I could see SME, Jamie, Tommy, and Kwest cheering us on from the sidelines as the referee motioned for Patsy to take her turn at the pitcher's mound. The girl could throw one hell of a fastball. Scratching my head thoughtfully, I gazed at Patsy curiously as she took the field. Hmmmm, Something tells me there's a lot of juicy tidbits we don't know about our hard rockin' Patsy. Be afraid, be very afraid. She winked at us all as she took the mound. The adults were taking turns pitching as the kids had their time at bat. Our team had to get one more home run before we could win the game and we already had two bases loaded. Freckle-faced Susie took the bat, and I groaned knowing she had not made a single hit all day. Walking up to her slowly, I leaned down next to her ear.
"You know how you can hit the ball?" I asked quietly. She shook her pigtails frantically from side to side as she looked at me with wide, nervous eyes. I patted her gently on the head before leaning in closely to her.
"You just pretend the ball is someone or something you dislike very much and then you picture the ball hitting that person or that thing and 'wham!" There you go." I said with a shrug as a naughty naughty little thought entered my head. I glanced around me silently before noticing Tommy's 'you better not do anything stupid' look as he noticed the mischievous glint that had entered my eyes. I blew him a kiss innocently as I leaned in close to little Susie again.
"You see that girl over there?" I asked her suddenly as I pointed to Eden standing miserably out in the outfield. Her heels had dug holes into the grass and she kept waving her hands in front of her face to discourage the flies attracted to her perfume. I snickered as I tried to keep from laughing when Susie nodded seriously at me.
"Well, I heard her say something about how she would love to play connect the dots with your freckles. I don't know why because I think they are absolutely adorable, but I promise you that lady is not a nice person. Try hitting the ball that way." I said sweetly as Susie's eyes grew as big as saucers before she actually growled in Eden's general direction. Boy, I think I might have ticked the little girl off just a tid little bit. Trying not to laugh, I started to back out of the way when Susie looked at me with narrowed eyes.
"Let's kick some ass, Ms. Harrison!" She stated loudly as I gaped at her before throwing my arms up in the air to signal for the game to continue. Oh, I was such a bad influence! Watching in anticipation, I watched the ball soar through the air and I held my breath as I waited for Susie to take her swing. Growling low in her throat, I watched in amazement as she swung the bat with all her might causing it to meet with the flying ball in a loud wooden 'crack.' All eyes followed the soaring ball as it flew across the field with amazing speed. Ohh, ohhhh, ohhhh! This was so much better than I had hoped for. I watched with my hands covering my mouth in astonishment as the ball connected soundly with Eden's perfectly powdered nose. The whole field grew quiet as Eden's eyes widened before she covered her nose with her palms just about the same time that she released a huge caterwauling scream. If there had been glass in the building's unfinished windows, I guarantee they would have broken. It may have actually been the first time in music history that I heard Eden hit a high C.
"That little shit broke my nose!" She screamed as some medics nearby escorted her off the field. I smiled sympathetically as I cupped my hands over my mouth and gritted my teeth sweetly.
"Don't worry about it, Eden. You know broken noses add a lot of character. Look at Owen Wilson." I shouted on a chuckle as Patsy threw me a look that said 'Way to go, Harrison!" Little freckle-faced Susie sidled up next to me warily, and I looked down at her with a fond smile. I was really starting to get attached to the little midget. Tousling her hair with my hands, she smiled up at me triumphantly.
"Guess this means we kicked their asses, huh?" She asked innocently as I laughed and pushed her on her little nose gently.
"We kicked their tushes all the way out of the ball field." I said on a chuckle as I noticed SME laughing on the sidelines.
"That was very very naughty, Jude Harrison." A voice said behind me, and I turned to see Tommy trying not to grin as he gave me as stern a look as he could manage. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"Sometimes I'm good when I'm good and other times, I'm better when I'm bad." I said with a wink as I watched Giselle saunter across the field. Tommy lifted a brow sardonically.
"I'll take that as meaning you were behind the whole debacle." He said before placing his hands on my shoulders and pinching them tenderly. I patted him on the cheek before looking over my shoulder at Patsy who was motioning for me to follow her. Oh, Dear God! What did Darius have us doing now? I turned to walk toward her, looking back only once as I quirked a brow naughtily at Tom.
"You can think about my punishment for later." I said with a sashay as I watched his gaze darken considerably. Too damn bad he had already buttoned his shirt back up. I had barely taken a step when I felt his hand close around my wrist firmly, and I let him draw me back to him without a bit of fight.
"That's a promise." He growled as his lips settled resolutely on mine releasing me only after having thoroughly reminding me how much he cared about me. I literally stumbled as I backed away toward Patsy, watching as amusement filtered over Tommy's features. The bastard! He knew how much his kisses affected me. Just you wait, Tommy Q, I thought with a shiver as I walked away.
