She sends me a wink before her face goes deadly serious and she yells, “Torrin! Hit the fucking ball!”
And then she snaps a perfect fastball straight down the middle at me. I don’t even have to think about the swing; my bat comes around and connects and I feel how perfect the hit is through my hands. In that split second when it connects, I remember why I love this game so much. My grin starts to widen but then falls away as I track that hardline hit straight to Luna’s chest. It blows her back off the mound and out of sight.
“Fuck! Fuck, Moon!” Atlas yells, and then we’re all running to the center to get to her.
She’s lying flat on her back with her glove clutched against her chest and her eyes closed. Atlas and Gage both drop to their knees on either side of her.
“Fuck, Luna, open your eyes. Open your eyes, Moon!”
We all hold our breath, waiting. I want to tell her how sorry I am but the air is trapped inside my chest. Atlas brushes her hair back from her face and she scrunches up her nose with a groan.
“Ouch.”
When her eyes flutter open and land on me, that trapped air whooshes out. Atlas and Gage help her sit up, still holding her glove against her chest.
“Ummm, Tor? I think you got your swing back.” She tells me with a wince and then cocks her head and grins. “But you’re still out.” She opens her glove and lets the ball she caught roll out of it. “Ok, now go do that like ten more times with someone else pitching because I’m going to need an ice pack for my hand.”
Atlas belts out a laugh as he hauls her to her feet. Gage pulls her glove carefully off her hand and winces at how redher fingers are but Luna’s still grinning at me. I stare into those gorgeous green eyes of hers and feel something I’ve never felt before flutter in my chest. I can't stop looking at her back as Atlas drags her away to get an ice pack. Gage steps between us, blocking my view with a frown, and gives me a light shove back toward home base.
“No, don’t even think about it.”
I start walking backwards, a smirk on my lips at the flash of jealousy I see in his eyes. Looks like I’m not the only one who can’t stop looking at our best friend’s little sister.
Chapter 8 - Luna
The doorbell rings and I nervously wipe my sweaty palms down my dress. Reid’s bringing his twin sister, Kara, to family dinner tonight. She’s two years older than me and goes to some fancy school in the USA. I’m nervous because I haven’t really made many new friends since I switched schools last year. It’s hard when most of the other students have had years together to form their friend groups. It also doesn’t help that the Queen B of the school, Leslie, hated me last year for running interference between her and Reid. Even though they all graduated last year, I still have a bit of the stigma from that. I don’t really care. I only have this last year and I’ll be off to a new school and a new city. But it would be nice to have a friend. Reid’s such a sweetheart that I hope his sister and I can form some kind of connection.
Julian comes in first and gives a yank on my ponytail as he passes. I bat his hand away with a scowl but quickly put a welcoming smile on my face as Reid comes in behind him. I tilt to the side to see the girl following him and have to use all my control to keep that smile in check.
Reid's sister is freaking stunning. Her golden hair ripples perfectly over her shoulders and her makeup looks professionally done. She’s wearing wide-legged linen dress pants, an off-the-shoulder cream sweater that I think might actually be cashmere, and high heels. She looks like she just stepped off of a fashion show runway. Perfectly polished and elegant. My heart sinks at the blank smile she sends my way as Reid introduces us. I tug the skirt of my simple dress down a bit and feel like a country bumpkin next to her.
My mom steps in and gives her a hug, making her eyes flare wide in surprise, but she quickly masks any other reaction. I try not to be sad that this girl won’t be interested in being friends and move away to grab a stack of plates to set the table. Just as I set the last plate in place, Kara steps into the dining room with a handful of cutlery. I know my mom would have sent her but I highly doubt this girl has ever had to set her own table before, so I send her a small smile and hold out my hands for them.
“You don’t have to do that. I can put them out.”
She arches one perfect brow at me and moves to the other side of the table.
“That’s fine, I can do it.”
I shrug and go grab the glasses and napkins.
Dinner is as loud as usual with so many people talking over each other, until Mom calls for attention and rolls out her traditional weekly question to the group.
“Julian, you get to start. What was the best moment of your week?” She holds up a stern finger at him, making him smirk. “And you don’t get to say this dinner! I want to hear something good that happened to you this week.”
He leans back in his chair and runs a thumb over his bottom lip in consideration. She’s making it hard on him this week. He usually says something to flatter her but now he has to dig a little deeper.
“Fine, even though this dinner will always come in first place… the second best moment was when I discovered a new indie band that I think has real promise.”
Mom claps her hands and beams a look of happiness at him for getting even this small thing from him. “That’s fantastic!” She turns to the next person and asks the same question. It’s something she’s done ever since Atlas and I started school. She would ask for the best part of our day and the worst part every night at dinner. It’s her way of dragging those little moments from us to share - and I’ve always loved it.
As the others go around the table talking about their week, I catch Kara leaning closer to Reid and whispering, “Are they for real?”
A soft smile forms on his face as he reaches for her hand and gives it a squeeze.
“I told you. They’re everything a family is supposed to be, Kar.”
I duck my head so they won’t catch me eavesdropping but I can’t stop the smile.
