Sparks the Matchmaker (Aaron Sparks Series) by Russell Elkins Read Free Book Online Page A

behind his ear, and he felt his knees go rubbery.
    He wasn’t unconscious, but he still lost control of his legs. The red dirt of the infield greeted the right side of his face with a hard thump and it took him a second to regain his strength enough to roll over.
    Once he had rolled onto his back, he saw the umpire jump in front of the catcher to hold him back.
    If Ollie had felt normal that day, he would have fought back. But he’d lost all the fight he had. He heard the scuffle of players as a distant and inconsequential drama. Somebody else started that. He was suddenly very sleepy. Somebody else can deal with it, too. He thought of Sparks. Where is he now?
    “You okay?” It was Keith.
    “Fine.”
    Keith stood over him and laughed a little.
    “I’m fine, really. Stop laughing.” Ollie stared up, flat on his back, at the bright lights illuminating the infield.
    Keith held out a hand. “Seriously, what was that about? Since when did you start plowing catchers over?”
    Ollie didn’t have an answer. He knew he shouldn’t have done it. He was pretty sure he would have been safe if he’d chosen to slide under the tag instead of plowing right into it. He had nothing to say to his teammates. He had nothing to say to the umpire. He had nothing to say to the players on the other team. He knew he should have apologized to the catcher, but he didn’t. He picked himself up off the infield and walked to the dugout. He couldn’t turn off all the nasty words coming from his teammates, but he could tune them out.

    ***

    With Sparks three steps behind, Ollie slunk back to his car. They sat in silence for a while, Ollie’s hand still on the key, before he finally started the engine and put the car in drive. “Okay, now spill it. What do you want from me?” he asked Sparks. “Today has been a complete disaster and you’ve only helped make it much worse.”
    “Don’t blame that on me.”
    “Oh really? Who should I blame it on, Bomber?”
    “I dunno. Got a mirror?”
    “Hilarious.”
    “Well you’re the one who kept running when the third base coach told you to stop. You’re the one who ran over the catcher. And you’re the one who can’t dodge a punch.”
    “I…” Ollie had expected the other things to be said, but that last comment caught him a little off guard. Still, he needed to vent somehow, and Sparks was the closest punching bag. “You knew I was going to do that, didn’t you? You knew if you told me to run hard that I would ultimately run that catcher over and the catcher would come clean my clock. You knew, huh? Admit it.”
    “Maybe.”
    They had only driven a block, but Ollie pulled over and jammed it into park.
    “Get out. I don’t need you.”
    “What do you need, then?”
    “What I need is for you to get out of my car. That’s what I need. I need to go back to my own house and to my own life and start putting everything back together.”
    “Finally! We’re down to the important stuff and we can forget about softball for a while.”
    “First of all, ‘we’ aren’t down to anything. You’re getting out of my car and me myself and I are going home.”
    “Oh, the three of you have plans? That’s adorable.”
    “Please go away. Stop helping me. I don’t need help like this.”
    “I think you forget who you’re talking to. I know home’s not where you’re going.”
    “Oh, yeah? All right. I’m gonna go see Anne. So what? Let me guess, you won’t be able to tell me if she’s gonna punch me either, right? Just tell me where you want me to take you and I’ll drop you off. You’re lucky I’m giving you that much.”
    “Take me with you to Anne’s place. That’s where you’re planning to go, isn’t it? You’re thinking you have nothing to lose, so you might as well face it tonight since you probably won’t get any sleep anyway. Isn’t that what you’re thinking?”
    “Stop that.”
    “Guess what, though,” Sparks said, tapping a finger on the brim of the Yankees hat