The Ace Read Online Free Page B

back at him. “It was really nice meeting you.”
    Jerry, oblivious to what was transpiring between his catcher and Karen’s sister, gave Bree’s nose a squeeze and Maddie a quick hug before heading toward the garage. Halfway out, he turned around and walked backward, pinning his eyes on Karen.
    “I’m serious, Karen. Don’t hide yourself anymore. Let me see your pretty face every once in a while.”
    Karen felt something pass between them, an arc of electricity that caused all of the hair on her body to stand up. She thought she saw recognition of it in his eyes as well before he broke out in a wide grin and spun around, leaving her puzzled as to what had just transpired.
    “Later!” he said with a quick wave over his shoulder.
    Everyone looked back at Karen with raised brows when he was finally out of sight. For a moment, she was truly speechless, so caught off guard by the encounter with Jerry that she couldn’t even tease her sister about drooling over Matt. She could still feel the hard line of Jerry’s body pressed up against hers and she was cursing herself for being too stunned to enjoy it.
    “What?” she finally exclaimed, coming back to her senses. “I don’t know what drugs he’s on.”
    “Uh-huh,” Shannon said with a grin. “Don’t tell me your ego didn’t just inflate to astronomical levels.”
    “Oh, God, please not that,” Maddie groaned. “That’s all we need.”
    Karen glared at her sister and dear friend before sticking her tongue out at both of them. She stomped over to Chase and hooked her arm through his, leading him out of the tunnel toward his car and ignoring the trill of laughter behind her.
    “Come on, Chase. You and Bree can take me to dinner. We’re leaving these bitches here.”

Chapter Three
    It was a clear, beautiful sunny afternoon, the temperatures were finally starting to head in the right direction and the Rockets were holding practice on their day off. The team didn’t mind being outside for once, enjoying the warm afternoon sun rather than rushing through their drills in order to get out of the cold as quickly as possible.
    Jerry laughed and joked with his teammates while running around in the outfield, shagging balls hit by the batters. Most of the time the pitchers would gather in a group and talk about golf or whatever other topic held everyone’s interest, only tracking anything that came directly to them. Matt had decided to join them today, however, and that upped the ante. He and Jerry constantly made everything a friendly competition.
    At the cracking sound of the bat, he, Matt and Chase all jostled for position. They shoved each other out of the way as they vied for the ball, not hesitating to take a cheap shot if needed.
    “It’s mine, Bucky. Back off,” Jerry said as he shoved Matt’s shoulder, making him stagger a bit. No small feat, as Matt stood equal to Jerry’s six-foot-five but outweighed him by at least twenty pounds.
    “Sorry, it’s mine,” Chase declared as he rushed past them, following the path of the ball into center field.
    “Screw you both, it’s mine,” Matt yelled as he body-slammed Jerry before sprinting by Chase into deep center, despite being fully clad in his catching gear.
    Jerry fell to the ground and rolled, laughing as he watched Matt run around with his arms held high after catching the ball. He hooted and hollered like a fool, drawing attention to himself.
    “You’re an ass,” Jerry said as he pushed himself up to his knees and sat back on his heels, continuing to laugh as Matt danced around. “I’ll give you a ten for the catch, but a three for the celebration dance. You suck, man.” He stood up and brushed the grass off his legs. “I can’t believe you cheated like that.”
    Matt laughed as he tossed the ball back into the infield. “Awww, did I hurt your feelings, Smutty?”
    “Hey!”All of their heads whipped around to where their head coach, Coach Brooklyn, stood on the third baseline with his