by Sara Daniell
“Hey, you!” I bent down to hug her. I picked her up a little and then set her back down on her feet. “What are you building today?”
She showed me a pink bunny she was holding. “A bunny. Uncle Zach is making some too.”
Zach had a hand behind his back. He looked like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Whatcha’ hiding?”
He shrugged. “Nothin’.” I looked behind his back and saw two bears. I looked back at his face. He was trying not to smile.
“Nothing, huh?” I laughed.
He laughed. “I like Build-a-Bear. I swear Millie has about a hundred of these.”
My phone dinged. It was the real Sadie. I had her in my phone with two e’s.
Sadie: Where are you? I’m running out of ways to hold all this stuff! I’m getting your dressing room started.
I looked at Millie and Zach. “Gotta go.”
Millie hugged me then went to look at clothes for her bunny.
Zach smiled after her then looked at me. “I’ll see ya later?” he asked with a smile.
I nodded. “Under the Owl Tree at midnight.” I whispered and hurried back to Rue21.
I was running late to meet Zach. Mom and I stayed up to watch a movie together, and I had to wait until I knew for sure her and Dad were both asleep before leaving the house. I ran through the woods and smiled widely when I saw Zach waiting for me.
I climbed over the fence and set the flashlight down. I hugged him tightly and rested my head against his chest. I took in his smell and sighed contently.
“I thought you had forgotten. I was about to leave.” He kissed the top of my head. “I got you something today.”
“I was going to text you, but my phone was dead. My mom stayed up late with me.” I moved back from him and smiled. “Is it fluffy?”
“Possibly.” He moved and grabbed a Build-a-Bear box from behind the tree. He smiled as he handed it to me. I opened it and saw a bear in a Braves baseball uniform. I looked at it more closely and saw it had on Zach’s Brave’s hat. His dad’s baseball hat.
“Zach… I can’t keep that hat. It’s yours. It’s special.” I took the bear out of the box and smiled.
“So are you.” He kissed me. “And yes, you can.”
“What does this mean, Zach?” I looked at him.
He shrugged.
“You’re giving me your dad’s baseball hat; you really are serious about this whole thing, aren’t you?” At first I wanted an explanation, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that by him giving me his dad’s hat, that said way more than words ever could. I set the bear back in the box.
He nodded. “Yes, I’m serious.”
I stood on tiptoes and kissed him. “Thank you so much.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. He kissed my forehead before putting his forehead against mine. “There’s something in my pocket for you too.” He grinned down at me. “My right back pocket.”
I chewed on my lip as I reached down in his pocket, fully appreciating his amazing ass, and pulled out a phone.
I burst out laughing. “Really? Damn, Zach, you really do got it bad!”
He grinned. “Now that you’re hanging out with Sadie, we need another method. Plus, I hate having to edit myself in text. I wrote you five texts today and had to delete them.”
“And what did those five texts say?” I asked as my hands found the button on his jeans. I slowly unbuttoned them, keeping my eyes on his.
He cleared his throat a little. “I sent them to that phone.” He kept his eyes locked on mine. “I would tell ya, but I’m having trouble concentrating right now.”
“Really?” I unzipped his jeans. “Why’s that?” I grinned at him.
“You know why.” He cupped the back of my neck and leaned down to kiss me.
I laughed against his mouth. “No one will come out here, right?”
“No, but if they do, I’ll make them go missing.” His hands worked their way up the back of my shirt. “I love your skin.” He nibbled at my neck. “It’s so soft.”
I raised my arms so he could pull the shirt over my head. I was so much more confident about this than I was two nights ago. I was scared, but Zach was so careful to make sure I was comfortable. He promised each time would get better. I never imagined I could fall for someone so quickly or I could be ready to fully give my heart away, but there I was, falling and handing my heart over without hesitation.
He sat and pulled me down so my legs were on either side of him. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered.
“Not true.”
He moved my hair from my shoulder. “It’s very true, Hales.” He kissed my bare shoulder as he unhooked my bra.
“I disagree, Zach.” When he looked at me, I kissed him. One of his hands wrapped itself in my hair while the other started unbuttoning my jeans. I swear, it felt like my clothes couldn’t leave my body soon enough. “It’s crazy how much I feel like I need you. I don’t think I could ever explain it.”
“I can’t either. I’ve never felt this before,” he said as I sat back from him, taking the rest of my clothes off.
I got to practice thirty minutes early so I could run the field. I noticed some girls sitting in the stands, watching someone run the bases. As I got closer, I realized Zach was the one running, with his earbuds in, sunglasses on, no shirt, and claw marks from my nails on his back.
I pulled my shades down over my eyes and put earbuds in. I started running and caught up with Zach.
“You might want to put a shirt on,” I said as I kept a steady pace next to him.
“Why?” He asked without slowing down.
“Well, I should probably keep my nails short if you plan on continuing to rock my world.” We laughed.
“Nah. I like it.” As we made it back to the dugout, he stopped and pulled his shirt back on. He tossed a water at me and he took one for himself. “You’re here early.”
“So are you,” I said before taking a drink.
“I needed to work off some stress.”
I took another drink and wiped sweat from my forehead. “I have to weigh in tonight for my dad.”
He laughed. “You’ll be fine. And I could always show you how to change the scale.”
“No. He would notice. He’s very observant.”
He smiled and looked me up and down. “So am I. You’ll be fine.”
Thankfully, my cheeks were already red from being hot so he didn’t see me blush.
I looked at the girls on the bleachers. “You have an audience.”
He looked confused but followed my gaze. He groaned. “Great. When’d they get here?”
“They were here when I got here.” I took another drink. “Can I toss you a few balls to warm up before the guys get here?”
“Sure.” He looked down at his phone, frowned, and then grabbed a glove and ball. “Get your glove.” He gave me a smile.
“Everything okay?” I grabbed a glove from my bag.
“Elliot has a doctor appointment first thing this morning. Just ready to hear what the doctor said.”
“I’m sure everything will be good.” We went out to the field, and I took the mound. “School better not suck. I’m starting to get really anxious about it,” I said and threw the ball to him.
I looked at the girls who were still checking out Zach.
“The guys will look out for you. They’re rather protective.”
I nodded and caught the ball when he threw it back. “Girls can be mean.” I threw the ball harder when the girls started giggling.
“Yeah, they can be. But so can guys. I was an asshole in school. Elliot was the nice one.”
The guys started making their way onto to the field, and all their shirts came off. All except Dane’s. It was extremely hot out today so I wondered why he chose not to. More girls showed up to watch.
“Is this normal?” I asked Dane when he walked over to me.
“Hu
h?”
I pointed at the girls.
Dane laughed. “Yeah.”
“Oh.” I tugged on his shirt a little. “Aren’t you burning up?”
He shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”
“Time for me to work the hell out of all of you,” Zach said after he blew the whistle. “And I swear, Gabe, if you miss a ball today because you’re checking out the girls in the stands again, you will regret it.”
Gabe winked at the girls and nodded. “Okay, Zach!”
This was ridiculous. Girls checked out the guys back home, but it wasn’t this obvious. They never showed up at practices. One of the girls eyed me up and down like she was trying to intimidate me.
“It’s going to take time for everyone to accept you. Baseball is bigger than football here. Prove yourself,” Dane said as he picked up his bat.
“Okay. Enough chit-chatting. Let’s get to work.” Zach tossed me the ball. “Dane, let’s start with you.”
I put my game face on, and Dane laughed. “She’s taunting me, Zach!” Dane went to his spot, and I waited for the catcher to get in place.
I looked up at the girls and smirked. I was going to really mess with them.
“I hope you’re ready, Dane.” I watched as one girl watched him closely and then glared at me. These girls were intimidated by me. Good.
“I’m ready, Hales.”
Zach motioned for me to do a curveball and turned to watch Dane.
I threw a perfect curveball, and Dane missed.
Zach shook his head. “Dane, focus. Follow through and watch. You always miss curveballs. This year you’re going to hit the damn things.” He walked over and said something to Dane quietly.
The girls all kept their eyes on me.
I wound up and threw it again. Dane hit it, but it was a foul ball.
“I know why he’s so distracted, Coach!” I yelled.
Zach looked at me then at the stands. He looked back at Dane with a raised eyebrow.
“Those girls in the stands are really distracting!” I smiled up at the girls. I took off my shirt, leaving me in only a black sports bra. “There. Now maybe he can keep his eye on the ball.” I held the ball close to my breast and smirked.
Zach’s mouth fell open. He shook his head and moved back from Dane. He tripped over a bat and fell on his ass. We all laughed, and the girls in the stands looked mortified. I smiled at the girls whose mouths were hanging wide open as I put my tank top back on.
I looked at Dane who was still laughing as Zach got up from the ground and dusted his shorts off.
“Ready, Dane?” I asked with a satisfied smile as the girls all started leaving.
He nodded, still laughing. “All ready,” he said, holding his bat up.
Zach cleared his throat and popped Dane in the back of his head. “He should be able to focus no matter what.” Zach kept his eyes off me and motioned for me to throw a fastball.
I got in position and threw the perfect fastball. I jumped up and down when Dane hit it out of the park.
“Daaaaaaamn,” all the guys said in unison.
I ran over to Dane and hugged him. “Are you kidding me? No one ever hits those!” I was so proud of him.
Zach patted his back. “’Bout damn time!” he said proudly. “Alright, now let’s really play some ball!”
PRACTICE WAS GOOD. Hot but good. Zach pushed us all to our limits and got us out of our comfort zones. I had just started to pack up my stuff when I saw Dad pull up. I was hoping to talk to Zach a little before I left, but that wasn’t happening now.
“How’d she do today?” Dad asked him.
“Great. We improved her curveball, and she hit every ball thrown at her.” He looked at his phone. He looked bothered and put it back in his pocket.
“Practice will be after school starting tomorrow. Four to six.”
“Sounds good. I was on my way home from work so I thought I’d stop by.” Dad squeezed my shoulder.
I smiled. “I’m gonna stick around a little longer and practice my curveball. Zach said it’s good and improved, but I still feel like it’s flawed.”
Dad nodded and kissed my head. “Proud of you, kiddo. See you at home.”
Dad left, and it was just Zach and me.
“You okay?” I asked as I got a glove on.
“Yeah, it’s just odd that Elliot hasn’t called.”
He looked around and saw everyone was gone but us. “I guess those girls finally left.” He smiled down at me.
“You’re not mad at me for what I did, are you?”
He smirked a little. “No, just shocked.” He looked at me. “But it was a hell of a nice shock.”
I laughed. “Good. I was just so frustrated and overreacted, but at least they left.”
His phone rang, making him jump. I stepped back and watched him answer.
“Hey, what’d the doctor say?” he asked. As he listened, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Yeah. Okay. I will be home soon.”
When he hung up, he plopped down on the bench. “You did good today,” he said quietly.
“I tried.” I sat next to him. “Wanna talk about what’s going on?”
“The treatment hasn’t worked. They’re going to switch treatments.” He let out a shaky breath. “He’s actually hungry though.” He looked at me. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“I have to run by the restaurant, make sure everything is going okay. Could you come pick up some food from Quinn’s and take it home for me?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Thank you,” his voice broke a little. “I know he’ll be okay. He has to be.”
We sat there in silence for what felt like several minutes.
“We stink,” I said, making us both laugh a little.
“Yeah, we do.” He looked over at me. “But you’re still sexy as hell. Even all sweaty.”
I giggled like an idiot. “Oh my gosh, I sound like a damn girl. Did I mention I would suck at this relationship shit?”
He laughed. “It’s one of your appealing qualities, and I probably will suck worse at it.”
“Doubt it. You’re older, more experienced. I bet you have it all figured out.” We got up and gathered everything. I took off the glove and put it in my bag.
“Nope. I just started growing up in the past five years, so I’m still learning.”
I didn’t ask any more questions. The look on his face told me to back far away from that topic.
“I’ll see you at Quinn’s to pick up food.” I put everything in my trunk.
He kissed my forehead. “Thank you.”
“What was that for?”
“I have to have a reason to kiss you on the forehead?”
I laughed. “I don’t know. Guess not.”
I crooked my finger at him so he’d lean down. I kissed his forehead.
I smiled when he laughed.
“See you in a second.” I got in the car and headed toward Quinn’s.
I hid inside Dane’s truck, listening to music on my phone. Party scenes were never really my thing. I liked hanging out with the team back home, especially at our beach parties. But it was with people I liked and nothing like this. Underage drinking with half-naked teens practically having sex around a large bonfire out in a cornfield.
Why did I let Dane and Sadie talk me into this?
Of course they got me with the whole ‘you need to get to know people’ thing. But I did know people. I loved the Shaw’s, Dane, Sadie, and the guys on the team. I really didn’t need to make any more friends.
I jumped when something flew into the window next to me. I saw beer foam all over the window. I turned the music up and laid my head back against the seat. I pulled up Zach’s messages.
Me: Remind me to never take part in another one of these ridiculous high-school ritual parties.
Zach: Not going well?
Me: This is so stupid. Everyone is drunk and making out. I’m hiding in Dane’s truck. I really feel
like I should go around handing out condoms
Zach: Don’t go handing out our stuff. lol. I’d come rescue you, but I’m stuck doing books. I’d rather be with you.
Me: Dane is making out with this girl named Gwen. It’s so weird seeing him like this.
Zach: I could pull the big brother card and show up, break that shit up.
Me: LOL! NO! Maybe I’ll go have a few beers and get drunk so nothing will bother me.
Zach: Umm... no.
Me: Kidding. Oh shit, gotta go. Dane and his girl-toy are coming over.
I set the phone beside me and rolled down the window.
“You should come out here! We are all having so much fun,” Gwen said with a sloppy smile as she leaned on Dane for support.
I raised a brow at her and then looked at Dane. “I’m fine. Where’s Sadie?”
Dane looked around. “Her and Trevor ran off somewhere.”
I motioned toward Gwen with my head. “What’s going on here?” I asked him.
Gwen giggled and started kissing Dane’s neck, distracting him from the question. I laughed and shook my head. “Go have fun. I’ll just be here hiding.”
“Do you want me to take you home?” he asked, ignoring Gwen.
I looked past him and saw Sadie waving me over. “No. Maybe I’ll brave it and come out.” I laughed and got out of the truck. I walked over to Sadie, Gwen and Dane following behind me.
Sadie looped her arm in mine, and thankfully, she seemed sober. She walked me over to a group of girls hanging out. She introduced me to everyone and then sat down, patting the spot on a tailgate next to her.
I sat down, feeling completely out of my element. I listened to the girls talk about teachers to hope for and teachers to hope like hell I didn’t get. They talked about boys and how they were excited for their senior year.
To be honest, I really wasn’t listening. I was too busy watching everyone and wishing I was with Zach.
“So, how is it being the only girl on an all-boys baseball team?” One of the girls asked. She had on so much makeup; she’d probably have to use a chisel to get it off. Her hair was also perfectly fixed.
