Read Sparks the Matchmaker (Aaron Sparks Series) for Free Online

the grin.
    “Well, which is it? Yes or no?”
    “I can predict things, yeah. But it’s not like you see on TV where I close my eyes and I can see the future.”
    Ollie’s brain churned, watching the words Union Pacific waddle slowly on rails before him, thinking of the very first time he had taken Anne on a date. The restaurant was a Salvadorian place he’d always been interested in checking out, and the food was good but the service was horrendous. That left Ollie in a tight spot. If he’d just been out with the boys that night, he might have stiffed the waiter on the tip. Isn’t the prospect of a tip supposed to be what keeps the waiter attentive and friendly? In the end all he could do was laugh with Anne and drop a gratuity much larger than the situation merited. A guy can’t leave a cheap tip on a first date; that would never impress the ladies. After dinner they had been on their way to a movie when a train stopped traffic, making them late. They missed part of the movie. That was a great first impression, huh?
    Eventually the train cleared the crossing and Ollie and Sparks were able to cross over into the south side of town.
    Once at the park, Ollie sat quietly on the aluminum bleachers with Sparks. Ollie’s head followed the movement of the ball. His eyes ran the bases with each player. His brain did no moving at all, just sitting there contemplating the things that wouldn’t leave him alone. Like Sparks. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Aren’t you here to try to help me with something?”
    “Watch this,” Sparks said. It was as if he knew what Ollie was about to say. “Ya know how that shortstop has been super cocky for the whole game, yelling at his teammates and stuff? Well, this guy coming up to bat right now is going to hit one right at him. I bet it goes right through his legs. This is gonna be great.”
    Ollie did his very best to pretend like he was ignoring him. He never turned to look at Sparks because he still refused to show his curiosity. He couldn’t, however, ignore the fact that what Sparks had predicted came true. A routine ground ball zipped right between the legs of the cocky shortstop.
    Ollie looked on in excitement tainted with uneasiness. “All right, all right. You’ve got my ear. How are you doing that?” Ollie said.
    “Like I said, it’s not like on TV where people tap into the spirit world or something like that. It’s more like, if you were to see Keith wearing a softball uniform, carrying his softball bag, and you knew he had a game starting in 45 minutes, you’d be able to piece everything together and guess he was going to his game. It’s sort of like that.”
    “I’m still not sure I know what you mean, Bomber.”
    “Look, basically I have a gift. I can read people. I can see cause and effect differently than everyone else. I observe causes and then I can see how people will react to them.”
    “So, like, when I’m playing the outfield and someone hits a fly ball—”
    “And you know right where to run to catch it even though the ball hasn’t come down yet, yeah. Except I can see where things are most likely to go even before the guy hits the ball.”
    “And you can read people too? Not just softballs and trains?”
    “Yup.”
    “I don’t want to sound like I’m… uh… I don’t know. It’s still a little hard to believe.”
    “All right then. See that guy who’s up to bat next? He’ll walk part way to the batter’s box, then change his mind about what bat he’s gonna use, switch to an orange bat, and then he’ll pop out on the second pitch with a lazy fly ball to the first baseman.”
    Ollie looked on as the ball player walked toward home plate. Quickly he turned in his tracks and hurried back to the dugout where he swapped the bat in his hand for an orange one. The batter then watched one pitch go by, took a whack at the second, and sent it straight into the air.
    All the details Sparks had predicted played out before them in perfect