Evan stood by the driver's side, door open, leaning against the hood.

Emily rushed past the other cars towards him.

He came around the front to the passenger side. "There you are. I was getting worried that I was going to need to organize a search party."

"I'm sorry it took so long. I thought there was a wild animal and I was so freaked out I didn't even pee," Emily explained.

There's no way I will voluntarily tell him that the wild animal turned out to be Kelly...

He stopped her and kissed her. "Hmmm, okay Brooklyn Girl. I think I have the perfect spot for us to go then." He opened the door for her.

With "Mysterious Ways" by U2 playing, they drove back down the long, dark road leaving the flames and the gossip behind them.

Emily's bladder was near to bursting when Evan pulled into the gravel parking area of a Little League field.

"They always forget to lock the field house bathroom. Plus, this way you'll have access to toilet paper." The door was unlocked when he checked.

"My hero!" she joked and pecked his cheek before she ran inside.

When she came out of the restroom Emily found Evan lying out in the middle of the outfield looking at the stars.

The grass was thick and spongy as she padded across to him. He patted the ground next to him and she accepted his unspoken invitation to stretch out beside him.

They looked up at the sky together. The crickets serenaded them. A tiny symphony of sound to accompany the otherwise relaxed silence they shared while resting shoulder to shoulder.

So different from the city sky... Without the orange glow created by the streetlights and traffic lights, I can actually see the pinpoints of the crisp white against the navy emptiness of the space surrounding them...

"It's so beautiful," she breathed out.

"You don't see the stars quite like this by you, huh Brooklyn Girl?" Evan asked.

"No, Jersey Boy, I don't" she admitted.

He pointed out the North Star. "Polaris is 433 light years away. So that means the light that we can see tonight was first emitted in 1585."

Emily rolled onto her side to look at him. "I never knew that."

"I'm a bit of a closet science geek. I've always loved astronomy, chemistry and physics," he confessed.

"That's not something you should hide. I wish I understood chemistry better. I can't seem to keep the bonds straight in my mind. Hopefully physics will be easier next year."

Evan shrugged. "It's not that hard. Baseball is all about physics."

"So did you play ball here when you were little?"

"Yeah, this is where I fell in love with baseball and where I found out I was pretty good at it."

They watched a firefly float over them. Evan sighed.

"Back then it was all simple. Now it's a lot of work and stress, but I can't seem to give it up. I'm trying to master the knuckleball. There's only been about seventy knuckleballers in the majors and only thirty of those guys are really well known. R.A. Dickey came to my baseball camp last summer and said I was pretty good. He'll be back at camp again this summer."

Emily admitted, "I have no idea who R.A. Dickey is. Honestly, I know very little about baseball."

"Well, I guess you could say that I don't like typical things. I don't want to pitch fastballs like every other pitcher."

Evan leaned onto his elbow to face her now too. He reached out and took her hand, folding it into a fist and then gripped it like it was a baseball.

"With a knuckleball you hold the ball just so with the tips of your fingers."

Emily kept her eyes on their hands as he adjusted his grip. Two of his nails dug gently into her skin.

"It's a slow pitch with no spin. Your fingers propel the ball forward."

He flicked his two fingers in demonstration. Her eyes focused in on the two tiny crescent moon shaped indents he left in her flesh.

He's left another mark on me...

"So if it is slow and doesn't spin then wouldn't it be straightforward and easy to hit?"

"No, actually a knuckleball is very sensitive to the air flow over it."

He gently blew over her hand to illustrate his point and it made Emily's stomach flutter.

"The knuckleball can be very erratic and very hard to control."

His lips met her knuckles as he kissed them tenderly. Emily's stomach lurched pleasantly again.

"I like a challenge." His voice was husky as he turned her hand over and softly kissed the inside of her wrist.

"Anything that is worth something takes time and effort," he finished as he leaned over to kiss her neck, less tenderly.

So I'm a challenge then, am I?

"So I'm a challenge then, am I?"

Oh God! I actually said it... Although I asked it so softly, maybe he'll ignore it...

But Evan answered her with more sincerity than she expected.

"When I scrolled through your music the other night, I knew you weren't like most of the girls from around here." He looked into her eyes.

Emily shifted her eyes away and groaned. "Evan, that is possibly the worst line ever!"

"It's not a line if you mean it! And I do! You had The Beatles, Patsy Cline, Otis Redding, Journey, James Taylor, Ray LaMontagne, REM..."

Emily interrupted, "I certainly appreciate your Rolling Stones shirt." She reached out to smooth it across his chest.

It gives me an excellent excuse to touch him some more...

Evan looked down at her small hand caressing him.

"Most of the girls I've dated didn't know anybody beyond the Top 40... Arianna Grande stuff or the hot boy band of the moment. They were so.... so... I just couldn't have a conversation with them about anything real."

He shook his head and continued, "I've told you more about myself about in the last three days than I did in nearly two years with Morgan. I'm done with easy. I want something deeper and I don't care if it's more complicated."

A shiver rippled through Emily's body, partly from Evan's words and partly from the night air which had grown chillier.

The grass around them had quickly collected condensation, making their clothes damp.

Evan felt her tremble and pulled her closer. "Are you cold?"

"Ummm hmmm," Emily hummed in the affirmative as her body enthusiastically responded to his embrace with a second deep shiver.

He rubbed her back. "I should get you home."

Despite the cold and the wet I feel surprisingly comfortable...

"Not yet."

She slipped her hands under his shirt. Evan hissed at the touch of her cool hands against his skin.

"I like more than just your shirt."

"That's one way to warm up." Evan chuckled and slipped his hands under her shirt at the small of her back.

Emily squealed and pulled even closer against him.

"That's more like it," he whispered against her lips before they met his in a kiss deeper and longer than any they had shared yet.

Emily broke away first this time. "You probably should take me home now before..." She stopped short and sat up.

Evan stood and helped her up from the grass. "Before what?"

He reached out to tug one of her earlobes. "Before this?"

My ears are giving me away again...

"Damn knuckleballer, with your slow pitch, no spin... Making me feel erratic and hard to control," she mumbled.

Evan hugged her and then picked her up, swing ing her around in a circle. "Practice makes perfect."