“What you’re full of is shit,” Tommy said with a laugh.

Garrett shook his head. “And that’s why you’re a relief pitcher, and not a starter.”

“No. I’m a relief pitcher because someone has to come in and save the game after you’ve fucked it up.”

Now it was Tucker’s turn to chime in. “Come on, Mahoney. You know that’s not how it works. You come in and take over when we have to take a piss.”

“And you can suck my dick, Cassidy.”

Several of the other pitchers came over, both starters and relievers, and they all spent several minutes giving each other shit. It was a good stress reliever, and something they did a lot to ease tension. No one ever took offense since they all respected each other’s work. Tucker relied on middle inning relievers and closers. Without them to save games, he’d be toast and he knew it. So did Garrett and the other starting pitchers.

“All right, assholes.” Bobby Sloan, the pitching coach, came over and broke up their jawing session. “Now that you’re all done insulting each other, how about you shut up and start putting up?”

They all dispersed and walked away to throw, but Tucker hesitated, then headed over to where Bobby and the assistants stood to watch. “Bobby. Have you got a minute?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“I think there might be something off with my curve. I felt it the other night during the game.”

“Okay. Let’s set you up with a catcher and I’ll watch you throw. Mix in some of your other pitches, too.”

Bobby pulled one of the catchers over to the mound, as well as one of his teammates to stand in as batter, which made it easier for Tucker to visualize the strike zone. Tucker was already warmed up, so he took the catcher’s signals and threw as if in a game situation, trying to throw strikes.

He threw several pitches, several of which the batter hit. He missed quite a few as well, but Tucker didn’t pay attention to that. He wanted to concentrate more on the style of his curveball, the mechanics of getting the ball where he wanted it to go.

“Okay, that’s enough. Thanks, guys,” Bobby said to the batter and catcher.

Bobby walked over to him. “The pitches looked good to me, Cassidy. I don’t see anything off with your mechanics. The curve looked like it was supposed to. Your body was in the right position and the ball sailed normally, no matter what pitch you threw.”

That was good to hear. “Okay, thanks.”

“Hey, you had an off night. Sometimes it’s the weather or the crowd. Sometimes, especially with the curveball, it just ain’t gonna work that night, no matter how you throw it, ya know?”

Tucker scratched the side of his nose. “Well, that’s the problem. I don’t know about that. My curve always works. Except that night.”

Bobby laughed and slapped him on the back. “You’re young. You’ve had a lot of success and very little failure. Welcome to the big leagues, kid. And get used to some of that failure. It’s going to happen. But it’s good that you evaluate it. Keep doing that, you’ll do great things.”

“Thanks, Coach.” He walked away to join the rest of the pitchers for practice.

Maybe Bobby was right and he was overthinking the other night. He’d suffered losses before and had never thought anything of it. Sometimes the other team just had hot bats, and other times he’d gotten behind in the count too many times. He’d never let a loss bother him like this one did, but he’d always been confident in his curve. It was his trademark pitch and it worked for him.

He needed to shake it off, because tomorrow night he was pitching again.

And he needed to be able to count on his curveball.

AUBRY GOT UP EARLY ON HER DAY OFF, KNOWING SHE had to catch up on studying, laundry and paperwork. She also had to get her car licensed, so she took care of that detail before she forgot—again. She worked quickly and managed to finish everything on her to-do list before heading over to her parents’ house to have lunch with them.

She walked in the door and found her parents outside on the terrace.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Her mother got up and came over to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “It’s such a beautiful day, we thought we’d have lunch outside.”

“It is nice out here.”

Her dad came over and kissed her cheek. “You look pretty today.”

“Thanks, Dad.” She’d worn capris and a short-sleeved top along with comfortable sandals, because she wanted to go shopping after lunch.

Shopping for her date with Tucker tonight, though he hadn’t told her where they were going.

She considered telling her parents about Tucker, then thought better of it.

Not yet. She wasn’t even sure where they were headed, and her mother was so fixated on her having a relationship, while her father was the exact opposite.

Definitely not yet.

“How is everything at work?” her dad asked.

“Fine. Busy as usual.”

“Any interesting cases?”

She smiled. “Nothing we want to get into over lunch.”

Her mother grimaced. “Yes, please, Clyde. My stomach can’t handle all that blood and gore while we’re trying to eat.”

Her father looked at Aubry. “This is why I always took you to see the horror movies and left your mother at home.”

Aubry laughed.

They ate lunch and caught up on family gossip and news. One of her cousins had gotten engaged, which surprised Aubry, but she was so thrilled for her.