A/N This is my first attempt at Fan Fiction. I'll gladly accept any kind of criticism, constructive or otherwise! Enjoy!

BPOV

"Is it October yet?" Jake pleaded.

"Almost Jake, almost," I responded.

In reality it was July 22, but we had to keep thinking October was right around the corner or we'd become even more disheartened by our jobs. Jake Black and I were supposed to be rivals, covering the Tucson Sidewinders in the Southwest Baseball League. While we both enjoyed our jobs for the most part, it was definitely a grinding season that started in April and ended in October. "Did we set another temperature record yet?" Jake asked.

"I don't think so, it's only 112 degrees today. It was hotter last week," I answered.

Did I mention that we covered baseball, an outdoor, summer sport, in the Southwest, where it routinely reaches over 100 degrees during the summer months? I can't wait for October.

Jake and I were having this discussion in the press box at Cullen Field in Tucson, while we watched the Sidewinders throw away yet another game. For a Triple-A team, these guys sure made an awful lot of errors.

The team had been pitiful all year and was scuffling through the dog days of summer with a 27-66 record with more games than I wanted to count left to play. Don't get me wrong, I love baseball, but these guys made it look painful on a daily basis.

"Hey Swan," Jake said, jolting me from the haze I was in, "Did you hear anything about the Volturi sending some of these clowns back down to Double-A and bringing up some of the younger prospects?"

Now as I mentioned earlier, Jake and I were supposed to be rivals, him writing for the Tucson Times and me working for the Arizona Sun, but we usually shared our so-called "inside information" with each other.

"Really?" I asked. "I hadn't heard anything about that. But I did hear they have some pretty good talent at the Albuquerque club, especially a lightning-fast centerfielder, power-hitting first baseman and a pretty sharp pitcher."

"Bells, does it matter how good they are?" Jake questioned. "I think my cousin's Little League team could beat the Sidewinders at this point. They really need to shake things up."

While Jake and I continued to debate the merits of the Volturi, the club's ownership group, bringing up the guys from Double-A, the Sidewinders lost yet another game to the Glendale Dragons, 12-2. Now we had to head down to talk to the team and the manager, Harry Clearwater. I liked Harry a lot. He had a son the same age as Jake and I who was always at the ball park fixing something or helping out wherever he was needed. Seth kept everything from the water fountains to the players running smoothly at Cullen Field.

As much as I enjoyed going down to the clubhouse and talking to Harry, who remained even-keeled after even his team's toughest losses, I dreaded having to talk to the players these days.

Just as Jake and I, along with a couple other reporters, entered the clubhouse I heard a husky baritone voice that stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Bella! You here to get a better look at what's under my towel baby?"

UGH! Mike Newton, the team's third baseman, had been asking me the same question for the past two months.

"Come here little Bella," Mike crooned. "I've got a big bat I want to show you."

Most of the Sidewinders laughed while I turned red and tried to ignore Mike's obvious innuendos. I made the mistake of dating Mike at the end of last season. I knew better. I knew that as a female in this male-dominated industry, I shouldn't date any of the athletes I covered. I knew that dating an athlete in general was just a terrible idea, but there was just something about his boyish charms.

If you had just met Mike, the first thing you would notice is his irresistible smile. It draws you right in. The smile also lights up his crystal blue eyes which I must say are a wonderful fit with his sandy blond hair. At 6'1, Mike had the perfect athlete's body, and yes, that included the six-pack abs and wonderfully sculpted arms.

Aside from his all-American boy good looks, Mike also knows how to turn on the charm. Having moved to Tucson last year from Forks, a tiny town in Washington state, fresh off receiving my bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, I was a fish out of water in the southwest, and Mike knew it.

After our first meeting at the team's preseason media day, Mike sought me out to see how I was adjusting to Tucson, telling me that my pale skin gave me away as transplant. From that day on he was sweet, flirty and always helpful. It was Mike that helped me move all of my things into a new apartment when I decided I hated living alone and moved in with Alice, a girl I met at the gym. It was also Mike who gave me tips on the best restaurants and again it was Mike who faithfully read my articles and was ready everyday with a compliment on something I wrote.

He began asking me out midway through the season last year, but I kept resisting, I wanted to be a professional after all! But he eventually wore me down at the end of the season. It was October after all, there was no more baseball to cover, so why couldn't I have dinner with him?

Needless to say, what started off so beautifully had turned ugly after the season started and Mike felt the need to try to make me uncomfortable every time I set foot in the locker room.

"Hey Bells," Jake called, jarring me from my memories, "Jasper hit a homer today, which was probably the only bright spot in the game, want to go with me to talk to him before we hit up Harry?"

"Sure Jake. Sounds like a plan," I responded, glad to be heading in the opposite direction as Mike and even farther from my bad memories.

Jasper Whitlock was one of the better players on the team, as well as one of the few who did not worship the ground Mike Newton walked on.

"Hey Jazz, mind if Jake and I ask you a few questions about today's game," I asked with a smile, "I promise it will be quick and painless."

"Sure Bella. Hey Jake, good to see you," said Jasper. "Okay, fire away guys."

We spent the next five minutes talking with Jasper about the game, the current state of the team and his take on the current rumors to shake up the club. He answered us thoughtfully and honestly like he always does, and shook our hands after we were done, telling us to have a nice night.

After asking Harry about the same things we'd asked Jasper, Jake and I headed back to the press box to finish our stories, which wouldn't take any more than an hour.

"Hey Bells, I'm just about finished here, want to head to Poppers for a drink," Jake asked about 45 minutes later.

"Absolutely! After today, all I want to do is kick back with some friends, a nice cold pineapple and Malibu and a plate of heart attack inducing cheese fries," I said. "I'll call Seth and Alice to meet us there."

A/N This was a little shorter than I'd like for a first chapter, but it is just to help set things up. I found this to be a good place to end. Longer chapters and other character POVs to come! Let me know what you think!