AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you for getting these, Liam. You’ve got some time before you start.” Glover nodded toward the door. “I’d offer to let you use the office, but Coury being in my class, the optics won’t look good.”
Coury should have known that. What an idiot. “I’ll catch up with you later.” He backed into the hallway as Liam approached.
Instead of shutting the door, Liam hooked Coury’s gaze. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”
Coury tried his best not to stare. If this went sideways, it was going to hurt too much. “You look good. How do you like working for Glover?”
“It’s better than I expected. He’s a super nice guy, incredibly smart, and I’m learning a ton.”
“You won’t hear a lot of people in class agree with you.” Coury blew out a breath. “Especially not the super nice and learning a ton bits.”
Liam laughed. “The first one makes sense. He’s your teacher. I work for him. Night and day. And people could learn a lot if they tried.”
“I got an A on his midterm.” He searched for neutral ground.
“That’s awesome,” Liam said, sounding genuinely happy. “I knew you could, Coury.”
“You did. And you were right. I got three As, a B-plus and a B on midterms.” If he crowed, he didn’t apologize.
Liam smirked. “All without my help.”
Coury shook his head. “No. I got those grades because of you. I kept hearing you tell me I could do it if I tried.”
He looked over and Liam was smiling widely. “You were always capable, it was just never a priority. I’m curious. Why now? You’re going to graduate soon, and then you’ll be off to play baseball.”
They’d gotten here sooner than he thought. “Can I ask you something before I answer that? It’s kind of related, but not totally.”
The hesitation didn’t help Coury’s nerves.
“Sure.”
“If I didn’t play baseball, could you see yourself with me?” He held his breath.
“What do you mean?”
“Go out with me?” The thrum of his heart filled his ears.
“Why are you asking me that?” Liam eyed him suspiciously.
“Because I’m not smart like you. I’m no Paul Bunyan with a PhD.” He tried to laugh, but it was empty. “I’m not sure what else I’m good at besides baseball. Would you get bored of me?”
“But you are going to play baseball. You’re having a great season.”
Coury snorted. “It’s only three games. Not a statistically significant data sample.” He shrugged. “Stats test last week.”
“I know, but the scout said you did great. I heard him tell the coach.”
“I saw you watching. It meant a lot.”
“You were great.”
“Thanks.” Liam hadn’t answered him, which was probably his way of letting Coury down gently. His heart shattered again, but he willed the sad face away. He wasn’t going to make Liam feel bad for being honest. “I’m sorry I put you on the spot, Liam. I’ll walk you back.”
Liam grabbed Coury’s arm. “What’s going on? Why are you asking me this?”
“Because I . . . I’m not going to sign. If they draft me. I’m going to find a job and figure out my life. I was hoping if I stuck around, you’d—”
“Coury.” Liam swung around and stood in front of him. “I can’t ask you to give up your dream.”
“You’re not. I spent the last ten days thinking—while studying, of course—about you. I called my dad, if you can believe it.”
“Really? How’d that go?”
“Surprisingly well.” Coury guided them to a bench. “My whole life I lived in the shadow of my incredibly brilliant sister. Heather’s like you, super smart without rubbing it in your face. But unlike you and Beckett, she’s older than me. I was always following in the wake of her getting straight As, winning awards, being singled out. I couldn’t compete with that, so I found something I was better at.”
“I’m sure your parents didn’t think less of you because she got better grades.”
“No and yes. My family isn’t as well off as yours. If Heather or I didn’t get scholarships, college might not have happened. And certainly not anything other than a state school. My parents used to tell me that my grades weren’t going to get me to college like Heather. I needed to up my game. That kind of stuff. So I focused on baseball. When they saw the potential, my dad told me if that was my plan, I needed to really push it. There was no maybe. No back-up plan. All in, or not in at all.
“I don’t want to suggest I didn’t want to play. I did, and I do. I love it. But no one ever told me I was good enough at anything else. Until you.”
He reached for Liam’s hand and felt that same jolt when Liam took it.
“You believed in me. When you look at me, I know you see me, not baseball. The last ten days, I’ve missed you so much. I missed how great you make me feel about myself, how you smile at me, how you want to see me succeed.
