Behind the Plate: A New Adult Sports Romance (The Boys of Baseball Book 2)

by J. Sterling

  “Well, for the record, your ex was a bitch.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you?” I asked because it was rare that Mac even approached this subject, let alone spoke about it. He usually got defensive and pissed off. Rightly so, if you asked me.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just want to make sure you know that you did nothing wrong. That was all her.”

  His eyes roamed around my room, avoiding mine. “I know it was,” he said before looking at me, the pain still obvious, even after all this time. “It still hurt though.”

  “I know,” I said even though I didn’t. Not exactly. Not even remotely. I remembered, at the time, being grateful that it hadn’t happened to me but feeling shitty that it had happened to Mac.

  He clapped his hands together. “Enough depressing shit. You’re finally over Danika?”

  “I want to be. There’s no point in wanting the girl who couldn’t care less.”

  “Perfect! ’Cause I came in here to tell you, we’re going to a party tonight.”

  “Ohhh—” I started to argue and make a face.

  “Nope. You don’t get to say no. It’s the last party of the semester before everyone leaves for break. So, we’re going.”

  “Will you leave me alone if I say yes?”

  “Only if you say yes.” He pushed off the bed and waited for my response.

  “Fine, I’ll go,” I said, knowing I needed to get out of this house and do something other than feel sorry for myself. “Whose party is it?” I asked, praying he wasn’t about to say that it was ours. I wasn’t in the mood for a house filled with people who never left.

  “Some fraternity. I don’t know. You can be my wingman, and we’ll steal all their girls.”

  “You don’t need a wingman.”

  “I know. It’s just fun to say. I’ll be yours. You can channel your inner Mac tonight!” He sounded so excited that instead of arguing, I laughed, which I was sure he took as my agreeing as he walked out of my room.

  Channeling my inner Mac … I played the idea out in my head before I found myself wondering what the possibility of it being Jared’s fraternity might be? I had no idea which frat he was even in, so asking the name wouldn’t have helped matters.

  I wondered if Danika would be there or if she’d already left to go back home or not. I couldn’t get over the girl if I kept running into her.

  So, why do I want her to be there so badly?

  The music from the house was so loud, we heard it as we drove down the street, looking for a place to park. How fraternity houses existed in residential areas, I’d never know. I couldn’t even imagine trying to live a normal life, surrounded by all that noise and shit.

  Tucking my keys in my pocket, I glanced at Mac and my other two roommates, Dayton and Colin, as we piled out of my truck. I opened the front door and stepped to move inside as a wave of heat crashed into me. Sweaty bodies filled the dark room, and there was barely enough space to walk through them all.

  “Chance!” I heard my name being shouted from somewhere inside, but I couldn’t see for shit.

  I hated strobe lights, all the bright flashing and disappearing. It fucked with my head and made me see things that weren’t there.

  “It’s dark as fuck in here,” I yelled toward Mac, who was directly behind me.

  “Just keep heading toward the back,” he shouted and put a hand on my shoulder.

  As I weaved my way through the gyrating bodies, a girl stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

  “Hi,” she said seductively before licking her lips.

  I gave her a head nod in response but no words.

  “Dance with me.” She giggled and reached for my hand.

  Mac gave me a small nudge from behind, but I braced myself instead, pulling my hand from her grip.

  “I don’t dance.”

  “Make an exception for me. I’ll make it worth your while,” she yelled into my ear.

  I had to admit that I considered it. But only for a second or two before I snapped out of it. If I had even remotely thought that I could be like Mac tonight, I was mistaken. Randomly hooking up with girls wasn’t me, and I couldn’t fake it.

  “Sorry, I can’t,” was all I said, and her expression fell.

  She wasn’t even mad about the dismissal, which was a relief. She genuinely looked disappointed. That was, until Mac whispered something in her ear, and her entire face lit back up, my rejection forgotten.

  Mac to the rescue.

  “You’re welcome, brother,” he said, and I shook my head before walking forward again.

  When we finally broke through the plethora of bodies and made our way into the backyard, the night air felt like a reprieve even though it was still warm. I found myself wondering why we hadn’t just gone in through the back fence in the first place.

  “It’s hot as hell in there,” Dayton said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

  “What’d you say to that chick?” Colin asked, directing his question at Mac and not me.

  “Told her that I’d be back inside in a minute to finish whatever she’d offered Chance,” Mac said, and I laughed.

  “Of course you did,” Dayton howled before clapping him on the back.

  “Someone’s gotta pick up Carter’s leftovers,” Colin added, and Mac scowled.

  “I just didn’t want her getting her feelings hurt, is all. Our season’s almost here, guys. We need those stands full. If Chance goes around, breaking everyone’s heart all the time, no one will show up. I consider it my civic duty to make sure the girls know we want them around,” Mac said with the biggest grin I’d ever seen as the three of us busted up laughing.

  “Speaking of girls,” Colin said, and a mixture of dread and hope crept up my spine.

  I figured he was about to point out Danika somewhere in the distance, no doubt wrapped in Jared’s arms, but he pointed at a group of three skinny guys I didn’t know heading our way. I almost laughed with relief.

  “Baseballers,” one of the guys said as he reached us. “Welcome.” He opened his arms and waved them around like we were some sort of guests to his esteemed kingdom. “Keg’s right over there, and hard alcohol’s in the house. We always get a good card game going later if you want in. Cash only. Just let us know before eleven.”

  The four of us looked at each other, silent words passing between us before I spoke up, “Thanks for the welcome and the offer, but we’re not allowed to gamble. Even for fun.”

  We all signed waivers and forms each season, acknowledging that we wouldn’t, under any circumstances, participate in gambling of any kind. Getting caught meant that you not only got kicked off the team, but you were also banned from the league itself, which meant no transferring to a school of equal caliber.

  “We wouldn’t rat you out,” the same guy said with a grin.

  “Yeah, I don’t think you would,” I offered cordially, not wanting to start a fight. “But if anyone saw us or took pictures or anything, we’d get kicked off the team.”

  “It’s not worth the risk,” Mac added, and the three frat guys all nodded.

  “All right. Well, have fun. Let me know if you need anything. Name’s Jaden. These are my bros, Butch and Grady.”

  “Nice to meet you. Thanks again,” I said before shaking Jaden’s hand and watching them strut away, shouting some sort of theme song.

  “Frat guys.” Dayton made a face, and we all mumbled in agreement.

  “I see someone over there I want to talk to,” Colin said, looking at a group of girls surrounding a makeshift ping-pong table.

  “I’ll come with,” Dayton said, and they took off, leaving Mac and me behind.

  “They didn’t even ask if we wanted to go with them,” Mac whined, and I huffed.

  “They knew I’d say no. And they knew you wouldn’t leave my side,” I teased even though it was one hundred percent the truth.

  “Let’s go inside. I’m in the mood for shots.”

  Grabbing M
ac’s bicep, I stopped his forward momentum. “I will leave your ass here if you disappear on me,” I warned.

  Mac had a tendency to vanish when it came to parties, shots, and females. One second, he was standing right there, and the next, he’d be gone. I’d spent hours looking for him one night last year, only to have him call me from home, asking where the hell I was.

  “I won’t disappear. Promise.”

  He held out his pinkie to me like we were in fifth grade, expecting me to take it with my own. I smacked it away instead.

  “Let’s go,” I said, walking back inside the hellhole with Mac right on my heels.

  The wave of heat smacked me in the face once more, and I stopped short, causing Mac to run straight into my back.

  “What the …” he started before looking in the direction of my stare. “Is that …”

  “Yeah, it is,” I said before he even finished asking the question.

  Jared was sitting on a chair in the kitchen with some girl who was not Danika on his lap, sticking her tongue down his throat. His hand was up her shirt for all to see.

  “Shit, Chance. Don’t.” Mac tried to keep me from going over to him, but he knew it was no use.

  No one could have stopped me from confronting this asshole. Stalking in Jared’s direction, all I felt was the rage surging through me.

  “What is this?” I shoved at him, breaking the sloppy kiss that had been happening moments before I arrived.

  “What the hell?” Jared growled before throwing the girl off his lap and standing upright, causing red plastic cups to scatter to the floor. He looked around, his eyes searching wildly for whoever had just interrupted his public display of tongue-tangling. His face dawned with recognition the second that his eyes hit mine, and he realized it was me. “You’re fucking joking.”

  “What are you doing?” I asked, my anger propelling me beyond all reason. Any and all rational thoughts flew out the proverbial window.

  “What I’m doing is none of your business, Baseball Boy.”

  I wanted to break his jaw. “Does she know?”

  “Does who know?” He sounded uninterested.

  The girl he had just been kissing stood at his side, looking confused.

  “Danika!” I screamed, creating even more of a scene. “Does Danika know?”

  “Who’s Danika?” the girl asked, but he ignored her and focused only on me.

  “Like I said, it’s none of your business.” His tone was far more controlled than mine was, and it only made me angrier.

  How was he so calm and composed when I felt like I was losing my damn mind?

  “It is my business,” I shouted like a crazed maniac, taking a menacing step toward him.

  I expected him to step back in response, but he didn’t. He stood firm, and everything about his posture, his demeanor, his attitude baited me.

  “How so? How is anything about Danika your business? Explain that one to me.” He folded his arms across his chest and waited for my response.

  I didn’t have one. What was I supposed to say?

  “What’s going on here is none of your damn business, but you think it is. Because you care about Danika. Because you want her. You always have. And you hate the fact that she’ll never be yours. Or that I can have her anytime I want.”

  I pulled my arm back, prepared to knock his fucking lights out, when Mac pounced. He steadied my arm, stopping me from moving as he created a blockade between myself and Jared.

  “Stop, Chance. Chance!” Mac tried to get me to focus on him, but Jared’s words kept replaying in my mind.

  “Yeah, Chance, stop. Wouldn’t want to hurt your arm and lose your season,” Jared taunted, and Mac snapped to face him.

  “Stop egging him on, or I’ll let him go,” Mac threatened, and Jared only blanched for a second before regaining his composure.

  “You’re telling her,” I yelled over Mac’s shoulder toward a retreating Jared.

  He turned around, his eyes slamming into mine. “Or what?”

  “Or I will,” I deadpanned.

  “No, you won’t.” He closed the distance between us enough so that he no longer needed to shout. “You didn’t tell her anything I’ve ever said to you before. And you won’t tell her about this either.”

  He laughed as he walked away, but I didn’t find a damn thing funny. I needed to get the hell out of this frat house before I did something Coach couldn’t get me out of.

  What Do I Do

  Chance

  Pulling my keys from my front pocket, I stormed toward the front door, everyone making a path for me as I moved through them.

  “Wait up,” Mac shouted from somewhere behind me.

  Only once I got outside of the house did I stop.

  “Should we get Dayton and Colin?”

  “Send them a text that I’m leaving. I’ll pick them up later if they want, or they can come now,” I directed with one destination in mind.

  Mac typed on his phone and waited before it lit up the dark. “They’re staying. Said they’ll get home on their own.”

  “Good. You coming with?”

  “Where we headed?”

  “I need to see Danika.”

  “Chance”—Mac sounded dismayed, his voice filled with disapproval—“stay out of it.”

  I jerked my head toward him as I kept moving. “I can’t.” I sighed. “I can’t, okay?”

  I clicked the remote, and my truck unlocked with an audible pop. Hopping in, I jammed the key into the ignition and revved the engine to life as Mac buckled his seat belt and rolled down his window.

  “It isn’t your place, man,” he said, and I knew he was right.

  I had a hard rule after this past summer to stay out of other people’s relationships, but this felt too personal. How am I supposed to ignore what I just saw? How can I justify Danika being cheated on and my knowing about it and saying nothing?

  “She doesn’t deserve to be cheated on.”

  “No one ‘deserves’ to be cheated on.” Mac air-quoted the word, and I cracked my neck as my anger lowered to a simmer.

  “You know what I mean. She deserves better. Someone who can keep it in his fucking pants and not blatantly cheat where anyone could see him doing it.”

  “Maybe he wanted to get caught?” Mac suggested, and I practically laughed.

  “Well, I caught him!”

  “Okay, listen.” Mac used his reasonable tone, and I knew he was about to suggest something I was either going to agree with or want to throttle him for saying. “Think about this for a second, okay?”

  “I’ve thought about it,” I argued as I made a right and headed toward Danika’s apartment complex.

  “Yeah, you’ve thought about it for all of two seconds,” he huffed out like I was some kind of idiot. “Do you even know how this will go down?”

  I glanced at him briefly. “What are you talking about?”

  “Say you tell her. We go over there right now, you tell her, and she doesn’t believe you. Wants proof. Thinks you’re lying.”

  “I’m not a liar,” I bit back. “And you saw him too.”

  “Yeah, I did,” he agreed before rolling his window partway up. “But I’m playing devil’s advocate here, Carter. People don’t always like hearing the truth. Especially when it hurts. They fight back. They place blame. They get defensive and mad at the wrong people,” he explained, and I groaned as I stopped at a red light.

  “Yeah, yeah. They shoot the messenger. I get it.”

  “You just don’t care?”

  “I just don’t care,” I repeated, perfectly calm. “It’s the right thing to do,” I added before my own words felt like rocks in my throat.

  The light turned green, and I pressed on the gas pedal as I started questioning myself. It was the right thing to do, but I thought I’d done the right thing last summer, too, and I’d gotten my ass handed to me instead.

  I made one last right turn, and we were pulling into Danika’s complex.

  “Is
she even home?” Mac asked.

  “I’m not sure. But, hey,” I started, wanting to give Mac a heads-up about Danika’s roommate, “you hooked up with her roommate at the beginning of the semester.”

  “And?”

  “Just reminding you, I guess,” I said because I wasn’t sure what the hell my point was. I just didn’t want there to be any more awkwardness than there was already going to be.

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  We walked toward the double doors, and I searched the box for Danika’s last name before finding it and pressing the button.

  It rang four times before someone answered, “Hello?”

  “Danika?” I asked even though I knew it wasn’t her. The voice lacked any kind of accent.

  “Chance?” the female voice asked and I had no idea how she knew it was me from just my voice. “Hold on a sec,” she said before the line crackled and went dead.

  I looked through the doors and saw Sunny round a corner and come into view.

  “Ah, I remember her,” Mac said with a grin as Sunny reached us and popped one of the doors open.

  If I didn’t know any better, I would think he was interested in her.

  “Hey, guys,” she said before looking Mac up and down. “Figured it was easier if I came out. Just in case someone else needed the comm system to get in. What’s up?” Sunny was playing it cool, and Mac noticed.

  “Is Danika here?”

  “No. She left this morning for New York.” Sunny focused on me, finding something there as she asked, “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I just wanted to see her,” I said, leaving out the rest of the reason why we’d stopped by so late, unannounced.

  “At eleven thirty. On a Wednesday night? After you two haven’t talked in weeks, you just wanted to see her?”

  Damn. Sunny knew every detail about what was going on between Danika and me. It was a little unnerving even though it shouldn’t have been surprising. Girls tended to tell each other everything. At least, that was what my little sister always said.

  “I actually wanted to talk to her about some things,” I added, hoping it would get Sunny to ease up a little.

  “Well, like I said, she’s already gone.”

  The way Sunny had said that she was gone caused nerves to race through me, and unwanted thoughts filled my head.