Why
love the game when you can love the ‘opposition’ instead?
Strike Three:
You’re in Love
by Anna Denisch
Genre: LGBTQ
Sports Romance
Why
love the game when you can love the ‘opposition’ instead?
Cody never wanted to play Baseball in the first place, but when his
coworker keeps pestering, he agrees to join his company’s league team. El only
started playing for his company’s team to get ahead in his career, and now he’s
stuck still playing a few years later. When the two meet for the first time on
the field, it’s an instant connection. With a low-stakes league taken way to
seriously by the rest of their teams, Cody and El must work to build a safe
bubble for themselves both in the games and in their personal lives.
Strike Three: You’re in Love, is a cozy sports romance about two guys
who don’t like Baseball. This low-stakes book is all about romantic vibes,
silly dates, steamy nights, and people getting way too invested in a game
without any actual prize to win.
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Cody didn’t even want to play baseball in the first
place. And if he was going to put himself through the
dredge of standing around waiting for something to do,
he certainly wasn’t going to do that on the weekend for
work. His job kept him so busy during the week that the
weekends were the only time he had to do anything
actually worth doing. Instead of playing this dumb game
he could be grocery shopping, or cooking, or cleaning
(god, he really needed to clean). But no. He was here.
In the sun. With bugs buzzing around his ear. Holding a
bat and staring down at the cold gaze of the opposing
pitcher. All because Cyrus had found out Cody used to
be play little league.
If the team wasn’t already down by two runs, Cody
might have just gotten himself struck out and moved on
with his life. But while Cody didn’t subscribe to ‘corporate
loyalty’ or whatever, he still liked winning. And he figured
he owed Cyrus for getting that promotion over them.
Not that he felt he had particularly earned that promotion.
Cody stepped up to the plate and readied his bat.
“Good luck,”the catcher said in a light and airy voice.
“I don’t need luck,” Cody said.
The pitcher wound up and tossed the ball. Cody
tracked it expertly and swung at just the right moment,
sending it sailing into right field. He tossed the bat and
made a run for it, making it around to second with plenty
of time to spare.
Cody heard the “Safe!” and smirked, looking back at
the catcher. That’ll teach him to wish Cody ‘good luck’.
El didn’t particularly enjoy sports, as a whole. They
made fine background noise when he was doing errands
or chores, sure, but he hardly cared for them. He had
only joined this league because he had been new to the
company and thought it would help him make the
connections he needed to succeed. But now he was a
few years in and completely stuck. While he did take
pride and joy in being the best catcher in the league, not
just the team, he did wish he could step away without
letting everyone else down.
El’s boss and team manager had tried to argue against
the designated hitter that the Shades of Infernal (brilliant
name for a fashion house, he always thought) team had
decided to bring on a few games into the league. But
any argument against Rafael was almost a guaranteed
loss. Rafael made an obvious choice as umpire, being a
freelance photographer that worked for almost all of the
companies in the city these days. And, true, he knew his
game inside and out. But he wasn’t exactly consistent
in his judgements. And so, the late comer had been
allowed.
El would mind, on principle, if the new guy didn’t look
so good in his uniform.
By the time the new batter was up again, his team
had pulled ahead by three runs. Which meant El’s team
needed to step up their game. The hitter walked up to
the plate, a challenging glean in his eyes as he shot El
a look.
It should have made El angry, he figured, but it only
intrigued him. And as the batter got into position, El
couldn’t help but comment.
“You have a very nice butt,” he said.
The hitter stalled and missed the first throw
completely.
“STRIKE!” Rafael called. A little too loud, El thought.
Anna Denisch was born and raised just
outside of Baltimore City, but she has never called it home. When not traveling
around the world or daydreaming about dragons, she spends her time looking at
books she wants to read without actually touching them. She received her M.F.A
in Creative and Professional Writing from Western Connecticut State University
and considers daily if she is just insane enough to take her family’s sometime
suggestion of getting a PhD.
Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Thank you for the excerpt. It sounds like an interesting read.
Good luck with the release!
This sounds like a good read. Thanks for sharing.