Pure Seduction by Frank, Ella (first ebook reader .txt) 📕

the one part of the game I used to love watching with Noah too, when he pitched. His fastballs had been legendary.

My stomach growled as Phil trudged off the field, and as the next poor soul made his way out, I headed over to where Willa had set up her muffin stand.

Seated under a large tree in a fold-out chair, Willa had her Converse sneakers propped up on an icebox as she flipped through the latest gossip magazine.

She glanced up as I approached, and smugly smiled when she spotted me.

“Ah, I see you found your way back. And here I was about to send out a search party for you. I was starting to worry you got lost on the way to your car.”

“Yes, I can see you were very concerned.”

Willa chuckled as she sat up and closed her magazine. “I was. For a minute there I thought you might’ve tripped and gotten trapped under something…hard.”

I scoffed and reached for one of her muffins, but she slapped at my hand.

“Don’t think for a second you’re going to pull this silent routine a second time this morning. You give me the goods. I give you a muffin. You say nothing, you go hungry.”

“Well, that’s just mean.”

“I’m a mean person.”

That might’ve been the most ridiculous statement I’d ever heard in my life. Willa didn’t have a mean bone in her body. In fact, I couldn’t remember one time I’d seen her lose her temper. She was patient, kind, and one of the most generous people I’d ever met. Even if she was currently holding my muffin ransom.

With a quick check to make sure no one was around, I leaned over the table and said, “He asked me out on a date, and I said yes.”

“That’s exciting.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“You’re not excited?”

“I am, but I’m also, I don’t know, wary?”

Willa frowned. “Why? He seems like such good guy whenever we’ve talked.”

“I know, and that’s half the problem. He is a good guy, but he’s only here temporarily. I’ve been down this road with Noah before, and I didn’t like the ending.”

“Yeah, but you were kids.”

“I was old enough to have my heart broken.” I thought back to that morning after graduation. To the morning that my world shattered. “I can’t go through that again. One date, one night, that’s what I agreed to, and I think that’s for the best.”

“Oh, Laurel.”

I could tell by the look on her face that she disagreed, but before she said more, I gestured over my shoulder. “I’m going to head back now. I don’t want to miss the game.”

“Okay, well, take this and an extra one for Jake. He’s heading over here now.”

“Thanks,” I said as she finally relinquished her muffins, then I turned to greet my son. “Hey, you—did you finish obliterating the other side with a new personal record?”

Jake smirked and plucked the choc-chip muffin from my hands. “You know it. I shaved two minutes off my last record.”

“Somehow I don’t think it’s very sportsmanlike to keep tally of how fast you can knock the other team out.”

“Strike them out, Mom. And it’s not like I tell them.”

“Oh, and I suppose you never brag to your friends about it either, do you?”

Jake popped some of the muffin in his mouth and shrugged. “Maybe to a few of them. But not here. I’ll wait until we’re back at Caleb’s tonight.”

“Uh huh. Well, just be careful what you say, okay? There’s nothing wrong with being proud of yourself, but you don’t want to be arrogant about it. That just makes you—”

“An ass?”

“Right. But you also need to know that it’s okay to lose sometimes.”

“I know that.”

“Good. I’m just—”

“Being a mom?”

“Well, that is what I am.”

Jake laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. “Yeah, but most the time you’re much cooler than this.”

“Hey.” I poked him in the ribs, and he laughed.

“I know how to be a good sport, Mom. You raised me right. Don’t worry.”

“Okay, then.”

As we walked back to the field, my heart just about stopped as I spotted Noah walking out to the pitcher’s mound.

“Hey, isn’t that your new boss?” Jake asked.

“Yes.” I nodded as Noah inspected the plate under his feet. “That’s him.”

“I didn’t know he played.”

“Uh…” I was about to tell him how Noah had been on the high school team, when Noah cracked his neck from side to side and eyed the batter from under his cap—the exact same way Jake did.

The hair on the back of my neck rose and I stumbled back a step, before turning to see that Jake was no longer beside me—he was walking toward the chain-link fence. I hurried to catch up as Noah threw two practice pitches, then he smirked and tossed the ball in the air.

“He’s a pitcher?” Jake said.

“He was in school, yes.”

Jake’s narrowed eyes as he watched Noah with keen focus made my stomach churn. He was usually such an upbeat kid that it was strange to see this sudden shift in his demeanor. But he was smart, sharper than most, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d just seen what I had.

No, that couldn’t be it. He was probably just eyeing up his competition for the day. But the niggling feeling in the pit of my stomach wouldn’t leave me be, as the alternative scenario lingered in my mind.

“Jake? Are you—”

“I better get out there. I’m first batter. You can go home if you want.”

“Hey,” I said, grabbing his arm before he could make a break for it. “Are you okay?”

Jake looked me dead in the eye, and I slowly released my grip. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Before I could say another word, he ran out onto the field. I moved to stand off to the side of the crowd and watched as he positioned himself in front of home plate. My eyes shifted between the two about to go head to head, and I suddenly felt the walls of my carefully constructed