Chapter Thirty-Nine

Alyssa

Alyssa’s hands covered her mouth as tears stung the backs of her eyes. “What are they doing?”

“Saving Swing Away,” Lauren said, giving her a side hug. “And I think you’re going to enjoy this.”

The crowd started to go wild around them—particularly the girls. All of them. She turned back to the field and almost choked.

All the baseball players had shucked their jerseys. All of them.

Tristan included.

Oh my God, that’s a lot of half-naked guy out there. Alyssa blinked. Yep, they were still there, still half-naked. Holy shit, had all of them gotten that much money already?

And…half-naked Tristan. Warming up in the on-deck circle.

Her brain was going to explode. She reached for her phone to make a pledge.

“No bidding. You’re the guest of honor, girl.” Lauren took her phone and shoved binoculars into Alyssa’s hands. “You know, in case you want a closer look.”

Tristan had the microphone again. “As you can probably tell, we had a few early donations to ensure we had to strip, but that doesn’t mean you should stop pledging. First up to bat, Dylan Dennings!”

Faith was frantically texting on her phone. “Twenty bucks a homer ought to do it. I’ve always wanted to watch Kyle play without a shirt on. This is a dream come true.”

Lauren laughed. “You could’ve done that in his backyard!”

“But this way I help Swing Away.” Faith’s face was pink, and her eyes sparkled. “And this is the real deal. Not me pitching him ten-mile-an-hour softballs.”

“Fair enough.” Lauren pulled out her phone. “I think ten dollars per for Tristan. Sound good?”

“Yeah.” Alyssa felt faint. “Whatever.”

Dylan hit a home run, and everyone cheered. After his tenth pitch, Tristan said, “Time for Kyle Sawyer. I hope your wallets are open.”

Kyle walked out to the batter’s box, and the screams were deafening. Having already seen him shirtless, Alyssa was prepared, but Lauren was still beyond impressed. “Damn, girl. That’s the best investment ever.”

Faith was fanning herself with a program. “It never gets old.”

While Alyssa could appreciate the scenery, she was more interested in Kyle’s swing. It was nearly textbook perfect, both in power and follow-through. He homered six out of ten pitches. Sure they were mid-list fastballs straight down the middle, but still.

“That was the best hundred and twenty bucks I’ve ever spent.” Faith’s cheeks were bright pink. “Totally worth it.”

One by one, the players on the varsity team took a turn. By the time Kyle took the mic from Tristan and said, “Next up, Tristan Murrell,” the guys had hit forty-six home runs.

Alyssa stood and leaned on the rail to watch. How had he pulled this off? There were nearly five hundred people here. And Kyle’s grandfather matching the donations? She choked back a sob.

Tristan took his place at the plate, and, God almighty, did he look good. Not quite as muscular as Kyle, but lean and all hard angles. And those shoulders. She could dream a thousand dreams on those shoulders.

He looked her way and nodded. She mouthed, “Thank you,” feeling like she might cry again. Then, smiling, “Slow. Down.”

He laughed and gave her a thumbs-up.

The first pitch flew out, and Tristan swung. Alyssa watched the play of muscles in his shoulders, back, and arms as he crushed the ball, sending it way out into center field.

He hit three more homers, but before his last at-bat, Lauren took the binoculars and handed Alyssa a glove. “You’ll need it.”

“Why?”

Lauren nodded at Tristan. He smiled and pointed at Alyssa, Babe Ruth style. Was he serious? He nodded to her, and Alyssa put on the glove. “You might want to move.”

“Eh, you’ll catch it.” Lauren sat back. “I trust you.”

Faith scooted up a few rows. “I trust but verify.”

“Good plan.” Alyssa punched the glove a few times before holding it up for Tristan to see. He nodded to the coach at the pitching machine, and when it pitched the ball, Tristan tipped it foul.

It was a little off course, so Alyssa bolted out of her row and into the next. The ball arced down, right into her glove. She held it up, grinning.

The crowd loved it. To be honest, so did she.

When the cheers wound down, Tristan put on his jersey and stepped up to the mic. “Could the Kaplans join us on the field please?”

Alyssa gaped as her parents stood up behind home plate and made their way down to the field. Lauren gave her a little shove. “Go on. They want you down there, too.”

Alyssa hopped over the wall and walked over. Her mother was wiping her eyes with a well-worn tissue, and Dad looked near tears, too. Alyssa took her dad’s hand but only had eyes for Tristan. He held up a piece of paper.

“Thanks to your generosity,” he told the crowd, “we’ve raised forty-eight hundred dollars. And with our match, that brings us to fourteen thousand, four hundred dollars total.” Tristan handed the paper to Alyssa’s dad and covered the mic. “Will that be enough?”

“More than.” Dad cleared his throat. “I can’t begin to thank you. I…don’t even know how.”

Tristan nodded. “There’s one more thing.” He uncovered the mic. “Also, Suttonville High and its feeder schools will be making Swing Away their official batting cage. We hope all the Little Leaguers here tonight do the same. It’s a great facility.”

Mom buried her face against Dad’s shoulder. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it.”

Alyssa left them to absorb the idea that Swing Away could stay open and went to Tristan. Not caring about the hundreds of people in the stands, she put her hands on his cheeks and pulled his face down for a kiss.

“You saved us,” she whispered. “You’re amazing. All of you.”

“So are you.” He tossed the mic to Kyle and smiled down at her. “What did you think of the show?”

She laughed. “I want another one. In private.”

“That can be arranged.”

Dad came over to shake Tristan’s hand. “Thank you. It’s not every day I believe a young man is worth my daughter’s time, but you exceed expectations.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll do my best to continue that.”

Mom and Dad went to talk to Kyle’s grandfather, and Alyssa turned back to Tristan. “Want to get out of here?”

He smiled, and it sent electricity to her fingertips. “Definitely.”

Alyssa walked into the house humming five minutes before curfew. Her parents were curled up on the couch, watching a movie. Two or three notebooks lay open on the coffee table.

Mom sat up and stretched. “Have a good time with Tristan?”

Alyssa bit back what she really wanted to say. They’d had more than a good time, something she planned to continue all summer long…and beyond that. “Yeah.”

She started through the living room, thinking to check on Buddy, when Mom stopped her. “Honey, we have something to chat with you about.”

“Oh?” Alyssa took a seat in the recliner. “What’s going on?”

“Well,” Dad said. “After looking at what needs to be fixed up, and with the nets already done, it looks like we’re going to have about three thousand left over. So, we thought we’d pay you back. For your dancing money.”

Alyssa’s jaw went slack. “You’re giving my money back? But I wanted it for Swing Away.”

“I know, honey.” Mom’s smile was gentle and proud. “But we want you to follow your dream.”

Alyssa had held it together all day, through the announcement of the fundraiser, to the moment Mr. Sawyer handed them one of those giant cardboard checks…even when her boyfriend had hit a foul ball to her in front of a cheering crowd. But this? No way.

She burst into tears and piled onto the couch with her family. Buddy came galloping in and jumped on top of them.

“I love you guys,” Alyssa said, her voice muffled against her mom’s sleeve.

“We love you too, Chickadee.” Dad patted her arm. “But this doesn’t mean you have tomorrow off. We’re going to be really busy, and I need my best worker.”

Alyssa wiped her nose and laughed. “I guess it’s a good thing I turned down Top Sports, then.”

“It is…and I’ll be doing the same tomorrow.” Dad sounded so relieved, and it was all Tristan’s doing. He didn’t know her family, not really, but he’d pulled everything together anyway.

“I think we should have some pie to celebrate,” Mom said, rolling off the couch.

Alyssa rose to join her. “And now my day is perfect.”