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Bird had told him all about me last night. It really didn’t matter. I was now official. My first time being included with the Ragland Rattlers.
    Bird had managed to get close to Brandon and was down at the other end of the table sitting between him and Jason. She’d tried to arrange it so we were sitting together, but fifteen thirsty and hungry guys jostling for chairs didn’t exactly lend itself to a calm seating arrangement. Chase and I both dropped into the same chair at the same time, and we both popped back up way too fast, like a kid’s jack-in-the-box.
    Across from us, Ethan, the center fielder, noticed and laughed so loudly I was afraid everyone would know about the awkward moment. He said something to Tyler, the second baseman, that made him grin. Chase yelled for everyone to move down, because we needed room at our end of the table, only there was no place for anyone to move.
    Alan offered me his lap.
    I must have turned beet red, because my face felt really hot. Suddenly Mac pounded his fist on the table. He was sitting at my end, only one seat away. The thundering noise was attracting everyone’s attention, and Mac didn’t look happy.
    â€œParker, give the babe your chair and find another one for yourself.”
    I thought maybe Chase would argue. But instead he did what he was told and gave me his chair. Although he didn’t really give up his place. He found another chair somewhere and wedged it between my chair and another one.
    Suddenly I found myself up close and personal with a lot of baseball players around me. I couldn’t have been happier. My plan for spending the summer in proximity to ball players was working.
    â€œLucky Bentley and Davis, man,” Tyler said. “They’ve got a house full of babes. My family is total guys, not even a wife around.”
    I’d never actually been called a babe before, and now I’d been called a babe twice. Part of me wondered if they really saw me as ababe, and part of me thought, what does it matter? Once called a babe, you can always refer to yourself as a babe.
    â€œSo what do you do for fun around here?” Mac asked.
    He looked way older than the other guys and had a shadow of dark stubble over his face. I figured he was a junior at whatever university he attended. Bird would know the details. I’d have to ask her later.
    â€œWe have a movie theater, an amphitheater with free summer concerts—”
    â€œI loooves free,” Ethan said.
    â€œDon’t we all, man,” Mac said. He looked at me, rubbing his fingers together. “Until we make the majors, we’re poor.”
    â€œAren’t most college students?” I asked.
    â€œYep. So we have movies, free music, what else?”
    â€œLibrary, free books,” I offered.
    All the guys laughed really loudly, like that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. But it was a good-natured laugh, not like they were making fun of me. Like maybe they thought I was really clever to offer free books.
    â€œMy kid sister has this book called Free Stuff ,” Mac said. “She sends away for all this junk: stickers, posters, booklets. She just loves getting mail.”
    â€œYou guys must miss your families in the summer.”
    â€œMiss ’em all the time.”
    I didn’t ask why they didn’t go home for summer because I knew the answer: They loooves baseball.
    Mac was really cute, with a dimple that appeared in his cheek whenever he grinned, which he did a lot. I was going to have to up his score to a ten.
    The waitress came over to get our order, and we all went with the buffet—much easier than trying to decide on what type of pizza everyone wanted. While Bird hadn’t been able to arrange the seating at the table, she did manage to maneuver so we were in line together at the buffet.
    â€œI was hoping we’d be sitting together,” she said, as she reached for a slice of Hawaiian Heaven.
    I never