21. Tori
21
TORI
I rose to my feet, clapping so hard that my hands hurt.
“Let’s go, Kyle!” Jayden shouted next to me. He squeezed my hand as we sat back down on the bleacher seats. “This is a fun game.”
It was the only one I’d been to since starting at Langley, but I’d picked a good one. It was just an exhibition game but perhaps since it was the last game of the season, the Langley team was on fire.
Especially Kyle.
He’d just hit a home run, and in the dugout, his teammates were still slapping him on the back, congratulating him. I couldn’t stop grinning—at least until a sobering thought hit me. If I couldn’t get him to pass the composition class, he wouldn’t be on the team next year.
“Are you okay?” Jayden had to lean close to my ear to be heard.
“Yes,” I shouted back. “Just getting a little hoarse.”
Jayden gave me a thumbs up. “Yes, you should get a little horse.”
I started to correct him before I caught the gleam in his eyes. He was kidding, of course.
The game got boring after that. Kyle played shortstop, but the Langley pitcher didn’t give the other team much they could hit.
Things got interesting the next time Kyle was up at the plate. He got another hit but only made it to first this time.
I was watching the next guy at the plate when the crowd roared. I squinted at the field. A guy in a Langley uniform was running from first base to second. “Is that Kyle?”
“Yep,” Jayden said. “He leads the team in stolen bases.”
I had a vague idea of what that meant. Sports in general weren’t my thing, but I’d grown up not that far from Atlanta, which was a big baseball town.
“He’s really good, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he’s great. He was good in high school, but he’s even better now.”
“Do you think he’ll go pro after college?”
Jayden shook his head. “Most of those guys get snapped up after high school. But he’s very good for the college level. That’s why he got a full ride.”
“He did? He has a scholarship, too?”
“Yep.”
I hadn’t known that. There was a sinking feeling in my gut. Could he lose that, too, if he didn’t pass the composition class?
I looked for him on the field, surprised to see that he was now at third base, not second. One of his teammates was on first base. “Why does the pitcher keep looking over at him?”
“Because he keeps stealing bases.”
Every time the pitcher whipped his head to the right, Kyle would smirk at him. I couldn’t even properly see his face from here, but something about his posture let me know that. Plus, the guy on the mound was getting pissed off. And Kyle was an expert at getting under people’s skin. “Can you steal home base?”
“Under certain circumstances, yes.”
That was exciting. I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Go, Kyle!”
His head whipped around, and he found me in the stands. He tipped his cap with a grin. I ducked my head, embarrassed. I hadn’t thought he’d know that was me.
Jayden sputtered next to me.
“What?” I asked him, not looking at the field.
“I just got a mouthful of hair.”
Oops… my ponytail must’ve whipped around when I ducked my head.
He brushed the strands away from his face. “I’m going to start calling you Rapunzel.”
I laughed. “She had blonde hair.”
“Yes, but it was long, like yours, and if you were trapped in a tower, I’d do my best to climb up it to rescue you.”
“Thank you.” I giggled again. “And if you were about to be slain by a dragon, I would—well, honestly, I’d probably take a picture. It could be worth a lot of money.”
He shoved me playfully, and we both laughed. But the next moment, everyone around us was on their feet, shouting.
Kyle was running top speed toward home plate while his teammates ran the bases. He landed on the plate with both feet, and then he sprung into the air, doing a forward flip. The crowd loved it, and the other players came out to high five him, but I just stared. How on Earth had he done that?
Another one of Kyle’s teammates scored, and the volume of the crowd increased. “Did they win?”
“Yep!” Jayden had to shout to be heard.
It was hard to see with the people in front of me standing, but I watched Kyle celebrating with his teammates and I was happy for him.
Jayden took my hand as we walked down the stadium steps. His eyes were on the now-empty field. “I always forget, when I haven’t seen him play in a while, how good he actually is.” Jayden steered us around a sticky mess that looked like nachos someone had dropped. “The way he acts sometimes… it makes it easy to forget that he’s so talented.”
I agreed wholeheartedly. But there was something else I was curious about. “This game didn’t count, right?”
“Not toward the regular season, but it’s still awesome that they won the last game of the year.”
“Yeah, it is.” I couldn’t quite get the images out of my head. Of Kyle batting. Stealing bases. Taunting the pitcher. And playing to the crowd, who obviously loved him. “So… those things he did during the game, were they just because this game didn’t count?”
We reached the base of the stadium, and Jayden cocked his head to the side as we walked along. “What do you mean?”
“Well… it kind of looked like he was hamming it up a bit. Not that he wasn’t very good, but it seemed like he was kind of showing off for the crowd.”
Jayden smirked. “He wasn’t showing off for the crowd.”
“Really? Because?—”
“He was showing off for you , Tori.”
I stopped dead in the middle of the walkway. “Me?”
“Yep. Come on, let’s head home.”
The next day, I had some time to kill between my morning and afternoon class. Since I wasn’t far from the Social Sciences building, I went back to the coffee shop Jayden had shown me.
Mia was behind the counter, and she greeted me kindly. I ordered a muffin and some hot tea and took it to a table in the corner. The place was as empty as it had been when Jayden brought me here.
I pulled out my journal and read through the notes I’d taken in my World Literature class while I picked at the muffin. My phone was on silent, but it vibrated with an incoming call. For a moment, I hoped it was Lucas, even though he usually texted. Things had been a little weird between us since the awful way movie night had ended. Things were a little better on Saturday, but then he’d found out that Jayden and I were going to Kyle’s game. So yeah, things had been a bit tense.
But it wasn’t Lucas. The screen showed it was a call from my mom.
I debated letting it go to voicemail, but just before it did, I answered it. “Hi, Mom.”
I stood up, ready to take the call out in the hallway so as not to disturb anyone, but Mia caught my eye. She gestured to the empty café and indicated that I could just stay, so I did. It would probably be a short phone call. We didn’t have a ton to talk about these days.
Mom asked about my classes. Asked how Hailey was, whom I’d mentioned before. She didn’t ask where I was living, and I didn’t volunteer the information. She probably thought I was still sharing a house with Todd, but she didn’t ask about him, thankfully.
“Are you coming home for Thanksgiving, Tori?”
“Of course.” Macon was about a three-hour drive. Once you got out of the mountains, it was easy.
“Good. I’m really looking forward to seeing you, sweetie. And so is Doug.”
My stomach dropped almost before I could process the words. “Doug?”
“Yes, he asked about you.”
“A-are you back together?”
“Yes!” Mom said as if it was the best news. “And I know what you’re thinking but honestly, Tor, it’s different this time. He’s changed.”
“Men like him don’t change.”
“Oh, but he has. He missed me, so he really put in the work. He brought me flowers, and he took me to that Greek restaurant, the one you like, and he?—”
“Mom, please think about this.” I rested my elbow on the table and propped my head up with my hand. “He’s always nice in the beginning. You know that. But then it gets bad.”
“It’s not like that this time. He’s changed! I wish you could believe me, honey.”
“I wish I could, too.”
“Please, say you’re happy for me.”
I rubbed my eye with the heel of my hand. “I can’t tell you that, Mom.”
“Please?”
“I want you to be happy.” That was the best I could do, but she didn’t seem to notice how I’d changed up the words.
“Thank you! Doug will be so pleased to know you’re happy for us.”
“No, Mom, that’s not what I?—”
“Just wait until Thanksgiving, and you’ll see.”
A headache was rapidly forming. “Just… take care of yourself, okay?”
She sounded surprised. “I’ve got Doug now. He’ll take care of me. That’s a good thing, sweetie.”
“Mom, please just?—”
“I have to go make his lunch. Good luck with your classes, sweetie.”
“Wait, Mom?—”
But she was gone.
Shit.
How many times was she going to let that awful man back into her life? And how many times was I going to have to pick up the pieces in the end?
I still had my phone to my ear, and I shakily set it down. Then a tall glass of ice water appeared beside it. I looked up to see Mia’s blue eyes full of sympathy. “Thanks.”
The cold water soothed the dryness in my throat.
“Do you want to talk?” Mia asked gently.
This woman didn’t even know me, but she was being very kind. Jayden had good taste in friends.
“Thank you, but I’m good.” I pressed the cold glass against my forehead. “Does your mother drive you crazy?”
Mia leaned against the table, her white apron showing some coffee stains. “I barely remember her. But I’ve had five foster mothers, and yeah, most of them drove me crazy.”
“Oh. Sorry.” That had been thoughtless of me to say.
“It’s all right. You didn’t know.”
My blunder helped cut through some of my worry for my mother. “Thank you for the water. It helped.
She smiled. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No. But thank you.”
The phone call was on my mind all through my composition class. Usually, I paid extra attention to it because I knew I’d be tutoring Kyle later on the topics covered. But I just couldn’t concentrate.
And after class, I trudged down the stairs, stepped out into the sunlight… and saw Jayden leaning against a railing, waiting for me. Surprise made me stop in my tracks and stare at him. He had on a cream sweater with dark stripes. Underneath, the edge of a light blue button-down shirt peeked out. His jeans were dark and fitted, cuffed at the ankles, and those brown leather shoes—slightly worn but still nice—made him look put together in a way that most guys didn’t bother with.
He had a gray backpack slung over one shoulder, like he was just any guy on campus, going about his day. But he wasn’t just any guy, and on such an upsetting day, finding him here, waiting for me, was like a gift.
I walked toward him in a daze.
“Mia texted.” That was all he said before I all but collapsed against him. His arms went around me, and I buried my face against his sweater, closing my eyes and welcoming the darkness. And the warmth of his embrace. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
I shook my head.
“I’m sorry, Tori.” He placed a light kiss on the top of my head.
I didn’t want to think about Doug, and the way he treated my mother, so I just focused all my senses on Jayden. He smelled so good. His cologne had some sort of spiced scent I couldn’t identify, but I was beginning to recognize it.
And appreciate it.
He held me, rocking slightly side to side, and I wanted to stay in his arms forever. His body felt so good pressed against mine. His flat abs. His strong arms. He didn’t have the muscles that Kyle did, but he still had a lean strength to him.
And a kind heart.
Finally, I stepped back. He cupped my cheek as he looked at me with those warm, brown eyes.
“I’m glad Mia contacted you,” I said softly.
“Me too.” His fingers trailed down my cheek and almost as if he couldn’t stop them, slid over to tuck my hair behind my ear.
Which made me smile.
“Can I give you a ride home? Lucas and I drove together, and he’ll be done in a half hour.”
“Thanks, but I have a meeting with my advisor.”
“We can wait.” He again tucked my hair behind my ear. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was a losing battle. Unless I had it in a ponytail, it went where it wanted to.
“Thanks, but Kyle’s going to give me a ride later.” Since he no longer had practice, he’d offered to drive me more often, and I’d accepted—in part because I hoped to convince him to stop at a coffee shop or library on the way home to get in some extra tutoring.
“All right.” He started to brush my hair back for a third time and then stopped, a grin breaking out on his face. “It’s got a mind of its own.”
“You have no idea.”
He stared at my hair for another moment before focusing on my eyes. “See you back home?”
“See you then.” It was something to look forward to.