Gunner snorted.
Brayden glared at him. “That was as good as your pitch to the upper seats.”
“Whatever.” Gunner kicked at the rubber. “Get out of the way, old man.”
“Punk,” Brayden called before heading to the dugout. He’d had enough. Seeing Tilly was killing him. He wished he could ask her what to do with this guy. She’d come out here, give Gunner a hard time, and he’d fall under her spell just like every other guy she talked to. People liked her. Heck, his dad had almost disowned him when he’d fessed up to the breakup. He’d made broccoli and cauliflower pizza for dinner last night. It was like a spanking covered in cheese.
Just as his foot hit the first step, he heard the crackle of the ball hitting the net behind the catcher. He closed his eyes. Some guys were too stubborn to teach, and he was not a gifted teacher. He was failing. And the one person who could make it all better had walked away from him—again. It didn’t matter to his heart that he’d told her to; it still made him ache.
Chapter Ten
Tilly
Tilly managed to do her job and live across the street and one house down from Brayden and not see him for four whole days. It was because she knew his schedule. He knew hers too, so maybe he was helping out by avoiding her, too. The jerk.
Yeah, her feelings were all over the place.
Contrary to the online article about mending a broken heart, it did not get easier with time. Not that four days was giving it the old college try, but still … shouldn’t she feel marginally better? Like getting out of bed in the morning shouldn’t take every ounce of willpower and strength? Like going to bed at night shouldn’t require her to empty her tear ducts to fall asleep? And walking into the stadium shouldn’t bring a flood of the most amazing memories to her mind.
The team was on a road trip, and she had the day off. Elise was catching up on some paperwork and invited her over for a full-body workout. Since it was Sunday, the place would be a ghost town. Having a weekend off was a luxury in baseball.
Tilly wanted to build some strength back in her upper body. It was amazing what a couple weeks without climbing had done to her. It’d made her soft in so many ways. If she could pull herself together and scramble up a boulder, she might be able to close the hole Brayden had left in her chest. Okay, that was unlikely, but she could at least breathe if the smell of scrub was in the air. She’d have to plant some in her yard and warn the landscapers not to yank it out. They tended to think the flowers she planted were weeds. Heck, maybe they were, but they were beautiful to her.
She let her thoughts continue to drift in and out of reality as she walked through the maze of hallways on the bottom floor. She paused just outside the locker room, sure she could smell Brayden’s body spray. She closed her eyes and let the scent lift her spirits. That was the smell of soft kisses on a blanket under the stars. Brayden’s backyard was the seventh hole of the golf course. They’d spent many nights out there after late games, watching the heavens turn around them.
She was pondering the feel of lying on his chest, his heartbeat in her ear and his hand trailing leisurely laps around her back, when she walked into the PT room and found him facing the far wall, doing leg lifts. He had his shirt thrown over one shoulder and his head was dotted with perspiration. His whole body shook as he counted out the last three lifts. Elise watched his legs and lower back, ensuring he was using proper form.
Tilly’s mouth went dry. Ex-boyfriends were supposed to lose all their hair and grow potbellies. Someone hadn’t sent Brayden the memo, because he looked as beautiful as he had the day he’d crashed her climbing class and begged her to go out with him. He’d been so earnest, so honest with his interest. There were no games. He was just a guy hoping she’d let him buy her dinner.
She was stuck there, caught between their exquisite past and their raw reality.
“Oh, good. You made it.” Elise threw a towel at Brayden with a little more force than necessary. The glint in her eye said she’d pushed Brayden hard today. Oh, she’d never do anything to put him danger of reinjury, but she could make a guy suffer the next day if she wanted to.
Tilly gave her a small smile, but her heart went out to Brayden, who would have sore muscles and tenderness for a few days. Stupid heart didn’t even know what was good for it anymore. She knew this because as she stood there, her heart about leapt out of her rib cage, hoping to land in his large hands. She pressed her hand over her chest and told her organ to take a seat.
Brayden rubbed the towel over his head and across his face. He looked everywhere except at Tilly and made no move to leave.
Elise looked back and forth between the two of them. “I’m going to start the hot tub for you.”
“Hot?” Brayden asked.
Elise nodded. “We’re working on getting out the stiffness. Hot is better.” She retreated through the open archway that led into the recovery room.
Tilly cupped her right elbow with her left hand. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I’m here a lot lately.”
She chewed her lip. Of course he was. Doc and Elise were overseeing his post-op care. Doc had taken Brayden’s injury as a personal challenge.
She glanced at the archway, wishing Elise would come back. How long did it take to turn on a stupid hot tub?
Brayden took two steps forward, closing the distance between them to arm’s length. “How’ve you been?”
Tilly took a step back. Up this close, he looked even better than he had standing across the room, and her body wanted to mold itself to his, tucking into the spot she’d thought was created just for her. Something in the way his knee bent and his back relaxed reminded her of his casual brush-off when Coach Wolfe had asked how he was doing. He’d acted like their relationship was no more than a blip on the screen of life. They may have only dated for three months, but they were unlike any other months in her life. And Brayden had minimized the precious moments they’d shared with a few short remarks.
“How’ve I been?” she fired back with venom.
“Um … yeah?” His thick eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.
