Out at Home by J. L. Paul Read Free Book Online Page A

heavy traffic when her cell phone rang. She looked at the screen, frowning at the unfamiliar number.
    “Who is it?” Tia asked.
    Taylor shrugged as she answered the phone. “hello?”
    “Hi Taylor. It’s Tabby Hays. I hope you don’t mind but I got your cell number from your editor.” Taylor glanced at Tia briefly. “No, it’s okay. What’s up?”
    “Brady said he left you some tickets at the Will Call. Are you coming to the game?” Taylor rolled her eyes. “Yeah we are but we have tickets already.”
    “Forget about those tickets,” Tabby cheerfully ordered. “Use Brady’s. His tickets are next to ours. You can sit with us and get drunk.” Just wonderful , Taylor thought. She groaned quietly. “I’m with my friend, Tia. We have her uncle’s tickets. I need to check with her.”
    “Okay, call me back. Do you have my number?” she asked.
    “It’s on my phone,” Taylor responded. “I’ll talk to you in a few.” She flipped her phone shut and pinched the bridge of her nose.
    “What?” Tia asked, eyes alternating between Taylor and the road.
    “That was Tabby, Alex Miyerson’s fiancée. She, uh, wants us to use the tickets Brady left me at Will Call so we can sit with them.” Tia’s eyes widened. “You didn’t tell me Brady left you tickets! You must have really made an impression on him.” She grunted. “Not the one I wanted to make.”
    “Cheer up. He obviously likes you or he wouldn’t go through all this trouble.”
    “It’s not like , it’s guilt ,” she stated as they followed the stream of cars into the parking lot. “Do you really want to sit with them? It’d be a shame to let Luther’s tickets go to waste.”
    “He’ll never know,” Tia responded in a flippant manner. “He wouldn’t have come anyway. He told me he had a business dinner tonight.” Once she parked, she shut off her car and grabbed her purse. “Besides, Brady’s tickets are probably better and maybe I’ll get to meet a single, sexy baseball player.”
    A sudden urge to bang her head on the dashboard rushed through Taylor. She resisted and opened her door instead. “You do realize that the players will be on the field and not in the stands?”
    “Minor technicality,” Tia smiled. “Now where’s that Will Call window?”
    Groaning, Taylor helplessly followed her exuberant friend.

Chapter Five
    Taking the seat between Tabby and Tia, Taylor quietly nursed a foamy beer in hopes that it would relax her jangled nerves. Alex Miyerson was on the mound and Tabby was beside herself in ecstasy. So distracted was she that Taylor was able to focus on the game and not listen to some propaganda about how wonder Brady Nolan really was.
    Taylor’s heartbeat quickened when a batter from the opposing team knocked a line drive between first and second. Brady dove to his right, snatching it from midair. He fell to his knees, grabbed the ball from his glove, and fired it to the first baseman. The crowd around them jumped to their feet and roared.
    Tia stood and cheered excitedly, slopping beer on her hand. “Why did he throw the ball to first? He caught it so the batter was out, right?” With a smirk, Taylor pulled Tia back down to her seat. “The runner on first took off as soon as the ball was hit. When Brady caught it, the runner needed to go back to touch first but since Brady’s throw to the first baseman beat him back to the bag, he couldn’t tag up so he’s out. Double play.
    Oh, never mind.”
    “Hey, I never said I understood the game. I just like coming and watching the cute players,” Tia said with an indignant shrug.
    Taylor rolled her eyes with a smile as the players trotted off the field to file one by one into the dugout. Suddenly, she remembered a baseball game long ago.

    Huddling in the light drizzle on the bleachers with Amanda Allen, Taylor's heart fluttered when Brady walked out to the on deck circle and winked at her. Amanda squeezed her arm. “I can’t believe you’re dating Brady and