“What should I expect at this carnival?” Nolan asked as he opened the door for me.
“Fun,” I quipped.
He offered me his hand and I took it without thinking. I could feel callouses on his fingers as he threaded them between mine, probably formed over years of fingering baseball seams. “Will there be rides?”
“I have no idea.” Serenity wasn’t particularly large, so it would be surprising if the carnival was anything more than a ring toss game and a hot dog stand. “If there’s a Ferris wheel, you’re buying us tickets.”
“Deal.”
Kennedy had made me promise to track her down upon arrival, so I sent her a text and then we headed for the beer tent where she was waiting with Brian. They saw us before we saw them and Brian swooped in, lifting me in a fierce hug.
“No need to break my ribs,” I gasped. “Seriously. I need oxygen.”
He set me on my feet and said, “You know you missed me.”
“I saw you last night,” I reminded him.
“For like a minute. I was gone for an entire week before that!” He groaned dramatically. “Don’t tell me you didn’t think about me constantly while I was gone.”
“I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep all week.” I assured him. “Welcome back. How’s Grandma Sanders?”
“Stubborn as ever,” he shook his head. “She’s refusing to die.”
“That’s a bad thing?”
“Not to me. But her children are really looking forward to their inheritance.” Brian suddenly noticed that I hadn’t arrived alone. “Jordyn, when did you make friends with Nolan Meyers?”
“Oh, yeah.” I made room for Nolan to join our conversation. “Nolan, this is my friend, Brian. Brian, this is Nolan.”
“What is the greatest pitcher in baseball doing in Serenity?” Brian looked uncertain as he shook Nolan’s hand. He looked at me and added, “And what is he doing with you?”
Kennedy had been holding back so far, but she couldn’t remain patient forever. “You look very nice tonight, Nolan.”
“Thanks.” This time, there was no doubt that Nolan was blushing. Adorable. “You look lovely as always, Kennedy.”
She fanned her face with her hand. “Marry him, Jordyn. I mean it.”
“We can’t get married. I’m not even pregnant.”
Nolan laughed at the joke and added, “Yet.”
“I think I like this guy,” Brian said. He looked around suspiciously. “Is it just me, or are people looking at us?”
“Not us,” Kennedy said. “They’re looking at Nolan.”
I hadn’t noticed, but a small group had gathered around us. The typical demographic was teenage boys, but a few older fans lingered as well. Nolan avoided looking at any of them.
“It’s better to just ignore them,” he said. “People are just curious.”
“If you ignore them, do they go away?” I couldn’t imagine living life under a microscope all the time.
“Sometimes.” He shrugged. “Other times they ask for pictures and autographs. That part is a little flattering. On rare occasions, it can turn into a bit of a mob. That part is a little less fun.”
“That doesn’t sound very fun at all.” I looked to make sure no one had mob-intentions in the works.
“Maybe I should’ve worn the hat,” Nolan joked.
“Nah. I like preppy Nolan.” I reached out and tousled his hair, a bold move for me by all accounts. When he stared at me in surprise, I worried that I had gone too far.
“That’s going to end up on the internet,” he said with a smile.
I checked the crowd again and nearly everyone had their phones out, snapping pictures of Nolan, and now me. “Is that a bad thing?”
“I’m okay with it.” He held out his hand. “Should we walk around?”
“Definitely.”
Some members of our audience followed us around the carnival, snapping pictures whenever Nolan smiled, or laughed, or breathed. He seemed oblivious, but I was incredibly self-conscious of every move we made. I tried not to stand too close to Nolan, tried not to look at him too much. Both of those things were nearly impossible as I found myself more and more drawn to him as the night progressed.
We made it to the other side of the carnival, which was only a block or so away. The whole thing was just as lame as I had feared. “Should we play a game or something?” I suggested.
“I believe it’s pretty much required that I win you some sort of prize. Perhaps a giant stuffed animal?”
“Ah, yes. And you should win it by demonstrating your masculine strength.” I pointed to a nearby booth. “Hitting that punching bag as hard as possible?”
Nolan held out his hand. “I can’t damage these babies. They’re my livelihood.”
I nodded slowly. “Wait. I’ve got it.”
I hurried him over to the booth that was perfect for him. “Show me your stuff.”
“Really?” He gave the pyramid of milk bottles a hesitant look. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“Oh come on! I really want a prize.” I bat my eyes flirtatiously. “Please?”
He groaned. “It’s not really fair. I’m a professional thrower of baseballs.”
“Then it should be easy for you,” I said with a playful smile.
“My shoulder is still healing.” He rolled it slowly. “I may not be back at the top of my game.”
“If you really think you can’t do it…” I pretended to be disappointed. “We can always find a different game. Maybe that one where you squirt water guns? The six-year-olds seem to love that one.”
Nolan threw up his hands. “Fine. I’ll knock down those bottles for you.”
The young teen manning the booth looked at Nolan in surprise as he slapped down a twenty. “Aren’t you Nolan Meyers?” he asked.
“That’s what they tell me,” he replied, twirling one of the baseballs in his hand. His face was hard with concentration.
“Aren’t you still recovering?” The young man looked overly concerned. “I thought you were playing in the minors until everything is back to normal.”
“This is pretty minor, isn’t it?” Nolan avoided looking at me as he quickly wound up and threw a fastball into the heart of the bottle pyramid. They flew apart in a loud crash.
“Whoa,” I muttered lowly. He had the best arm I had ever seen. “I’m impressed.”
Nolan finally turned to me. “Pick your prize, my lady.”
“Hm.” I studied the various prizes carefully. “I’ll take the baseball.”
The kid gave me a startled look. “The baseballs are part of the game, not prizes.”
“This man just dropped twenty bucks on one throw and you won’t let me have a baseball?” I asked indignantly.
He stuttered over his words before finally saying. “Okay. Which one?”
“That one.” I pointed to the one on the ground, the one that Nolan had just thrown.
Nolan waited until it was in my hand before he asked, “Why in the world do you want that ball?”
“Can I borrow that pen?” I asked the kid, pointing to a ballpoint pen he had been using for his inventory check.
When he handed it to me, I turned to Nolan. “I’m going to need your autograph. You’ve just thrown the most important pitch of your life, and this ball is going to be worth something someday.”
Nolan stared at me for a long time before taking the pen. He penned his signature in one fluid swipe, clearly something he had done hundreds of times. “Just don’t sell that on EBay,” he said as he handed it to me.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I took the ball carefully. “Thank you.”
“Can we move on now?” he asked hopefully.
I nodded. “Sure. You lead the way.”
Nolan led us past the rest of the games, toward the center of the carnival. He strolled slowly and seemed perfectly content.
“Let me know if you get bored,” I said. “We don’t have to stay.”
“Bored?” T
he surprised look on his face said it hadn’t even occurred to him that hanging out at the town carnival might not be the ultimate adventure. “I’m from small-town Nebraska.”
“Right.” I couldn’t actually picture Nolan on a farm in Nebraska. “Then I guess I’ll let you know if I get bored.”
“You aren’t, are you? Bored?” he asked, taking us toward the far end of the festival. “Is this a successful date so far?”
“Well, let’s see. You offered to pick me up. You opened the car door.” I ticked off the items on my fingers. “You were nice to my friends. You won me a prize. The only thing missing is the amazing first date sex.”
“Well, it’s still early.” He looked at me oddly. “I enjoy your sense of humor, Jordyn Lewis.”
“I’m enjoying this date.” I checked see if any of Nolan’s curious fans were still following us. “I’m having a lot of fun.”
“You sound surprised by that.”
I said, “Don’t be offended. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me being averse to fun.”
“So does that mean if I asked you out again, you’d say yes?”
“The odds would be in your favor.”
It was one of those moments, like a scene in a movie where you know the characters are going to kiss. Nolan’s face was just a few inches away, his perfect lips curled into an expectant smile. I could feel my body being drawn toward him. It was all too perfect- the cutesy banter, the swoony guy and girl, and the unrealistic, adorable town setting. It was perfect, and it scared the crap out of me.
“We should probably try to find Kennedy and Brian,” I said, effectively killing any romantic notions that had been circulating in our brains. “I’m betting they are still over by the beer tent.”
“Yeah, we can try to track them down.” Nolan tucked his hands into his pockets. “They’ve been shirking their chaperone responsibilities.”
“I wouldn’t use responsibility in a sentence describing Kennedy and Brian.” Especially not Brian. He was practically allergic to responsibility.
“How did you meet them?”
We navigated our way through the crowd and I kept an eye out for my friends. “I met Kennedy at the Seabag. She works there on and off when she’s not in the city doing her modeling jobs. She’s been friends with Brian for years. They are pretty much a packaged deal.”
It was a bit overwhelming sometimes, to be perfectly honest. They had a lot of inside jokes, and often had entire conversations with just a few words. I’d had a hard time keeping up at first, and still struggled occasionally. But they were also an endless source of entertainment. I wasn’t surprised when we found them just west of the beer tent, splashing in a fountain.
“Should they be doing that?” Nolan asked uncertainly.
“Probably not, but that’s never stopped them.” This was actually pretty mild behavior for them. “They’re really into shock value.”
“Jordyn!” Kennedy waved dramatically when she spotted us. “Come in! The water is just right.”
“I’m good, thanks.” My face grew hot as the crowd around the fountain all turned to look at me. I said to Nolan, “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to track them down.”
Kennedy splashed her way out of the fountain and came charging over, shoes in hand. “You missed all the fun,” she complained. “And what are you holding?”
“Oh, this?” I proudly held up the baseball. “Just the winning pitch from the one and only Nolan Meyers.”
“You guys played baseball?” Her forehead wrinkled in confusion as she turned to Nolan. “I thought you were still recovering from that horrible injury? Didn’t you almost die?”
My eyes widened in surprise as I looked at Nolan. He carefully avoided eye contact and I knew this wasn’t the place to confront him about it so I changed the subject. “Does Brian realize that he’s alone in the fountain now?”
“Brian prefers to be the star,” Kennedy said, keeping a careful eye on Nolan. “He’ll come out when he’s had his fill of attention.”
“Are you alright?” I asked Nolan quietly. His face had gone hard.
“I’m not feeling so well, actually.” He gave me an apologetic look. “Would you hate me terribly if I took off?”
“No, of course not.” I wouldn’t hate him, but I sure was suspicious. “Kennedy will give me a ride home.”
Nolan nodded. “I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you on our second date.”
“Sounds good.”
He backed away slowly with his hands still tucked into his pockets. I watched him until he disappeared into the crowd.
“Did you scare him away?” Brian had finally gotten enough attention and was out of the fountain. His clothes were soaked through and water dripped everywhere.
“He was intimidated by my awesome friends,” I said, shaking my head as Brian twisted his shirt to squeeze water out of it. “He said he felt inadequate in comparison.”
“Rightly so.” Brian pushed his shoulders back and stood up straight. “No one stands a chance against a specimen like this.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are we done here? I’m tired.”
“Tired? More likely you are bummed you’re going home alone.” Kennedy winked playfully. “At least you’ve got that baseball to keep you company in bed tonight.”
“Funny.” But it wasn’t funny at all. Kennedy was at least a little right. Maybe I hadn’t been expecting to sleep with Nolan tonight, but I definitely hadn’t been expecting our date to end so abruptly.
“If you prefer, I can keep you company.” Brian was in rare form tonight.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be just fine on my own.” At least I was used to that.
Because of the shortened date, I was home well before bedtime which meant I had some time to catch up on bad television. The first thing I did was change into an oversized cotton t-shirt, my typical lounge attire. Then I dug the remote control out from between the couch cushions.
Sports Uncovered was just beginning, and I settled on the couch with a cold beer in hand. It wasn’t the type of show I usually watched, but I wasn’t in the mood to watch anything that would require me to think. Thirty seconds into the show, I was hearing all about Nolan Meyers and his near brush with death.
When Nolan had mentioned his shoulder injury, I had just assumed he had torn something while pitching. It hadn’t seemed like that big of a deal. But the television was telling me a different story.
“In what has been called one of the most harrowing moments in sports history, Nolan Meyers was just three pitches away from a perfect game,” the show’s narrator said, showing a clip of Nolan on the pitcher’s mound. “But that was all about to end.”
I was glued to the screen for the next half hour. It was a nice summary of everything I didn’t know about Nolan and I almost felt guilty watching it on television rather than hearing it from Nolan himself. But my curiosity was stronger than my guilt.
Nolan’s background was just as he had told me. He came from a farm in Nebraska. By his junior year in high school, he had already drawn the attention of scouts. They drafted him after his senior year and he played three years of minor league baseball before being called up to the pros. In his very first year in the majors he won Rookie of the year. Over the next two years, his career had been beyond impressive.
Everyone in the MLB was calling him the greatest pitcher of the generation. His team was pretty much guaranteed to be the World Series champs. But then disaster struck. In the top of the ninth, just minutes away from completing a perfect game, Nolan delivered a fastball that was returned right up the middle. He never saw it coming and it drilled him in the head, just above his right eye.
I watched in horror as he dropped to the ground, already unconscious. The players that rushed to his side looked equally aghast. Eventually medics were brought in and he was loaded onto a stretcher. When they rolled him onto his back, his uniform was covered in blood.
The narrator went on to say that i
t took Nolan almost a year to recover from the injury. He had suffered internal bleeding and was in a coma for weeks. When he finally emerged from the coma, he had endured months of physical therapy to regain his motor skills. Then he’d had to relearn how to throw a baseball. Two months into playing for a low-level farm team, he injured his arm and decided to take a break from baseball.
Now he was in Serenity, hiding from the world. Just like me.
The television transitioned to a badly acted romantic comedy that I barely even noticed. My mind was still obsessing over Nolan, and what I had learned about his past.
It went against everything I had promised to myself in the last two months. I had come to Serenity Beach to get away from all of my mistakes, not to keep making them. Falling for Nolan could end up being my biggest mistake yet. He was damaged- broken even. He came from a completely different world.
He was everything I needed to avoid, so why couldn’t I stop myself from worrying about whether Nolan and I would have a second date?
My head was starting to hurt so I shuffled to the kitchen and dug through my junk drawer looking for some pain killers. I pushed aside a deck of cards and froze with my fingertips grazing my old school ID. Without thinking about it, I picked it up and studied the girl in the photo. Eighteen-year-old Jordyn Lewis looked more innocent and pure than I remembered. In just a couple of years, all of that would change for her.
I tossed it into the back of the drawer and slammed it shut. The girl in that picture didn’t exist anymore. She had been replaced by someone that knew better than to trust her heart to anyone else. The new Jordyn Lewis had been through hell, and now all she wanted to do was spend her days on the beach and her nights drifting off to sleep with waves crashing in the background.
That’s how I ended up on the balcony, staring up at the stars and rocking with the rhythm of the ocean. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, inhaling the salty air. The waves were fierce tonight, pounding relentlessly against the shore. I was so caught up in them that at first, I didn’t realize I was no longer alone.
“Jordyn!”
My eyes flew open and I looked down. Nolan was standing below the balcony. He was nearly hidden in the shadow of the house, and at first I thought I was imagining things. But then he spoke again.
Finding Serenity (Serenity Beach) Page 4