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And I’m not surprised by any of it, except the look on Jesse’s face. He’s rounding the bases and crossing the plate because he has to, not because he wants to.
Any other day, he’d be giving me a truckload of sass and shit.
I glance at Joel, who is trying to wipe a proud smile off his face. It was a pretty epic hit.
It was an epic hit we couldn’t come back from. Oneonta made quick work of us for the bottom of the ninth. Now the announcer is prattling on about which brother won this round. Yet, as I look at Jesse, something tells me he’s not winning shit.
Rae
I hurry through the doors of the bar we frequent, especially after games. One of their bouncers knows a guy who makes fake IDs and then he gives a heads up to the bouncer. We’ve become friends with the bouncer and bartender, who also knows our IDs are fake, but serves us all beer, anyway. He draws the line at hard liquor, though.
I had to run back to my dorm after the game, so it took me forever to get here. Still, I don’t see Sarah, Mackie, Miles, or Amanda. Aaron and Joel are over by the bar. I scan the room for Jesse, then hurry over to the table where he’s sitting alone.
“J! That was a hell of a game! You kicked ass,” I say happily as I slide into the booth next to him. But when I see the look on his face, the sadness in his eyes, my demeanor changes.
I reach over and squeeze his arm.
“What’s wrong?” Then my stomach sinks when I realize Carrie isn’t here. She wasn’t sitting on his side, she didn’t come. “Where’s Carrie?”
He lets out a long sigh and looks at me, heartache marring his sage eyes.
My eyes go wide and I grab his hand, dragging him out of the booth and down a secluded hallway.
Once we’re alone, I ask, “What happened?”
He shrugs. “Her ex texted her. Instead of telling the asshole to fuck off, she started talking to him.Reallytalking to him. Now she thinks she might have unfinished business with him and isn’t sure if she wants to stay together over the summer.”
He sniffs, and even though I like Carrie, I want to kill her. I saw how they were together. I saw how she looked at him. The same way Aaron and I have always looked at each other. And I know that’s scary… but running back to an ex? Ugh.
I don’t say anything, instead I launch myself into Jesse’s arms, squeezing him as tightly as I can.
“I’m sorry, J,” I whisper.
He nods, his head resting on my shoulder. I feel the hurt radiating through him, and squeeze him tighter.
“Are you trying to squish all the sadness out of me?” he asks with a little laugh.
“Yes,” I say with a smile as I finally let him go. “You’re one of the most vibrant people I know. I hate seeing you sad.”
“To be fair, I think this is just evening things out for this time last year. Happy late birthday, by the way.” He gives me an adorable grin.
“You called me on my birthday, J.”
“But I haven’t seen you.” He runs his finger down my arm.
I shake my head and step back. “Uh-uh. You aren’t this guy. No matter how much you’re hurting. Don’t become one now because you want to hurt her back. Now, if you were single…”
He nods. “You keep me honest,” he says with a laugh. His dad always says that to his mom, and Joel used to say it to me a lot when we were kids.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’d be fun to kiss you right now. Hell, maybe drag you back to my dorm and make youfeel better.” I waggle my eyebrows in exaggeration. “But I wouldn’t do that to Carrie. I wouldn’t do that toyou. You can be an asshole sometimes, but you’re a good guy.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes that sucks,” he says, pushing himself off the wall and throwing his arm around my shoulders as we walk back toward the table. “So, tell me about you,” he says as he slides into the booth. “I heard something about you hooking up with some guy, but that can’t be the Rae McKinley I know.”
I give his shoulder a shove. “You, of all people, should know my willingness to hook up. But no, that wasnota thing. ItwasAaron, being jealous of a friend who kissed me. Once.”
He laughs. “Sounds about right. Did you warn him to keep an eye out for Aaron’s right hook?”
I roll my eyes. “I hope to God that Aaron is done punching people unless it’s extremely warranted. He’s finally making progress with his hand. Either way, that’s all dealt with. The guy almost lost his job because of Aaron being jealous. I gave Aaron some hell for that. Nothing happened at all. He is way too cocky for me. Plus, I’m still so twisted up with Aaron I don’t think I could jump into anything with anyone else.”
