I didn’t get it. I really fucking didn’t, and while the thought of havingsomethingwith Greta had come and gone, the concept of committing to one person was just not sitting right with me. It often led to disappointment and my plate was full. I didn’t have time for disappointment. Hell, my mom had had a revolving door of men who’d left her—and us—and no good had come from it.Shit.Get outta your head, idiot.
“I swear he gets bigger every time I see him,” Carter said as he continued to watch Aaron with a star-struck expression. I smacked the back of his head, getting a loud cussword as an answer. “What the hell was that for?”
“Stop fangirling over him and worry about your own game.”
“I’m not fangirling,” he pouted, but we both knew he was. Hilly had a weird celebrity personality about him and with all the drama of his life the year before, people knew his entire story. I was just glad he was back on track and had stopped his self-destructive behavior. No one likes to see their friend in a downward spiral and he’d slowly brought himself up from the hole. Pride filled my chest when I studied him for a couple of seconds. He’d grown into the leader our team needed.
“Come on, Bolt. Let’s get some swings in and maybe we’ll invite you to the next party at the house. We’re due for a beer pong tournament soon.”
“Really?” he replied, his voice holding way too much hope.
“I saidmaybe. You gotta hit well, though.”
* * * *
The last thing I wanted to do was start a bullshit summer class that fulfilled my Humanities and the Arts requirement, but that was what I had to do to get my degree. My mom’s‘you’re an injury away from being where I’m at. Get the degree, have a back-up plan, escape the life we had’echoed in my head.
Being responsible sucked sometimes.
I walked into the house and went straight to the fridge to see if there was any chicken casserole left from the Hills, but backtracked when I found Kenzie sitting cross-legged on the couch with large black-rimmed glasses on her face. She had her hair piled on top of her head and wore a bright purple tank top paired with cut-off denim shorts. I couldn’t stop my smile. “Hey, nerd.”
She glanced up, pursing her pink lips, and made a face at me. “You.”
“Why the attitude?”
“Someoneate the rest of the breakfast casserole my parents left for me and Aaron. That breakfast has been the reason I’ve gotten up all week. Literally, the only reason.” She put her laptop down on the cushion next to her and pointed her little finger at me. “You are that someone.”
“Yeah, I got the insinuation.” Shrugging, I gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry. Definitely thought they were a free commodity for all.”
“They were, but that one was my favorite, though.”
“Will you attack me if I warm up the chicken one? I’m famished from practice.” I patted my belly and gave her my best puppy-dog look. She didn’t take the bait.
“Just warm up a plate for me. I didn’t realize it was dinner.”
Fair enough.I continued on my path for food and got some for her. She’d surprised me since she moved in six days ago. She wasn’t loud, messy, annoying or in the way. If anything, it was nice having someone else in the house as much as I was. Zade was with Callie when we didn’t have games, and Aaron and Greta were attached at the hip. Jeff had been the last wingman in the house before he’d traveled abroad for the summer, leaving the position open. Kenzie smelled better than Jeff, didn’t laugh like an idiot and didn’t ask me questions I didn’t want to answer. Yeah, I liked having her there.
“Here you go, Kenny.” I set the plate next to her and laughed when her glasses fell down her nose. She had a tiny freckled nose that arched up just a bit at the end, so the glasses just slid right off. “You look like a dork.”
“Perfect. That was what I was going for. Nailed it!” She made a fist in the air and cheered, the entire thing amusing me. Then she asked the question I dreaded. It was simple and meant no harm, but my reaction was immediate. “How was practice?”
I tensed because the next questions were usually about the draft, and people didn’t understand my decision.‘Why would you say no? How could you say no? Do you really think you’ll get a better offer next year? What if you get hurt and lose it all?’
I replied with the most conversation ending word I could think of. “Fine.”
She pushed the glasses up with her pointer finger and gave me a long look before nodding to herself. “Noted. Doesn’t like to talk about practice. I’ll file that away with ‘likes to leave towels on the bathroom floor and plays weird music in the morning’.”
It was her expression that broke the hold on my secrets. She didn’t look at me with accusing eyes or pity. She looked at me like she genuinely cared about how I practiced. It was…nice. Not unlike when Zade, Aaron or Jeff asked me. “It’s not—I just… Practice was great. I hit in the cages pretty damn good.”
“Yeah? Thinking of beating your average from last year? Honestly, I think it’d be better to move you to hit second rather than fifth in the order. I know you got muscles and can hit homers, but getting you more at-bats would do well for your averageandget you more opportunities.”
What. The. Fuck.“Uh, I have so many questions now.”
“Why?” She snorted and took a mouthful of the casserole. The action reminded me of the food in my lap—I never forgot about food—and I used the extra time to take a large bite. How did I respond to the fact she watched games and knew about my stats?
“You know a lot about, uh, baseball?”
“Don’t insult me, TJ. I know where you sleep and I will cut you.” She pointed her fork at me. “I swear it.”
