“Do you get a mulligan in batting like you do in golf?” she teased.

“Everyone’s a critic,” I responded. “I just need to warm up a bit. It’s been a while since I’ve been to the batting cages.”

“Mmmm-hmmmm,” she replied as another ball whizzed past me while I was paying more attention to our conversation than what I was supposed to be doing.

I refocused my attention on the batting machine and waited for the next pitch. Taking a deep breath, I pushed all thought out of my head. The ball came rushing towards me and I swung with all my might. Thwack—a solid hit.

“Woohoo!” Kaylie cheered. “Nice hit.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, still focused on the pitching machine, waiting for the next ball. Now I felt like I had a point to prove and wanted to show Kaylie what I was made of. I hit about a dozen in a row, hard and fast. A couple of them might even have been home runs. I flipped the switch to pause the pitching machine.

“You ready for your turn, sweetheart?” I asked as I gestured her into the cage with me.

“Sure,” she said, strolling towards me and pulling on her helmet.

“Okay, now you stand right here.” I pulled her into place. Standing behind her, I put the bat into her hands, holding on to her arms so that she’d have it in the right position. “Hold the bat just like this, choked up just a little bit since you’re smaller than me.”

“Like this?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied as I ran my fingers down her arms, past her ribcage with a light brush of my fingertips against the side of her tits and to her hips. I used my knee to nudge her legs farther apart and tugged a bit on her waist to pull her stance down. “You want to keep your knees bent a little. Your arms, too.”

“Arms and knees bent. Got it.”

“Looking good. Now you just need to keep your eye on the ball all the way through,” I said before stepping away.

“So pretty much the exact opposite of what you did the first couple times?” she teased.

“Yeah, somehow I don’t think you’ll ever let me live that down. Let’s just see how good you do before you make fun of my batting skills. Okay?”

“Then let’s get this thing started. I just flip the switch right there when I’m ready, right?” she asked.

“Yup. Sounds like you’ve got it under control.” I walked outside the cage.

Kaylie turned to grin at me before she settled into a batter’s stance and turned the pitching machine on. I watched as she did exactly as I instructed. She bent her knees, choked up on the bat a little higher than I’d shown her, and swiveled it in a little circle as she watched for the ball. When it came sailing at her, she swung with all her might and knocked the shit out of the ball.

“Damn, Kaylie! You’re doing great!”

“Maybe it’s just beginner’s luck,” she muttered as she waited for the next pitch. I watched as she hit that one too—and the one after that. “Or maybe you’re just a really great coach?”

“Keep it up. Maybe you’ll be able to beat my hitting streak.”

“You never know,” she replied before hitting a dozen more pitches. She flipped off the machine after she surpassed me and turned to grin at me.

“Did I bring a ringer to the batting cages?” I asked. “I thought you said you didn’t play little league as a kid?”

“And I didn’t. But you didn’t ask if I ever played when I was older.”

“And if I had? What would your answer have been?” I asked as she pulled off her helmet and came to me.

“Well then I would have admitted that Char played softball in high school and here at Blythe until she blew her knee out her sophomore year. She still likes to bat every once in a while, but she doesn’t like to come alone so she brings me with her. And she might have given me some coaching in the art of batting.”

“And you couldn’t have clued me in before I tried to show off and gave you a lesson?” I grumbled.

“I thought about it, but then I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy your lesson. And that would have been a damn shame,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, it really would have been,” I agreed before leaning down to give her a quick kiss on her mouth. “How about we make this more interesting since it looks like we’re pretty evenly matched?”

“Hmmmm, I like the sound of interesting,” she whispered as she kissed me back. “What did you have in mind?”