“I’m good, man. Thought we had a great practice.” I shrugged and saw our head coach looking over at us, eyebrows furrowed together. “I think the younger guys are picking up on blocking the plate significantly better than last year.”
“Yeah,” he said, his gaze not really focused on anything for a second. Then he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “Hey, you having girl problems or any shit like that? Some of these guys are so caught up in their chicks I’m afraid a stupid fight will throw off their game.”
Tee liked to talk shit from time to time, but it always veered toward our opposing team or the Dodgers—his least favorite team in the National League—so for him to talk about our teammates caught my attention. “They’ve never let their outside life affect their game. They’re professionals, Tee. You know this.”
He slid me a glance and barked out a laugh that showcased his years of smoking cigars. “You’re not seeing that Henderson girl? Heard she’s doing some interviews on the guys and one of the freshmen went on about her.”
Brandon.I fought an eye roll and nodded. It wasn’t unusual for coaches to know a lot about our personal lives, but everything had me on edge, especially after Amber’s uncle had been at the stadium. It felt wrong to want to lie to him about it, to protect her, but I did it anyway. “Nah, we’re just friends. I don’t have time for any of that with my final season coming up.”
“Don’t blame you, son. Enjoy being young and single. When you’re married and my age, life is not nearly as fun.” He clapped my back and sighed. “Sorry to keep you. Head on home and I’ll see you Monday.”
“Sounds good.”
I took off to set the buckets of balls in the dugout closet and found my roommates fucking around in the hall instead of leaving. “What are you clowns doing?”
“Waiting for you,” Zade replied, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Word on the street is you and Amber are finally a thing.”
“Christ.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How the hell does everyone know this shit? I didn’t even know it until this morning.”
“Finally got himself snatched up,” Tanner replied, throwing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me in for a hug. “The lone wolf is no more.”
“Thought monogamy wasn’t for you, hm?” Hilly asked, the amusement in his eyes counterbalancing how much they were annoying me. This was karma, really, for all the bullshit I gave them about their ladies.
“Okay, okay, everyone settle down. Yes, I deserve all the grief you’re throwing my way, but Amber and I are just… together. We aren’t dating or boyfriend-girlfriend shit. Not like all your pathetic asses.” I shoved Tanner off me and flipped them off. “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“Ohhh, he’s sensitive about it. A classic sign. This is serious,” Zade chimed in and shoved my shoulder. Tanner and Aaron slewed insults and jabs back to back, and soon enough, I had Zade in a headlock and we were all laughing.
“I wondered what the hell the racket was out here. It’s just you four.” Our coach joined us with a shadow of a smile on his face and it was a major déjà vu moment for me. It was like a flashback from freshman year, the four of us messing around before practice and him walking into us mid-fighting. The same nostalgic feeling I’d been carrying around hit me and it was one of the moments I wish I could stop time and Pause, just for a second longer.
“Sorry, Coach, we’ll head out soon.” Zade straightened and masked his face of the insult that was surely on the tip of his tongue. “Our professional bachelor here got himself a lady friend and we’re busting his balls.”
“That is newsworthy.” His stare bore into me, his words from earlier repeating in my head at his expression.Tell them, your conscious will be cleared.“Well, head out. Enjoy your free time while you have it.”
“Will do, Coach.” Aaron nodded and we followed suit, picking up our stuff and heading out of the doors into the freezing air. The sun still shone on our campus, but the bitter cold hung around. “I’m off to the bar to see Greta. Catch you fuckers later.”
That left me with Tanner and Zade and the words were almost there, the truth about everything, but I stopped myself. I needed to check in with Amber and see what we could do about speeding up the process. If her uncle was here, with a dude named Tony, it didn’t look good. “If you need a ride back to the house, I’m heading there to drop shit off before going to Amber’s.”
“Loverboy is busy. How precious.”
“Fuck off, Zade.” I laughed and ignored the side comments before jumping into my car. They didn’t take my offer and they could walk in the cold. Fine by me. I barely got the car started before they jumped into the passenger and back seat and started talking about the younger players on the team and who they thought was going to step it up this year.
It was easy to chime in and comment every minute or so on the short drive and when I pulled onto our street, a shiny black SUV sat in Amber’s driveway. I never remembered seeing that car there before and I drove a little faster. If they noticed, they didn’t say anything and I parked in a hurry. “Catch ya later.”
“Remember when you were that desperate for ass, too?” Tanner asked Zade.
Zade muttered something offensive, but I ignored them. My skin tingled, not in the good way, and I jogged to her door. It could be her parents, someone visiting her roommates, but inmy gut, I knew it wasn’t good. Voices carried from the house, but I couldn’t decipher if it was Amber or Laney. My nerves picked up and I fidgeted in the cold, waiting for her to open the door. Thirty seconds went by and I knocked again.
I was about to pound it even harder when Amber opened the door with wide eyes, red cheeks and a worried smile. She made a face and gestured behind her, but I didn’t care. I barged in and wanted to make sure she was okay.
“Jeff. Hi. I’m kinda busy right now.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, needing to touch her and make sure. She had her arms wrapped around her middle and the right side of her bottom lip was red—a sure sign she was gnawing on it.
“Y-yeah, of course.” She cleared her throat and pushed my hand away when I reached up to touch her. “I have some family here. I’ll call you later, okay?”
I looked around the small foyer and didn’t see anyone. I did not fucking like how she wanted me to leave withfamilybeing here. It had to be him. Martin Rhett. It was the only explanation why she was pushing me out. I mouthed,your uncle,and she nodded with a fearful look in her eyes.
“Amber? Do you have company?”
