Summer Swing

by Delia Delaney

  I stayed in my bed for another couple of minutes, still with my face buried under the covers, until I heard Tyse ask, “Ellie? Are you okay?”

  I didn’t answer at first because I was still really humiliated that he’d had to witness me throw up over and over. I was sure he thought I was a complete idiot.

  “Ellie,” he said again, and I felt him sit on the bed next to me. “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t really born with a filter. You wanted the truth.”

  “I know. I appreciate it. I’m just…” I sighed and pulled the covers off of my face. “I’m just embarrassed. I’m sorry you had to see all of that.”

  He paused for a few seconds as I wiped the tears off of my face, and then he asked, “Can I get you anything else?” He handed me a pair of aspirin and a glass of water.

  “Oh… Thank you…”

  I sat up on the bed cross-legged and downed the pills. If Tyse felt really annoyed about being there he didn’t act like it, but I was thankful he was with me.

  “Gage pretty much broke up with me,” I told him out of the blue.

  He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was surprised.

  “He suggested we see other people once he goes back to school.”

  Tyse shifted on the bed and then asked, “Why? I mean did he give you a reason?”

  I slightly shrugged. “I guess so, but it wasn’t a reason that I understood.”

  “Well what did he say?”

  “Just that it would probably be better if we dated other people.”

  “Better? He wants to date other people?”

  “Well, he kind of deflected it on me first, claiming that he was sure I wanted to date other people, and he didn’t want to hold me back if I did. It didn’t even matter that I declined feeling that way. He just decided it was better that way.”

  Tyse didn’t respond at first and I finished drinking the glass of water. Finally he said, “Well if you told him you didn’t want to date other people and he decided for it to be that way anyway, then it’s just something he wants to do. I’m sorry Ellie, but—”

  “I know. I already understand that. I mean I understand that’s what that means, but I really don’t understand why he feels that way.”

  I realized for the first time that Tyse had changed his clothes, and I guess I was almost looking them over for any evidence of my vomit.

  “Nope, all clean,” he smiled at me, rubbing his hands on his pants. “I’m guessing you hardly ate anything yesterday, though. Almost all liquids.”

  “Oh gosh,” I groaned. “I am so sorry, Tyse.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he stated, standing up again. “Let’s get some food in you, though. It’ll help you feel better.”

  I had to agree, so I followed him into the kitchen. He actually made me an omelette, and I was a little surprised that I liked it. I was never a fan of omelettes.

  He set a glass of orange juice in front of me with some toast and said, “I gotta get going. I have a team meeting in a half hour.”

  “Isn’t this your last weekend of games?”

  “Yeah, tonight and tomorrow afternoon are the last two.”

  “Will you be pitching at one of them?”

  “Tomorrow’s game.”

  “Oh, I could make that. I mean I’d like to come if you’re not completely appalled by the disgusting state I was in last night.”

  He chuckled. “I’ve seen worse. And yes, I would like you to come. Besides, we’re having a team barbecue that evening after the game. I was hoping you could be there.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Everyone else has family or friends in the area, and they’re all coming. I’d like it if you came, you know, for me. Represent my one friend,” he smiled.

  I returned the smile. “I kind of doubt I’m your one friend, but if I’ve undressed in front of you then I guess that makes me kind of special.”

  He lightly laughed, and as he left for his meeting he said, “I’d say so.”

  I had no idea what to do for the rest of that Saturday. I sat there and slowly ate my food while I thought about it, just as Kailey entered the kitchen. She looked at me with a partial smile and grabbed some orange juice, and with a raise of her eyebrow she looked at my glass and asked, “That’s just plain O.J., right?”

  I could only assume that it hadn’t been the night before.

  I groaned. “Yes, it’s just juice.”

  “Now I remember why you never drank with us in college,” she added. “I think you were drunk after your first margarita.”

  “Probably.”

  She looked at my half eaten omelette and pouted. “Is that all you made?”

  “Oh, uh, actually Tyse made this for me…” I slid the remaining omelette her way and added, “Have the rest; I’ll stick with the toast.”

  She did take the fork and tried a bite. “Mmm, that is so good. You’ve got yourself one hell of a guy. No wonder you were all over him last night.”

  I choked on my toast, and not just a little bit—it was practically lodged in my throat. I grabbed the glass of juice and worked to get it down, but it still left me coughing.

  “Are you okay?” Kailey asked with concern, and she poured me some more juice.

  “Uh, yeah,” I replied, clearing my throat once more. I took another drink and looked at her again. “Excuse me, but did you just say that I was all over Tyse last night?”

  She smiled. “Yeah, it was kind of cute. You kept wanting to call him, and once you finally did he was here in, like, five minutes flat. He really wanted to take care of you. It was really sweet. Until he got all pissy with me…”

  “Wait, get back to the ‘all over him’ part. Was I really?”

  “Yeah, but it was no big deal. He handled it pretty well and got you to sit still for a while. But then, uh, you kind of had to throw up a little.”

  “Yeah, so I’ve been told. But I didn’t know about the other part,” I added.

  “That you kissed him?”

  “I did!?” I exclaimed. “Oh, man, he must think I’m a complete moron,” I groaned mostly to myself.

  “Nah, he was cool about it. Nice guy if he’s not gonna take advantage of that,” she smiled. Then her eyebrows creased and she said, “But then he decided to kick everyone out of the house. Because Lyle spilled a drink down your shirt, but it was probably more because Joe wouldn’t stop hitting on you. I think Tyse had a problem with that. I guess since Gage dumped you, Tyse was probably a good back up plan.”

  “What?” I asked with disbelief. “I told everyone he dumped me?”

  “Yeah, probably around your third drink. That’s why Joe kept saying, ‘I’ll help you forget about him.’ But Joe didn’t say anything more after Tyse arrived. Scared the crap out of him.”

  I gave her a blank stare because I didn’t even remember, and I felt like an even bigger fool. I decided I needed to just take a shower and try to wash away anything else I might have declared the night before. One thing I did realize was that Tyse hadn’t planned on telling me that I had kissed him. He was probably pretty embarrassed by it, and I’m sure it would have been awkward for him to admit.

  The house was still pretty messy, so once I’d showered and dressed I helped Kailey clean up. She seemed totally unaffected from the night before, and an hour later she headed off for work. I guess I was definitely in the “can’t hold her alcohol” category.

  My sister called me later on that day, totally expressing sympathy about my relationship with Gage. I appreciated her concern, but it really only made me feel worse. I was glad the conversation took place over the phone because otherwise she’d have to witness my hangover tears.

  “He’s just having a rough time, Ellie,” she finally said. “Give it some time and things will be back on track. I don’t know why he would tell you something like that. Maybe he’s just not thinking straight. I’m sorry, sweetie.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You’re probably right and I just need to give him some space. M
aybe it’s just been too much stress to fit in visits and stuff when he’s been trying to deal with everything else. Maybe once he’s at college and away from his family issues he’ll have a chance to evaluate our relationship again.”

  “Yeah, I agree Ells. Just hope for the best, sis.”

  “Has, uh, Wyatt said anything?” I asked tentatively.

  She paused for a few seconds. “Uh, no not really. He kind of thinks Gage is just feeling a lot of pressure, like you said. We were both kind of surprised that you guys wanted to take a break from each other.”

  “I don’t,” I clarified. “Gage wants to. I told him I didn’t want to date other people.”

  “Wyatt said that you had someone you wanted to start seeing. That must have come from Gage.”

  “No, and Gage better not be using that as an excuse, either. That’s not fair because we talked about all of that.”

  “So there really is someone else?”

  “No! He was just worried about…about Tyse.”

  “Tyse?” she exclaimed with a laugh. “Gage thinks you want to go out with Tyse? Did you tell him he’s crazy? Sure Tyse is probably all for it, but come on, Gage… Why would he think you’d settle for that?”

  I was really irritated, and I was half tempted to say something really defensive that I would regret. But instead I just made up an excuse that I needed to get some work done, and told my sister I’d talk to her later.

  I’ll admit that Dawn’s disapproval was very insulting to me, and it even made me want to prove her wrong. It was a beautiful day out, and since I had a pile of research that I also wanted to read over, I decided to head for the ball field that evening. I didn’t care that Tyse wasn’t pitching, but just the thought of seeing him made me feel better.

  Then I remembered what Kailey had told me and I almost changed my mind. But after everything that Tyse had put up with the night before, and he still wanted to be my friend, I decided I would use the humiliation as a future reminder to myself to just keep away from the alcohol.

  Tyse didn’t even know I was at the game until the middle of the fourth inning. He seemed to peek up into the stands from the dugout, as if someone had pointed me out to him. However, he didn’t come to the fence to talk to me until the game was over. I hoped it had to do with his teammates gawking as well, and maybe he didn’t want to cause a scene or a reason for people to gossip, but my biggest fear was that he just didn’t want to see me—especially after the pathetic state I was in the night before.

  But eventually he did meet up with me, and I hoped his smile meant that he forgave me.

  “Are you available for dinner?” I asked him. “I mean even just a burger or something?”

  He looked totally surprised. “Uh, yeah, I guess so. I just need to help take care of the field first.”

  I leaned closer to him and whispered, “I’m really, really sorry about last night.”

  “Ellie, don’t worry about it—”

  “No, I mean for the part you failed to tell me about.”

  He looked confused for a second, and then it might have registered.

  “Kailey told me that I was kind of… Well, that I was all over you, and I just wanted to say how sorry I am if I embarrassed you, or did or said anything that I shouldn’t have. I’m sure I embarrassed myself, but because I don’t really remember, I’m going to be embarrassed right now. I’m sorry, Tyse, for making you put up with all of that.”

  He slightly shook his head. “I know you weren’t yourself, so don’t worry about it. Look, I gotta go rake the bullpen, so I’ll just see you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Wait, what about dinner? I thought you said you were available?”

  He paused for several seconds and I wasn’t sure what it meant. Finally he said, “You don’t have to make up for last night, Ellie. I’m glad you called me, and you don’t have to be embarrassed with me, okay? So don’t feel like you owe me any favors.”

  “Owe you favors? What does that mean? I just want to eat with you, and I was hoping you weren’t completely repulsed by me.”

  He sort of scoffed, but again he paused. “Sure, I’ll have dinner with you. But I’m buying this time, and if you’re not okay with that, then I guess the answer is no.”

  He left me at the fence, but I’m not sure I would have had a response anyway. I returned to the bleachers to wait, and thirty minutes later he was ready to go.

  “So how come you came to the game today?” he asked once we were in the parking lot.

  I shrugged. “I just felt like it I guess. You know, crowds and sunshine, great things for a hangover.”

  He chuckled and looked up to the darkening sky. “Well at least you don’t have to deal with the bright sun right now.” We paused when we got to the first row of the parking lot and he said, “Uh, I’m over here. Where are you parked?”

  “Oh, yeah, we both drove,” I muttered. I pointed to the direction of my car and he walked me there.

  “How about I just pick you up at your place in an hour? I’ll run home and shower and change first.”

  With a nod I replied, “Okay, that’s sounds good.”

  “All right, see you in a bit.” He gave me a slight wave and I watched him walk through the next aisle to his truck. He tossed his bag across the seat, but before he got in, he glanced my way. I felt like a dork just standing there staring at him, and I quickly got behind the wheel and started the engine.

  He was right on time an hour later, and he arrived just as Kailey was getting home. I was humiliated even more just thinking about her witnessing whatever it was I did the night before. However, Tyse hardly acknowledged her, and I think that she was kind of put off by that. It could have been my imagination, but I swear she either wanted to say something to him, or was waiting for him to notice her. It made me wonder what exactly he said to her the night before.

  “So where do you wanna go?” he asked once we were seated in his truck.

  “I don’t care, you’re driving.”

  “Uh, it was your idea for dinner, so since I am driving, maybe you should just choose. You’re the city’s guidebook, aren’t you?”

  “Okay, then head south and I’ll point the way from there.”

  “All right.”

  I was glad that he was surprised with my restaurant choice. I think a Texas-style barbecue was the last thing on his mind. But it was really casual, I knew the owners, and there was baseball on the big screen. I thought he’d be pretty happy with that, but other than an occasional glance at the game that was on, he pretty much kept his attention on conversation with me.

  “How many ribs can you eat?” he asked. “That’s probably a dozen for you, isn’t it?”

  “Are you keeping track?”

  “Yeah, I am. I’m not sure if you can keep the barbecue down.”

  I laughed, knowing he was teasing me. “Oh, well probably better than alcohol. And I’ve had four, by the way.”

  He slightly smiled with a nod. “I can honestly say I’ve never eaten ribs on a date before. I mean, well, I know this isn’t exactly a date or anything, but you know what I mean.”

  “No girls are brave enough to handle ribs in front of a guy?”

  “Uh no, definitely not. I told you, girls where I’m from are a little different.”

  I guess I was confused because of where he was “from.” But I guess that didn’t mean he didn’t date girls of a different social status. After all, a hot guy is a hot guy, and I couldn’t imagine someone not being attracted to Tyse.

  I replied, “Uh, meaning that anything less than a swanky restaurant isn’t good enough?”

  “Yeah that, and the fact that they’re so obsessed with their appearance that it would be appalling to get even a dab of sauce on their face.”

  “Hey, I eat mine with a fork and knife, so I guess I can say I’m being a bit prissy.”

  “Would you normally eat it with a fork and knife?”

  “Yeah, usually. At home probably not. I guess it depends.”

/>   “You like restaurants like this? I mean is this, uh, your type of thing?”

  “I think I’ve probably had four or five birthday parties here growing up. My dad and the owner, Gerald, went to school together. The only time I’ve ever gone out somewhere ‘upscale’ was probably a few years ago for my parents’ twenty-fifth anniversary.”

  “Does upscale interest you?”

  “Mm, not exactly. I think it would be fun to dress up once in a while and go somewhere nice, but I do prefer things that are a little less stressful.”

  “Less stressful? You mean without the pressure of being in a stuck up restaurant, wondering if you’re dressed okay?”

  With a smile I replied, “Yeah, exactly.”

  “Hmm, I think you’d fit in just fine. Sometimes the right company helps. You know, being there with someone that’s familiar with it. You let them take care of the snobby aspects of it,” he smiled.

  “Good point. So find a guy that can handle snobby, right?”

  He barely nodded. “Yep.”

  We both ended up watching the baseball game for a few minutes, and Tyse ordered another serving of ribs and wings for us. I had a few wings, but I was pretty much done with the meat and moved on to finish my coleslaw and cornbread.

  I got a little worried that I had made Tyse felt a bit slighted, and I hoped he hadn’t felt that a rich guy was the type of guy I was looking for. Gage wasn’t wealthy, and I’m sure Tyse knew that, but I guess I didn’t want to come across sounding like a snob myself.

  “So are you still gonna throw back some barbecue tomorrow night?” he asked me.

  I suddenly remembered the baseball party. “Oh gosh, is this what they’re having there? I didn’t even think about that!”

  “Nah, I think it’s just hamburgers and hot dogs and stuff. And whatever side dishes everyone brings.”

  “Is it a potluck?”

  “A what?”

  “A potluck. Uh, where everyone brings something to share with everyone?”

  “Oh. Yeah, I guess it is.”

  “Oh. Well what should I bring?”