Pacey glanced up at the sky, the Texas sun glared down on him as he stepped out onto the field. He held up his black leather glove and the first baseman, Tommy Glade tossed him the ball as they took the field for the eighth time that afternoon. He flicked the ball quickly to the second basemen who threw it back to the pitcher.

He removed his cap and wiped the sweat collecting on his brow as he squinted his eyes toward the stands, searching the meager crowd for Joey’s familiar dark hair. They were playing the Cincinnati Reds, they were up by two runs as they headed into the bottom of the eighth.

He found Joey, sitting just behind the away team’s dugout, and she offered him the lopsided smile he was beginning to think she used just to make him forget his own name. He tipped his cap to her in response and forced himself to concentrate on the game.

He narrowed his eyes as Sly Davis walked to the plate tapping his foot with the end of his bat. Sly was a left-handed batter, with a tendency for hard grounders to the left side of the field. Pacey took a few steps further into the outfield and a couple a little closer to second base, trusting his third basemen to handle anything hit up the line.

She hadn’t counted on the weather being unbelievably warm, so she was forced to remove her light sweater and keep cool in the white tank top she had on underneath. She still had the baseball cap Pacey had slipped on her head when they were at Disney World and it did a wonderful job of keeping the sun out of her eyes now. Joey took a small sip of soda from the medium, white and gray paper cup it came in and sat back in her hard seat as she watched the game.

It was quite an experience to actually see one as opposed to just hearing about it like she’d been doing the past few weeks. Granted, there were still some things she had only a vague understanding of but she knew enough so she wouldn’t be completely lost. Not that she was paying much attention anyway.

She had no idea Pacey’d look so incredible in his uniform and she entertained the idea of being able to strip it off him. Her cheeks flushed at the thought. That glorious body underneath the uniform was hers, if only for a little while and she still couldn’t believe it. She took a quick gulp of her cold soda. She really needed to stop this train of thought or else she’d never make it through the game.

Will left the dugout; the players could certainly handle their last round of at bats on their own. Not to mention Martin seemed to think he was perfectly capable as not only the team’s manger, but the batting and pitching coaches as well. He shook his head, one man trying to do it all wasn’t going to help win games, and pretty soon Martin would have to learn. In the mean time, he figured Joey could use some company, after almost three hours of play; she had to be bored out of her skull.

Joey looked up and smiled affably at Will when he joined her. She had grown to like the older man who at first, she thought to be rather imposing but he had been helpful when it came to her articles and if it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have known half the stuff she knew now. “Hello Mr. Krudski. What brings you up here?”

“Just wanted to see how you were holding up after all this time. No heat stroke yet?” He teased, sliding into the seat beside her.

“I’ve been lucky so far.”

“So, ya think our boys have a chance?” He asked, turning eyes back to the game as AJ walked the first batter.

She smiled. “Looks like it.”

He gave her an indulgent smile. “Honey, they’re down by two runs and we’re at the bottom of the ninth. And it doesn’t look like AJ’s gonna hold them to just those four runs. We’ve only got the next inning to score two runs to tie.”

“Oh.” She tried to contain her obvious embarrassment.

He patted her knee once, “Don’t worry, Jo. We, all of us, already realized you know next to nothing about the sport.”

She shrugged self-concisely. “I’m just doing the best I can.”

He nodded, his eyes fastened on the game, “And for someone who doesn’t follow baseball, you write beautifully about it.”

She grinned at the compliment. “Why thank you.”

“So...now that you’ve seen them play, what do you think?” He was genuinely curious how she viewed the team at this point.

“They have potential.” That seemed nice and non-committal, saving her the chance from looking like a fool again.

“I want your opinion as someone who doesn’t see the little mistakes or the tiny little details that make it come together.” He tilted his head to the side, “What do you see when you look at the boys.”

She shrugged again not sure of what to say. “A baseball team?”

Will snorted, “They’re not quite that yet.”

“I have noticed there are a lot of ‘I’s’ in this team,” she offered after a moment.

Will chuckled, leaning back in his seat, “Both on and off the field,” He added. His brow wrinkled, “Which ones are the worst, you think?”

She glanced out at the field. “I think AJ’s quite guilty of it although I haven’t decided if he’s really just overcompensating.”

He laughed, “Might be a little of both.”

She smiled faintly. “But I’m sure you know all this stuff already.”

He shook his head, “No, not really. Sometimes you get so caught up in the details...the big things skip your attention.” He groaned as Mark Wilson got a single off AJ putting two men on base, and still no outs.

Joey frowned. “So that wasn’t good?”

He shook his head, amusement glittering in his eyes, “No. Having men on base that aren’t our team is bad. Because now,” he gestured to the batter, “If he gets a solid hit, the guy on second can score.”

“Oh...” Joey stood up and began to clap and yell. She whistled. “Come on, AJ, strike him out! I know you can do it!”

Just as the words left her mouth the loud crack of ball meeting bat sounded through the stadium. The ball sailed straight at Pacey, and he made a perfectly timed leap almost a foot in the air to take the out. As soon as his foot reached ground he tagged the runner, who was still a few feet from second base, seemingly shocked that Pacey had been able to reach the ball. In the next second, he was throwing it hard to first base as the runner slid headfirst back to the bag. But not before Tommy had made the tag.

The stadium, though mostly Reds fans, leapt to their feet and cheered as the Red Sox calmly jogged from the field, Pacey getting congratulatory smacks on the ass from his team mates as the returned to the dugout. He shot Joey a half smile just before he disappeared under the lip of the dug out.

Joey sighed and turned to Will. “I think I’ve had enough baseball for today. I’m going to go back to the hotel.”

“You’re kidding me!” He looked at her as though she were crazy. “He just made an unassisted triple play! That’s more rare than a grand slam! If we ever had a chance at winning this game, it’s now.”

Joey couldn’t take it anymore. Everything she did or said was wrong and she reached her quota on embarrassing moments for the day. “Excuse me.” She lowered her head and moved past Will. “I’m not feeling too well anyway.” She ran the rest of the way out.