Easy Tiger

Sweetwater’s hottest new pitcher Hunter Reddick doesn’t lose. But he’s never met me. And I won’t even let him in the game.

Sweetwater Mavericks players are good for one thing—tips. I’ve been serving the latest crop of minor league ballers to hit my town every spring and summer for the past four years, and while I dream about life away from Sweetwater, I know that I’m tied to my hometown as long as my father needs me. As fun as one-night stands and summer flings are, they never lead anywhere good. Real love doesn’t exist—my mother taught me that.

But then I’m tempted by him.

Hunter Reddick is the talk of the league. He never backs down from a challenge. Bottom of the ninth, two outs, winning run on third? He’s throwing a fast ball for the win. But when Hunter and his new teammates come into my bar, he makes his move on me, not expecting to get benched.

Just as he decides to give up, my carefully guarded walls start to break down. Maybe a summer fling isn’t such a bad idea after all. Except Hunter wants more than a summer. He wants falls, and winters, and something real. And he’s set his sights on me. The one girl who can’t give him that.

Then he throws me a curveball.