Full Count (Westland University)

by Stevens, Lynn

  I nodded, appreciating Chelsea’s talent for twisting things to suit her own needs. Grandma Jean was right. Mallory needed to hear me say how much I needed her in my life. I’d told her I loved her more than once, but her trust was more fragile than a spider web in a tornado.

  The wind burned my face as soon as I set foot outside. Snow swirled as it fell. Taking Chelsea’s direction, I hurried toward the big barn south of the regular size garage. The barn held the combine and tractors for the farm. There was also an office with a couch, TV, and electric heater. When we were kids, Chelsea and I would “run away” from home just to hide out in Dad’s barn office.

  I opened the door and found Mallory admiring the combine. Her gloved fingers traced the airbrushed words “Betts Family Farm” on the side. Dad liked to show off.

  “Your family’s amazing,” she said without glancing toward me.

  I hesitated at the door. “They have their moments.”

  She laughed, but it had to be the saddest laugh I’d ever heard. The hesitation disappeared, and I strolled up to her.

  “Mallory…”

  “Don’t.” Tears clogged her throat before spilling from her eyes. “Please, Aaron, don’t.”

  I shoved my hands into my pockets and tried to quell the anger growing inside me. This girl was everything I ever wanted, everything I needed. How could she keep pushing me away? Grandma Jean was right. I had to clear the air, and I had to do it before I lost my nerve.

  “Stop pushing me away.” I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her toward me. She tried to twist away, but I moved my hands to either side of her face and made her look me in the eye. “I’ve treaded lightly around you for so long, but I can’t do it anymore. Everything you heard me tell my mother, everything I’ve held back from you… You need to hear it again. You need to see that it’s very real.” I pressed my forehead against hers and inhaled her soft vanilla scent. So pure, so simple, so Mallory. My fingers massaged her temple and slid down to her neck as I leaned back so she could see my face. “I can’t imagine not having you in my life. I can’t think of a scenario where we won’t be together. Because that would destroy me. Even when I thought for a moment you might not care about me, I tried to figure out a way to forget these feelings. But I can’t.”

  I stared at her, waiting for her to say anything. She closed her eyes but said nothing.

  “Damn it, Mallory. Talk to me. Whatever it is, whatever makes you put up these walls, we can get past it.”

  “I don’t…” Mallory pulled away from me. She pressed her palms down her chest as she took a big breath. “Your family is everything I wished mine was. Maybe…maybe you’d be better off with someone like Trish, someone who doesn’t have all this baggage. I just…I don’t fit. I’m the square peg here.”

  I pulled her back into my arms. “You don’t need to try to fit in anywhere. They need to accept you. And they do already. You’re worrying about nothing.”

  “Nothing?” Mallory smacked my chest. Anger radiated off her. “This is huge for me, and you know it. I just…I need time to process.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Did you just smack me?”

  “Not where I wanted to,” Mallory said. Her anger cooled with a grin.

  “You know, I can think of a way to help you process this situation.” I pressed my lips against her neck. “The cab of the combine is bigger than you think.”

  Mallory’s head fell back and a moan escaped her lips.

  “There’s a hayloft we can explore.” I kissed along her jaw. “And Dad’s office has a couch, too.”

  “Stop talking, Aaron,” Mallory said before capturing my mouth with hers.

  She stepped back toward the office, and I opened the door with my foot. The latch broke years ago. We fell onto the couch and I showed her how much she belonged with me.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Christmas morning came too soon. I didn’t want to get out of bed. My entire body was exhausted from the barn exploits with Mallory. Then she snuck into my room after midnight and we slept in each other’s arms until she snuck back out around five. I fell back to sleep, but Chelsea refused to let go of tradition and jumped on the mattress at six thirty. She started singing “Jingle Bells” as loudly and as off-key as she could, which took skill for someone with a great singing voice.

  “Come on, Aaron,” she whined as if she were still seven. “You know Mom won’t let us open up the presents unless we’re all downstairs.”

  “Go away.” I threw my baseball-shaped pillow at her and buried my head under the comforter. Chelsea tugged the comforter off my upper body, and the cold immediately set in. “Damn it.” I reached for warmth and protection, but Chelsea was having none of it.

  She yanked it completely off me and threw it on the floor. “Get up or I’m going to tell Mom you didn’t sleep alone.”

  “You wouldn’t.” I grabbed a sweatshirt off the floor and sniffed it to make sure the smell wasn’t overpowering. It was wearable at least.

  “Wouldn’t I?”

  “Does Mom know she spawned pure evil?” I slid my feet into sheepskin slippers I’d had since my senior year in high school.

  “Suck it, Aaron.” Chelsea plopped beside me. It never ceased to amaze me how my little sister could get up an hour early on Christmas to make herself look perfect. It started her freshman year. When I called her out, she told me she wasn’t going to look back on these moments and wonder why she looked like death.

  “Yeah, suck it up, buttercup,” a soft voice totally not my sister’s said.

  “Buttercup? That’s not what you were calling me yesterday,” I said with a wicked grin.

  Chelsea slapped her hands on her knees and stood. “Well, this has been fun. And awkward. I’m leaning more toward awkward at the moment. Either way, I need to get out of here and do some damage control downstairs.” She squeezed Mallory’s shoulder as she pushed into the hallway. Before closing the door, Chelsea popped her head back into my room. “I can stall for about twenty minutes before Mom comes to get you.”

  Mallory sat beside me on the bed with a small box on her lap. Her hair cascaded down and hid her face. She lifted the box and put it in my hand. “I wanted to give this to you alone.”

  “You didn’t have to get me anything,” I said.

  “Of course I did. That’s what couples do.” Mallory sucked in her lower lip. It cracked me up that she was nervous. After everything we’ve been through to get to this point, it seemed silly. “Open it.”

  I lifted the lid. Nestled on a piece of cotton was a keychain. It was a simple strap with Westland Hawks #4 stamped into the brown leather. And there was a key attached. I lifted it on one finger. There weren’t any words. Nothing I could even think about saying to describe the moment.

  Mallory shrugged, her face turning the color of a rose. “I just thought we might see each other more if you could come and go as you please. I mean, I know that you have to live on campus, but that doesn’t mean you have to sleep—”

  I pulled her into my arms, kissing her until I’d pressed her back against the mattress. Mallory’s fingers tugged at the bottom of my sweatshirt. I needed more than twenty minutes to show her how much this gift meant to me.

  Mallory pushed me off her and stood. “As much as I’d like to continue this, your mom’s going to be looking for us.”

  I stood and pulled Mallory against my chest. “Let her.”

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, a sharp rap on the door preceded my mother’s unhappy voice. “Aaron, we’re waiting for you. And Mallory.”

  “We’ll be down in a second, Mom.” I smiled at my girl. “I’ve just got to get dressed.”

  Mallory’s eyes widened, and a small giggle escaped.

  The door opened with a loud crash. Mom stood in the threshold with the wrath of God on her face.

  “Kidding, Mom.” I didn’t let go of Mallory, but it was clear clothes had not been shed. Mallory’s flannel pajamas were firmly in place. My boxers weren
’t exactly hiding anything, but I wasn’t buck naked, either. Besides, Mallory blocked most of Mom’s view of my lower extremities. “We’re just talking.”

  Mom reached into the room and grabbed Mallory’s arm. “Honey, you finish getting dressed. I’ll take your girlfriend downstairs so you won’t screw around. Your grandpas are getting crabby, and your grandmas are starting to bicker. If we make them wait any longer for their biscuits and gravy, World War Three might very well start in our living room.” Mom tugged Mallory out the door before looking me up and down. “And put on some pants.”

  I grabbed some sweats and took off down the steps less than a minute later. No way I was leaving Mallory to the wolves. Of course, when I found her in the living room, both grandmas had attached themselves to her and were telling stories about my misadventures. I stood in the doorway of the family room for a moment and watched. Mallory belonged here. She had to see that. She glanced up and caught my gaze. The smile on her face was enough for me to believe she finally knew it, too. This would be her home. Not necessarily the house we stood in, but this family would be hers as much as mine.

  “Sit down, boy. Let’s get these presents opened so we can eat.” Grandpa Len pointed to a spot on the floor in front of him, my usual present-opening position. “We ain’t got all day.”

  “Yes, sir.” I sat down as Mom brought me a cup of hot chocolate. It didn’t matter that I would’ve had the same coffee as everyone else; Chelsea and I would always get hot chocolate on Christmas morning. But she also handed a mug to Mallory. I reached out and took the mug from Mallory’s hand and sat it on the floor beside me.

  “What’re—?”

  I didn’t let her finish. Grabbing her hand, I yanked her off the couch and into my lap. “You belong with me,” I whispered into her hair.

  Mallory smiled. “Yeah, I think I do.”

  There wasn’t a better Christmas present in the world.

  We left two days after Christmas. Mallory had won over my family. She cried when my parents gave her The Civil War documentary by Ken Burns. I’d given her a leather-bound collection of The Complete History of Ireland that I knew she’d wanted and refused to buy for herself, but I waited until we were alone again to give her the earrings I’d bought after Thanksgiving. They weren’t anything fancy with big diamonds, but they were simple and meaningful. The gold Celtic crosses belonged on her ears. She’d told me how much she loved reading about all things Irish, which I witnessed by the stack of books by her bed and couch, so the earrings seemed perfect. She hadn’t taken them off since the moment she put them on.

  And I hadn’t left her house since we got back to Madison.

  Chuck and the guys tried to lure me out for New Year’s Eve, but I brushed them off. I wasn’t wasting another minute without Mallory in my arms. Besides, I knew exactly how I wanted to ring in the New Year.

  The clock read 11:55, five minutes until midnight. I pulled Mallory on top of me, careful to keep the blanket covering our naked bodies.

  “You’re insatiable.” Her hair fell around her face, the ends tickling my chest.

  “When it comes to you, yes.” I brought her face to mine and kissed her like a man possessed. And I was. She’d bewitched me. It didn’t matter how many times we’d had sex over the last week, I wanted more. Hell, I needed more. I needed her again, but I held back. That was how we were going to ring in the change of the calendar. Together, as one. God, I was turning into a lovesick schmuck.

  My hands traced along her spine, barely touching her. She shivered and pressed her body closer. I loved how she fit against me. She slid away, and I took the moment to glance at the clock. Two minutes. Smiling, I stared at her and wiggled my eyebrows.

  Mallory’s eyes widened. “What’re you—” She screamed when I flipped her onto her back. “Aaron…”

  “Shhhh,” I whispered, pinning her hands above her head and kissing my way to the Promised Land.

  Her moans almost sent me over the edge, but I managed to control myself. Barely. Once I’d secured her satisfaction, I kissed my way back toward her mouth. My lips never left her as we made love. This was the way it was supposed to be. Every bit of me belonged to this woman, and she belonged to me. I knew it with every beat of my heart. This was what love was meant to be. Nothing in the world could take it away from us. Nothing.

  Half an hour later, Mallory snuggled against me.

  “Are you cold?” I asked, tugging the comforter over her bare shoulder.

  She shook her head, and her entire body tensed.

  Oh shit. “Talk to me, love.”

  She snuggled closer to me and sighed. “This next semester’s going to be rough. And it’s my last here.”

  I almost let out my own sigh of relief. “Yeah, I know. But it’s not the end of the world.”

  “You’ll be busy with baseball. I’ll be student teaching, then…” She let it hang there, but it didn’t take a PhD to know where she was going.

  “And you’ll graduate in May. I’ll get drafted in June. Neither one of us knows where we’ll be going.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Is that what you’re getting at?”

  She nodded.

  “It won’t be easy, but we’ll be fine.” She snuggled closer, and I tightened my grip. “We’re going to be fine.”

  “I’ve been accepted to Iowa’s grad program. And Northwestern. And Mizzou. And Arizona State.” She lifted her head, resting her chin on my shoulder. “I don’t know where I’m going to go.”

  “Where do you want to go?” My heart clenched. Not because she could go anywhere she wanted, but because she wanted to make this decision with me. As a couple.

  “I wouldn’t mind Arizona because Grandma’s there. But Iowa’s all I’ve ever known.” A sad smile crossed her face. “I’d miss winter.”

  “Me, too.” I pulled her on top of me. “We never know what the future’s going to bring. We just have to roll with it. And if we’re going to make it, we’re going to hit a lot of waves.”

  Mallory kissed me, then laid her head on my chest. “There’s going to be some pretty big waves.”

  She had no idea.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Mallory’s student teaching kept her too far away for too long. Thank God for the key she gave me. I spent most nights at her place. When she wasn’t at her classes, she was at the bookstore or tutoring. I became the defacto cook on nights when I stayed over, and I made enough food that she’d have dinner when I wasn’t there. It was our little bit of domestic bliss. And bliss it was.

  Baseball season officially started in a few weeks. Conditioning and practice took up much of my time. It felt great to get back to the game again. My knee was almost good enough to play. And that weighed on me. It shouldn’t have been, but the steroids helped me heal. That was the only reason I’d taken them. Not to be better, but to get better.

  A week after classes kicked off, Coach Hummel called me into his office. Chuck slapped my shoulder and frowned.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Something’s up, Betts.” He nodded toward the closed door. “Did you see the athletic director go in about half an hour ago?”

  “Yeah. So?” The hammer knocked inside my heart. But it wasn’t possible. There was no way they’d found out. No way I tested dirty. I’d followed Seth’s directions. I’d also done my own research. I stopped with plenty of time to get the ’roids out of my system.

  “When was the last time you saw Ross down here?” Chuck shook his head. “Your nose better be clean.”

  I nodded and turned away from my friend. Coach Hummel’s office was less than ten feet away, but I had suddenly developed tunnel vision. The door narrowed to the size of a pin and never seemed to get closer until I reached for it. Then it was a hundred feet tall.

  Calm down, Aaron. It’s nothing. Ross probably just wants to check on my knee. The lump forming in my throat said different, but I had no choice. I opened the door.

  Coach Hummel leaned back in his chair with his Westlan
d hat tipped back on his head, so all the lines on his forehead were visible. The bookcase behind him had scouting reports stacked by school and position. Not that anybody could tell. Hummel’s organizational skills were the stuff of legend in the clubhouse.

  He sat forward, waving me in with two fingers and pointing at the unoccupied chair in front of his desk.

  “Have a seat, Betts. Dr. Ross and I have something to discuss with you,” Hummel said in his soft commanding voice. During the season, he’d usually punctuate any sentence with a spit of sunflower seed shells.

  Ross turned to his left. His sharp profile and thick neck screamed “football player,” even for a guy in his late fifties. Dr. Ross also had the professor thing going. His dark hair discolored into white racing stripes above his ears. He turned toward Coach without saying a word, but his hands clenched the arms of his seat. In his past incarnation as a semipro noseguard, he would’ve snapped the cheap wood.

  “What’s up, Coach?” I did my best to keep the tremor from my voice.

  Hummel raised his eyebrows. “Something you want to tell us, son?”

  I glanced between the two men. Hummel’s gaze never left my face, and Ross didn’t even bother with so much as a glimpse at me. Knowing the coach was on my side for whatever was going down, I looked him square in the eye and lied. “No. Why?”

  “Mr. Betts, you took a drug screen before winter break, did you not?” Ross’s smooth timbre rolled through me until my toenails rattled.

  I could only swallow and nod.

  “The results came in this morning.” Coach Hummel leaned forward and put both elbows on his already coffee-stained calendar. “You tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone.”

  The bottom didn’t drop out. It disappeared. Everything I’d worked so hard for was gone. Everything. There was no way I could hide this from Mallory.

  “There’s an appeals process to go through.” Coach’s voice gurgled, sounding as if he was underwater.

  “But it’s unlikely to change the results.” Ross finally faced me for the first time. His nostrils flared. “Clean out your locker, Betts. You’re done.”