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“I don’t know…” I trail off. There’s no reason I can't go with them, I'm just not sure I want to.
“It’s going to be Cord, Leo, Charlie, Covey, Smithy, Schmidt, and me.”
“Yeah, I guess I’ll come.” I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning. If Charlie’s there, I definitely want to be there.
“Surprise, surprise. I tell Everson his girl will be there and suddenly he’s available to go out with the boys.” Wheeler lets out a loud laugh and shakes his head.
“Shove it. I'm coming because of Covey. I like him better than the rest of you.” I shove Wheeler away from me and climb inside of my truck before he can make another comment. I'm sure he’s going tobe watching me all night to see how much I talk to Charlie. He’s always a pain in my ass, but I love the guy.
Wyatt: I hear you’re going out for dinner with us tonight.
I type out the message as I pull out of my parking spot and onto the road towards home. I’m only about fifteen minutes away from the stadium, but depending on traffic it can take much longer.
My phone dings with a response and I'm itching to see what she said, but I'm not about to text and drive. That wouldn’t end well if someone catches me doing it. That’s the worst part about playing professional ball. Everyone’s always watching you and judging everything you do.
As soon as I'm stopped at a red light, I grab my phone and open my text.
Charlie: I am. I figured it’s time to have a life again and since I'm going to spend so much time with all of you, why not start there?
Wyatt: Can I pick you up so you don’t have to drive?
Charlie: I’d love that.
I don’t know what changed last night, but something shifted between us. One of the brick walls Charlie built between us definitely crashed to the ground and I'm going to take advantage of it. Hopefully,I can remind her of how good we were together. I’d love nothing more than to have her back as my girlfriend, but if I can't, I’ll settle for having my best friend back.
“They’re over this way.” I place my hand on Charlie’s lower back and lead her over to the large booth the guys have already claimed.
I'm surprised to find Cici and Macy sitting with the guys, but I'm sure either Charlie invited them or Leo did. I never really thought about it, but Leo made a comment today about how it’s so nice to be able to talk to the girls again. We were all close back in the day and I guess between Charlie and me breaking up and Cord and Macy splitting, Leo lost a lot of friends. That was never my intention and I would’ve encouraged him to keep in contact with them if I’d known he had cut contact with them too.
As soon as we reach the booth, Macy shoves Covey out of the way and leaps into the air. I catch her on reflexes alone and hold her against me. She wraps her arms around me and hugs me tightly. I'm not going to complain, this is a much warmer hello than I got from her last week.
“I'm sorry. Charlie called me and told me everything. I was wrong to be such a wicked bitch to you. Please forgive me,” she whispers in my ear.
I glance over her shoulder and find Charlie watching us with a small smile. She nods her head and sighs.
“Of course I forgive you. You were standing up for your best friend. I have to respect that.” I lower her to the ground and glance up at Cici. Though things have been tense between us, Cici never stopped being kind to me. I'm sure she felt stuck in the middle of the two failing relationships because of being related to Cord and helping out at the stadium here and there. She’s been forced to interact with all of us over the years, she couldn’t be pissed with us. “Hey, Cici. It’s good to see you.”
“You too, Wyatt. You look good. Happier than normal.”
I can't stop myself from looking at Charlie again. She’s the reason I'm happier. Without her, I never would’ve reconciled with Macy or any of our family on Mulberry Lane.
“Yeah, I'm definitely getting there.”
Schmidt slips out of the booth and motions for us to slide in. I'm not surprised he wants to sit on the end. He’s quiet and doesn’t love being in large groups. I'm sure he’s going to tiptoe out of here before anyone else and do it in a way that we don’t even realize he’s gone.
He joined the team at the end of last season. We didn’t get to spend a ton of time with him, but he’s always been kind and chill.
“There’s my girl!” Smithy drapes his arm over Charlie’s shoulders and tugs her into his side. He kisses the top of her head and talks to her quietly.
I could get pissed and jealous – to be honest, a part of me is – but if Charlie says they’re just friends then I'm not going to argue. I need to take what she gives me and right now she’s allowing me into her life. That’s more than I hoped for last night when she left.
“Now the real question is… Does Charlie belong to Smithy or Wyatt?” Wheeler steeples his fingers and rests his chin on top.
“Me.” Smithy grins, earning himself an eye roll from Charlie.
“Huh, here I was, thinking I was a person and not an object. I’m pretty sure I belong to myself, Wheeler. But don’t worry, your ass is mine tomorrow in PT and I'm going to make it hurt.” She winks at him and I watch his smile slowly fall.
“C’mon, sweetheart. Don’t hurt me. I'm already sore and it’s only day two of spring training. You don’t want to make a man as big as me cry, do ya?” He gives her his best puppy eyes.
