by Ali Parker
“No, I’ll stay here and get some sleep. I usually sleep Saturday and Sunday away, but the smell of bacon was something I wasn’t willing to pass up this morning.”
“Sorry?” I chuckled and got busy on my breakfast. It was crazy how good it felt to do something as simple as share a meal with her.
There was a slight awkwardness that sat between us, but it was all me. I was in love with her and pretending that I wasn’t. Her setting us up on mini-dates was probably the worst idea ever, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her.
“I can’t believe Aubrey is getting married in March. It’s two months away.” Layla glanced over at me as we walked out of the campus bookstore.
“I think she’s just in a hurry to get her life started. I wish she would have finished her last semester with us, but when Lucas got hurt last fall, she about lost it. I think she just wants to be beside him in case anything happens.”
“Or to simply enjoy life more.” Layla shrugged. “If I was in love with someone, I’d want to be right beside them all the time too, you know?”
“Yeah. I get it.” I glanced over at her and tried to swallow the burning desire to tell her how long I’d loved her. It would sound silly and trite now.
“You wanna grab a sandwich and go to the park?” She reached out and brushed something out of my hair.
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. It’s freezing out here, but we can sit in the sun and pack up when it gets to be too much.”
“Tell me how you ended up captain of the baseball team. I thought Lucas was priming you to be hockey captain. Coach Billows didn’t plan things to end up this way, right?”
“Our captain and several other guys on the baseball team got popped for steroid use.” I opened the car door and set my books in the backseat. The sandwich shop was across campus, but it was a beautiful day outside.
“Damn. That sucks.” She moved back and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Yep, so now I’m in charge of both.”
“Are you going to choose one or the other?”
“I want to, but it’s hard.” I walked toward her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders as we moved toward the sandwich shop. Why it was comfortable touching her sometimes and not others was a mystery to me. I’d just live it up in the moments I could force myself out of my shell.
“What do you like about each of them?” She glanced up at me, and my heart almost stopped. She had to be the most beautiful woman in the universe.
Tell her. Just tell her.
“I love the aggression you get to play with in hockey, and I enjoy the individual and team efforts in baseball. Hockey is all about the team, which is good, but I like being a contributor by myself and with the team.” I squeezed her shoulders and released her. “You look good today.”
She snorted. “You tell me I look good all the time. Good like healthy or good like pretty?”
I stopped and turned to face her. “Good like fucking beautiful.”
“Oh. Wow.” Her cheeks bled pink as she glanced up at me. “In that case, you look good too.”
I laughed and grabbed her hand as we walked toward the sandwich shop. I had to get beyond my comfort zone if I was ever going to have a chance with a woman like her.
“So do these dates include dinner?” I glanced down at her.
“They could.”
“Dancing?”
“Maybe?”
“How about a make-out session at the end?” I reached for the door to the sandwich shop and tried to force the hot ball of fear back down my chest.
“I think they should, you know? Just so we can call it a real date.” She walked into the shop and glanced back. “Unless that’s too much?”
“Nope. Definitely not too much to ask for.” I sucked in a shaky breath and moved up behind her, hoping she was struggling to breathe like I was.
I was going to score a hundred and ten on every test from here on out without a doubt. I had the right incentive in place—Layla Roberts.
Chapter 12
Layla
We spent the rest of Saturday unloading my stuff and watching TV together. I passed out way before I wanted to and woke up Sunday morning in my bed, still fully dressed from the day before. My pjs hadn’t been used in two days. Something had to change.
I stretched in the bed as a smile spread across my lips. Aubrey was right. Living with Jayce was a great idea. Not only did it give us both someone to lean on, seeing that she’d left us, but it was fun. It left me feeling a sense of hope for something better to happen between us. He knew my dirty little secret, and he wanted to help. I should have known he would have responded that way. He was an all-around great guy.
“Jayce?” I mumbled and sat up, listening for sounds of him moving around.
Nothing.
Was he already gone to his parents’ house? I glanced over at the clock to see that it was almost lunchtime. Of course, he was gone. I’d slept half the day away.
I reached for my phone on the nightstand and dropped back into the bed. I needed to get out of the apartment and play some ball. It was the only thing that left me feeling fully alive, besides Jayce. Leaning on him would have been fine if he didn’t have three million things going on in his own life already.
The group chat on my phone exploded after I asked if anyone could meet in an hour to play a scrimmage. I smiled at the responsiveness of my team and launched myself out of bed. Someone would have to clear the field, and I knew the maintenance guys didn’t work on Sundays. Good thing I had them teach me how to do it during my sophomore year.
I worked a pair of yoga pants over my legs and then put my softball pants on over them. I’d need two to three layers just to make sure I didn’t freeze to death, but it would be worth it. Seeing all my girls after having the Christmas break would be good for me, and them.
My phone buzzed and I grabbed it, seeing that it was my mom.
“Hey, everything okay?” My pulse spiked as I prepared for an emergency.
“Yeah, I’m good. I just wanted to thank you for coming out Friday night. Your poor daddy cried all morning over what happened. He’s mortified that Jayce came out here. I think he’s ready to get some help.” Her voice was soft, docile, nothing like the woman who had raised me.
“Good. Is he going back to the school this semester or…” My father needed some time off from his job. It was the source of his pain and had been the trigger for his PTSD to rear its ugly head again.
“He’s taking a leave of absence. He’s going in tomorrow morning to talk with Principal Daniels. I think Paul will help him out, seeing that your father has such a long history of teaching at the school. Maybe he’ll go back to teaching once he finishes his rehab and treatment, but I don’t know.”
“What about money, Mom? I know you guys are making it, but that’s because Dad’s job pays well. Is he going to get paid during this leave?”
“No, but I’m going to try and get a job at the hospital. We’ll figure it out. Today is the best day we’ve had in a long time. I just wanted you to know that things are going to be better from now on.”
“Or so we hope.” I brushed my hand down my face and walked toward the closet to get my tennis shoes. “I’m here if you need me.”
“Okay, baby. Please tell Jayce that I’m sorry and that I appreciate his help.”
“All right, Mom.” I hung up the phone and tossed it back on my bed. It was still shocking that we were talking about my father hitting anyone. He was the sweetest, most sensitive teddy bear in the world, or he was before he switched careers at the school. Something in his new counseling job had triggered him to start drinking after twenty-plus years of sobriety. He was a mean drunk and lost himself in his liquor.
I tried to push my thoughts away. He was talking about getting help, which was a huge step in the right direction. After getting my shoes on, I grabbed the phone and called Jayce. I needed to tell someone, and even though Aubrey was the best choice, Jayce was the right one. He was
there with me on Friday night and maybe because of that, things were going to change.
“Hey. Good morning.” His voice brought a big smile to my face.
“My mom just called—”
“You need me to come get you?” Jayce went from calm to panic in two seconds flat.
“No. No. Everything is fine. She was calling to thank you for your help, but I was calling to tell you that my dad’s going to get help.” My voice cracked as a million emotions flooded my chest. I’d been praying for a solution for the last eight months and had come up empty each time.
“Hey, it’s okay, Lay. I’ll head back to the apartment and we can talk about it.”
“No. I’m going to play softball with the girls. I just wanted to tell you thank you.” I brushed the back of my hand by my nose and sniffled. “I didn’t mean to start crying.” I chuckled through my tears. “I’m just grateful that you came. I wanted to kill you for forcing yourself into the situation, but maybe that’s what my dad needed.”
“I’ll always be here for you, okay? Always.”
“Me too. I’ll see you tonight.” I hung up and let out a loud exhale. I was so head over heels in love with this guy that it was nauseating. I’d have done just about anything for him, and something told me he would quickly return the favor.
Did he love me too? Was I overlooking something or was I being overly sensitive because of all the drama in my life?
Only time would tell.
“Hey, someone cleared the field.” I tossed the ball to Tammy, one of the other seniors on the team as I walked onto the softball diamond.
“Yep. Julia called her uncle and he came up and cleared it.”
“Her uncle?” I walked toward the small group of girls gathered in the middle of the field. Julia wasn’t one of them.
“Yeah, he’s one of the maintenance guys for the athletic department.” Tammy smiled. “Lucky us, right?”
“Hell yeah.” I smiled at everyone. “We have eight of us?”
“Nine.” Julia walked up beside me and pushed her shoulder against mine. “Well, ten if Abby shows up.”
“I’m here!” Abby ran toward us, her long blonde hair swinging back and forth in the high ponytail she had it in.
“All right. Ten of us. Let’s split teams and have someone on first, one on third, one of us in center field, one on the pitcher’s mound, and one of us as catcher.” I glanced around. “Number off. I’m one.”
The girls numbered off, and we split up, taking our places to play a little bit of ball. I took the pitcher’s mound and rolled my shoulders as every part of me came alive. There were only two things in my life that left me feeling high—softball and Jayce Moore. I was lucky enough to know that both were within my reach for the next five months.
“Go easy on me, Roberts.” Tammy smiled and swung the bat a few times. “No fastballs just yet.”
“Come on, Tam. You know you love my fastballs.” I reared back, swung my arm around, and pitched the ball toward her.
She swung and missed, giving me a look and getting back into place. “All right. I see how it is. Give me another and I’ll hit it this time. I’m ready now.”
“Good luck, sister.” I threw it again, curving the ball just a little.
The sound of it hitting Julia’s glove again had me smiling.
“Fuck.” Tammy took a step back and swung the bat a few times. “I’m glad you’re on our team and not someone else’s.”
“One minute, you love me, and the next, you hate me. I’m getting confused.” I winked at her and threw the ball again.
That time, she hit it.
My girls ran out toward the outfield and caught the pop-fly. Tammy still ran the bases as fast as she could, not stopping until she plowed into Julia and twirled her around.
“Oh, brother.” I rolled my eyes and got ready for the next batter. I could play all day long, but Coach would give us hell, and the other girls would physically suffer for it.
An hour later, my team was up four runs and we called it quits. It was starting to snow again and most of the girls were whining about being cold.
“All right. Gather around.” I motioned for them to join me as I caught a glimpse of Coach Warren in the distance. I was a little surprised to see her at the field on a Sunday, but maybe someone alerted her to us being there. “School starts back tomorrow and so does practice. We only have a couple of weeks before our first game. Make sure you have your jerseys and all of your gear already. If you don’t, make sure you see Tammy and she’ll get with Coach to get it ordered. It’s going to be extra because you’re late, but you need everything we had on the list for last semester. Everyone with me?”
I got a lot of head nods and smiles. We put our hands in the middle of the circle and yelled Lady Friars on three. The group split up, and I turned to jog over to our coach.
“Hey there.” She gave me a warm smile and reached out, pulling me into a quick hug. She’s been a good mentor to me over the last three years, and being out of school last semester had hurt us both. “Glad to have you back.”
“I’m glad to be back.” I brushed my hair out of my face and slipped my hands into my pockets. “What are you doing up here on a Sunday?”
“Billows was up here for something and called to make sure you guys were mine and not some hoodlums tearing up the field. I figured it would be easier to come up and verify that you were mine, and you are, but I went ahead and told him that you were hoodlums too.”
“It’s not a lie.” I glanced back at the girls and waved in response to them yelling bye as they walked off the field.
“You got time for a quick coffee?” she asked.
“Yeah, sure.” I turned and walked with her toward the coffee shop that sat on the edge of campus.
“It’s senior season for you. Are you graduating at the end of May or having to stay for the summer since you missed last fall?”
“I took correspondence classes where I could, and I’m taking eighteen hours this semester. So yeah, I’m graduating in May. It’s going to be hard as hell, but I’ll make it. I need to. It’s time to move on.” I glanced over at her and smiled. “It’s someone else’s turn to take over the team.”
“Almost.” She opened the door to the coffee shop and waited until I went in. “Make sure you have the talk with everyone tomorrow at practice about keeping clean. No sleeping around, no drugs, and no behaving in a way that would embarrass the program.”
“After four years of hearing or giving this speech, I got it down, Coach. I’ll make sure to go over all of it tomorrow.”
“What are your plans after graduation?” She moved up toward the counter and ordered something after I did.
“I’m not sure to be honest. My degree is in marketing, but I have no clue what I want to do with that.” I shrugged. “My minor is in Kinesiology. Maybe I could market sports teams?”
“Or maybe you could consider applying for the assistant coaching position that’s coming open in women’s athletics.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Which position would that be? What sports?”
“We don’t know yet, but I would assume track for sure and maybe softball.” She smiled and rubbed my back as we sat down at a table. “Were you planning on moving somewhere or staying around Providence?”
“I know it’s crazy, but I hadn’t given it much thought. You know the situation with my folks, and things are getting better finally, but I think I’m going to stay here, I guess. I can’t leave my mom just in case something happens.”
“Well, I think that’s an incredibly brave response from you. When this semester is over, come talk with me and I’ll set up an interview with Coach Billows. You’ve proven yourself a champion over the last four years, and I want you with me for a long time to come. Think about it?”
“Absolutely.”
Chapter 13
Jayce
I got home that night much later than I hoped to. For being pissed about Aubrey missing her last semester at
Providence, my parents were overly excited about the wedding. I expected it from my dad, but my mom? Not so much.
By the time I got back to the apartment, Layla’s door was closed and all the lights in the house were off. I wanted so badly to knock on the door, sneak into the room, and slide into bed with her, but it was stupid. We were friends, family, but nothing else.
I’d half expected her to laugh at me when I mentioned our dates having a great make-out session attached to them, and maybe she still would. I was still trying to get over the shock that she’d want a date at all. Maybe I wasn’t the only one that was lonely and struggling with it.
How a sexy girl like her was lonely was beyond me. I crawled into bed thinking about her. Hell, all I did was think about her. Unless I was knee deep in playing ball or hockey, I was thinking about her. It was almost embarrassing how often she came up in my thoughts.
I closed my eyes and let the gratefulness that her dad was getting help wash over me. He’d taught my junior year English class and taken me from a guy who hated to read to find some really cool adventures within the pages of a novel. My heart hurt at who the man had become.
Maybe Layla was right to hope for the better, but I wasn’t so sure yet. I’d stand beside her and help where she would let me, but Mr. Roberts was going to have to follow through on getting help. None of us were capable of providing the kind he needed.
Not even love could conquer the demon of drunk violence. I shuddered at the thought and drifted into a fitful night of sleep.
My alarm went off three times before I finally dragged my ass out of bed the next morning. I walked down the hall, praying I would catch a glimpse of my sexy roommate in a towel, but she was already gone.
“Damn,” I mumbled and popped a few pieces of bread in the toaster. I needed to get her schedule down so I could have some accidental run-ins with her. Did she shower in the morning or at night? What time did she get up?