Soft Sounds of Pleasure by Eden Connor Page A

running conversation with each kid as he stepped into the round chalked shape she called the on-deck circle. "He shows you that fastball down and away again, make him pay. It's been a strike all night, won't change now." Colton didn't understand a word of it, but it seemed the kids did.
    By the bottom of the last inning, the Tigers were down by two runs to none and Reggie had stopped screaming, subsiding into kicking angrily at the red dirt in the lined-off box behind third base. Jonah was second up to bat in the inning, standing in the on-deck circle, looking up at the crowd, resignation in his expression. There was one out. Last on the roster to bat, Jonah had struck out both times he'd been to the plate. Colton was prepared for the worst. He suspected Jonah was still in the game because only nine kids had shown up.
    "Pay attention, Jonah," Lila admonished, snapping her fingers. "Infield's getting cocky, catcher's being lazy, and a runner dancing off second upsets the pitcher's concentration. They think they have this, you know what to do. Base runners, not heroes. Be smart. You look to me like you've got the speed. Why not have a little fun?"
    Jonah gave her a speaking look, though Colton had no idea what was said. He saw his nephew turn to look at the field, look back at Lila with narrowed eyes and nod decisively. A rare grin crossed the kid's face. He jammed his batting helmet down on his head and stepped into the batter's box.
    "What the hell did you just tell him?" Colton demanded.
    "Shh," she replied, leaning forward in her chair. "You don't want to miss this."
    Jonah tapped at two pitches, and let three go by unmolested.
    "Full count. Don't need a hit here, we need to get fired up," Lila yelled. Reggie was yelling something different.
    Now Colton was really lost. If not a hit, then what? But he saw Jonah nod. The next pitch was a ball and Jonah dropped his bat and trotted to first base. Expecting him to stop, Colton was shocked when the kid glanced at the pitcher and took off in a blur for second, flopping in the dirt to slide on his belly and stirring up a big cloud of red dust, making it impossible to see.
    Lila grabbed Colton's arm and her nails dug into his skin. She was shrieking with glee.
    The catcher, who'd been holding the ball, made an errant throw to second base, one the second baseman managed to catch, but not before the umpire signaled Jonah safe, causing Lila to lead the rest of the crowd in rising to their feet.
    One of Reggie's twins was next to bat. "I know you can bunt," Lila told him as Colton's heart raced from excitement. "Think third, not first, and be ready to run on the missed throw." The kid looked at Lila and back to his dad then back to Lila, who again snapped her fingers loudly. "He quit coaching and started bitching two innings ago," Lila said, shocking Colton to the core, a surprise mirrored on Reggie's son's face, but the kid nodded. "Think bunt, not hit. Do not stand still when you get to second, Tony. I want you to dance off that bag."
    "Need a batter," the umpire sang. Colton saw the official's smirk through the wire grill of the mask covering his face. It made him think he'd overheard what she'd said to the twin. And that he agreed with her.
    He forgot about the pain from the nails she kept digging into his forearm as Tony barely tapped the ball with the bat, making it roll at half-speed across the dirt toward an unprepared third baseman. He saw Jonah hesitate at second until the ball was thrown to first, then slide into third while the first baseman had to hurry off the bag to chase the bad throw. Tony ended up safe at second while Jonah popped up at third, clapping, after a slide even Colton knew was just an excuse to get more dirt on his uniform. Reggie was yelling at him, but Lila caught his attention and smiled, flashing the "ok" sign. Jonah was grinning from ear to ear.
    So was Lila.
    "Take the walk. Do not swing the bat," she said firmly to the next kid, after a glance at her