Y/N was a strong, independent woman who was not intimidated by the sheer amount of baseball bats that lined the walls of Dick’s Sporting Goods. Y/N was a highly intelligent woman who was not terribly confused by the different names that lined the bats. Easton? Louisville Slugger? Marucci?
She had just moved to New York City and after incessant nagging from her mother, she was at the closest Dick’s to find a metal baseball bat. Apparently, pepper spray and kitchen knives weren’t enough protection. So here she was, in the middle of Dick’s Sporting Goods, staring at a bunch of bats.
Sighing, she picked up the cheapest bat on the wall and gave it an experimental swing. It felt suspiciously light and with a frustrated exhale, she read the sign and realized it was both wooden and for children.
“That was a good swing, but your form is lacking,” a deep voice said behind her. She whirled around, the bat gripped tightly in her hands and the man stepped back, holding his hands up.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” he said, softer this time.
“Holy shit, you’re like really tall,” Y/N blurted out and the man threw his head back with a laugh, his dark eyes sparkling with some kind of emotion that she was too thrown at the current moment to figure out.
“Thank you, I think. Speaking of height, that bat might be a bit too small for you,” he commented, gesturing to the wood clenched tightly in her fists. She instinctively dropped it and then groaned when it clattered to the ground. Y/N covered her face with her hands and sighed, pushing her hair back from her face.
“I’m sorry. I’m a complete idiot. I don’t know what I’m doing and I can’t believe I let my mom talk me into this. I know nothing about baseball, I’m literally here to buy a bat so I can beat a robber if they break into my house.”
The man shot her an amused grin and bent down, grabbing the bat off the ground. He placed it back in its spot and reached up, easily plucking a metal bat off the top shelf. His large hands seemed to dwarf the size of the bat but when Y/N held it, she realized how perfectly it fit in her grip and it weighed evenly.
“Are you some kind of bat guru?” she whispered, staring at the metal in reverence. He stifled a chuckle, “Something like that. Now, if someone breaks into your house, you just gotta balance your weight on the balls of your feet, bend your knees, right over left, and give it a good hard swing. Then uh…call the cops probably.”
Y/N nodded, determined to get this right. She stepped away from him and gave an easy swing, her eyes lighting up in excitement when the bat sailed easily through the air. She grinned up at the man.
“Thank you so much! I probably would have been here all day if it wasn’t for you,” she gushed. “Seriously, I would repay you with sports talk but I’m sure you don’t want to sit around and listen to the joys of freestyle swimming.”
“I don’t know, listening to you speak has been pretty enjoyable,” he teased, his cheeks flushing slightly as he ducked his head at his own words. Y/N felt her face heat up and she bit her lip to hide the grin threatening to break across her face.
“Aaron,” he replied. “I’m assuming since you aren’t a baseball fan, you aren’t a Yankees fan.”
“Guilty,” she admitted. “Not saying I won’t be, I just never paid attention to the game that much growing up.”
Aaron grinned, revealing the cute gap between his teeth. Aside from his massive height, he was tanned and muscular, indicating that he was pretty active. A black baseball cap rested on his head and he was sporting athletic shorts and a long sleeved shirt that had a Yankees logo in the corner. All in all, he was very cute.
“How about you let me buy the bat for you in exchange for you coming to a Yankees game for me?” he asked.
“That’s too much, you’ve already helped me enough. I couldn’t ask you to pay for this. Seriously, it’s fine.”
“Nonsense. Besides, there’s a line. That gives me enough time to get your number and give you my number.” As he spoke, he leaned over and plucked the bat out of your hands. He then scanned his eyes over the rack with jerseys and lifted up a woman’s Yankee jersey, flipping it over to reveal a “99” written on the back with “Judge” over it. “I think you’ll look great in it.”
He was right of course and you got to prove it to him when you came to the next home game. Maybe baseball would be a good sport to learn about, Y/N mused as he kissed her outside Yankee Stadium. His large hands pressed her closer to his warm body and she melted into his touch. Yeah, it would be really good.
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