Chapter 12
Dylan
One Month Later
September in Florida was a special sort of hell.
The air felt like hot soup, the mosquitoes were trying to suck the life out of me, and the sun felt like it had a personal vendetta against me.
Thanks to the ridiculous heat index in Florida, by the time we wrapped up conditioning, my shirt was plastered to me and my socks were soaked. I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked toward the locker room, dreaming of a shower.
Still, I wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything.
Mainly because I wasn’t doing it alone.
“Yo, Statler! You heading into enemy territory, or are you chilling at our apartment?” Fuller called out behind me.
I didn’t turn around. “If by enemy territory you mean my brother’s place, then yes.”
Fuller jogged up beside me, sweat dripping from his face. “What are you going to do this spring when you guys aren’t in the same place?”
That eventuality was something I tried hard not to think about.
I’d told myself that Jase and me going our separate ways wouldn’t be any different from when Tyler had left for Boston or when Jase and I had left Cammie behind and headed for UCLA, but deep down, it wasn’t the same because Jase and I shared a different dynamic with each other than we did with Tyler and Cammie.
We had started off as best friends, then our dads fell in love and made us a family. We’d shared a home, holidays, friends, sports, and every milestone since we were eleven years old.
Now it felt like we were speeding toward a fork in the road—one where we would head in different directions.
I forced a shrug. “It’ll be fine.”
He followed me to my locker. “Look, I get that you’re tight with your stepbrother, but you two act like you’re attached at the hip. Every night it’s ‘I’m heading to Jase’s’ or ‘Jase is coming over.’ Dude, you even grocery shop together.”
“Yeah, and? He picks better shit than the kale you try to sneak into the cart.”
Fuller placed a hand over his chest in mock offense. “Kale is good for you.”
“So is minding your own business.”
He laughed and shoved my shoulder. “Just saying, y’all are weirdly loyal. It’s kinda cute.”
“Don’t ever call me cute,” I shot back playfully, then pulled my sweaty shirt over my head.
I headed for the shower, and the second the water hit my skin, I groaned. Some of the day’s tension washed away, but Fuller’s question kept replaying in my mind.
Jase and I had always been close, but lately it felt different.
Maybe it was because of Faye.
We hadn’t seen her since she’d flown down to Florida almost a month earlier.
Her schedule was packed, and we were busy with all things baseball.
Besides, Faye had said it was risky for her to fly to Florida too often, given the constant attention she received.
She worried that if she were seen in the same place multiple times without an official reason, the tabloids might start digging, and word that she had been visiting two MLB rookies every weekend would set off a media circus.
We kept texting every day, and it seemed hardly an hour went by without me thinking about her.
Nights were the worst. I’d lay in bed alone, staring at the ceiling, remembering her between us at the wedding, in the hotel room, the way her voice sounded when she moaned.
But as soon as my hand wrapped around my cock, Jase forced himself into my fantasies.
I’d imagine him looking at me over Faye’s shoulder, or our hands brushing against one another, and it wasn’t just an occasional slip.
Ever since that moment in the hotel in Cape Cod when he’d walked in on me when I was jerking off, I hadn’t been able to come without him making at least a small appearance in my mind.
When I was done in the shower, I got dressed, then grabbed my phone from my locker. I wasn’t surprised to see a text from Jase:
You heading over soon?
Just finished showering. Be there in 20
Any ideas for dinner?
Wings?
Any special requests?
You know what I like
That was true for more than just food.
I said goodbye to my teammates and headed to the parking lot. I tossed everything into my Toyota Tacoma, climbed inside, cranked the engine, and immediately blasted the AC.
The sun was just beginning to set when I parked in one of the visitor spots at Jase’s apartment building. I was about to knock when his front door swung open.
“Damn, I was hoping you were the delivery guy.” He chuckled. “I’m starving.”
“You’d eat without me?” I stepped inside, closed the door behind me, and kicked off my shoes.
“He can barely go to the bathroom without you,” teased Collins, Jase’s roommate, from where he sat in the living room.
“What can I say? He gets lonely,” I joked.
Jase grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at my head. “Shut the fuck up. I can pee alone just fine.”
I grinned. “We’re all very proud of you for that too. Big achievement there.”
He flipped me off. “Just for that, I’m taking all the ranch. You can have the blue cheese.”
“You suck,” I grumbled.
“You two bicker like an old married couple.” Collins rose from the couch and grabbed his wallet off the coffee table. “Anyway, I’m heading out.”
“To where?” Jase asked.
“Gotta date,” he replied, slipping on his shoes. “I matched with a girl who likes dogs and true crime, so this is either going to be great or she might stab me in my sleep.”
“Do we need a safe word for you to text if things get out of hand?” I laughed. “We can come rescue you.”
Collins snorted. “You’ll be too busy feeding each other wings or whatever the hell you two have planned for the night.”
Jase shook his head. “Go get laid, Collins.”
“That’s the plan.” He gave us a two-finger salute, then shut the door behind him.
Jase walked into the kitchen, grabbed two sodas from the fridge, and handed me one. “Wings will be here soon. You want to get the game set up?”
I reached for the controller on the coffee table. “Sure, but let’s text Faye before we start playing.”
He opened his mouth to answer, but both our phones pinged at the same time.
I grabbed mine and saw Faye’s name on the screen. “She has crazy-good timing.”
What are my favorite guys up to?
I smiled. She seemed to like calling us “her guys” and “her favorite guys.” I loved both terms.
Finished a brutal practice today. Now just relaxing
Jase typed at the same time:
Waiting on food
Faye: I’m assuming you’re together?
Jase: Of course. You know how it works. We’re a package deal
Faye: Oh I remember
I feel like you might need a reminder. When can you come see us again?
Faye: As much as I’d like that, you know we have to be careful
Jase flopped onto the couch. “She’s going to kill me. I can’t go much longer without seeing her.”
He said it like it was a joke, but I knew he meant it. I felt it too.
“Same,” I agreed, my thumbs hovering over my screen.
Jase: We get why you’re being careful. Doesn’t mean we don’t want you here
The dancing dots appeared, disappeared, and then returned. When her message finally came through, my stomach dropped.
Maybe instead of me flying to Florida, you two can come to Boston?
“There’s no way we could make that work with our schedules,” Jase sighed.
We’re stuck here until the last week of October. I don’t think we can swing a trip before then
Faye: Where will you go after you’re done in Florida?
Probably to California to see Jase’s mom and then to Portland to visit our dads. Maybe we can go to Boston first?
Faye: Wait. This might work out perfectly. There’s a gala in LA I’m supposed to go to on the first Friday in November. Could you guys meet me there?
Jamie still lived in San Diego, but we could easily make the drive up to LA, especially if it meant getting to be with Faye.
“I think that’s doable,” I said.
“Yeah,” Jase agreed and then sent:
Give us the details, and we’ll be there
Faye: I’ll send them this weekend. In the meantime stay out of trouble
Princess, the only kind of trouble we want to get into involves you
“Real smooth.” Jase smirked.
I shrugged. “Tell me I’m lying.”
His grin softened, and for once, I couldn’t quite read his expression. “Nah. You’re not.”
Faye: I probably shouldn’t encourage either of you but I like the sound of that
Jase: We’ll make LA unforgettable. You can count on it
Faye: I already am
I only got excited about two things.
Baseball.
And her.
At least that’s what I told myself.
Because if I were being honest, Jase made the list too. I just wasn’t ready to analyze exactly how yet.