Chapter 11
"Was it just me or is Dani even hotter with bed head?" I asked as we headed to meet with the camp coordinator.
"I thought that when I saw her, too," Cy admitted, "it took everything in me not to take her back inside."
I glanced back at him and he wiggled his eyebrows at me. This was the side of Cy that the public didn’t see… the man was a complete dork.
"I love that this town is small enough that we can walk to everything," Jackson added. "I want to go back to Bookish Adventures and look around. Maybe pick up a mystery date with a book, if they have a sci-fi section."
"What if it's a sci-fi romance?" Cy asked and I was curious, too.
"I guess Dani and I can read it together, maybe do a cosplay for one of her company's thirst traps," he answered as his lips tipped up into a smile. Look at us, only a few days into finding her and already completely obsessed.
"Maybe I should get into reading, too. Plus, she’d want to show me off as well," I confessed with a little flex. Books never really attracted my attention, but if it was our mate’s world, it was time to give it a shot.
"I didn't know that you could even read," Jackson joked from the other side of Cy, shooting me a dimpled grin that was anything but innocent.
Assholes. Both of them.
"Ha ha. I was just more of an outside kid," I said defensively. "School was boring. I did well just so I could play ball. I never thought it would have led me to the Knockouts, but here I am."
"Yeah, I was the same way, but I killed on my game console. I was a god when I played Gears of War," Cy told us.
"How'd I not know that you’re a gaming nerd?" Jackson asked, stunned.
"Closet nerd," he laughed. Leave it to Cy to just casually forget to mention something like that. He had the attention span of a squirrel sometimes, so we couldn't be too shocked.
"Are you hiding anything else in that closet?" I joked and that got a punch in my shoulder from him. “Just making sure there aren’t any more surprises.”
Cy grunted a no, which did nothing to stop our laughter.
We finally reached the camp. It was rustic, that was for sure. Everything was carved from wood half claimed by nature. I glanced around as we made our way to the field. Small cabins. Log community buildings. Outdoor covered pavilion with long tables. Archery targets. Shower houses.
At least it was clean. Every building and path we passed was well cared for despite the over abundance of vines.
"How cool are these old-school baseball fields? It's been a while since I played on real dirt," Cy said as we finally found them. His eyes were lighting up and his steps picked up pace.
"All it’s missing is the kids," Jackson added. As if on cue, a dozen or so kids ran out onto the left field. They all looked about eight to ten years old and had enough energy to make me question my existence here.
Coach really thought I was a good fit? Cy? Sure, he had enthusiasm in spades. Jackson? Another yes, he had the patience of a saint. But me? I had a grumpy resting face and sarcasm.
A loud whistle shrieked before an older gentleman with a beer belly and short shorts appeared. He dropped the whistle that hung around his neck and frowned out at the group for a moment.
When we approached, you couldn’t miss the amusement in his eyes. He was clearly happy here.
"Coach Stokes?" I asked as we got closer. His eyebrows lifted when he saw us, a tentative smile replacing the frown under his thick mustache.
"What can I do for you three?" he questioned in a voice that was full of bass.
"We’re with the Knockouts, here to help with the summer camp," I said, holding out a hand towards him. "I'm Griff. This is Cy and Jackson."
"Oh you're those boys that play ball and gyrate your hips huh?" Stokes asked, doing a little shimmy and letting out a raspy cackle.
"Yes," I said easily. There was no point in giving him anything but confidence. I wasn’t ashamed of what we did. We brought fun to baseball and brought in new crowds to the sport. "We perform, do dances, and play baseball."
"Back in my day, we just stuck to the sport’s rules. No adding all the extras in," he complained, back to being grumpy again. That I could work with.
“Times change,” Cy said with an easy grin. “We’ll keep the dancing to a minimum out here. Though, it might throw off the opposing teams during games.”
He studied Cy before letting out a huff of a laugh. "I bet it would. These here are the kids enrolled so far and we will likely have a couple more that will be here tomorrow. My wife has a complete list, I'll have her bring them later with the lunches. She works closely with your coach’s wife."
“Thank you, sir,” I said. “We’d like to introduce ourselves and go over some basics with the kids. Would that work for you?”
He grunted a yes and headed for the shade of one of the dugouts. We watched as Stokes took a seat and leaned back before pulling his hat over his eyes.
“He’s going to be a big help,” Cy commented as we headed to the pitcher’s mound, barely holding back his laughter.
“Clearly, he’s not a Knockouts fan,” Jackson agreed. “Maybe we’ll change his mind.”
“Maybe, but that would be hard to do with his eyes closed,” I muttered.
The kids were still milling around and talking, no one noticing us yet.
I let out a loud whistle, getting their attention. “Hello, everyone, I’m Griff. My friends, Cy and Jackson and I are here to help teach you some baseball fundamentals and how to keep the game fun,” I called out to them.
“Why should we listen to you?” one of the taller kids asked. His arms were crossed and from the scowl on his face, I could tell he was going to be trouble.
“We know a little something about the sport,” Jackson started. “We’ve played from t-ball through school and college. Have any of you here heard of the Knuckleball Knockouts?”
There was a collective yes.
“That’s our team,” I said with a shrug, letting the excited chatter do the talking for the pessimists in the group. The ‘too cool to be here’ crowd would be a challenge, but I wasn’t afraid of that in the least.
“And as a surprise, our PR team sent you guys over some goodies,” Jackson told them as he scanned the kids and found the quietest one. “You in the orange shirt. Can you pass these out?”
He nodded yes as a smile grew on his face. We watched in silence as each kid got more excited as they waited for their shirt and hat.
“Any catchers here?” Cy was the first to ask the group.
A few kids held up their hands.
“Pitchers?” Jackson questioned next.
Two kids held up their hands.
“I’m a first baseman. If you play infield can you stay on the dirt and the outfields go to the grass, please.
We’re going to split you into two teams and determine what you guys need to work on,” I told them.
They did as they were asked surprisingly well.
There were a couple of kids that looked lost so I headed over to see if they were new or just unsure.
“Hey, guys, do you play a base or outfield?” I asked.
“No, we usually ride the bench,” the oldest one standing there told me, his cheeks flaring red at the admission. That broke my heart a little and I was supposed to be the tough one here.
They all looked at the ground until I spoke again.
“Well, if you have any place you prefer to play, go to that group. We’re here to help everyone,” I promised. “We’ll make sure you have time out there on the field. We’ll also work on that confidence.”
They all gave me huge smiles as they jogged off to join the others. I headed back to talk to the guys before we put them on two teams.
“Okay, this team on the left is home and you on the right are visitors,” I announced as well as pointing to each one. “Visitors, Jackson is going to help you get ready to bat and Cy and I are going to help those on the field.”
Cy and I watched as Jackson did his best to round them up and herd them into the dugout.
“Now, we’re going to call out the positions and one of you come and claim it. Don’t worry we are going to rotate you each round and give everyone a chance to play,” Cy called over a little bit of chatter.
I knew he wouldn’t let anyone be left out. The reassurance had the few previous bench riders lighting up all over again.
Once all nine places had a kid, we called the batter up and began the game.
“Man, I feel like we need a clip board to score and make notes. As well as some more eyes to help us out,” I admitted to Cy.
We’d never done this level of coaching before.
Sure, we had helped a few rookies and been in the game for long enough to know what to look for, but this was a bit intimidating.
“Do your best, we know what we’re doing and you can bring all that next time. I’m going behind the plate to call the pitches,” Cy said before he took the umpire’s place.
The first batter stepped up to the plate and on the first pitch he hit a high fly to right field. It got my hopes up that they knew what they were doing, but as we made our way down the lineup they were dashed a bit.
The kids seemed to be having fun, so there was that. Today was supposed to give us an idea on what areas to improve on. It was clear we’d need batting classes, rules refreshers, and probably some catching pointers. Mission accomplished.
After all the visitors had batted, we switched the teams and did the same thing. There were a few standout players but we weren’t going to say anything to them yet.
We texted our omega throughout the day, sending pictures of the camp and had lunch with the kids.
When we called it a day, I had a lot of ideas going through my brain that the guys and I would have to discuss before we implemented anything. We handed the kids back over to Stokes, and now it was our turn to grab a bite—because that lunch didn’t cut it—and head to practice.
The only thing I was thinking about was getting back to Dani and for the dinner she promised.
Practice passed by in a blur of new dance trends, shooting a few videos for our socials, and then finally actual practice.
Henry seemed annoyed at our lateness, but he was the asshole who put our name in for the camp in the first place. I swear, there was no winning with that jackass.
I felt bad for any pack that got him.
“There’s a bakery down the road, I looked it up earlier,” Jackson said as we stepped out of the locker room, freshly showered at the end of the day. The only thing fighting off the exhaustion was the prospect of seeing our omega.
“There’s a flower shop next to it,” Cy added, perking right up. “I want to get her some flowers, too.”
“I was thinking of going to a wine shop, grab something for dinner,” I agreed, feeling the need to contribute something.
“Look at us, already killing it with this courting thing,” Cy said as he hurried out the front door.
It was a start, but I knew that was nowhere near enough to win over our sassy and sweet omega.