by Ali Parker
My phone buzzed and I grabbed it, seeing that it was my mom.
"Hey. Everything okay?" My pulse spiked as I prepared for an emergency.
"Yeah. I'm good. I just wanted to thank you for coming out Friday night. Your poor daddy cried all morning over what happened. He's mortified that Jayce came out here. I think he's ready to get some help." Her voice was soft, docile, nothing like the woman who had raised me.
"Good. Is he going back to the school this semester or..." My father needed some time off from his job. It was the source of his pain and had been the trigger for his PTSD to rear its ugly head again.
"He's taking a leave of absence. He's going in tomorrow morning to talk with Principal Daniels. I think Paul will help him out seeing that your father has such a long history of teaching at the school. Maybe he'll go back to teaching once he finishes his rehab and treatment, but I don't know."
"What about money, Mom? I know you guys are making it, but that's because Dad's job pays well. Is he going to get paid during this leave?"
"No, but I'm going to try and get a job at the hospital. We'll figure it out. Today is the best day we've had in a long time. I just wanted you to know that things are going to be better from now on."
"Or so we hope." I brushed my hand down my face and walked toward the closet to get my tennis shoes. "I'm here if you need me."
"Okay, baby. Please tell Jayce that I'm sorry and that I appreciate his help."
"All right Mom." I hung up the phone and tossed it back on my bed. It was still shocking that we were talking about my father hitting anyone. He was the sweetest most sensitive teddy bear in the world, or he was before he switched careers at the school. Something in his new counseling job had triggered him to start drinking after twenty-plus years of sobriety. He was a mean drunk and lost himself in his liquor.
I tried to push my thoughts away. He was talking about getting help, which was a huge step in the right direction. After getting my shoes on, I grabbed the phone and called Jayce. I needed to tell someone, and even though Aubrey was the best choice, Jayce was the right one. He was there with me on Friday night and maybe because of that... things were going to change.
"Hey. Good morning." His voice brought a big smile to my face.
"My mom just called-"
"You need me to come get you?" Jayce went from calm to panic in two seconds flat.
"No. No. Everything is fine. She was calling to thank you for your help, but I was calling to tell you that my dad's going to get help." My voice cracked as a million emotions flooded my chest. I'd been praying for a solution for the last eight months and had come up empty each time.
"Hey, it's okay, Lay. I'll head back to the apartment and we can talk about it."
"No. I'm going to play softball with the girls. I just wanted to tell you thank you." I brushed the back of my hand by my nose and sniffled. "I didn't mean to start crying." I chuckled through my tears. "I'm just grateful that you came. I wanted to kill you for forcing yourself into the situation, but maybe that's what my dad needed."
"I'll always be here for you, okay? Always."
"Me too. I'll see you tonight." I hung up and let out a loud exhale. I was so head over heels in love with this guy that it was nauseating. I'd have done just about anything for him, and something told me he would quickly return the favor. Did he love me too? Was I overlooking something or was I being overly sensitive because of all of the drama in my life?
Only time would tell.
*
"Hey. Someone cleared the field." I tossed the ball to Tammy, one of the other seniors on the team as I walked onto the softball diamond.
"Yep. Julia called her uncle and he came up and cleared it."
"Her uncle?" I walked toward the small group of girls gathered in the middle of the field. Julia wasn't one of them.
"Yeah, he's one of the maintenance guys for the athletic department." Tammy smiled. "Lucky, lucky us, right?"
"Hell yeah." I smiled at everyone. "We have eight of us?"
"Nine." Julia walked up beside me and pushed her shoulder against mine. "Well, ten if Abby shows up."
"I'm here!" Abby ran toward us, her long blond hair swinging back and forth in the high ponytail she had it in.
"All right. Ten of us. Let's split teams and have someone on first, one on third, one of us in center field, one on the pitcher’s mound and one of us as catcher." I glanced around. "Number off. I'm one."
The girls numbered off, and we split up, taking our places to play a little bit of ball. I took the pitcher’s mound and rolled my shoulders as every part of me came alive. There were only two things in my life that left me feeling high - softball and Jayce Moore. I was lucky enough to know that both were within my reach for the next five months.
"Go easy on me, Roberts." Tammy smiled and swung the bat a few times. "No fastballs just yet."
"Come on, Tam. You know you love my fastballs." I reared back, swung my arm around and pitched the ball toward her.
She swung and missed, giving me a look and getting back into place. "All right. I see how it is. Give me another and I'll hit it this time. I'm ready now."
"Good luck, sister." I threw it again, curving the ball just a little.
The sound of it hitting Julia's glove again had me smiling.
"Fuck." Tammy took a step back and swung the bat a few times. "I'm glad you're on our team and not someone else's."
"One minute you love me, the next you hate me. I'm getting confused." I winked at her and threw the ball again.
This time she hit it.
My girls ran out toward the outfield and caught the pop-fly. Tammy still ran the bases as fast as she could, not stopping until she plowed into Julia and twirled her around.
"Oh brother..." I rolled my eyes and got ready for the next batter. I could play all day long, but coach would give us hell, and the other girls would physically suffer for it.
An hour later, my team was up four runs and we called it quits. It was starting to snow again and most of the girls were whining about being cold.
"All right. Gather around." I motioned for them to join me as I caught a glimpse of Coach Warren in the distance. I was a little surprised to see her at the field on a Sunday, but maybe someone alerted her to us being there. "School starts back tomorrow and so does practice. We only have a couple of weeks before our first game. Make sure you have your jerseys and all of your gear already. If you don't, make sure you see Tammy and she'll get with coach to get it ordered. It's going to be extra because you're late, but you need everything we had on the list for last semester. Everyone with me?"
I got a lot of head nods and smiled. We put our hands in the middle of the circle and yelled Lady Friars on three. The group split up, and I turned to jog over to our coach.
"Hey there." She gave me a warm smile and reached out, pulling me into a quick hug. She's been a good mentor to me over the last three years, and being out of school last semester had hurt us both. "Glad to have you back."
"I'm glad to be back." I brushed my hair out of my face and slipped my hands into my pockets. "What are you doing up here on a Sunday?"
"Billows was up here for something and called to make sure you guys were mine and not some hoodlums tearing up the field. I figured it would be easier to come up and verify that you were mine, and you are, but I went ahead and told him that you were hoodlums too."
"It's not a lie." I glanced back at the girls and waved in response to them yelling bye as they walked off the field.
"You got time for a quick coffee?"
"Yeah, sure." I turned and walked with her toward the coffee shop that sat on the edge of campus.
"It's senior season for you. Are you graduating at the end of May or having to stay for the summer since you missed last fall?"
"I took correspondence classes where I could, and am taking eighteen hours this semester, so yeah, I'm graduating in May. It's going to be hard as hell, but I'll make it. I need to. It's time to move on." I glanced over at her and smiled
. "It's someone else's turn to take over the team."
"Almost." She opened the door to the coffee shop and waited until I went in. "Make sure you have the talk with everyone tomorrow at practice about keeping clean. No sleeping around, no drugs and no behaving in a way that would embarrass the program."
"After four years of hearing or giving this speech, I got it down, coach. I'll make sure to go over all of it tomorrow."
"What are your plans after graduation?" She moved up toward the counter and ordered something after I did.
"I'm not sure to be honest. My degree is in marketing, but I have no clue what I want to do with that." I shrugged. "My minor is in Kinesiology. Maybe I could market sports teams?"
"Or maybe you could consider applying for the assistant coaching position that's coming open in women's athletics."
My heart skipped a beat. "Which position would that be? What sports?"
"We don't know yet, but I would assume track for sure, and maybe softball." She smiled and rubbed my back as we sat down at a table. "Were you planning on moving somewhere or staying around Providence?"
"I know it's crazy, but I hadn't given it much thought. You know the situation with my folks, and things are getting better finally, but I think I'm going to stay here I guess. I can't leave my mom just in case something happens."
"Well, I think that's an incredibly brave response from you. When this semester is over, come talk with me and I'll set up an interview with Coach Billows. You've proven yourself a champion over the last four years, and I want you with me for a long time to come. Think about it?"
"Absolutely."
Chapter 13
Jayce
I got home that night much later than I hoped to. For being pissed about Aubrey missing her last semester at Providence, my parents were overly excited about the wedding. I expected it from my dad, but my mom? Not so much.
By the time I got back to the apartment, Layla's door was closed and all the lights in the house were off. I wanted so badly to knock on the door, sneak into the room and slide into bed with her, but it was stupid. We were friends, family, but nothing else.
I'd half expected her to laugh at me when I mentioned our dates having a great make-out session attached to them, and maybe she still would. I was still trying to get over the shock that she'd want a date at all. Maybe I wasn't the only one that was lonely and struggling with it.
How a sexy girl like her was lonely was beyond me. I crawled into bed thinking about her. Hell, all I did was think about her. Unless I was knee deep in playing ball or hockey, I was thinking about her. It was almost embarrassing how often she came up in my thoughts.
I closed my eyes and let the gratefulness that her dad was getting help wash over me. He'd taught my junior year English class and taken me from a guy who hated to read to find some really cool adventures within the pages of a novel. My heart hurt at who the man had become. Maybe Layla was right to hope for the better, but I wasn't so sure yet. I'd stand beside her and help where she would let me, but Mr. Roberts was going to have to follow through on getting help. None of us were capable of providing the kind he needed.
Not even love could conquer the demon of drunk violence. I shuddered at the thought and drifted into a fitful night of sleep.
*
My alarm went off three times before I finally dragged my ass out of the bed the next morning. I walked down the hall, praying I would catch a glimpse of my sexy roommate in a towel, but she was already gone.
"Damn," I mumbled and popped a few pieces of bread in the toaster. I needed to get her schedule down so I could have some accidental run-ins with her. Did she shower in the morning or at night? What time did she get up?
"Fuck, you're getting creepy." I rolled my eyes and walked back to the bedroom, getting dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and grabbing my boots and a jacket before heading back to the kitchen. I had Chemistry first thing on Monday mornings, and I was dreading it. Hopefully there would be someone in the class to at least talk to. Or maybe it was best if there was no one at all. Any distractions in there were a bad idea for me. One more semester and I would be free.
My father had promised to help me start a small sports supply company when I graduated, and we'd looked at buildings around town a few times, but nothing had come open yet. Mom expected me to take my business degree and rule Corporate America, but the thought of sitting in a high rise and staring down at people who got to breathe fresh air seemed horrid.
I grabbed my toast and ate it dry as I locked up and jogged to my black mustang out front. Walking to class would take ten minutes, but I'd freeze my balls off in the process.
"No thanks," I mumbled and started the car. Layla's jeep sat next to me, which caused me to chuckle. Of course Layla walked to class in the freezing cold weather. She was tough as nails. "She doesn't have balls either. Let's be realistic."
It was dumb and yet it somehow made me feel at least a little bit better.
I parked as close to campus as I could, and zipped up my jacket before getting out of the car and jogging toward the science building. Students were everywhere, some in a hurry to get into the warmth of the buildings and some seeming to take their time. I loved the snow as much as anyone, but it was intensely cold that morning.
I dropped down in a chair on the front row between a cute Asian girl and a big football-looking guy. I nodded at both of them and pulled out my notebook, dreading the next hour like most people would an enema.
"Jayce. Back here, man."
I glanced around to see William Tanner on the back row. There was nowhere for him to sit on the front with me, and though he wasn't my favorite person in the world, I wasn't going to deny him my attention.
Grabbing my stuff, I walked to the back and sat down beside him. "Hey man. How are you?"
"Good." He smiled at me. "I was wondering when your Chem class was. I'm glad we can suffer through this together."
"Suffer is the right word, indeed."
The guy in front of us glanced back and nodded. "Hey guys."
Seth Mills. Layla's ex. Really?
"Hey man." I nodded at him. "You here to suffer with us too?"
He snorted. "Fuck yeah. I hate science. I tried to take botany last fall and flunked out of it."
"What the hell is botany?" Will smiled and glanced my way.
"Study of plants?" I asked Seth. How the hell I ended up in my hardest class with a chatty-Cathy like Will and an asshole like Seth was beyond me. My luck just kept kicking me in the gut every chance it got.
"Yeah. It's stupid to say the least." Seth's eyes moved across my face. "So someone told me the other day that you're rooming with my girl."
"Your girl?" I lifted my eyebrow as Will stiffened next to me.
"Layla Roberts." Seth turned a little more in his seat. The fucker was mean-looking, and probably had to be seeing that he was captain of the Providence Rugby team, but he could intimidate someone else. I'd happily take his ass to the ground for hurting Lay.
"I'm pretty sure she's a free agent." I smiled and leaned over to pull out my notebook.
"You guys together?" Will asked.
"Nope. She's my sister's best friend." I gave him a look as I sat back up. Seth had yet to turn around. I figured I'd better make my intents known. "But I'd date her in a heartbeat if she'd give me the time of day."
Seth's expression softened, surprising me a little. "Tell me about it. Biggest fuck up of my life for sure."
"What happened?" Will asked.
Thank God for Will. I wanted to know too and yet there was no way I was asking Seth or Layla about it.
"We dated about a year or so." He shrugged and glanced over toward me. "She's a good woman. If you get a chance, go for it."
"I thought she was your woman." I smirked.
"She was." He smirked back. "She always will be, but there's no convincing her of that. If you get a chance with her, just remember, she's more about action than words."
Will glanced over at me as Seth t
urned around. "What the fuck does that mean?"
"No clue." I nodded toward the front of the room and sunk down in my chair. I'd known Layla my whole damn life and I still had no clue what Seth was referring to. Did she want to feel and see love more than hear it? Or did she want gifts to show someone’s affection, or was she just really sexually active? Did she want more action in her life than lovey-dovey words?
By the time I stopped pondering what Layla might want in a relationship, the professor was ten minutes into the first lecture and I'd missed everything.
I growled at myself and started to write furiously until the class ended. I wanted so badly to ask Seth what he meant, but it wouldn't have been appropriate. Besides, the asshole probably had no clue what Layla wanted. He knew her for a year or so. I'd known her for more than twenty. I was good, or so I figured.
*
"I'm in the goalie box. Try to score on me." I pulled on my mask and waded down the ice to the goalie box. The Hockey team was holding it together, but just barely. Lucas had been so much better at leadership than I am, or maybe he just didn't have his efforts split between ten places.
"Ready? Moore?" Coach called down the ice to me.
I nodded and realized my pads were twisted around my waist. "Just a second."
The force of having a hockey puck hit my stomach at full speed left me stumbling back and busting my ass on the ice as I plowed into the net.
"Shit!" Parks's voice rose above the sound of their skates moving toward me. "You said you were ready, Jayce. What the fuck man?"
I panted through the pain and tried hard to catch my breath. I'd twisted my chest guard just a little as he hit the puck, but it was enough to leave the side part of my stomach unprotected. White hot pain pumped through the middle of my stomach and left my eyes watering.
"You all right, Moore?" Coach Billows dropped down on the ice beside me.
"Yep. Just trying to breathe." I panted and slowly rolled onto my side. "That's going to leave a bruise."
"Fuck, dude." Parks laid down on his stomach on the ice in front of me. "Where was your head?"
