Chapter 30
CHAPTER
THIRTY
CARSON
Coach shouts at Nash from across the field, and I hear him curse under his breath as he stands to see what he wants. Drayton catches every single pitch I throw, same as Nash usually does, but he doesn’t talk. He does his job and keeps his mouth shut.
After the way Nash left the school earlier, I didn’t think that he’d even come back for practice, but he showed up. I haven’t had time to talk to him yet, but I know I need to tell him about the bathroom.
I already feel horrible that I let Cori believe I was Nash, but now at least, I know where I stand. She wants him, and I will have to back off and let it happen. Even if it feels like she belongs with me instead.
It hurts.
That smile, her long legs, every single thing about her drives me crazy. I can still hear her soft voice in my head talking about baseball.
“What’s wrong with you?” Nash asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Oh, nothing,” I lie, staring at the baseball in my hand, then winding up to pitch it.
“Drayton,” Coach acknowledges as he walks up. “Take that gear off and get some pitches in.”
“Yes, sir,” he nods, ripping the catcher’s gear off.
I watch as Nash glares at him. If looks could kill, he’d be dead.
“Dude, would you stop staring at him like that?”
Nash pulls his hat off of his head, turning it backward, “I think it’s time we officially make him a Shark.”
He pulls out his phone, typing into it furiously, and I warn him, “Nash, just leave it.”
He laughs, rolling his eyes, “The warehouse, nine o’clock.”
Several hours later, I’m pulling on boots and jeans, getting ready to head down to the field.
The warehouse is abandoned and is smack dab in the middle of a muddy field.
There are several burn barrels there, and it’s where most of the Legacy parties take place if another venue isn’t available.
Now that Nash’s dad is back and his house is out of the question, this is the only option.
Nash’s mass text was only to the team, meaning it shouldn’t be a kegger, which almost scares me more, no witnesses.
I pull up outside Nash’s house and wait for him and Drayton to come out. The scowl on Drayton’s face as he follows Nash to my truck is unmistakable.
He’s pissed.
Everyone is already there when we pull into the gravel lot outside the old building. Crew holds the attention of everyone, telling a story with his hands, and Drayton slings my truck door open to escape.
Nash scans the crowd, “Where’s Madden?”
Crew shrugs, taking a quick bite of a slim jim.
“You are always eating, dude,” I laugh.
“I’m a growing boy,” he smiles, patting his stomach playfully.
I can tell Nash is aggravated by Madden’s absence, but he doesn’t let the others know, and Crew goes to his trunk and pulls out a cooler.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this was an actual party? A way to welcome the new teammate?
Madden pulls in, surprising everyone when Lainey gets out of his Honda.
“What is she doing here?” Nash seethes, stalking over to them. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“It looks like I showed up like you said. I had plans,” Madden says, calm and collected.
“This is a team thing. You brought her?”
Madden cocks his brow, “I brought my friend, the one I had plans with that you had to go and ruin with your games.”
Lainey doesn’t make eye contact with either of us, and she just follows Madden over where Crew is stealing the show. It’s almost like Nash has her with both hands tied behind her back, but he doesn’t realize the effect he has on her. The impact he has on everyone here.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, his eyes yanking from her lips locked with Drayton’s.
“Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
I sigh, following him over to everyone else.
I half expect him to challenge Drayton in a drinking contest or publicly humiliate him somehow, but instead, he completely ignores him at first.
I would say I’m relieved, but with Nash, it’s like waiting for a snake to strike. He sits and watches as the guys become more comfortable around him, and the more Drayton proves that he fits, the more Nash can’t stand it.
Nash turns up the glass beer bottle in his hand, finishing off its contents quickly and dropping it to the gravel with a crash. Everyone’s heads turn his way, and he stares straight at Drayton.
Crew walks over, patting Nash on the shoulder, “Let’s get you another drink, my man.”
Nash doesn’t take his eyes off Drayton, and I can tell he’s aggravated by Crew’s cheerful attitude, but you can also see that he appreciates the loyalty.
“What are you guys whispering about over there?” Nash asks Madden and some of the guys.
“Mom said they found a body here a couple months ago, in the warehouse,” Madden admits, shoving his thumb over his shoulder to the building.
“You should go check it out?” Nash smiles. “Unless you’re afraid.”
Madden laughs, “There’s no way I’m going in there.”
“Why not?” Nash snorts. “It really fits your whole twenty-first-century vampire vibe. I’m sure you can find somewhere really nice to put your coffin in there.”
Drayton speaks up, defending Madden, “Why are you so concerned with Madden’s vibe when yours is a little played out? You know everyone is getting a little tired of your shit, Nash.”
I can tell that things are going to escalate quickly, so I step between them. “You could go inside,” I tell Nash. “I can film it for the channel.”
Nash smiles, stepping around me, “No, let’s let Legacy’s new badass do it. What do you say, Drayton? You goin’ in, or are you gonna pussy out?”
He looks at Lainey, then back to Nash, his jaw tightening in frustration.
“Yeah, I thought so,” Nash says. “He talks a big game, but he isn’t shit.”
Drayton pushes away from Lainey, standing toe to toe with Nash, “I’m not afraid of the warehouse... or you.”
Nash smiles, stepping out of his way, “Prove it.”
Lainey pulls him back by his hand, “Don’t listen to him. You don’t have to do what he says.”
Drayton kisses her temple, “I know.”
He walks away, the high weeds crunching under his shoes. This place is overgrown and hasn’t been taken care of in years. It used to be an old paper mill or something. I’m not entirely sure, but I know that no one has occupied this building in at least twenty years.
I look from left to right, suddenly feeling a little uneasy about Nash sending Drayton inside the building alone.
It is abandoned, but the people that hang around here leave dead bodies behind.
At least they did recently. He wants to scare him, but we don’t need to risk his life.
Not to mention there is no electricity, so it is pitch black.
The metal steps creak beneath Drayton’s feet, and he pulls out his phone for a flashlight.
Nash pulls me away from everyone, pulling a zippo lighter from the pocket of his jeans, “Call the fire station. Tell them there’s been an accident.”
Fear fills my lungs, and I smell smoke because he must’ve already started a fire somewhere else. I try to talk him out of it, “Nash, no. You won’t get away with this. It’s arson, and not to mention it’s how his dad and little sister died. It’s cruel.”
“We’ll tell them it was an accident, and we won’t hurt him. Not physically.”
Before I can stop him, Drayton disappears inside the building, and Nash swings himself around the railing and up the stairs, shoving a metal bar between the handles of the two steel doors.
A thick lump instantly fills my throat, and my heart feels like it could burst at any minute. I have to stop him.
“What are you doing!” Lainey screams, closing the gap between her and Nash, pounding her fists into his chest. Nash pushes her away, and Drayton slams against the doors.
“Guys! Let me out!”
Nash walks around and busts a window, flipping the zippo open and tossing it inside. The floor beneath is instantly covered in flames.
“Nash, you son of a bitch! This isn’t funny!”
Lainey tries to move the metal, but Nash has it wedged in pretty good. Nothing a girl who weighs a buck-o-five can move.
“Dray!” she yells. “Dray, just hang on, we’re gonna get you out!”
He doesn’t respond to her.
“Nash,” I warn. “Come on, this is too much. Move the bar.”
He stands frozen, staring at the door as Crew moves to help Lainey pull against the metal bar.
“No,” Nash quips. “Don’t.”
Crew lowers his hand, stepping back, earning a hateful look from Lainey. The sirens are approaching in the distance, and I grab Nash by the shirt, pushing him, “Open the door, Nash. You’ve gone too far.”
I mean it. This is too much. Nash just stares at me, almost challenging me to help them. I glance back over my shoulder and see Lainey struggling.
I cave.
I walk over to where Lainey is pulling against the bar and give it one good pull, but it’s stuck. It’s wedged in there, and its shape is hard to get a good grip on.
I hear the faint sound of Drayton coughing, and I start to panic, screaming at Nash, “Nash, help me get him out!”
He stands unfazed, staring while I walk along the side of the building, searching for another door or a window low enough to bust. Lainey frantically helps me, screaming at everyone else, “Are you all serious right now? You’re all just going to stand there and let him die!”
The flames are visible on one side of the building where Nash threw the lighter in, and the smoke is billowing out into the night air. Lainey finds a window, pulling her hoodie over her head and wrapping it tightly around her hand.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m breaking the window, Carson.”
I know she won’t be strong enough to do it, so I grab the hoodie from her.
Acting fast, I throw my fist into the old window, shattering it.
I yell for Drayton, but I don’t see him.
I hear the coughing get closer, and I see Madden and Drayton appear around the corner of the building.
There must’ve been another door that Madden was able to use to get him out.