Ashlyn's the new player for the Braves. Being the first woman in the MLB, she has learned to let the hate roll off her back. But one of her teammates catches her eyes, and her heart.
Freddie had gone out to eat, so I had the entire room to myself. After I'd taken a shower, I just had a sports bra and shorts on, being too hot for a shirt. Laying down on my stomach, the most comfortable way for me to sleep, I was asleep almost instantly.
Freddie's POV
A few of the guys and I went out to eat before we went back to the hotel, including Dansby and Austin. Austin approached me asking, "Hey man, where's Ashlyn?" "I think she went back to the hotel. She looked worn out. Why?" "Dansby wanted to know, I think he's got a little crush on Ashlyn," Austin replied laughing. "Yeah, I saw them talking on the bus earlier, he definitely does," I said, laughing with him.
After we'd ate, we made our way back to the hotel. I tried to be quiet, figuring Ashlyn was asleep. When I walked past her bed, I cut her lamp off, seeing how she was asleep. Right before I did, I saw the bruise on her left shoulder where she popped it back into place. Shaking my head, I went to bed.
Ashlyn's POV
We were on the bus, heading for our last game against the Marlins this series. Nerves were high, seeing as how whoever won this game would take the series. Yesterday we had a devastating loss, losing 10-1. I had gone 0-2 at the plate, being put in the lineup after our center fielder, Heredia, twisted his ankle in the outfield. No one was really talking, except for Ozzie and Ronald talking under their breath in Spanish.
We scored 4 runs in the first inning of the game off of an RBI double, an RBI triple, and my first big league home run. Even better, it was a 2 run homer. As I finished jogging the bases and went into the dugout, Pablo Sandoval was there, wearing the panda head of course. It was only my third game, and I already got a panda hug.
The Marlins got one run in the bottom of the first inning, making the score 4-1. Freddie got another home run, and Ozzie scored off an RBI double from Austin. The final score was 6-1, meaning we won the series against the Marlins.
After the game, a reporter pulled me aside to ask me questions for an article. "So, how does it feel to know you are the very first woman to be a major league baseball player?" She asked. "Uhm," I chuckled, "Honestly, there's no way to put what I feel into words. I'm just thankful to everyone in my life who pushed me to continue baseball and thankful to God for all he's ever provided me and my family." "Well I've just got a couple more questions for you and I'll let you go. Growing up, did you only play baseball, or were there other sports?" "Baseball wasn't the only thing. I've barrel raced since I was about 3 or 4 and even won some rodeos. I just decided I could try to go pro with baseball and if that didn't work, the rodeo was always there." I replied, remembering all the rodeos I'd won with my horses. "That sounds amazing! Okay, last question. Is there any man in your life, or is Ashlyn Greene a free agent?" "Uh no, ma'am. There's not anyone." As I finished answering, I felt cold Gatorade go over my head. I turned to see Acuna holding a cooler, and starting to run away from me.
He started running into right field, so I chased him down and tackled his leg, bringing both of us down to the ground. As I sat up, I saw the whole team at the dugout laughing at us. "No me mates. ¡Ganaste el MVP de la serie!" Acuna said as we stood and started walking back to the dugout. "Man I don't know what you're saying," I replied as we walked into the dugout and Dansby said, "He said not to kill him. He only did it because you won MVP of the series. Congrats." "Thanks!" I replied I wasn't mad at Acuna in the first place. "Hey, y'all!" Snit called as we were getting all our stuff to leave. "We're going to go to the hotel before we eat to grab our bags. Then after we eat, we got an early plane ride out of here tonight!" This caused cheers to erupt throughout the dugout from everyone. Everyone was a little homesick.
By the time we left the hotel, almost nothing was open except Mcdonald's. We kind of felt bad for the workers, especially since there were almost 35 of us, we were all sweaty and dirty, and I was still wet from the Gatorade. Not to mention the fact that Dansby, Ozzie, Acuna, and I were acting like we were on drugs. When Freddie told me this, I said, "My parents and rodeo friends back home have told me I can get drunk off of living life. I don't need alcohol." "Yeah, that makes sense." He replied, laughing at me.
After we had eaten and left, we walked back to the bus to find one of the tires had got a nail in it and was flat. We were told it was only about an hour wait, so Snit told us we could go explore the city on our own as long as we didn't get into trouble, and were back in an hour. Dansby, Ozzie, Acuna, and I were going to go waste time and money in the local Walmart, so we started walking over there. After about an hour of fooling around, we paid for all the candy and sodas we'd bought and made our way back to the bus. On the way out, Ozzie told me to get in the buggy we had used, and he was going to push me through the parking lot. "Just don't kill me, Ozzie," I said, hopping into the buggy.
We were the last people to get to the bus, having stopped to take random pictures on the way back. While on the bus, my phone vibrated with an Instagram notification. I picked up my phone and saw Dansby had tagged me in a post. I opened Instagram and saw he posted the picture of Ozzie pushing me in the buggy.
DansbySwanson
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DansbySwanson These idiots shouldn't be brought to Walmarts at midnight. @AshlynGreene @Ozzie
FreddieFreeman So this is what took y'all so long
MaxFried I don't even want to know...
Dansby's POV
By the time we got back to Atlanta, it was 4 am. Half the team was asleep, including Ashlyn. I couldn't sleep though. I couldn't stop thinking about last night. The way the street lights caught Ashlyn's hair and it glowed, or the fire in her eyes during the game. After Snit woke everyone up and we walked to our cars. It was always dangerous driving home after we got home from away games, so sometimes we carpooled. Austin came up to me and said, "Hey, are you or Ender good to drive?" "Yeah man, why?" "Because I think Ashlyn needs a ride home. She's about to fall asleep against her truck." I looked over at Ashlyn and laughed, watching her struggle to get in. "We got her man. See you tomorrow." As I told Austin bye, I walked over to Ashlyn and said, "Hey, come on Ender and I are taking you home." "No, y'all don't have to do that. I can get home." She replied. "No, I'm serious. Come on." I said, grabbing her keys and bags and taking them to my truck where Ender was waiting. I went back to get Ashlyn because she was still standing there. After she'd got in the backseat, she put her address in my GPS and we left.
About halfway there, the roads were starting to become familiar to me, so I went to ask Ashlyn where she lived. As I looked in the mirror, she was asleep with her head over on my bag. When we turned onto her street, I realized why the road was so familiar. Ashlyn had moved into the house next to my parent's house. Every summer the man that owned the house would pay me to help him with horses or other work. I put the truck in park and went to wake Ashlyn up and help her inside. When she unlocked her door, a golden retriever knocked her into me. "Lou! Go use the bathroom baby." Lou went out into the yard, and I carried Ashlyn's bags in for her. After Lou came in and I'd left, I was driving Ender and me back home, when he said, "You like her a lot don't you?" "I don't know man. I just don't know."
