Cleat Chaser

by Celia Aaron

  A guy in front of us turned to look at Nikki as she used a perfectly creepy falsetto to ask her question. He gave us a flirty smile and collided with the couple walking in front of him. We laughed and walked around the pile up.

  “I’d take the lotion. Yep, I still prefer the serial killer.” I peeked through the openings in the concourse, staring down at the field and trying to get a glimpse of Easton.

  “Okay, okay. But what if…” She squeezed my elbow and widened her eyes. “He had a pencil ‘stache?”

  I laughed. “In that one instance, I would prefer you.”

  “I win!” She grinned and sped her pace toward the stairs leading down to our seats. The green of the field overwhelmed me for that split second once I entered the stadium proper. It didn’t matter how many times I went to the ballpark, it always had the same magic.

  We were right behind home plate again, a spot that was quickly becoming one of my favorite places in the world. Watching Easton play was a particular thrill. The way his body moved, the way he was able to focus on something with such intensity, was undeniably impressive. And when he used that same focus on me? A shiver went down my spine at the thought.

  Finding our seats, we sat down and watched the teams warm up. Even from this distance, I could hear Braden talking shit to his pitch and catch partner. He and Nikki made a great pair. I scanned for Easton, but he must have been in the bullpen. I settled in, itching for the game to start. Music filtered over the stadium speakers and a light breeze kicked up, ruffling the emerald green blades of grass in the outfield. As night fell, the lights came up and everyone stood for the National Anthem.

  The announcers chattered as the players took the field. Easton wouldn’t be up yet. He was a closer, but I still loved getting glimpses of him in the dugout or the bullpen. The game was interesting, too.

  Braden trotted out and gave Nikki a small salute by touching his glove to his helmet. She squealed and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Isn’t he hot?” She asked the same question anytime he ran onto the field.

  “Yes. Very hot.” I put as much enthusiasm as I could muster into it, though I had no problem overlooking Braden in favor of Easton.

  “I know. I wonder who’s up first? I think Graves pitched last game, so he’s probably resting now. Hare maybe?” Nikki went through the starters, trying to figure out who it would be, when a player strutted out from the dugout.

  The announcer came over the speaker and belted out the pitcher’s name. It washed over me like a winter rain, frigid and draining.

  A cold sweat broke out along the back of my neck and my upper lip. Nikki’s grip on my shoulder tightened and, even though I was sitting, I felt like I was falling.

  “Sean Richards.” I said his name, the words unfamiliar on my tongue after two years of disuse. “He’s back.”

  Sean walked to the mound, the same cocky tilt to his chin that I remembered. The same dead-eyed stare at every batter that came up to the plate. Everything was the same. I was sitting here, watching him pitch. I ran my thumb over my ring finger, the phantom of my engagement band still there.

  “Kyrie?” Nikki put her hand along my cheek and turned my head toward her. I got the feeling she’d been saying my name for a while. “You okay?” She winced. “I know you aren’t. That was dumb of me to ask. Do you want to go? It’s okay. I can catch up with Braden later.”

  Sean ran his fingers through the dirt and gripped the ball. Each movement was familiar. I hadn’t seen him since that night two years ago, and now here he was, as if the clock had reversed and I was still the same naïve idiot that trusted him with my heart.

  “Come on. Let’s go.” Nikki started to get up.

  I grabbed her knee, keeping her in place. “No. This is my place now. Not his. He isn’t running me out of here.” The steel in my voice surprised me, but I meant every word.

  I stared as he threw a few warm up pitches to Braden. Sean didn’t glance up at us in the stands. I couldn’t tell if I wanted him to see me or not. I tucked my frozen hands under my legs and simply watched.

  The other team’s batter stepped up to the plate and the game finally began. Nikki scooted into my side, ignoring the arm rest between us.

  He threw his first pitch, then another, and another. Three strikes. The crowd warmed to him, their cheers fueling him onward. I chilled even more, each beat of my heart sending shards of ice splintering in all directions.

  A pop fly, caught by Braden, and another infield fly, caught by Sean, and the inning was over. Sean stepped from the mound and trotted to the dugout, but he threw a look at me over his shoulder. He’d seen me. I knew it when I saw the smirk twist his lips—the same smirk I’d seen the night I’d caught him in our bed with another woman.

  I slid into the booth and pressed myself against the wall. The cool paneling of the bar should have been soothing. Instead, I couldn’t concentrate on anything—not on the waitress taking our drink order, or the words pouring from Nikki’s lips, or the raucous crowd in the bar celebrating the Ravens win. My heart thumped like a drum in my ears.

  “God, why didn’t I take you home?” Nikki leaned into me.

  “No, it’s fine.”

  “You sound like Mr. Roboto. It’s not fine.”

  “I’m here for Easton, not Sean.” I hated even saying my ex’s name.

  I’d watched, frozen, as Sean pitched the first eight innings before they called in Easton. Seeing him take the mound and shoot me a confident smile helped melt some of the ice seeing Sean had placed around my heart, but not enough. When he’d come to the net after the game, I’d been distracted, worried Sean would show up and start something. He never did, but Easton had noticed something was off.

  To smooth it over, I begged Nikki to take me to Johnny’s, the bar frequented by the team after games. I wanted to see Easton, maybe explain to him about Sean before it all hit the fan. Sean wasn’t known for his tact. Then again, it had been two years. Maybe he’d changed?

  The front doors burst open and the team spilled in, laughing and pushing each other as the patrons all stood and cheered their arriving heroes. The bar was decked out in Ravens memorabilia and filled to the brim with people. Nikki waved Braden and Easton over to where we were seated.

  They were freshly showered and dressed in button downs and jeans. Easton slid into the booth next to me and put his arm around me. I scanned the crowd, checking for Sean. I let out a sigh of relief when I didn’t see his lanky frame amongst the players.

  Easton pulled me into his side and put his lips to my ear. “What is it, baby?”

  I forced a smile. “Nothing. Don’t worry.” I kissed him, a chaste peck at first, but he turned it into more by refusing to let me go. His tongue teased at mine before he finally let up.

  Braden began a slow clap across the table as Nikki smiled and took a drink of her beer.

  “Shut up, douche.” Easton turned to the waitress and ordered a pitcher.

  The front doors swung open again and I couldn’t hold back a curse when I saw Sean strut in. He studied the room, and I tried to shrink back in the booth. It didn’t work. He spotted me and walked to the bar, shooting me glances every few moments as he chatted with his team members.

  “What?” Easton gently grabbed my chin and pulled my head around to face him. “What’s going on?”

  I shook out of his hold. “Nothing.” A more truthful answer would be—I’m coming apart because the man who jilted me two months before I was supposed to marry him is here and eyeing me like he wants to eat me up. “I-I just need to go to the bathroom. That’s all.”

  He put a hand on my cheek, the callouses along his fingers comforting and familiar. “You’re white as a sheet. Please tell me what’s wrong, Kyrie. Did I do something?”

  His worry pierced me like a needle. “No. It’s not you.” I could feel Sean’s eyes on me and suddenly, I felt trapped. My chest cramped as if I’d been running, and I needed air. “I promise. I have to pee.” My desperation seeped into my voice, b
ut I didn’t care. I needed a minute to just think.

  “Okay.” Easton stood and helped me up. His eyebrows were pinched together and I could feel the worry in his eyes.

  “I’ll come with.” Nikki tried to push Braden away.

  “No. I’m fine.” I turned and hurried through the crush of players and fans. I nodded at the ones I knew but didn’t stop to talk. Cutting a wide path around the bar, I entered the back hallway where the restrooms were located.

  “Kyrie?” A familiar voice sounded at my back. Oh, god no.

  I stopped and moved to the side as a player and a giggling woman passed by, coming from the men’s room. I took a deep breath and turned. Sean looked down at me, his dark green eyes still as beautiful as the day I’d met him. He wore jeans and a team t-shirt, maybe even one of the same ones from before. It looked well worn.

  “What?” My voice shook and I couldn’t stop from clenching my hands.

  “I just-I just saw you at the ballpark and then I saw you with that other guy.” He shrugged, one corner of his mouth turning up in a disarming smile. “I wanted to say hello is all.” He stepped closer. Too close. He wore the same aftershave, had the same cut to his dark brown hair, even said my name with the same inflection.

  “I have to go.” I stepped back, but he grabbed my arm.

  He wasn’t rough, but he wasn’t letting me go, either. “I just wanted to tell you that you look good.” His eyes dropped to my lips and back up. “And that I’ve missed you.”

  I closed my eyes, fighting away tears that should have been spent two years before. How many times had I wished he’d come back and begged forgiveness, told me he loved me, told me he missed me? What a fool I’d been for even considering forgiving someone who’d never seen fit to ask for forgiveness in the first place.

  “Let go.” I opened my eyes and tried to pull my arm from his grip to no avail.

  “Kyrie, come on.” He stepped closer. “Why are you with that Easton asshole?”

  “He’s not an asshole.”

  He ran his other hand down my arm and stared into my eyes. “I want to try it again. I came back for you.”

  My mind reeled and I could only stare up at him. He took the opportunity and closed the gap with a kiss. He gripped my waist, pulling me into him as he crushed his mouth into mine.

  I shoved at his chest, but he held me tight.

  “You, motherfucker!” A guttural yell rang out, and Sean was ripped away from me.

  EASTON

  “I SHOULD’VE GONE with her.” Nikki rapped her nails on the table in rapid-fire succession. The incessant sound put my teeth on edge.

  “Chicks.” Braden shrugged. “It’s like separating twins if they don’t go listen to each other pee.” He chuckled at his joke.

  I grinned at both of them across the table, but Nikki’s eyes were fixed in Kyrie’s direction. Turning in my chair, I’d expected a view of Kyrie’s ass as she strode away. I got just a peek before she wove through the crowd to the back hallway.

  “Oh, no. Shit!” Nikki’s voice was a mumble.

  “What?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

  She grimaced and kept her eyes trained on the back hallway. I followed her gaze and saw a flash of Kyrie’s dark hair as she walked in and then what looked like the new pitcher following behind her.

  Nikki started shoving at Braden, trying to get him out of the booth so she could get up.

  “What the fuck is going on?” A wave of nerves ripped through my stomach.

  “Nothing. Move!” Nikki finally got Braden on his feet, but I’d already taken off through the bar. I didn’t like what was happening. Why had Richards looked like he was following Kyrie? He’d been eyeing her weird all night at the ballfield. I tried not to think much of it. The last thing I wanted was to rock the boat after destroying the locker room.

  Now, I didn’t give a shit if I sank the fucking boat to the bottom of the ocean. I pushed past players, Nikki hot on my heels. When I entered the back hallway and saw Richards with his hands on my girl, something clicked in my mind. When he leaned down and kissed her, everything became a blur, except for Nikki’s words at my back, “Sean! Don’t you fucking touch her!”

  I rushed forward and yanked him back by his shoulder. “You, motherfucker!”

  My fist hammered into Richards’ nose, and I followed him down to the ground, not feeling a thing.

  Shrieks rang out around me but I was only focused on driving Sean’s face through the floor with my fists.

  “You’re fucking dead, Holliday!” He struggled, trying to buck my weight off him. Not a fucking chance. I swung and nailed him in the left eye.

  He tagged me with a hard right, but I barely registered it. Regaining my composure with a quick head shake, I gripped him around the throat to make sure I didn’t hear the piece of shit say anything else while I pummeled the side of his head with my free hand.

  “Stop it, Easton! Stop please!”

  Kyrie’s voice sounded like it was in a tunnel, far behind me.

  I felt an arm around my neck, struggling to pull me off my new teammate. It had to be Braden judging by how strong it was.

  “Bro, just let it go. Let it go.” I recognized Braden’s voice as his arm wrenched tighter around my neck.

  Blood ran from Richards’s nose to his mouth. The sight of it appeased me enough to surrender as I let Braden pull me back from him. His eyes were red, and I hoped the fuckers would be swollen shut within the hour.

  “What the fuck, Easton?” Kyrie’s shrill voice was just below a scream.

  She bent over to examine Richards’s face as he started to stand up.

  “I think you broke his nose.” She straightened and looked at me, but I couldn’t tell if she was pleased or pissed.

  I knew which emotion I favored. “Good!” Adrenaline still coursed through my veins. “Should’ve broken his goddamn neck, too.”

  “Calm down.” Braden’s arm tensed against me once more when I started to head back for seconds.

  “Why’s he kissing you, Kyrie?”

  She glanced to the ground, her hands at war with each other as she seemed to be trying to get her thoughts together.

  Richards made his way to his feet and the corners of his lips turned into a shit-eating grin. “I used to do a lot more than kiss her.”

  I lunged at him again, dragging Braden with me.

  “Oh fuck,” said Braden, in my ear.

  I rammed Richards back into the wall, intent on turning him into a blood stain, but somehow Braden wedged himself between us and yelled in my face. “Go cool off. I’m not fucking around. Let him be.”

  Sean smirked and Braden flipped his head around. “You need to get the fuck out of here before I turn him loose.”

  I turned to Kyrie. “He’s the guy? The one who fucked you over? And you didn’t tell me?”

  “I was going to. I just needed…” She looked away and I saw a tear fall onto her cheek that she quickly wiped away.

  “You could at least look at me. I think I deserve that much.”

  Seeing her in pain rivaled the torture of seeing her with another man, both sensations akin to a knife in my gut.

  “I’m sorry.” Her quiet words twisted the blade.

  “Do you still have feelings for him?” I silently begged her to tell me no.

  Saying nothing, she dropped her gaze to the floor and I wanted to die.

  “Look at me, Kyrie.”

  Her head tilted up to me and tears now streamed down her face. “It’s complicated.” Her words were more of a plea than an explanation.

  Richards shoved off the wall and rubbed his jaw. “Of course she does, prick. All those years don’t just disappear—”

  My whole body tensed as I glared in Richards’ direction. “Shut your fucking mouth or I’ll do it for you. Again.”

  “This ain’t about you, Easton. This is about me and Kyrie, now that I’m back in town.”

  He took a step toward her and Braden struggled to hold me back. Ni
kki darted past and got between Kyrie and the three of us. “All of you need to leave her the fuck alone. Especially you, Sean. You pencil-dicked motherfucker!”

  Kyrie looked lost, her eyes darting from me to Sean as she put a hand over her mouth, covering a sob. Nikki turned her toward the door by her shoulders and guided her away. Tears streamed down Kyrie’s cheeks as they walked through the door and disappeared.

  KYRIE

  NIKKI SPOONED ME, her arm slung across me as she snored. After a waterfall of tears and a long conversation about past mistakes and the current clusterfuck, I’d finally fallen into a fitful sleep. I glanced at my phone. The light was dark, no messages.

  My puffy eyes squinted at the morning sun pouring through my blinds, and I flipped to my back. Nikki’s hand landed on my boob and she squeezed it in her sleep. I couldn’t even laugh as I repositioned her hand. Too many negative emotions swirled inside me to let such a carefree sound escape.

  I sighed and stared at the slowly turning blades of my ceiling fan. They were stuck in a pattern just like I was. Was I doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again?

  My alarm chirped and I slammed my palm down on the snooze button.

  But was Easton a mistake? He hadn’t done what Sean had done. Or was it that he just hadn’t done it yet? The idea of him cheating on me made my stomach churn, the alcohol from the previous night threatening to make a reappearance.

  “Go ahead and text him. Tell him you want to have lunch.” Nikki rubbed her eyes. I hadn’t noticed the snoring had stopped.

  “I already texted him last night after you fell asleep. I told him I didn’t want Sean, and that it was complicated. He didn’t respond.” I’d stared at my phone, hoping he’d say something to me. Even if it was him telling me how pissed he was, it would have been a relief. But there’d been only silence.

  “Well, try again. He’ll come around.”

  My eyes stung as more tears tried to well up. “I’m afraid he thinks I want to get back with Sean. I don’t.”

  “I know.” She ran her hand down my cheek in the signature Nikki move.