Have you heard the rumor around campus about the locker room? If you haven't, let me enlighten you: Legend has it if you bring a girl into the sacred after-game domain of the baseball locker room, it will end with a walk down the aisle. One rowdy and naked encounter against the lockers with the girl of your dreams will make her your wife. Translation: baseball players are stupidly superstitious and believe the locker room has magical powers. But not all baseball players are superstitious, me included. So when the girl I've fallen for brushes me off, I start to question if I need to switch my way of thinking. Maybe it's time I finally hand out a coveted invitation to the locker room. The only question is, will she accept?

Let me ask you a question: If someone is vying for your spot on a team and just so happens to injure you during practice, would you believe it was on purpose? Word around campus is . . . it was no accident. That injury has cost me everything; my starting position, my junior year—and the draft. Now, I’m a senior fresh off recovery, struggling to find my groove, until the day I run into a nervous, fidgety, girl with freckles, in the dining hall. They call Milly Potter The Baseball Whisperer, The Diamond Wizard, and The Epitome of All Knowledge. She believes in baseball. She breathes it. She’s the queen of an infamous dynasty, but no one actually knows who she really is, and she plans to keep it that way. One mishap in the panini line, one miscommunication in the weight room, and many failed attempts at an apology equal up to one solid truth—Milly Potter never wants to speak to me again—no matter how good my forearms look. Little do we both know, she’s about to become more than just my fairy ballmother.

Want to know a secret? It's about that girl over there. Don’t look, but she’s the one in the power suit—with the long, black hair and the serious expression, the one I’m about to go on a date with . . . Yeah, according to her, she “accidentally” donated an obscene amount of money to my charity—The Lineup—to win said date but I found out the truth. Miss. Button Up Blouse has a secret, passionate crush on me. I didn’t know her name until two days ago, despite the friends we have in common. Was I oblivious? Probably. Was I blind to it? Definitely. But I’m no fool, I see it now. The High Heel Harlot wants more than just a date with Jason Orson, she wants to be able to claim the best butt in baseball as hers. Here's another secret . . . she has no idea I know.

Can you pinpoint a time in your life where you realized you are completely and utterly screwed? I can. I got the dreaded phone call, the one every baseball player hopes and prays never comes. I was traded. Yeah, that phone call. Traded from my long time team of over ten years. And not just to any team, but my childhood rivals; the Chicago Rebels. Completely and utterly screwed, right? Wrong. The trade was the least of my concerns. I met a girl. Natalie. Man, she's perfect. I swore I would never get involved with anyone during the season. Too complicated. But can you believe I have zero restraint when it comes to this girl? I couldn't get her out of my head and the more I talked to her, the more I realized I needed her in my life. So what's the problem? Why am I screwed? Because, Natalie, the girl I can't stop crushing on, yeah... she's married. At least, that's what I was told...

BREAKING NEWS: The Bad Boy of Baseball, Maddox Paige, is totally and utterly whipped. Okay, that might not be the headlines in the newspaper this morning, but it's the reality of my current situation. It all started a month ago when I received a call from my best friend, Kinsley. She got a new job in Chicago and needed a place to stay. I've known the girl since I was five, what harm would it be to have her stay at my place for a while? Ha! Total disaster. Now instead of going out every night with my teammates, I'm couch surfing and sketching endless photos of my best friend . . . but that's the least of my concerns. The disaster, you ask? I'm rapidly falling head over cleats in love with my best friend, my roommate, and my number one fan. And she has no idea . . .

I’ve fallen victim to a heinous act. An act so vile, so downright dirty, that I’m not sure as a twenty-year-old man I'll ever recover. Brace yourself, because what I’m about to tell you might have you gasping in secondhand horror. Ready? Here it goes . . . I’ve recently become the pawn of a meddling mom. Yes . . . A MEDDLING MOM—who's been trying to set me up all summer. Now, I understand it’s not a crime for a mother to want her child to fall in love, but when she makes it her relentless MISSION, the heinous act should be classified as a misdemeanor at least. Of course, my mom, the evil matriarch in the devil’s leggings, made her final stab at finding a girl for me days before I went back to college. And I hate to admit it, but she saved a doozy for last. A titan in black skinny jeans. A boss of nonchalance. And a girl who would not only turn my life upside down, but do it while juggling a soccer ball, looking effortlessly gorgeous around campus, and is one hundred percent against relationships. Of any sort. Thanks, Mom.

It started with one night out with the boys. She was the hot diner waitress putting herself through school. I was the rich, arrogant player everyone misjudges. On paper we didn’t match. Yet all it took was one day. One single day to change her mind. She wasn’t planning to spend her day off with me. She wasn’t supposed to fall for my charm. But one day, one smile, turned into several nights of her calling out my name. I’m not the guy she should end up with. I’m jealous, possessive. Not here for a long time - just a good time. She’s changed me. But, for some reason, I feel her slipping through my fingers and no matter what I do, I fear I’m going to strike out with the one and only girl I’ve ever fallen for.

"Kiss me. Just this once... please Walker." Those whispered words were my undoing... As the most hated player in baseball, I had two options: either clean up my image or pack my bags. Being traded wasn't an option which only meant one thing, I had to become compliant. That's how I found myself sharing a small bistro table with Kate Chapman, the Chicago Bobbies newest PR Manager. Devastatingly beautiful, vastly intelligent, and incredibly cunning, she knows exactly how to handle my grumpy demeanor. It was supposed to be simple. Book some PR events, show up, smile for the camera, and be done. But one massive mistake on my end sends me into the trenches with Kate, forcing me to open up to her. Innocent glances turn into cordial encounters. Secret touches turn into tempting invitations. And dangerous nights alone turn into consuming desperation. I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I want her. And I know she wants me, but there’s a no fraternizing with the players rule. Neither of us can afford to lose our jobs, but we also can't seem to keep our hands off each other either.

Bonusmateriaal bij de verslavende Brentwood-serie van Meghan Quinn. Milly en Carson zijn op vakantie geweest naar Griekenland. Knox en Emory hebben het gevoel dat er wat speelt bij de twee. Ze roepen de hulp in van Jason en Dottie, in de hoop erachter te komen wat Milly en Carson proberen te verbergen. In deze exclusieve epiloog bij de Brentwood-serie van Meghan Quinn lees je hoe het verdergaat met de onvergetelijke koppels uit Op slag verliefd, Van slag en Sla je slag. Deze boeken eerst lezen of luisteren voor je begint aan de epiloog wordt sterk aangeraden!