“This isn’t a good idea,” I said the minute I realized exactly what I was doing.
“It’s only cheating if you’re doing it to play better. You just need a little boost to heal, Betts. That’s all.” He took a bottle of clear liquid and a syringe out of the plastic bag. “Quit juicing before Thanksgiving. It’ll be fine.”
I hated to admit it, but I wanted to believe him. If this helped me heal, maybe it was worth it.
“Why?” I shifted on my feet. It’s only cheating if you’re doing it to play better.
“We win with you. And, to be honest, the scouts coming to see you are seeing everyone else. It’s a slim chance, but they may take me, too, Betts. That’s something I don’t want to fuck around with.” Seth held out the bag. “Look, I’ll let you have the first one for free.” He opened a syringe packet and filled it with liquid. “Drop your pants.”
I swallowed hard, staring at the needle. If I did this, there was no turning back. “You’re sure this will help.”
“Can I throw a runner out at the plate from right?” Seth smiled like a hyena. Hell, yes, he could. With a surgically repaired rotator cuff.
Nodding, I turned away from him and let my sweats fall to my ankles. The pinch of the needle on my thigh caused me to yelp. Seth chuckled. After a minute, he slapped my back, and I pulled my pants up.
“There are anabolics and HGH in the bag, which you can have,” he said as I faced him, “for a price, Betts.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. The lights of Fenway. Digging my cleats into the batter’s box and facing a Cy Young winner. Watching that first pitch sail over the outfield wall and giving the crowd a curtain call. Maybe it was nothing more than a fantasy, but I’d pay the price.
I’d pay any price.
Chapter Twelve
Doc canceled physical therapy for a week and chewed me out worse than Coach did after an error on the field. He wasn’t happy with how I kept pushing too far too fast. It didn’t help that Coach Hummel gave me a second ass-chewing the minute I set foot back on campus. I took it easy on my knee as the week flew by. When I wasn’t in class or in Coach’s office watching tape, I was with Mallory. It didn’t feel like we ever had enough time.
Mallory and I walked toward the lounge for game seven of the World Series.
“Favorite music?” I kept my hands in the pocket of my blue Westland hoodie to fight back the chill in the air.
“Country. I love Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, and Maddie & Tae.”
“Luke Bryan?”
She shuddered as a cool November wind bit against her skin. “Him, too. What about you?”
“Country’s good, but mostly alternative. Imagine Dragons, Twenty-One Pilots, bands like that. They help me think.”
Mallory shook her head. “I don’t get that. Music distracts me. I can’t read or study with it on. The TV, though…” She bounced a finger at me. “That I can have on while I study.”
I faked a gasp when my phone actually rang. I yanked it from my pocket and glanced at the caller ID.
“Who is it?” Mallory asked, clearly recognizing the grin on my face as a good one. As much as she hated me asking her questions, she had no problem interrogating me.
I simply answered the phone and Mallory’s question at the same time. “If it isn’t the world’s most annoying little sister.”
“Very funny, Aaron,” Chelsea replied with a sniffle. Either she’d been crying or she was getting a cold. My bet went with crying.
I froze, waiting for the bad news. “What’s wrong?”
“You know how I applied for early admission into NYU?” Chelsea sniffled louder. “Well, I got in.”
The tension raced from my body, and I breathed out. This wasn’t a bad thing. She’d dreamed of New York since I could remember. “If you got in, why are you crying?”
Chelsea broke into full-on tears then. Between her sobs, I managed to decipher, “Mom won’t let me go.”
“Calm down, Chels. I’ll call Mom tomorrow and talk to her. Just rein in your temper for the night.” Without thinking, I put my arm around Mallory’s shoulders and pulled her closer, tucking her against my body. “Trust me, it’ll be fine, and you’ll get to go. Mom’s probably freaking out like she did when I was drafted.”
“But you didn’t go to Arizona. I am going to New York.” Chelsea blew her nose into the phone.
“I know. And you’ll be great. Let the shock die off tonight.”
“Yeah, okay.” She heaved out a loud, dramatic breath. “You’re the best even if you smell like a cow patty.”
I laughed. “We have the same body odor genes, you know.”
We hung up, and I glanced down at Mallory. She wasn’t fighting to get away from our close proximity. Not that I wanted her to, but the fact she hadn’t shoved me into the grass was a good sign.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
My arm dropped from her shoulders. “It’s fine.”
I wouldn’t bring up the family drama unless Mallory dug deeper. And I knew she would. Her curiosity was infinite. We started walking again. I shoved my hands deep into my pockets to keep from reaching out for her. The entire left side of my body was cold. I wanted to feel her against it again but took comfort in the fact that she hadn’t pushed me away.
We hadn’t gone ten steps—yeah, I counted—when curiosity got the best of her.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.
Playing coy, I shrugged. “Not really. It’s not a big deal.”
Her head bobbed as if considering my vague answer. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“Yeah.” Let the interrogation begin.
“How old is she?”
“Eighteen.”
“Why was she upset?”
“Mom.” Giving one-word answers drove her nuts. Mallory craved information and always more than a simple answer during our sessions. But I was afraid to tell her too much. I was afraid she’d shut down like she normally did when it came to family.
She nodded and took a deep breath before the next question. “What happened?”
“Chelsea got into a school. Mom doesn’t want her to go.”
“Aaron, you’re not being very verbose.”
I snorted. Time for a little truth, even if it hurt. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and stared at the lounge for a moment. “Friends tell each other the truth, right?”
She turned around to face me, and I dropped my gaze to meet her eyes. “Yes.”
I dug my fingers into my palms to keep from touching her. “We don’t really talk about much. Family seems like a…hard topic for you. We keep everything simple. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable.” Her eyes widened as she opened her mouth, but I couldn’t let her interrupt me now. “It’s okay. Really. But don’t be mad at me if I try to…if I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be around me because of it.”
She turned away and started toward the student union. I just stood there, not sure if I should follow her and beg for her to talk to me or if I should hustle back to my room. She stopped halfway to the entrance.
“Are you coming?” she asked over her shoulder.
Smiling, I hurried to catch up and took my place by her side as we went into the lounge together. Secretly, I thanked my little sister for calling me and giving me a chance to confront Mallory gently.
We sat in our usual spots on the couch. Mallory wrung her fingers together, her jaw locked tight. She turned toward me. “Why doesn’t your mom want Chelsea to go to that school?”
“It’s not just a school. It’s the city. Mom doesn’t like New York. When we were kids, she took us because Chelsea loves musicals.” I tapped my hands on my legs. “I didn’t want to go, but Mom insisted that I needed ‘culture.’ We were mugged. Mom’s been overprotective since. But that’s just the excuse she’s using. Mom doesn’t want us to grow up. It scares her.”
“That actually makes sense. Grandma didn’t want to leave me alone when she l
eft.” Mallory relaxed and opened up. “I went to New York when I was five. It was Dad’s idea to see all the stadiums. We went to Yankees Stadium and Shea. I wanted to go to the history museum, but we didn’t go.”
“Why not?”
“He said there wasn’t enough time.” Mallory shrugged. “But he made time to spend an extra hour in the gift shop at Yankee Stadium.”
“You’ll get there.”
Mallory smiled sadly. “Maybe.”
Chuck sat on the arm of the couch and quizzed me about the tape Coach had me watch earlier in the day. When I glanced at Mallory, Rosenthal sat too close as he peppered her with questions. By the tight jaw and narrowed eyes, I could tell she was getting more and more uncomfortable.
I leaned over her and shoved him back. “Mind your space, rookie.”
“I was just talking to her, Betts. You need to relax,” he said with a sneer uglifying his pimply chin. I couldn’t wait to face him in live batting practice this spring. Rosenthal was a cocky shit, and he needed to be taken down a notch or ten.
“Go talk to someone else,” I said. Devon and Seth nudged him from behind, forcing him to stand. Seth took his spot, smiling at Mallory but making sure he was pressed against the arm of the couch. I leaned in close. “Are you okay?”
She kept her eyes glued to the TV and nodded.
I sat up, letting her have the space she needed. Honestly, I wanted to pummel that little shit. Rosenthal knew she was off-limits. He knew she didn’t want to talk to him. He knew not to get too close to her. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to get up and put my fist in his face.
“You’re moving around easier, Betts.” Seth smiled and nodded toward my knee. “Getting better?”
“Yeah, much better.” Because I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. With a little extra help.
Chuck leaned over the back of the couch between me and Mallory and asked in his usual no-filter way, “You two need to set a date for dinner. I’ve already got the place, and I know what I’m making. Just tell me when. Or do you want to go double or nothing?”
You two? When did I get involved in this?
Mallory’s mouth crooked up in a lopsided grin. She didn’t glance back at Chuck when she answered. “What did you have in mind?”
“If I win, no dinner and type two of my papers. If you win, I’ll make you and Betts dinner.” He paused dramatically. When I was about to stick a cattle prod up his nose, he added, “And breakfast.”
The world could’ve swallowed me whole.
“That’s interesting,” Mallory said without a missing a beat. She finally looked at him. “It’s a lot of effort to deliver to different places early in the morning.”
Chuck stared at her as the slam on me sunk in. Well, it felt like a slam to me. Why else would she say something like that? I was proud of her for it, too. He laughed loud enough to cause half the room to turn our way. Again, the floor could’ve opened up beneath my feet and I wouldn’t have given a damn.
“That’s ripe, Mallory,” Chuck wheezed between fits of hilarity.
She beamed back and dropped her gaze to mine. The embarrassment must have shown on my face, because that little spot between her eyebrows wrinkled together, and her smile disappeared. I hated that, but she’d actually hurt me in a way I didn’t think possible.
I turned away from her and settled more deeply into the corner. Chuck slapped my shoulder a few times before pushing off the back of the couch, signaling his departure. Mallory’s eyes stayed on me through the first pitch and well into the top of the inning.
After the Yankees went down one-two-three, she asked, “Are you okay?”
I snorted but didn’t answer.
“Aaron,” she said, putting her hand on my thigh and leaning in so that her sweet body pressed against mine. When her lips were on the edge of my ear, she whispered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
I closed my eyes, memorizing how she felt against me. Her hand squeezed my thigh, and I thought the world was melting from the heat. Opening my eyes, I turned my head toward her and my lips found the edge of her ear.
“Forgive me, please,” she added.
“Always.” I meant it completely.
Mallory was shy, quiet, brilliant, but she was also awkward and off-balance. Standing in front of a room of students wouldn’t faze her; standing in a room of people who want to really get to know her was not in her comfort zone. If she asked me to run away and live in a cabin in the wilds of Montana, I would’ve done it in a heartbeat, knowing how comfortable she was without other people near her. Her body made my mind go numb, and I planted a soft kiss on the skin just beneath her ear. She shivered at the contact. This girl was seriously testing my powers. I pulled my head away from hers slowly, letting our skin barely touch until all that was left was the burn of where we’d been connected.
Mallory moved back into her spot in the center of the couch. Her face flushed a sweet pink. Hope spun like a whirlpool in my chest. Maybe this whole patience thing would pay off after all. Seth glanced at me with a huge grin.
We watched the rest of the game in intense silence. The Cards would take the lead, then the Yankees would take it right back. In the bottom of the ninth, local hero Jason Carter stepped to the plate. He’d graduated high school in Madison about six years before and went straight into AA. When he was nineteen, he made his Major League debut and won Rookie of the Year. Not that I’d admit it, but the guy was kind of my hero.
He fouled off the first two pitches. Mallory and I both moved to the edge of the couch, wondering if he could do it, if he could win the series with one swing.
The next pitch was low and outside.
The fourth pitch was high and tight. With the count two and two, the pitcher had little leeway.
Then the pitcher threw the heat straight down the middle. It must have come at Carter in slow motion. He kept his head down as he dropped his shoulder, swinging in one fluid motion. The sound of the ball meeting the ash of the bat was all anyone needed to know the game was over. The crowd erupted as the ball soared through the air. Mallory’s hand found mine, and she squeezed the life out of it. Both of us knew it was gone, but until the ball cleared the fence, we weren’t going to believe it.
Those three seconds felt like an eternity.
The right fielder leaped, his glove clearing the fence, but the ball bounced off the end of his mitt.
Jason Carter hit a walk-off home run, giving the Cardinals a World Series title.
Mallory and I jumped off the couch, screaming. I couldn’t have cared less who won, since the Sox weren’t in it. But, as a player, that was one of the best games I’d ever seen. Mallory must’ve felt the same by the way she was celebrating. She high-fived my team and beamed from ear to ear. Her eyes lit up with pride.
She turned toward me and wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her head on my chest. Initially, it felt like a friendly hug. But she didn’t let go. She held me tight. My left hand snaked up her back, entangling my fingers in her wild hair. I couldn’t hear her sigh, but I felt it. I felt how her body relaxed into mine. My head dropped, burying my nose in those soft locks. God, she smelled like fresh roses. Somewhere the celebratory hug turned into something more. I didn’t want it to end.
Unfortunately, Chuck’s a dumbass sometimes. As insightful as he was, he often failed to see things right in front of his face when he wasn’t looking. He grabbed both of us, pulling us into a bear hug.
“Damn straight, boys and girl,” he screamed.
When he let go to torture other unsuspecting people, Mallory and I fell away from each other. She stared at me, confusion covering her face once again. I hated that. The careful control she held so high had disappeared for a moment. And she was truly happy. I knew it in my gut as I knew that the last walk-off home run in game seven of the World Series happened in 1960 when the Pirates won.
I smiled, anything to defuse the tension rolling from her. “Do you want to watch the rest or leave?”
“Okay then.”
We sat on the couch, casually discussing the game. In the back of my mind I wondered how many moments we’d had where it felt like there was more than just friendship between us. There had been quite a few, but Mallory only really ran when I initiated anything. If I told her the truth, she didn’t run. If I acted on my feelings, she shut down. When she initiated it, like the hug we’d just shared, she got confused and tense. That was what I had to let her work through.
Chuck pushed Seth out of the way and sat beside Mallory during the postgame. When it came time to announce the MVP, we all cheered for the obvious hero. Jason Carter won a sweet new car to go along with the trophy. He beamed like a kid in a schoolyard.
“Jason, congratulations on winning the World Series and being named series MVP.” The announcer was interrupted by the cheers of the home crowd. “How does it feel?”
“Surreal. I feel so blessed right now. These fans are why we’re here today. Without them, there’s no way we could’ve won this game.” Jason waved at the crowd who started chanting his name.
I glanced at Mallory. She stared at the screen with a calmness on her face that I’d never really seen before.
“You got a tattoo before the playoffs and said if you won the World Series, you’d share the meaning behind it.”
Jason tugged up the sleeve of his left arm. On his bicep was the 23V32 tattoo that brought a lot of speculation, especially since he got it the day after the Cardinals clinched the division. Not the best time to get a tattoo.
“I lost some people very close to me once and promised myself that if I ever made it this far, they’d be with me.” Carter pointed to the sky, and I swear there was a tear in his eye, but it could’ve been sweat. “Coach V, Danny, I never would’ve gotten here without you. I miss you every day.”
He kissed two fingers and saluted his fallen friends.
Full Count (Westland University) Page 10