Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

Amber

D espite being the exact opposite of sporty, Amber found herself quite excited about the baseball game. Not to play, really; she actually kept picturing Reuben in a uniform and blushing furiously at the mental image.

She dragged Reuben from booth to booth, staring at all the offerings while feeling safe with her protector. Two months ago I never would have imagined myself willingly going out in a crowd like this, she thought, and the grin on her face expanded. Much less agreeing to play baseball in front of all these people…

The thought made her anxiety begin to rise again, but Amber gave Reuben’s hand a squeeze and replayed his promises in her mind.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there the whole time. That trash can of a human is still behind bars and there’s no way he’ll be there. Your brain is just being unkind to you. And if you get overwhelmed, just let me know and we’ll go home.”

The crackling sound of a microphone being turned on floated over the crowd and Amber paused to listen. It was a little hard to hear over the buzz of the crowd, but she managed to make out, “The baseball game begins in fifteen minutes! If all players could report to the leader tent, we’ll pass out jerseys and get started!”

“We get jerseys?!” Amber exclaimed, practically jumping for joy. Her fantasy was coming true! She pulled Reuben toward the Tribune ’s tent and the pair got into line, where Reuben stood behind her with his arms draped around her neck like a necklace. When they reached the front of the line, the officiator crossed their names off the list on his clipboard and flipped through the plastic-wrapped jerseys.

“Here you two go,” he said with a smile as he handed them over. Reuben reached out over Amber and took both of them before steering her off to the left with his elbows. Their feet were in perfect sync and allowed Reuben to press his chest against Amber’s back as they walked out of the way.

Amber tore hers open excitedly, to find the jersey had the number 21 and “Swords” on the back. “They are even personalized!” she laughed, pulling the shirt over her head and allowing it to fall softly down her torso. Reuben nodded and put on his own, number 22.

“Do I look like a baseball player now?” he asked with a laugh. Amber nodded and rose up on her heels to kiss him, her arms wrapped tightly around his chest.

“You sure do. And a very attractive one at that. Come on, let’s get over to the dugout! I don’t know how fast the first inning is going to go, but we don’t want to be late to ours!” Amber grabbed Reuben’s hand and again began dragging him through the crowd of people to where the other jersey-ed players were congregating.

In the chaos of it all, nobody really seemed to notice or care that there was a vampire in their midst. Laughter and good-natured banter buzzed around Amber and Reuben, and Amber couldn’t help feeling excitement filling up her lungs.

With the shrill screech of a whistle, the game began. Amber led Reuben to the metal grandstands to the right of third base, but rather than sitting she stepped up and gripped the chain link fence. Reuben stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head.

“You’re doing so well,” he whispered in her ear. His breath felt like a crisp autumn breeze on her skin.

Amber dropped one of her hands and rested it on Reuben’s. “It helps that people aren’t really paying all that much attention to us. And that you are here to keep me safe.”

An affirming grunt vibrated Amber’s shoulder blades. “Always.” The couple watched the entire inning that way: Amber staring through the fence with bright eyes, while Reuben held her protectively in his arms.

“Those playing the second inning, report to your team’s dugout! Pens on the left, Swords on the right! The second inning will begin in five minutes!”

Reuben gave Amber a squeeze and released her. “That’s us, sweetheart. Time to show them our skills.”

“Yours, maybe,” Amber replied with a laugh. She stood on her tiptoes and gave Reuben a kiss on the cheek before they started toward the dugout. They weren’t far from it, but getting through the crowd proved a bit of a challenge.

The team captain didn’t even have to ask their names as they walked up. He scanned Reuben and barely managed to hide the look of disgust on his face. “Ah, DeVito. You and…” he glanced at the clipboard, “Miss Marcus are third and fourth to bat. When we switch to fielders, you’ll play left and right fielders.”

Amber felt a snowball fill her stomach. She supposed it had been silly of her to expect everyone to be cheerful toward her boyfriend, but at least they were being allowed to play. Plus…they had her name. “Okay, thank you!” she answered more out of a desire to end the conversation than gratitude. She felt Reuben’s arm wrap comfortingly around her shoulder and allowed him to push her into the dugout.

Thankfully, the rest of the team didn’t seem to mind the vampire’s presence. They chatted animatedly amongst themselves while Amber and Reuben sat quietly on the bench with their helmets in their hands.

“Are you going to be okay while I take my turn at bat?” Reuben asked, turning his soft eyes on Amber. “We won’t be apart very long.”

Amber nuzzled Reuben’s shoulder with her cheek and nodded. “I’ll be fine,” she whispered. “If anything happens, I’ll just shout and I know you’ll be back here before I can even take another breath.” And she did know it was true. She could feel it in his touch and see it in his eyes. Reuben wanted this excursion to go perfectly, and he would make sure it did.

“DeVito, you’re up.”

Reuben stood and headed for home plate, swinging the baseball bat a few times as he walked. Amber’s brown eyes were focused intently on him and her stomach once again filled with butterflies. He looked so attractive with his striped jersey and strong shoulders.

She was so focused that it took the person next to her three tries to get her attention. “Hey. Hey. Hey!” the man said, smiling when Amber finally realized she was being spoken to. “Hello! I’m Kyle Zeborski. You must be Mr. DeVito’s mysterious girlfriend!”

Amber nodded, but shrunk a little into herself. She didn’t particularly like the glimmer in the man’s eyes, but without Reuben to run interference, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

Kyle’s grin widened. “Well, well! What’s it like being a vampire’s girlfriend? Does he…you know?” He bared his teeth and snapped his jaw a couple of times.

“Excuse you, no he does not,” Amber replied with more force than she expected. “It’s no different than dating any other man, aside from the sheer number of people who ask insensitive questions and make rude assumptions!”

Kyle seemed taken aback by the veracity of Amber’s response. He leaned back and waved a hand vaguely between them. “I’m sorry, I suppose that was rather rude of me. Looks like it’s your turn.”

He pointed as Reuben hit the ball and sent it flying far over second base. The vampire dropped the bat and began running toward first base at a perfectly human speed. The professional player acting as coach waved Reuben forward as he hit first and he pivoted, making it to second base just before the second baseman caught the ball.

“Good job, sweetheart!” Amber yelled as she stepped up to the plate herself. She also waved the bat a couple of times to feel its weight. It had been easily twenty years since she’d played baseball, but it had been her favorite sport to play (badly) as a child.

Her eyes focused on the pitcher, hands slightly sweaty as he wound up and lobbed the ball in her direction. She swung and felt the end of her bat connect solidly with the ball, catching her off guard.

“Run!” called the coach, and Amber dropped the bat. She began to run, completely ignoring where the ball had ended up or whether it would beat her to the base. Just five feet from first, she tripped over her own foot and fell forward. She looked up and saw the baseball flying toward the first baseman then in front of her, where the base was only a few inches away.

She reached out her hand and placed it on the base just before the baseman caught the ball. “Safe!” called the coach, and a wide grin spread across Amber’s face. The baseman offered her a hand and hauled her back to her feet with a smile.

“People don’t usually slide into first,” he teased, “and they don’t usually slide on their bellies, either.” He tossed the ball to the pitcher and Amber did her best to hide the redness in her cheeks.

Kyle stepped up to the plate and hit the ball with apparent ease, knocking it deep into the outfield. Amber and Reuben both crossed home plate safely and headed back to the dugout. Once inside, Reuben wrapped Amber in his arms and lifted her off the floor with a laugh. “I was so sure you were going to be out when you tripped,” he admitted, then kissed Amber firmly on the lips.

Amber melted into the kiss, forgetting for a moment that the pair were in a very public place. Those cool lips felt like a drink from the sweetest spring and she drank them in, eyes closed in pure bliss.

Their team didn’t win, but Amber couldn’t find it in herself to care. With a belly full of barbeque and a bag full of pens, stickers, and various other branded knicknacks, she danced to the song playing in her head as Reuben led her by the hand back to the car.

“You seem to be quite pleased,” Reuben laughed, pulling Amber closer to his side. “I was worried you would spend the entire day as an anxious wreck. But you barely seemed to have any issues at all. I’m proud of you.”

Amber beamed as she nodded and gave a little skip. “That is kind of normal for me, actually. I get myself all worked up about being in crowds or being recognized, but once I’m there it’s not so bad.”

“Good. Maybe someday we’ll get you past being anxious at all.” Reuben stopped short of the car and fished around for his keys. While waiting, Amber felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out to see who was texting her and found that Jade had sent her a link to a news article.

She gave a little sigh and tapped on the link. “Well, so it begins,” she said as the page loaded. “Jade sent me a news link. Shall we take bets on what nonsense she thought I needed to read?”

Reuben pressed the unlock button on the key fob and rolled his eyes. “No thank you. I don’t want to get into another fight over you reading that stuff.” He held Amber’s door open and helped her inside before entering his own and turning on the car.

“Annual Tribune Barbeque Huge Success,” the headline read. Amber scanned the text, finding very little of note other than a mention of Reuben being in attendance and joining the baseball game. At the bottom of the article was a gallery of photos, which she opened out of curiosity.

In the middle of the dozen photos, she found a clear photograph of herself and Reuben kissing. “Oh,” Amber groaned, “that’s what Jade thought was noteworthy.” She turned her phone screen so Reuben could see the picture.

“Not a bad photo,” he said, smiling. “That’s a pretty cute couple, there. I might have to save that picture to my phone. How was the article?”

Amber shrugged and put the phone back in her pocket. “You were barely more than a footnote. But it was a positive footnote, so I guess there’s that?” She took Reuben’s hand and rubbed his chilly palm on her sunburnt cheek. “I should have put on sunscreen like you told me to…”

“Admitting I was right about something this early in the relationship? Wow. Better watch out that you don’t set a dangerous precedent.” Reuben winked and both of them began to laugh, feeling completely at peace after a wonderful day together.