hear."

"So, can I see you again tonight?"

"I'd love that."

"Great. I have to head home and shower, and then I'll come pick you up. I'm starving, and that Italian place in Mason Creek sounds amazing right now."

"Yes, please shower first," she teases.

"What? You don't like dirt-covered sweat all over your new boyfriend? It's a sight to see, I'm telling you."

"My new boyfriend?"

"Oh, yeah, I thought we made that pretty clear last night. I'm all in. I don't play games like that."

"Well, I guess I should get used to my sweat-covered boyfriend, but maybe not to go out to dinner like that."

"Ha! Yeah, good call. If I walked into a restaurant, looking like this, I think everyone in there would ask me to leave." I reach for my phone and click the button to FaceTime. "Here, answer the FaceTime call, and you'll see."

She accepts it, and in a few seconds, I see her beautiful face grace the screen. Instantly, I raise my knee to steady the steering wheel as I move my other hand to my phone to take a screen capture.

She laughs out loud. "Did you just screen capture our phone call?"

"I did. You look so beautiful, and I wanted a picture."

The grin she gives me is priceless, so I take another one, making her cover her mouth as she laughs. I've never been one to FaceTime, but now, I get why others do it. Getting to see her makes all the difference in the world.

"You look …" She doesn't finish her sentence.

I take off my hat, toss it onto the passenger seat, and shake my head to show her how sweaty my hair is as it falls over my forehead. I still have eye black on, and my face looks like it has makeup that's been smeared, but it's really just the dirt on my face.

"What? You don't think they'd let me in the restaurant, looking like this?"

She shakes her head. "No. Please don't."

My intention was to only call her to ask her out tonight, but now that I have her on the phone, I don't want to hang up, so I place the phone in between the dash, my door, and the windshield. This way, I'm able to keep my eyes on the road, but still glance over at her every once in a while. We talk like this during my entire drive back to Leighton River, making it feel like it was only ten minutes and not the hour-plus that it actually is.

Liza

I stare into the phone as Eli drives back to Leighton River. There's something about him being all sweaty with his messy hair that is making it hard to take my eyes off of him. Since he's driving, he's kept his eyes on the road, which means I get to take him in unabashedly without him even really noticing.

I can't get over the thought that he called me before he even got on the road after his practice was over.

I've never met a guy who doesn't play some kind of game, keeping me wondering where this is going or if he's going to call me again. Eli is doing the exact opposite, and it's making my head spin a little, leaving me to wonder about his actions. I want to think they are genuine, but it's so foreign. I feel like I still need to keep my barrier up, just in case this is indeed the game he plays—making girls fall head over heels, then dipping the first chance he gets.

Once he's back to his house, he puts the truck in park and sits back, repositioning the phone so he can see it better now that he's not driving.

"Okay, let me hop in the shower, and then I'll come get you."

"Sounds good," I respond, trying not to blush now that he's looking straight at me with his gorgeous green eyes that make me melt by the beauty of them.

He grins and raises his eyebrows ever so slightly, making me laugh.

"Bye," he says breathlessly.

"Bye." I hang up and fall back on my bed with a squeal of joy.

I knew moving here was going to be life-changing, but I never envisioned finding a guy this quickly, who would be this amazing.