“But I—”
“Thank you, doctor,” Alex interrupted.
I shot her a frustrated glare. “Why did you cut me off?” I asked once the doctor left.
“Because we don’t need him to write that you can’t play. If it’s in your medical file Coach won’t let you on the field.”
“But the doctor just said I can’t play!”
“No, he said you need to rest your hand and keep it clean and dry. Thankfully you can still catch and maybe even bat if we wrap it right.”
For once I was happy that the mischievous glint in her eye was for a plan to help me.
I could definitely get used to being on the same side as Alex Prince.
Alex
We met Casey and Lucas in the waiting room. Tyler and the others had headed to his house when the hospital staff started fussing that there were too many teenagers in the waiting room. Grant waited to get his prescription filled, then popped two pain pills and washed them down with the can of soda and candy bar Lucas had bought him.
“Healthy,” I teased.
“Breakfast of champions,” Lucas shot back, holding up his own similar meal.
“Breakfast?” I looked at the clock. “Oh no!” Though it wasn’t quite time for breakfast, it was way past my curfew.
“What?” Casey asked.
“My parents are going to kill me. I was supposed to be home an hour ago.”
“It’s okay,” Lucas replied. “We can take you back to your car on our way to Grant’s. Unless you guys still want to go to Tyler’s?”
“I don’t think Tyler’s is a good idea,” I said. “We should just go to Grant’s and help get him settled.”
“No!” Grant said forcefully.
His tone caught us all off guard.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll be fine, Alex. Just go home so I don’t get you in more trouble.”
I didn’t know precisely where Grant lived but I knew he rode his bike to school so it couldn’t be that far. “A few minutes longer won’t hurt. How long will it take to get to your place from here?”
“I don’t want you to come,” Grant muttered.
He said the words so quietly, that I thought maybe I’d heard him wrong.
“What?” I asked.
“I said I don’t want you to come, Alex. Just go home. Please.”
His eyes were saying more than his words but I still didn’t understand.
Why didn’t he want me to come?
He’d seemed perfectly fine to let me help him in the hospital room.
Was he just using me?
My cheeks flushed with anger. “I thought we were past this Jekyll and Hyde act, Grant.”
Lucas and Casey looked on uncomfortably as Grant and I glared at each other in a silent stand-off.
Finally, Casey jumped in. “I can call my dad to take me and Alex home if you guys are okay without us.”
“Thanks. We’ll be fine,” Grant said. And without another word he walked out of the whooshing automatic doors, leaving me standing speechless in the waiting room.
What. Just. Happened?
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Grant
“You were kind of a dick just now,” Lucas said, glancing at me as he drove. “You know that, right?”
“Whatever.”
“No, not whatever. What’s going on with you two? One minute you’re ready to duel Colton over Alex and the next you’re telling her to get lost.”
“That’s not what the fight was about.”
“Then what?”
I sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“Enlighten me.”
“Why are you so interested? Don’t you have your own girl trouble to worry about?”
Lucas smirked. “Casey? The only trouble I have with that girl is that I’m not sure I can keep up. She’s a spitfire. I don’t know how I ever overlooked her.”
I snorted.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Lucas huffed in frustration. “Whatever, dude. Just figure out what’s going on with you and Alex, okay? Because she’s on our team whether you like it or not.”
I rested my head against the seatback and stared out the window watching the inky black night rush by. Lucas was right. I had been a jerk to Alex, and I was mad at myself for it. She’d done nothing but stand by my side tonight. Even after everything she’d witnessed.
Isn’t that what I wanted?
Someone to truly see me and not look away?
I grunted in frustration and scrubbed my good hand over my face, trying to clear away my confusion. “You’re right. I screwed up with Alex, didn’t I?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying.”
“It’s just so hard.”
“What is?”
“You know what my life is like. How can I expect her to like me if I let her see all that?”
“How can you expect her to like you if you don’t?”
I chuckled, shaking my head at my best friend’s easy insight. “Sometimes you’re really annoying. You know that, right?”
Lucas smirked. “It is hard being right all the time. But I guess that’s why you keep me around.”
I laid my head back again, starting to feel the effects of the pain pills. Either that or it was my confusing feelings about Alex that were making my brain feel fuzzy. I decided to close my eyes and shut it all out for a minute.
I awoke to the sound of Lucas’s voice. “Rise and shine, sweetheart.”
He was parked in my driveway nudging me awake.
“We’re here?” I asked.
“Yep. Do you need help getting inside?”
Instead of answering his question I stared at my home through the dirty windshield of Lucas’s truck. Even the thick film of dust kicked up by my dirt road couldn’t help diminish how rundown the place looked.
I exhaled my frustration. “I didn’t want her to come here.”
“Why?” Lucas asked.
“Because I’m embarrassed of all this,” I said gesturing to my shabby house and overgrown yard.
“It doesn’t bother me.”
“Yeah, well it bothers me, okay?”
“Well, that’s on you. But it’s still a stupid reason to be a jerk to the girl you like when she’s offering to nurse you back to health, dude. I mean seriously, you’d rather me tuck you in tonight?” Lucas teased.
I glared at him. “Just tell me how to fix it.”
“I don’t know, dude. You should probably start by apologizing.”
“Then what?”
He shrugged. “Tell her how you feel. The truth this time.”
The truth . . . now that was a concept.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Alex
“Thanks for the ride, Coach,” I said, hopping out of his car.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow to give you a ride to your car,” Casey called.
“Okay.”
She waved, held her hand up like a telephone and mouthed ‘call me’ as her dad pulled out of my driveway.
What a night!
I was exhausted by the emotional roller coaster that was Grant King.
All I wanted to do was shower and go to bed, but sleep evaded me. I lay staring at my ceiling thinking about Grant. I alternated between being worried, angry and confused until finally I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to talk to someone about all of this before I exploded.
I picked up my phone wanting to call my best friends. I knew the Tomboy Trio would make me feel better. They’d each been through their share of boy drama and most of the time, it was our sisterhood that got us through it. But when I saw the time, I knew it was too late to call.
Instead, I fired off a quick text to Casey to see if she was still awake.
My phone instantly vibrated with her response.
Climbing out of bed I grabbed my laptop and opened a video chat. Casey’s wide chocolate eyes and wild red hair filled the screen.
“So! Tell me everything!”
she ordered.
After I filled Casey in on all that happened between me and Grant during the parts of the night she missed she launched into a lively response.
“I’m sooo sorry we interrupted your kiss! I told Lucas not to bother Grant about his dad. Everyone knows he’s a jerk and there’s nothing anyone can do to change that. I mean he’s a grown man. He shouldn’t need his son to tell him how to act.”
This was what I loved about Casey. She totally blew past the embarrassing details, like me never having been kissed, and got to the heart of the issue.
“It’s not your fault,” I replied. “You didn’t know that was going to happen.”
“Sure, I couldn’t have guessed Grant would’ve fought half of Collier High’s baseball team and end up in the hospital, but I sorta knew nothing good would come from getting in the middle of his family drama.”
I sighed. “A lot more of Grant’s behavior makes sense to me now that I know what he’s dealing with.”
“No way!” Casey rebutted. “Just because his dad’s a jerk doesn’t give Grant a license to be one. It was super rude the way he just dismissed you at the hospital.”
“I know. That’s what I don’t get. We were really starting to connect and then all of a sudden, he just shut down again. Why do you think that is?”
“Who knows? Maybe he thinks you’ll look at him differently after seeing his dad go all Mad Max.”
“But I don’t, and I already told him that.” I threw my hands up in aggravation. “Ugh, why does he have to be—”
“Such a boy?” Casey offered.
I laughed. “Well, yeah.”
“I don’t know what to tell ya, Alex. Grant King has always been a one man show. It’s gonna take a real special kind of girl to crack him. I’m not saying you’re not that girl, but just be sure that’s what you want before you go investing your heart.”
I frowned. “I don’t know what to do, Casey. I like him . . . a lot. But it’s really hard to manage a one-sided crush.”
“Tell me about it,” she said.
“Speaking of . . . how did things go with Lucas?”
“Girl, I owe you for life. Setting me up as his partner to work the carnival tent was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It took us so long to blow up all those stupid balloons that I stopped being a nervous wreck and finally asked him out. We’re going on a real date next weekend!”
Eager to change the subject I let Casey gush about her night with Lucas prior to when I met up with them at the carnival. It sounded like they’d been having as much fun as me and Grant before his dad ruined everything.
“Sounds like more than just my kiss was ruined tonight,” I said.
“There will be plenty more time for kissing,” Casey replied with a conspiratorial grin.
“Maybe for you . . .” I trailed off.
“It’s been a stressful night, Alex. Just sleep on it before you make any decisions, okay?”
“Okay.”
Casey yawned and I looked at the time. “I’d better go. Talk tomorrow?”
“Sure,” she said. “Goodnight.”
I echoed Casey’s yawn as I signed off and stretched as I stood from my desk. I climbed back into bed, finally feeling drained enough to sleep. I grabbed my phone from where I’d left it on my pillow, ready to plug it in to charge overnight when I saw a missed call. I must’ve left it on silent from the hospital . . .
I clicked on the notification, my heart leaping into my throat when I read the caller ID—Grant King!
Grant had called me!
Three times!
Giddiness filled me before it was instantly replaced by worry.
Who actually called people on the phone anymore?
Especially so late.
Was it about his hand?
Or maybe he’d gotten into it with his dad again?
I was about to dial his number when I noticed a tiny red notification next to the call button.
Voicemail?
That was even more rare than a phone call!
I hit the icon and held my phone to my ear just as Grant’s message started playing.
“Hey Alex, uh . . . it’s me, uh . . . Grant.” His voice sounded drowsy and even more adorable than usual. “I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. It’s uh Grant, by the way. I can’t remember if I said that already. But anyway . . . I need to tell you some stuff. First . . .”
I held my breath waiting for him to go on.
“First, I’m sorry. I was a jerk today and I didn’t mean it cause you’re kinda awesome. I mean, I like you, like a lot. I like that you’re funny and tall and good at baseball. I like your smile and your hair. Man, I really like your hair. I could talk about your hair all night. Like, how do you get it to smell like grapefruit? It’s not fair, Alex. Oh, and I like that you’re brave in hospitals. That was really cool, and I should’ve said thank you instead of pushing you away.”
He paused again and I hugged my pillow so tight I could hardly breathe.
“I guess I’m just trying to say I’m sorry and I like you. Not just your hair. So yeah, I know I screwed up, but I don’t know, maybe if you might want to give me another chance we could start over. I know we’ve done that a few times already.” He laughed at his own joke and then fell silent for a beat. “I guess I . . . I don’t know. I’m sorry. That’s it. I’m just sorry, Alex. Okay . . . Goodnight. Um . . . yeah. This is Grant.”
There was a long pause, but I could tell he was still on the line, so I listened with bated breath.
“Okay, goodnight, Alex.”
Then the line went dead.
A tornado of butterflies erupted in my stomach as I dropped my phone onto the bed and screamed into my pillow.
He liked me!
Grant King liked me!
That was by far the weirdest, yet best voicemail I’d ever received, and I knew I was going to save it forever. Grant was most likely a bit loopy from his pain medicine, but I didn’t care. His words melted my heart. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t been able to form proper sentences, what mattered was that he was trying to admit his feelings and that was a start.
I snuggled under the covers and replayed the voicemail three more times, happy to let Grant’s dreamy voice lull me to sleep.
Chapter Forty
Grant
Trojan Tattler:
Princess throws a curveball in Collier High’s plans to unsettle her Highness before their upcoming scrimmage. The Trojans’ rivals have been vocal about playing against a girl, but our Princess doesn’t scare easily. Not even when threats are made off the field. Rumor has it the Knights weren’t the only ones to take a stab at our Princess at the carnival, but she came away unscathed. Didn’t you know she has an army of Trojans in her back pocket? Better luck next time, haters.
I smiled proudly as I read the comments from the many students defending Alex.
She was a curveball all right, throwing me off at the last minute every time. And I’d never been good with curveballs.
Why was I even reading this trashy tabloid?
More proof that everything about Alex Prince was throwing me off my game. After everything that went down at the carnival last night, I really shouldn’t be reading the Tattler, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from checking everyone’s predictions about our relationship status since I’d kind of royally screwed things up.
I hadn’t heard from Alex since the hospital and after the way I left things, I didn’t know if I would.
Why did I have to leave her a voicemail telling her all of that stuff?
Stupid painkillers. They should come with a warning label: May act as truth serum on teenage boys. Do not attempt to operate mouth near a confusing crush while under the influence.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, still regretting my words. I had a vague recollection of leaving the embarrassing message when I awoke but had hoped it had all been a weird dream. Unfortunately, my call log said otherwise.
The only thing
that softened the blow was Lucas showing up with breakfast. Of course, he nearly choked on his bagel when I told him about the voicemail. Actually, he was still laughing and I was starting to get annoyed.
“I still can’t believe you left a voicemail,” Lucas said, scarfing down the last of his breakfast.
I glared at him. “This is your fault. You told me to apologize.”
“Yeah, with like a text message, dude!”
I rubbed my forehead again. “It was so embarrassing. I couldn’t even speak.”
He laughed. “Rule number one. Never call a girl when you’re delirious.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this.”
“Awe, come on, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” Lucas said patting me on the back. “On the bright side, at least Alex knows how you feel now.”
“Yeah, like a blubbering idiot. I’m pretty sure I talked about her hair for five minutes! Who does that?”
Lucas smirked. “You, apparently.”
Before I could respond with a witty comeback, my phone buzzed with an incoming text. I picked it up and had the sudden urge to expel my breakfast.
“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked.
I held up the phone. “She’s texting me! Alex is texting me!”
“What’d she say?”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid to read it.”
Lucas snorted but took the phone. “She says, ‘Got your message. I’m pretty good at starting over. Just name the time and place’.”
Relief swept through me so swiftly I sagged back into my couch like my spine had just dissolved.
Lucas handed the phone back to me as another text was coming through from Alex. I read it out loud. “PS – I like you too, but I’m still not sharing my hair secrets.”
“See, it worked out,” Lucas said. “Maybe talking about hair is the secret way to a girl’s heart.”
I threw a pillow at Lucas to stifle his laughter.
“That’s my cue to leave,” he said, collecting his dishes.
I thanked Lucas for breakfast and devoted the rest of my attention to texting Alex.
Playing the Field Page 16
