“Aw, anything for Mr. and Mrs. Williams.”
I dialed and they picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, parental units. How’s home?” Greta passed me a mug of her famous pumpkin spice latte. It was her awesome cooking talent. She made them three months a year because the fall weather had finally broken and they only tasted good in fall. I sipped mine and sighed. Damn, tasted like heaven.
“Hi, Callie girl. We’re good. Busting out our old sweaters now that there’s a chill.” My dad put his arm around my mom and she smiled. They were very much love even after all these years.Precious as hell.“Hey, Greta. You look chipper today.”
“I am always chipper, Glenn. Emily, you are adorable in your crewneck. New sweater?”
“Yes, ma’am. Ordered it last week. I also bought it in three different colors.” My mom and Greta shared a taste for fashion. I’d missed that gene.
“Way to go. That’s the way to do it. If it works, it works.” Greta eyed my outfit, the old signed sweatshirt and leggings. “So, did you know Callie is dating Zade Willows?”
“Greta!” I yelled, mid coffee sip, and it went all over her. I should’ve felt bad, but she didn’t. She burst out laughing and my parents chuckled a little bit. “Uh, I guess we are.”
My mom smiled tightly and my dad closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “How did that happen, honey?”
“No idea, actually. Just did. We aren’t official or anything—”
“Because she keeps turning down his offer to be his girlfriend,” Greta interrupted and I glared at her. She shrugged and gave me the most bullshit innocent face ever.
“Really, why is that? I mean, I know you need to focus on school work, Callie,” my dad asked. My parents were cool enough to talk to about this stuff, but they also didn’t realize how much Gage had messed me up. I thought my mom had figured something out, but she’d never told my dad because one, he would kill Gage and two, she didn’t want to make it worse for me.
“Hmm. It’s a little too much too fast. If that makes sense. He is an intense guy, like really intense, and I want to go slow.” There. I’d admitted the real reason. “I’m afraid of getting my heart broken.”
“Callie girl, you can’t let the fear keep you from trying. You know this.” My dad’s words rang true. “Do you trust the guy?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Greta, is he a good guy?” my mom asked her.
“Yes. He’s even better with her.”
“Well, there you have it. Greta’s word is golden.” My mom smiled and a small weight lifted off me. “Now, tell us more about what you’ll be doing as the side project!”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zade
The next week flew by. Between the running, the workouts, Aaron’s intervention, my sister’s letter issue and Callie, my life had never gone by this fast. I dreaded the off season, normally, counting down the days until the first game but now… Now I enjoyed the hell out of it. Now, I had Callie. She only let me stay the night twice a week, as if we were in high school or something. I hated leaving, but I needed to let her make the call. I smiled at how much I fucking needed that girl and Jeff caught me.Shit.
“Fuck you, man.”
He laughed. “You’re done.”
“Pretty much.” I did reps on the leg machine and grunted. Nicole and her little apprentice, my future wife, wanted me to build up my legs for more strength. I wanted to increase my speed by two more miles and they’d demanded I build more leg muscle. I felt stronger than last year, but I wasn’t as confident. They’d ordered me on a two-week break from throwing and to only increase my endurance, leg and core strength. I wanted to throw, but remained quiet. I hated sounding like a prima donna. “I don’t even care though. Does that mean I’m bitch-whipped?”
“Yup. You’re cuffed, bro.” He wrote down his reps on the clipboard we were now required to turn in. It annoyed us, but Nicole made the rules and coach wanted it done. If we wanted to play on the field, then we did what we were told.Talk about being cuffed…
“Have you seen Aaron today?” I hadn’t since our talk Sunday. None of us had. He’d taken it well enough but had packed a bag and left our house. He’d told us he needed to figure some shit out and he’d be back. Two days were fine…but a week? I’d actually begun to worry.
“No. I asked coach about him and he did that hand thing that tells you to shut your mouth. So I did.” His eyes darkened, a feeling we all had. Aaron was the team clown. No matter the score or how shitty we were playing, he rooted for us and never got low. I admired that trait. If he made an error, because we all do at times, he shook it off with a smile and made the game-saving play the next pitch. “I think he talked to coach, though, because if any of us missed practice we’d be screamed at or made to run ten miles.”
“I hope he did. I’m worried.” I couldn’t think of anything that would’ve triggered the partying. “Should we try calling his parents?”
“Yeah. I think we should. Actually, they don’t live far from here. Maybe an hour or two. Want to drive down there?”
I thought about canceling my plans with Callie and knew I had no choice. Aaron was my teammate and brother. I wanted to see her, but this needed to be a priority. “As soon as we’re done here, let’s go.”
