AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He takes me in and asks, “Do you not want me to?”
“I want you to,” I answer quickly. “I’ve missed hearing you call me that.” I let out a long sigh and shake my head. “It’s strange. One second it feels normal again, like we’reusagain, and then the next we feel—“
“Broken still?” he asks, eyes sad.
I nod. “Yeah.”
He pulls me in tight against him and I melt into his chest.
“We’ll find our way through,” he whispers.
I nod against his chest and sniffle back some tears. Then I pull back and look at him.
“No more tears. Tonight was amazing. You did awesome. You should be proud of yourself. I know I am. Now get back in there and celebrate with the team,” I say with a smile.
He gives me an ear-to-ear grin in return and squeezes my hand before turning to walk away.
I give him a cheeky smile and smack his butt like I’ve done so often after baseball games. He turns back and shoots me a wink as he heads to the locker room, throwing up a wave to everyone else as he goes.
Sarah bumps her shoulder against mine. “Friendly kisses?” she asks with a smirk.
I shove my elbow into her side. “You know, I could make a comment about the way you were eye-fucking Joel. Or the way his face lit up when he saw you.”
Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open. Then she quickly pulls her lips tightly together, sets her jaw, and narrows her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m still sleeping with that pre-med guy.”
I smile a wicked smile. “Oh, I know. I’m just saying…”
She gives me a playful shrug. “Fine, fine. Truce?” she asks, extending her hand.
I wrap my arm around her back as we walk over to where everyone else is standing. “We always have a truce. I’m always on your team.”
“Back at ya, Rae baby. Always.”
But as if proving my point, Joel excuses himself from the conversation with everyone else and turns for the locker rooms, giving Sarah a wink as he goes.
Aaron
When I exit the locker room well after the rest of the team has left, I’m not expecting to find anyone waiting for me, but Jamie is there, leaning against the wall.
He gives me a proud know-it-all smile as I walk over to him.
“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from one of the most-talked-about high school pitchers in the state?”
He laughs and shrugs. “Honestly, I just came to see Amanda. Girl is hot and feisty and does something to me every time I see her. Not that I’veseenher,“ he quickly corrects, cheeks pink. He is hilariously innocent for someone who gets his share of girls. “Anyway, I text with everyone, and last week… Rae asked if I’d come up for the game. She thought I’d want to be here and that you’d want me here.”
My heart soars. She never stops surprising me.
“I am glad you’re here,” I say as we head out of the building and back toward my dorm.
“I’m glad I got to see you coach. You’re a natural. You always have been. Your pitcher, he was in his head, right?”
I smile at him and nod. “Yeah.”
“You’ve always been good at getting people to deal with that stuff. You ever think of making that your career?”
I let out a laugh. “Funny you should mention that. That’sexactlywhat I’m thinking of doing.”
He stops and takes me in. “It’s good to see you like this. I know everyone has their crap to figure out sometimes… I’m proud of you for doing it.”
