by J. Sterling
Jared shifted on his feet, his weight moving from one leg to the other as he removed her arms from around his neck. I watched as his hands balled in and out and as Danika deflated with the motion.
You really thinking about coming at me?
Danika looked crazy uncomfortable, and while I fucking hated it and wanted to make it stop, Jared seemed to almost enjoy it. He kept staring at her, his expression hard and unforgiving.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” he sneered, and she swallowed hard.
What kind of guy got off on making his girlfriend feel weak? An insecure one, I assumed.
“Sorry. Jared, this is Chance. Chance, this is my boyfriend, Jared,” she said before sitting back down.
He extended his hand, and when I took it, he tried to squeeze me too hard, a silent show of strength that took everything in me to not start laughing in his face.
“You look familiar.”
“I’m in a fraternity. I’m sure you’ve been to our parties,” he responded before adding, “And I’ve been to a few of yours over the years.” I nodded.
“Ahhh, that’s probably it. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you. You have a really great girlfriend,” I said genuinely, not realizing that it would push his buttons even though I should have been more than aware.
“Yeah, I do.” He grabbed her bag and threw it out of the chair before sitting down and wrapping a possessive arm around her. “She’s been spending a little too much time away from me lately though. Wouldn’t you agree?”
His words were like sour grapes in my mouth. He was a bit of an asshole, who seemed nothing like the kind of guy I thought he’d be after mine and Danika’s conversation last night. He had been there for her after her mom died. He was in California with her now instead of staying back in New York. I assumed that she was a priority to him, not property.
“I wouldn’t really know,” I offered, and he scoffed.
“Jared, stop. We already talked about this. We were studying,” Danika argued, but it was weak at best. Her eyes cut to me for only a second before looking away.
“You’re right,” Jared said, his agreement fake. “Babe, can you go grab me a water?”
“Uh …” She stalled before agreeing, “Sure.” She gave me an apologetic look before walking away.
Jared watched her round the corner before he turned to me, his face twisted, his expression angry. “You’re not taking my spot. I haven’t put in all this time to get benched in the last inning.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Figured if I put it in baseball terms, you might understand. Guess I was wrong. I’ve put in the work. You don’t get to reap the rewards.”
“Work for what?” I asked because I had no idea what the hell this guy was even remotely talking about.
“Don’t play stupid, Carter. You know who her father is.”
Was this douche bag actually telling me that he was using Danika for her money? For her dad’s connections or company?
“You’d better not be insinuating what I think you’re fucking insinuating.”
He stood up from the table, slapped my shoulder, and plastered a fake-ass smile on his face. I wanted to hit him and knock it right off.
“You don’t know anything about how Manhattan works. Whole different ball game in the city. Stay in your lane, California boy.”
I shoved my chair back and rose to my feet, thankful that I had a couple of inches on the guy. “Get out of my face,” I growled, and he laughed.
He fucking laughed.
“What’s going on?” Danika’s voice broke us apart.
“Nothing, babe. I was just giving Chance a geography lesson.” When she didn’t say anything in response, he continued, “You know, letting him know how different New Yorkers are from Californians.”
She looked between us, not buying his lie. I willed her to suddenly have the ability to read minds, so she could read mine.
Please see through this charade, Danika.
“I need to go anyway. I have to get to the field,” I said, only hesitating once her eyes met mine. “I’ll text you when I get my grade,” I added, hoping it would piss Jared off.
Danika knew something had happened while she was away, and no matter how badly I wanted to tell her, what was I supposed to say?
Oh, hey, I think your boyfriend is using you for your money?
Without any proof other than my own thoughts and his words, which I could have easily misinterpreted?
No way.
I’d learned my lesson this past summer about staying out of other people’s relationships. That was one thing that was seared into my memory bank. Whatever the hell was going on between Danika and Jared wasn’t my business, no matter how I felt about her, and I needed to remember that.
Don’t Recognize Myself
Danika
“What the hell was that?” I asked the second Chance stormed off.
I had no idea what Jared had said to him, but I knew it couldn’t have been good. Chance had looked like he was seconds away from ripping Jared’s head off when I walked up.
“Nothing.” He unscrewed the cap off his water and took a drink.
“Sure didn’t look like nothing to me,” I snapped.
Jared walked me backward until I bumped the table with my lower back. His arms braced each side of my body, boxing me in. “I was just reminding Baseball Boy to keep his hands to himself.”
My jaw tightened involuntarily, and it took everything in me not to fight back, but we were in public, and I was all too aware of the eyes watching. “I don’t need you to do that.”
“The guy wants you, Danika.” He slammed one hand on the table out of frustration, and I swore it echoed throughout the whole commissary.
“Stop. You’re causing a scene,” I whispered, completely embarrassed before wiggling out of his arm shield and sitting down. I patted the chair next to me, hoping Jared would sit as well and was thankful when he did.
“I don’t want you hanging out with him,” he demanded, and I felt my defenses flare up inside of me.
“You have to stop doing that.” My voice was weaker than I’d wanted, and I hated that I sounded so submissive instead of strong.
“Doing what?”
“Telling me what to do. You never used to be like this. We never used to be like this.” I wanted to remind Jared that our relationship hadn’t started out this way. He wasn’t always so possessive and controlling.
I watched as his expression shifted. “No, we didn’t. But then again, there weren’t guys stalking you before, were there?”
And there it was yet again—the pretty justification for his ugly behavior.
“That was one time, Jared. And it’s done now. You can’t keep using that as an excuse to try to control my life.”
“Excuse me for caring so much about you. For not wanting you to be in a situation where that could happen again. For wanting you to stay away from other guys who clearly want you and are not used to taking no for an answer. I’m just looking out for you, Danika. I want you to be safe. Protected. Why is that so hard to understand?”
When he said things like that, all my strength flew out the window, and guilt instantly replaced it. I felt bad for making him worry. And even though I hated how controlling he’d become, it felt like it was my fault somehow. Because of the situation I’d been in, I’d created this new reality between us. I had no one to blame but myself.
“Well, you don’t need to worry about Chance.” I tried to sound convincing. “Pretty sure he’s not the type of guy to stalk a girl.”
“Are you cheating on me?” Jared asked bluntly.
I started choking on the air in my lungs, slapping at my chest to make it stop. His question caught me completely off guard. Being jealous was one thing, but thinking I’d actually crossed the line and cheated was another.
“What? No. Never.”
“I don’t believe you.” His eyes narrowed, and they looked almost … scary.
“Seriously?” I asked as I wondered what the hell had just happened. “Are you being serious right now? I’ve never given you any reason to—”
“You went to his house last night without telling me until you came back. You ignored my calls and texts while you were with him. Of course I think there’s something going on.”
I swallowed around the giant lump in my throat. Has that always been there? “I handled yesterday badly, and I’m sorry. But nothing happened,” I told him as I apologized again.
I had already apologized to Jared a thousand times last night after confessing to him about where I’d really been. If the roles had been reversed and he had been at some girl’s house without telling me, I’d have been beyond pissed, too, so I understood. But Jared was so angry that I never even got the chance to tell him about my mom or the pictures Cassie had gifted me of her. We got off the phone with him still pissed. I’d assumed he’d show up at my apartment to finish the conversation in person or to make up, but he never did. Not even after I’d asked him to.
“Jared,” I said, reaching across the table for his hand and taking it in mine, “I messed up last night, and I really am sorry. I should have told you where I was going. I should have let you know.”
He pulled his hand from mine and huffed out a disgusted sound. “No. That’s just it, Danika. You shouldn’t have told me. There should have been nothing to tell. You should have never agreed to go over there in the first place. You’re my girlfriend, but you’re running around like you’re Chance Carter’s whore.”
“Excuse me?” I stood up, my pride finally making an appearance. “What did you just call me?” The derogatory names that some felt were okay to call girls were such hypocritical bullshit, and I wouldn’t tolerate it.
“You need to start acting right.” He pushed back his chair and stood as well. “And if I find out you’re cheating on me—”
“You’ll what? Call me another name?” I mocked.
“I’ll make sure your little Baseball Boy knows whose girl he messed with. And I’ll let him know where we come from and how we handle things like this back in the city,” he threatened before walking away and leaving me alone at the table, strange eyes still on me, as I wondered what in the hell kind of reality television show my life had just turned into and how the heck I’d let it happen.
I sat down and put my head in my hands for only a moment before I heard Sunny’s usually cheerful voice. “Well, that was fun to watch.”
I glanced up to see her holding a tray of food and a book before setting it all down on the table and sitting next to me, where Jared had just been. “How much did you hear?”
She shook her head. “Not much really. It was more of the body language. He looked like he was yelling at you.”
“He kinda was,” I confirmed, and she bit into an apple, moaning as she chewed before swallowing.
“What is Jerk-Off mad about now?”
“He thinks I cheated with Chance.”
She let out a sound, her head shaking. “He thinks you cheated? Oh, that’s rich,” she said before taking another bite.
“What does that mean?” I asked because her response was odd.
Is she insinuating that Jared’s cheated on me? Does she know something that I don’t?
“Nothing.” She waved her arms around. “I just don’t like him anymore; you know that,” she admitted before swallowing. “Sorry. I know that sucks to hear, and it’s not my place.”
Her admission was hurtful, but it wasn’t a surprise. I knew that she had stopped liking Jared. We’d already talked about it before.
“I know you don’t like him.”
“For you,” she clarified like she had when we talked about this at home, and my phone buzzed. “I just think you can do better.”
I reached for my cell, assuming it would be a text or something from Jared, but there was a simple message from Chance waiting instead, which read, I passed. I felt the smile break out on my face before I could stop it.
“Now, that’s a smile I haven’t seen in a while,” Sunny said with a matching grin of her own. “Bet I know who the message is from.”
“Stop,” I said, trying to make my smile disappear but failing.
“It’s not my fault Chance Carter makes you smile more than your own boyfriend does.” The accuracy of her words made the breath catch in my throat. She shrugged, her blue eyes shining. “What? It’s true, so I’m not sorry for saying it.”
I knew that it was too. I just wasn’t ready to admit it out loud and deal with the consequences of what exactly that meant.
Catching Up with Cole
Chance
My professor must have graded the tests right after we finished them or something because as I’d headed toward the field after breakfast, I’d pulled up my online account and seen that I’d gotten a B-minus. I was feeling pretty good for pulling that grade, and I knew Danika would be happy for me too.
I had texted her and was waiting for her to respond, but after about a minute, I needed to put my phone in my locker and get into the weight room. I was running behind. Having breakfast with her hadn’t been the smartest idea, but when she asked, I couldn’t say no. I didn’t want to. And even though I thought Jared was a complete dick, it was a good thing that he had shown up when he did. I’d needed to leave, and without him ruining the morning, I wasn’t sure I would have. I mean, of course I would have, but I would have been even later than I already was, consequences be damned.
Fall conditioning and workouts six days a week were mandatory. We only had one day off, and today wasn’t it. So, when I stepped into the workout room three minutes after I was supposed to and saw Coach Jackson standing near the exit, I was pissed. Not because Coach was there, but because I was actually late for the first time in my college career, and I had no one to blame but myself. I watched as he looked up at the clock on the wall before walking out without saying a word.
“Dammit,” I mumbled as Mac walked up, a towel around his shoulders.
“He was only in here for five minutes, man,” he said, and I shook my head. “Five minutes. Swear.”
“He’s never here before we are,” I said, still angry at myself because Coach usually showed up in the middle of weights and stayed until the end to make sure none of us skipped out.
“I know,” Mac added. “Wonder why he was. Everyone’s here,” he said, and we both looked around at our team. “Except you.”
Why did he pick today, of all days, to show up before us? And why the hell did I allow myself to be late? I was never late.
“Think he’s pissed?” I asked, honestly wondering how much hell he’d be giving me later.
“Definitely.” Mac shrugged. “By the way, why were you late?”
I considered lying for a second, telling Mac that my test had run over and the professor had given me extra time to finish, but that was just stupid. “I was at breakfast with Danika. Her boyfriend showed up.”
He grinned. “I already knew that.”
“What?” I punched him in the arm. “Why’d you ask me then?”
“Wanted to see if you’d lie or not.” He gave me a look.
“And how the hell did you already know?”
“Snapchat. Instagram. Take your pick.”
Before I could complain or groan, Coach reappeared near the door. “Carter. Now.”
“Fuck,” I mumbled before walking toward the exit, where he was waiting.
Once we were outside of the weight room, he shook his head.
“Don’t come to the field today,” he said with authority.
“What? Coach, I’m sorry I was—” I started to explain, but he cut me off.
“You know the rules, Carter. I expect a full commitment from you. Go home. You’re done for the day,” he said, and there would be no arguing. “If you show up at the field for practice later, everyone on the team will pay for your idiocy.”
“Yes, Coach,” I said before mentally beating myself up.
I couldn’t believe that I’d allowed myself to get carried away this morning. My dad was going to be so mad, and he would have every right to be.
How did I let myself get kicked out of a practice?
Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I walked toward the parking lot, where I’d left my car earlier and debated my options. My gut instincts were to fight, to show up at the field anyway later so Coach knew how serious I was about the team and how sorry I was for being stupid. But I knew that would only backfire. Coach Jackson would send me right back home and tack on the rest of the week as well to make an example out of me. Then, he’d make my boys run until they threw up. All because I’d refused to listen.
I couldn’t do that to my teammates, but sitting at home while they practiced today was going to damn near kill me. It didn’t matter who you were; Coach’s rules were meant to be followed. If you broke them, you paid the price. I’d always admired that about him. It felt good, being part of a team where no one received special treatment. It helped keep egos in check—mine included, apparently.
My phone buzzed as I sat in my Bronco, and I reached for it without looking. A text from Danika, congratulating me on passing my test with a million exclamation points, couldn’t even bring me out of my bad mood. To be honest, I’d already forgotten about the test. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to think about anything else.
A quick rap on my window made me jump. I turned to see my dad’s face staring at me, his expression twisted in confusion. I rolled it down, and he placed a hand on my side mirror.
“Why are you sitting out here instead of lifting inside?”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “I was late.”
My dad cocked his head back in surprise. “You were late?”
I nodded.
“Why?”
That was the one question I’d been dreading more than any other. “I was having breakfast with Danika in the comm.”
He moved toward my window and leaned in, bracing himself on his forearms as I prepared myself for the lecture that I was sure would follow my answer. “Did you lose track of time?”
“No.”