Saving Maverick (27 page)

And as it turned out, he owed a hefty no-show fine. But they were willing to give him the chance he'd earned by pitching well in spring training. His ERA had been the lowest in the league during spring training at 1.59. Despite the crap he'd pulled, he was being given the start, if he wanted it.

“I appreciate your confidence, Blake. I can assure you I'm not going to pull a stupid ass stunt like I did in Arizona.”

Blake didn't answer right away. When he did, his words provided the final challenge Mav needed to master his doubts.

“You'll lose everything if you do, Maverick. The contract endorsements, the fame, Kelsey—gone.”

He'd been given another chance, well, more like a second, second chance. It also reminded him of the promise he made Connor before he died, and today he'd do everything he could to fulfill it.

Chapter 32

The Outlaws were hosting the L.A. Knights on their first ever opening day. The whole town buzzed with excitement. Downtown was decked out in Outlaws green and gold and although the game wasn't sold out, it was a decent crowd for the new, untested team.

Kelsey parked in her reserved spot at the stadium and looked over to the front gate as streams of fans with signs and kids in tow entered for the very first time. She'd brought Ian with her today as Maverick's special guest. Caris would meet up with them later as well as Lara and Noel.

She'd received the call from T.S. a little over an hour ago informing her that Maverick would be the game's starting pitcher. When she'd questioned him about Mav's future with the club, he said it would depend on how he did today and on her.

He hung up before she had a chance to ask what he meant. Under threat of releasing a picture of him as a chubby teenager, she planned on cornering her elusive friend and getting him to spill his guts.

“You want to go up to the owner's skybox and take a look at the field from the top level?” she asked Ian. He'd tried his best to contain his excitement but he'd talked nonstop about Maverick on the drive in.

Who
could blame him? Maverick was her favorite subject too. She didn't tell him anything about her and Mav's troubles; he deserved to gush over his hero without her spoiling it by crying.

“Do you think we could watch them take bunting practice instead, Ms. Sullivan?” Ian asked. His excitement finally got the better of him and he'd stopped trying to hide it from her. She grinned and led him down the tunnel toward the field away from the boring offices and one lucky team owner. She'd catch up to T.S. later.

They made it to the home dugout before the team took the field and she debated on quizzing him further. She didn't need to.

“You know my dad would've liked you and Mr. Jansen. He was always big on giving back to our school and stuff like that.”

“Sounds like your dad was one of the good guys,” Kelsey responded.

“Yeah, I wish he hadn't gone back on that last mission. He always told us he had a guardian angel, that he'd been through it before and he'd never gotten hurt.” Ian turned his face up to the sun and closed his eyes. “You know what I think?” he asked her.

“What, Ian?”

“That angels and junk like that are a bunch of crap. I mean, c'mon, who ever heard of an angel following you around, keeping you safe? There would have to be like, billions of 'em, one for each of us, yah know? I just don't think that makes any sense. People are killed and murdered every day. So what happened to their guardian angel, huh?”

She looked over at the young man who had to become a grown-up overnight, standing in for his dad, supporting his mother and younger sister as most thirteen-year-olds never could imagine. She answered as best she could.

“
Faith is a funny thing, Ian. Sometimes I do think certain events happen for a reason, and bad things happen to good people all the time, war or no war. And it sucks, big time. I wish your dad didn't have to go to war, Ian, and I very much wish he hadn't died.”

She gave Ian a quick look, and waited. He was now locked into the players on the field, tossing balls and teasing each other.

Kelsey cleared her throat and continued. “You're entitled to your beliefs about guardian angels, Ian, and so was your dad. Sounds like it kept him going. It was his way of dealing with all the bad stuff he saw, and had to do. And I know it's tough to comprehend having faith, believing in something intangible, when someone close to you is killed. You end up questioning everything you were taught, or believed in.”

Kelsey, lost as what to say next, knew she might be in over her head, wanting to help without doing any more damage. She needed to lighten the mood. But Ian had something else to share.

“Mr. Jansen, I mean, Maverick, kind a told me the same thing,” Ian said. He had sat forward, arms crossed on the railing separating the last row of seats from the field below. Intent on watching the warm-up, he pointed toward Maverick.

Kelsey listened, her heart aching for this young man. What she really wanted to do was grab Ian and give him a big hug. Not having kids of her own, she still knew he'd probably be more embarrassed than anything if she did, so she wrapped her arms around herself.

“He told me about how his brother died and how he was pissed off at everyone, even God, for the accident. He said he let it screw with his head and that's why his team lost the division playoffs. Because he couldn't throw worth a shit.”

Kelsey
let out a chuckle. Guessing Ian had earned the right to drop a few cuss words, she refrained from scolding. Besides, he was right. So was Maverick. Last October Maverick couldn't throw for shit, and everyone knew it.

But not now. No, he'd climbed his way out of his own black hole and in the process imparted some much needed wisdom to a young boy who, it seemed, had a few key things all figured out.

“So you and Maverick seem to have clicked. Tell me, what else has he talked to you about?” she asked.

Ian sent her a sidelong glance and blushed a bit, but recovered quickly. “Oh you know, guy stuff.”

“Guy stuff, huh? Well, that's good.” She cleared her throat and didn't ask what guy stuff. It probably had to do with guy and girl stuff and that was better left to a parent or mentor like Maverick to deal with.

“I hope he helped you out with understanding that because bad stuff has happened in your life, it doesn't mean you have to let it rule your future.”

Ian rolled his eyes and nodded. “Sure, we talked it over and both of us promised not to let it get us down anymore. And then we toasted to our future.”

“Um, toasted?”

“Yeah, when we had dinner last night. He took us to this really cool pizza and game place and we toasted our future over some beers.” Ian grinned.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, root beer.” His ears had turned red at her stern expression, but he laughed. And so did Kelsey.

“
Oh, okay, root beer is good. That's good that you two are able to talk about, you know, the bad stuff. And the guy stuff.” She winked at him. Ian blushed again.

How they'd gotten into such a deep discussion at a baseball field was a testament to his maturity, yet she could tell they'd reached the point that it was getting a bit uncomfortable, for both of them. It was up to her to lighten the mood.

He surprised her with his next question. “Did you ever have to deal with, yah know, bad stuff, Ms. Sullivan? You know like losing a parent or brother or something like that?” Ian asked. She was about to answer no, but then she caught herself. Memories from her past bombarded her. No, she hadn't had to deal with a horrific death, but she'd dealt with the death of a dream she once had. The one where her parents were together, happy, and made sure she knew she was wanted.

Smart kid. Instead of answering him she decided he deserved an introduction to some of the Outlaws on the field. And all the root beer and pizza he could hold. She raised her hand to get the shortstop, Brock Cameron's, attention and began making introductions.

Soon, excited fans began arriving who'd won passes to enter the stadium early and watch both teams warm up. The level of anticipation had increased and a hum traveled through her body. Possibilities.

She had a lot to think about. Who would have thought hanging out with a teenage boy would bring her to the realization that what she'd been holding onto for years, was holding her back from her own future, one where she created her own happiness.

Maverick
strode out to the mound. It was the final inning, and the Outlaws were winning two nothing. He'd been more shocked than anyone else when his manager gave him the start over Yagasaki. He'd thought at best, they'd bring him in if Yagasaki was in trouble, as a relief pitcher. But he'd been given the start. And damn if he wasn't going to show them that he'd earned the spot.

He tuned out the crowd, his teammates, even his catcher who was standing behind home plate, cool and collected, waiting for Maverick to settle in.

His confidence had grown during the game and he now knew he could do this. He'd kicked the devil to the curb and got his pitch back; it felt like the stars had finally aligned to allow his grief to subside. If he could pull off this inning without a hit, he would secure his place on the team and in the hearts of his fans and earn his first ever no-hitter.

Then he planned on finding Kelsey and convincing her that they could heal their past disappointments—together.

He pulled his cap low on his brow, and repeated his mantra, “control the mechanism.” He nodded to Luke. They had come up with a couple of new signs to keep the lookouts on their toes. Two fingers to the side and Luke called the burner. Mav took his stance and on the windup, it all snapped into place. He let loose. Strike one. The umpire's call sounded like a long lost friend calling his name.

The crowd went crazy with shouts of “yeah, baby” and “the bad boy is back” ringing in his ears. He grinned and grabbed the ball in a no-look catch. The scent of leather drifted up to tickle his nose. The mojo had returned.

He scanned the crowd and found Ian hollering and waving at him. Then he saw her. Kelsey was watching him intently. A cautious smile graced her face as she tucked her hair
behind
her ear. His world shifted and settled into a new place. A place that included a woman who saw the real him. A woman who didn't run when she had every right to.

The next two pitches Luke called were the same, and caught the batter swinging. First out. Mav took a walk around the mound and gazed up into the crowd and fed off their energy. The next batter was taking his time at the plate. L.A.'s star player had a ritual meant to taunt pitchers. The veteran flexed his guns, switching the bat back and forth from one hand to the other. However, Mav blocked out his antics and zeroed in on Kelsey again. He used her beautiful face as his focal point.

She, and the rest of the twenty-one thousand spectators, were all on the edge of their seats, yelling and clapping, just for him. The L.A. Knights' lead homerun hitter was past due for a long ball and Maverick shook off Luke's call for the cut pitch. Not yet, he thought. The batter would be expecting his best pitch and he went through three more signs before he nodded on the changeup. It was low; the batter swung and almost lost his balance. He had to place the bat on the ground to right himself and sent Mav a steely glare, and a quick nod.

Maverick nodded back to the old-timer, an act of respect from both. Mav focused back on Luke and read the sign for his next pitch. Thumb up. All right, cowboy, you got it. He wound up and sent the cut ball screaming toward the two-hundred-plus-pound batter and shaved a quarter inch off his gut. The batter sucked it in and this time shook his head and laughed.

“Ball,” the umpire called.

Shit. Well, it wasn't meant to be a cakewalk. So Maverick let his arm hang to the side and shook out the tight muscle.
Control the mechanism
. He stepped forward and let the third ball fly.
Crack!

The
veteran got under it and sent it sailing over the third baseman's head. Mav whipped around to watch the streaker, and let go the breath he didn't know he was holding. He watched as Reese dived and made the catch. Out two.

The crowd chanted their approval, and Maverick owed the left fielder a steak dinner. He nodded his thanks to his teammate and turned back to face the final batter. The unknown, who'd been pulled up from triple A. The kid was a phenom, according to the sports press, and had leapfrogged over the minors and was handed the chance of a lifetime.

Maverick was going to have to disappoint the kid. He was young, he'd recover. Mav needed this win more than his next breath. Taking one more look in the general direction of where Kelsey was sitting, he gave her a wink when he made eye contact with those gorgeous gray eyes. He felt a foot taller seeing the joy on her face.

Luke once again tried to get him to begin with the cut pitch, but Mav resisted. Maybe he should go fast and hard and show this kid what was what in the bigs. He glanced at the rookie and received a toothy grin. Yup. Fast and hard it was. The first two pitches found the kid reaching and after Luke flashed him the cut sign again, the batter held up his hand and time was called.

There it was—nerves. It had brought the best players in the game to their knees at some point in their career. But today it was a rookie who was behind on the count, two outs down, last inning of the game, and Mav could see the weight of the moment as it sat heavily on this kid's shoulders. But he'd have plenty of other opportunities to shine and be the hero. Today was not that day.

The
rookie stepped back into the box. Maverick made him wait before he reached back and rocked on his heels. He took one last deep breath and delivered the pitch of his life. The kid bunted.

What the hell?

He bunted on a cut pitch? Maverick scrambled toward the plate and beat Luke to the ball. He twisted his body toward first and threw hard. The momentum knocked him off his feet and he ate a mouthful of dirt.