Secrets Of Third Base

7

She wants more than anything to go sit next to Cade. Unfortunately, they both have jobs to do.

She does note that as the game goes on, the glow in his eye begins to emerge again. He is cheering. Acting the way he did in days prior.

She also notices the guys around him, whispering and looking over at her.

She pretends not to notice.

The hotshots narrowly pull off a win and nobody cheers harder than Cade. He hugs every guy on the bench and then the rest of them when they come off the field.

She about jumps out of her skin when she feels arms wrap around her shoulder. She wants it to be him, but she knows it's not. The arms are too high on her body.

When she turns, it's the last person she expected, Coach Dan.

"Do I need to have a talk with my boys about breaking and entering into admin offices?" He laughs.

Brooke laughs too. He always did give off dad vibes.

"I'm sorry. He just looked like he needed some space."

"Don't be sorry. Nothing we have ever tried has fixed him like that. If he didn't have these episodes, he'd be in the MLB by now. I wish like hell we could crack that code. Maybe there is hope after all."

She looks up to see Cade still hugging teammates. She's starting to think maybe it wasn't alone time at all.

She packs up her things for the evening and begins to head out for the night.

If this were some Hollywood movie, they'd bump into eachother again, but as slow as she exits, he is nowhere to be found.

She is still happy anyway. The rest of the homestand goes well. She's prepping for her first road trip.

She has to pack for 4 days and 3 nights in Rapid City. They fly out at 6:20AM. It takes a heafty dose of sleep aid to knock her out a decent hour after so many 1am nights in a row.

Still though, 3:00AM comes quickly. She is to meet the team at the stadium where they will take the team bus to the airport together.

Oddly enough, she doesn't feel too tired. The excitement of the first road trip coming off of a terrific starting homestand is still going strong.

It's just a standard jet. There are other passengers on board. They're scattered around mostly towards the back of the aircraft, but they still take up a decent portion of it.

She's assigned a window seat, and there is a man in a nicely pressed suit seated in the middle. He looks like one of those guys who probably does this all the time.

He kindly moves his knees aside so she can slip in.

She settles in, pulling her earphones out of her pocket. She plans on catching some much needed sleep on this flight.

She is almost dozed off when she starts to feel a mild jostle by her legs.

She opens her eyes to see- you guessed it- Caden Belmount.

Her immediate instinct is to sit up straight and pretend like she was actually wide awake, but she knows it's no use. Caden is smiling at her over the man between them.

He laughs that adorable laugh.

"It's an early one." He says.

She stretches. The plane hasn't even taken off yet and she's already embarrassed herself.

Cade sits down and buckles his seat belt.

"VIP accommodations, huh?" He says.

"Not even first class, you better get on that." She jokes.