"Let's do something," Bryce complained, as he bounced up and down on his couch.

"Like what?" I asked, looking up from my position on the floor, where I was reading.

He was acting like a 2-year old at the moment.

"We could take Dawson to the dog park," he suggested.

I sighed, closing my book and standing up. "If it'll make you shut up."

He hopped down off the couch, surprising me with a kiss.

"You're in awfully high spirits today," I commented, as Bryce went to find Dawson's leash.

"The Rival Game is tomorrow," he reminded me, handing me Dawson's leash.

I'd totally forgotten about that.

"And I've been headache-free for 24 hours," he added.

This time I kissed him.

"That's probably the best news I've heard all day."

He laughed, reaching down to scratch Dawson behind the ears. "He already heard the words dog park."

At the mention of it, Dawson's tail began to wag and he let out a bark.

I laughed, heading out to my car, because Bryce's therapist still didn't want him driving.

Bryce raced Dawson out to the car, in which Dawson came careening around the corner and crashed into it a couple of steps before Bryce did.

"You're both idiots," I promised, laughing as Bryce let Dawson into the back.

The ride to the dog park was hectic, Dawson excited in the backseat and Bryce unable to decide on a radio station.

"Get out," I ordered, once we pulled up.

Bryce laughed, hopping out of the car and taking Dawson with him.

I slipped on my sunglasses, following the two of them over to the dog park.

Dawson immediately began galloping around, content to be here.

And Bryce began to climb a tree.

"You're just as high maintenance as the dog!" I called up, laughing as I watched him climb higher.

"Ow," he complained, as the branch he was holding out came back and whacked him in the face.

I couldn't help but laugh.

After a few minutes I left Bryce to join Dawson, running around the obstacle course with him and just playing around with him.

I loved dogs, but my mom was allergic. So I just took to playing with Bryce's.

Dawson let out an excited bark and took off running, and I looked over my shoulder to see Bryce running full-speed at him. He proceeded to chase the dog around the park while Dawson let out over-excited barks of happiness.

I took a seat on the ground, laughing as I watched the two.

Eventually Dawson trotted over to me and laid his head in my lap, exhausted.

"Lazy dog," Bryce accused, reaching down and scratching his stomach.

"What time is Kayla flying in next weekend?" I asked, as I scratched behind Dawson's ears.

"Her flight comes in at 7," Bryce said, checking the time as if it was coming in now.

I stood up, dusting off my pants and causing Dawson to stand up as well. "We should probably get going."

"Yeah, we pooped him out anyways," Bryce said, scratching behind Dawson's ears for a few moments.

The three of us trooped back to the car, and Bryce wove his hand through mine, letting out a sigh.

"Is Kayla bringing Josh with her?" I asked, naming her fiancée.

Bryce shook his head. "Josh couldn't take the time off work."

That's a shame. I know that Bryce likes spending time with him.

"That's okay though," he said, using his free head to scratch Dawson's head. "I've still got my buddy."

I laughed, rolling my eyes.

"Oh, and you," he added, teasingly, before giving me a quick kiss.

"Don't I feel loved?" I teased.

"You should," Bryce said, sincerely.

And it's moments like these when I'm reminded why I fell in love with him in the first place.

~*~

"Did you do last night's math homework?" Caroline asked, as she flipped through her textbook.

"Of course," I said, pulling it out and dangling it in front of her.

"I just need the last three," she said, taking it and scanning my paper.

"So what'd you do last night?" Jessie asked. "Besides math homework."

I laughed. "Bryce and I took Dawson to the dog park."

"You live such an exciting life."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Where is your boyfriend anyways?"

"He's supposed to be here before the bell rings," I said, checking my phone. "His mom is dropping him off."

"Who is?" Bryce asked behind me, before dropping into the empty seat next to me.

I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

"Are you ready for today's game?" Kylie asked, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

"Born ready," he promised, with a smile.

"Save the baseball talk for your jocks," I said, rolling my eyes.

"And what do you propose we talk about?"

"Take it somewhere else," Caroline groaned, as she copied my math homework.

"Is that due today?" Bryce asked, eyeing the math worksheet.

"You didn't do it either?" I groaned. "I reminded you last night!"

Bryce pulled the worksheet out of his backpack, and it was blank. He shot me an apologetic smile.

"You're impossible!"

"I'm sorry," he groaned. "I've just been so caught up in baseball."

"You owe me," I warned him, as Caroline passed me back my worksheet.

"Big time," he promised, as he set to copying it.

I reached over and took a sip of Bryce's McDonald's sweet tea, listening as Kylie told us about her and Landon's date last night.

~*~

"That jersey is so cute," Kylie gushed, as I plopped down in the stands next to her. "Do all the baseball girlfriends have one?"

I nodded, looking out at the fields, where Bryce was warming up on the pitcher's mound.

The coach stopped Bryce for a moment to talk to the catcher, and he stepped off the mound, rubbing his left arm.

"He's looking good," Caroline said, sitting down on the other side of Kylie.

Coach called for Bryce to resume pitching, patting the catcher's back before heading back to the dugout.

After a few more pitches, the other team came up to bat, ready to start the game.

Bryce struck the first batter out, but the second got a hit and made it safely to second base.

"Come on Bryce," I chanted, crossing my fingers.

Bryce rolled his shoulders as the next batter came up. He struck the next two batters out, the runner making it to third before the third out.

"What number is Bryce in the batting order again? Third, right?" Landon asked me.

"He was pulled from the batting order yesterday."

"What?" Kylie asked, her jaw dropping. "He's one of our school's best batters!"

"He'll be back next week," I promised. "He just wasn't feeling well and he thought he'd be more of an asset to the team as a pitcher."

"He's still not feeling well?" Kylie asked, with a slight frown.

"He's under a lot of pressure," Landon filled it. "It's just the biggest game of the year, you know? I guess we expected to have our A-team."

"Just don't say that to him," I said to Landon. "He's under enough stress as is."

The other pitcher struck us out in four batters as well, and Bryce took the field again.

He threw a couple of practice pitches before the next batter came up. While he waited, he lightly shook out his left arm, a frown on his face.

"What's he doing?" Jessie asked me. "Shaking out the nerves?"

"Probably," I lied, with a forced laugh.

The first batter up got a hit, and made it to first base.

I crossed my right leg over my left, watching as the next batter slammed the ball over the fence, a homerun.

"Damn," I muttered, as both runners made it in.

Bryce called for a timeout, meeting his team off of the pitcher's mound.

"They should've never taken him off the batting roster," Landon muttered, as the team dispersed back into their positions.

Bryce struck the next three batters out.

"He's on fire," Kylie said. "If only they didn't have good batters."

I let out a sigh, taking off my sunglasses. "I don't know what will happen if we lose."

"We're not going to," Jessie said, fiercely.

We scored a run before reaching our three outs.

Bryce came back out to the pitcher's mound with sunglasses.

"Why in the world is he wearing sunglasses?" Landon asked me. "The sun's setting."

It's the first sign of a headache.

"The sun's probably in his eyes or something," I said, nervously wringing my hands.

"I guess," Landon muttered.

As in the past few innings, a few batters made it to the bases, but Bryce ended up striking them out before they could score.

As the game went on, we were battling hard, but we could only bring in one run by the time the bottom of the 8th inning rolled around.

"If they don't score here, we might be done," Kylie muttered, wringing her hands.

"At least Bryce's held them at two runs," Kyle said. "Otherwise we'd be screwed."

The cheerleaders were trying to hype up the crowd, but unless they're on the field and in their uniforms, people don't really like to listen to them.

I let out a sigh, watching as our first batter struck out.

"If we don't score now, we still have the bottom of the ninth," I reminded them, as the second batter struck out.

Clayton came up to bat, a determined look on his face. He sent the first pitch down the third baseline and took off sprinting for first base.

The crowd couldn't have been screaming louder, half of us for Clayton to make it, and the other half for the other team to get him out.

Clayton safely crossed first base with less than a second to spare.

I jumped up and down with Kylie, both of us squealing in delight.

The next batter sent it out to the outfield, getting himself to first base and Clayton to second.

The pitcher threw a ball, and Clayton stole third, the other runner stealing second.

The pitcher looked at Clayton uneasily before calling for a timeout.

The third base coach talked to Clayton while the pitcher chatted with his team.

"We have to get at least one run," Kylie said to me. "Just at least to tie things up."

The pitcher threw a ball, and Clayton went sprinting for home.

We were all on our feet, screaming at the top of our lungs as Clayton safely slid in.

Our team's dugout came running out, everyone wanting to be the first to congratulate Clayton.

"Where's Bryce?" Kylie asked, once the chaos calmed down.

"No idea," I answered, sitting back down. "Just because we're together doesn't mean we have telepathy."

We had one runner on third base and two outs as the last batter in our batting order stepped up to the plate to resume batting.

"Come on Jason," Kyle chanted.

A pitch came across home plate, and Jason didn't swing.

"Strike!" the umpire called out.

"Damn," I muttered, crossing my right leg over my left.

"I'll kill that kid, I swear," Landon muttered.

The pitcher looked over at the runner on third base before turning his attention back to the batter, Jason. He threw another strike, which Jason swung at and missed.

I crossed my left leg over my right, clasping my hands together.

"We're so close," Kylie whispered.

"We still have the 9th inning," I reminded her, as the pitcher wound up for the next pitch.

Jason's bat connected with the pitch, and it went down the first base line.

The runner on third sprinted for home as the first baseman scooped up the ball, throwing it to the catcher, who was waiting at home plate.

The runner slid safely into home just before the catcher caught the ball.

"Safe!" the umpire called.

My jaw dropped, and I could hear Kylie's shrieks of excitement.

Our team's dugout came running out once again, and Bryce wasn't with them, again.

The pitcher struck out our next batter, leaving us ahead by one as we entered the 9th inning.

Bryce was the first one out of the dugout, talking to the catcher as they walked to their positions. He was still wearing sunglasses.

Bryce took a couple of warm-up pitches, all of them strikes. They tossed the ball around the infield for a minute before the batter stepped up to bat.

"This is so stressful," Caroline whispered to me.

"Tell me about it!" I uncrossed my legs, nervously bouncing my right leg as I waited for Bryce's first pitch.

The batter smacked the ball just over the head of our third baseman.

"Well shit," Kylie muttered, as the batter made it safely to first.

Bryce rolled his shoulders as the next batter came up, a determined look on his face.

He struck the next batter out before calling a timeout.

"I bet he'd pitch better if he took off those damn sunglasses," I heard Landon say to Kyle.

"How could he pitch better exactly?" I asked Landon. "He hasn't walked a single person this game."

Landon didn't answer me.

"Two more outs and we win," Kylie whisper-squealed.

"I've never been more nervous," I said, crossing my right leg over my left.

"If you change your leg position one more time," Caroline teased.

Bryce threw the first pitch to the next batter, which was a ball. The next three followed in the same suit.

"You were saying?" Landon asked, as the batter walked to first and the batter on first base moved to second.

Bryce took in a deep breath, letting out a sigh before winding up to pitch. It was a strike, and the catcher threw the ball to the third baseman as the runner on second slid in.

"Out!" the umpire called.

I cheered as the ball was tossed back to Bryce.

Bryce turned the ball in his hand a couple of times before winding up for the next pitch.

"A ball," Kyle muttered, as it flew over the plate.

The umpire confirmed Kyle's assumption.

"Come on Bryce!" I called out.

The batter smacked Bryce's next pitch, and it headed straight for Bryce.

Bryce caught it with ease.

For a moment, the stands were silent. Then we all erupted in cheers.

Our entire team ran out to the fields, cheering.

"Why isn't he coming off of the pitcher's mound?" Kylie asked, laughing as she noticed that Bryce was still standing on top of the mound.

The catcher reached up and shook Bryce's arm. He took a step off the pitcher's mound before falling limp into the catcher's arms.

So what did you guys think about Bryce's excitement with Dawson? That was like one of my favorite scenes to write. And then all the hype for the Rivalry Game, did it help get you excited too? What about the Rivalry Game itself, did you expect the cliffhanger ending?

Teaser: Everything has pretty much led up to this point. Bryce undergoes some testing, and we find out what's going on... It's quite an important chapter if you can't guess so already.