AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You didn’t know?” Kyle lifted both hands and glowered at Emerson. “Why did we tell himnow?”
Emerson shook his head. “I thought?—”
A bat cracked, and the stadium went nuts. Vaguely, I was aware of Asher Price’s hit going over the right field fence. The guys around me stood, clapping and hollering. Robotically, I forced myself to my feet too. There was a good chance I gave Asher a fist bump as he moved past me, but in reality, I didn’t know how I’d found myself standing on the mound at the start of the second.
My hands had been checked by the umpire, and the guy was reminded again that I didn’t put shit on them, because I was weird. But I didn’t remember speaking.
Avery clouded all my thoughts. An image of her smiling at some nameless, faceless asshole who didn’t deserve her was all I could see. I wanted to kill him. But what if she really liked this guy? What if he made her happy? My heart wrenched, crumbling further. More than anything, I wanted her to be happy. How could I wreck that?
I nodded, unseeing, at the sign Asher gave me.
The fucker better treat her like a goddess. She deserved that and so much more.
I wound up and threw the ball. And I didn’t even wince when it hit the dirt a foot in front of the plate and bounced toward the away team dugout.
If he didn’t treat her with respect and shower her with affection every minute of every day, I’d kill him. And he better be good to her damn birds too. Because she loved them. Her boyfriend should recognize and support that.
The ball hit my glove with asmack. I brought my glove in close and looked at Asher, nodding, though I hadn’t registered the sign.
Maybe I shouldn’t let her go so easily. I’d been such a fucking dumbass when she kissed me. Maybe she didn’t realize that I wanted her to pick me.
I threw the ball at Asher.
A pained groan echoed around me. “Fuck.”
That brought me back to the moment, finally. At the plate, the batter was limping in a circle.
Asher was standing at his full height, his mask pushed up on his head. Then he was trotting toward me.
“Dragon, you got this?” he asked.
I blinked. He was holding a ball out to me, but rather than take it, I spun around, bent at the waist, and took in a deep breath. No. I didn’t have this. I felt like I was going to throw up.
Emerson came up, squatting next to me and putting his hand on my back. “Let’s get through this. Then you can talk to her, okay?”
I swatted at his hand and stood up.
“Damiano.” The bark was deep and harsh enough to have me spinning around.
Wilson stood on the mound with his arms crossed over his chest and a glower on his face.
With a thick swallow, I prepared myself. I had promised this man calm communication, and I owed him that.
“Pull me.” The words slipped easily from my lips.
His brows jumped to his hairline, and his arms fell to his sides. He pursed his lips and scrutinized me, like he was getting ready to talk me off the ledge.
That wasn’t happening. “You need to pull me. My head.” I swallowed and made the admission. “And my heart. They aren’t here. I love this game, but I might be losing the single most important thing in my life.” I blinked hard at the sting in my eyes. “I have to go fix that. So yeah.” I nodded. “You need to pull me.”
“You really don’t needto walk me up.” I pushed the button for the elevator to my floor.
“I was hoping you might want to invite me in for a drink.” Jude smiled. “Especially since dinner was short.”
Dinner was short because he showed up more than thirty minutes late. A “work thing” came up. A story needed to be changed or something. I wasn’t sure. He had glossed over the details, then changed the subject by asking about my day. After I’d sat alone for so long, I was pretty sure the waitress had thought I was being stood up. When Jude finally did arrive, she hurried us through the meal. Probably because she wanted to turn the table over. Not that I was complaining about the quick meal.
Jude was an okay guy. He did an okay job of listening when I spoke, and he asked somewhat thoughtful questions. But he also ordered a bottle of wine without asking whether I’d like any or noticing the beer sitting in front of me. Then he’d told the waitress we were skipping dessert. Again, without asking me. I would have rather skipped the dinner and had dessert only, since they served my favorite Oreo cheesecake.
For a year, Chris had treated me better than Jude did tonight. Day in and day out, he was thoughtful and caring. Yet we hadn’t once been on a date. Even so, Chris had set the bar for how I should expect to be treated. And this guy, nice or not, didn’t come close.
