“You’re not getting your GED and going to work for Uncle Jared,” Mikey said, looking adorably pissed.
“Both of our fathers work for Uncle Jared,” he pointed out, wondering why she was making such a big deal out of this.
His father ended up dropping out of school when he was sixteen and went to work for Uncle Jared. His father had busted his ass to make something of himself. He’d worked hard, saving every penny he could and managed to flip his first house a few years later. He owned several rental properties and flipped several houses every year, but he still worked for Uncle Jared because he loved what he did.
The same could be said for her stepfather. Uncle Reese had been a police officer a few years ago, but it wasn’t a good fit for him. He loved working with his hands and–
“It’s not what you’re meant to do,” Mikey said, shrugging it off.
“Then what am I meant to do?” Sebastian asked, because he would really love an answer.
For the past few years, he’d been wondering when he was finally going to stop screwing up his life and figure everything out, but so far, the only thing that he’d figured out was that he couldn’t keep doing this. He wished that he knew what he wanted. It would make everything a hell of a lot easier, Sebastian thought even as he couldn’t help but wonder if Mikey had any idea just how lucky she was.
She knew exactly what she wanted to do for the rest of her life and…
He was jealous of her, Sebastian admitted to himself, biting back a sigh as he grabbed a fry. God, he was an idiot. He wanted Mikey to be happy and would do whatever it took to make sure that happened, but he just wished that–
“You’re meant for something better,” Mikey said, looking thoughtful.
“Thanks for clearing that up,” he drawled absently as movement across the large cafeteria caught his attention and–
Damn it!
“Looks like it’s time for me to go,” Sebastian said, grabbing his bag off the floor and pulled it back on as he kept his gaze locked on the teacher watching them from across the room.
“What’s wrong?” Mikey asked, following his gaze only to bite out a curse that her mom would probably wring her neck for. “Mr. Jenkins, the vice principal,” she mumbled unhappily.
“Definitely time to go,” Sebastian said, swiping a brownie off the tray as he glanced toward the double doors that led to the hallway and calculated the odds of getting to them before Mr. Jenkins, who was now making his way toward them.
Not good, Sebastian decided as he shifted his attention to his left and damn near sighed with relief when he spotted the open double doors leading outside. He shot Mikey a wink as he stole the second brownie and headed for the door.
“I’ll see you at tryouts?” Mikey asked, making him smile.
He threw over his shoulder, “Maybe,” and with that, he stepped outside and moved to turn to his right only to spot a teacher leaning against the wall, talking on her cell phone. Sebastian quickly turned the other way and made his way toward the back of the building only to take off at a run when he heard someone yell, “Hey, stop right there!”
Knowing just how badly this would end if he did, Sebastian raced toward the parking lot, grabbed his bike and quickly made his way to Aunt Haley’s house. That had been close, too close, Sebastian thought as he got off his bike and leaned it against a tree. He moved to head inside when a chime drew his attention. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and couldn’t help but smile when he saw the message waiting for him, letting him know that Mikey finally got her cell phone back.
You better be there!
God, she was so damn cute sometimes, Sebastian thought as he quickly responded with a, Maybe. Sliding his phone back in his pocket, he headed inside and groaned when he saw the pile of work waiting for him on the kitchen table. Aunt Haley liked to keep him busy, but thankfully, she also liked to keep him fed. With that in mind, he headed to the refrigerator and found the plate of homemade macaroni and cheese and meatloaf that she’d saved for him.
She really was the best, Sebastian thought with a heartfelt sigh as he removed the foil off the plate and placed it in the microwave. While he waited for his food to heat up, he decided to go see if Aunt Haley had anything else that she needed him to do. He headed into the living room and–
“Bastian!”
–found himself smiling when he spotted Hunter standing up in his playpen, holding his arms out to Sebastian with a huge grin on his chocolate-pudding-covered face. It looked like his little cousin managed to hide another chocolate pudding pack in his playpen, Sebastian mused, noting that his cousin was covered from head to toe in chocolate pudding. When he glanced over at the couch and found Aunt Haley fast asleep, he wasn’t exactly surprised.
Hunter was a handful, but thankfully, he was also a really sweet baby and easy to please. Sebastian pressed his finger to his lips and lightly whispered, “Shhhh,” with a pointed look at Aunt Haley. When Hunter nodded, Sebastian reached down and picked his cousin up and settled him on his hip before he reached down and plucked the empty chocolate pudding cup off the floor where his cousin had thrown it in an attempt to get rid of the evidence.
He was definitely a Bradford, Sebastian thought as he carried Hunter into the downstairs bathroom. It took him a half hour to finally get every last drop of chocolate pudding off his cousin, but once he was clean and in a fresh diaper, Sebastian carried Hunter into the kitchen and settled him in his highchair.
“Are you hungry?” Sebastian asked, smiling when Hunter nodded excitedly.
He heated his food up again in the microwave as he made Hunter a bottle. Once the food was done, Sebastian grabbed two spoons and settled in the chair next to Hunter. After he finished feeding Hunter and gave him another bath to get the macaroni and cheese out of his hair, Sebastian grabbed the book that Aunt Haley set out for him and read to Hunter until he fell asleep in his arms.
Once Sebastian placed Hunter back in his playpen and found the other pudding pack that his little cousin had somehow managed to hide in his blankie, he went back into the kitchen and got to work. Two chapters on European history, an essay, and a quiz later, Sebastian realized how late it was. If he didn’t move his ass, he was going to be–
Once again wondering why Mrs. Blaine was glaring at him. With an impatient sigh, she gestured with her cane for him to hurry up. “We’re going to be late.”
“Late for what?” Sebastian asked, unable to help but frown as he reached for his bag.
“Your friend has tryouts today, doesn’t she?” Mrs. Blaine said, once again gesturing for him to hurry up as he stood there, wondering where her helper was.
“Yes, she does, Mrs. Blaine,” Sebastian said, pulling his bag on only to bite back a smile when she narrowed her eyes on him and said, “I thought I told you to call me Grandma,” with a look that dared him to refuse.
Knowing better than to argue with the woman, Sebastian said, “Yes, she does, Grandma,” somewhat appeasing her.
Grandma, Sebastian thought, testing the foreign word in his mind as he carefully rolled Mrs. Blaine outside and headed toward the sidewalk. He’d never had use for the word before now. His father’s mother had passed away before he was born and his mother grew up in foster care and had absolutely no idea who her parents were. His dad’s father was still alive, but as far as Sebastian was concerned that piece of garbage wasn’t his grandfather.
Not after what he’d put his father through.
He’d abandoned Sebastian’s father before he was born and when he was in his life, which wasn’t very often, he’d treated him like crap. When he found out that Sebastian’s father was dyslexic, he’d stopped pretending that he was anything more than a disappointment. His father had been fifteen years old when his dad decided to slap him around. Uncle Jason had stepped in, taking the older man to the ground before the rest of the men in their family had stepped in and taken over.
Sebastian saw him from time to time around the library, but he’d never said a word to him
. He wasn’t worth his time.
The closest thing that he’d ever had to a grandfather was Uncle Jared. All of the men in his family had stepped up for them, but Uncle Jared had always treated Sebastian’s father like a son. He’d always been there for them, from the day that they were born, their birthdays, and everything in between. He always went out of his way to make them feel special.
“What do you know about me, Sebastian?” Mrs. Blaine asked as they made their way to the baseball fields next to the middle school.
“Besides the fact that you’re insanely rich, stubborn, and for some reason, you’re always glaring at me? Not much,” he drawled, earning a surprised chuckle from her.
“My Harold would have liked you,” she said with a firm nod, sounding pleased.
“Aunt Haley’s grandfather?” Sebastian asked as they took the paved path that led to the baseball fields.
“Yes. Has Haley told you anything about him?” Mrs. Blaine asked as he carefully navigated the path to the benches that ran along the chain-link fence.
“Only that he was by far the greatest man that ever lived,” Sebastian said, chuckling as he parked her wheelchair next to a bench before he sat down next to her.
“He was a very good man,” Mrs. Blaine said with a warm smile as they watched the baseball tryouts start.
Sebastian was looking for Mikey when Mrs. Blaine took him by surprise.
“You remind me of him,” she said quietly.
“Your husband?” Sebastian asked, glancing at her to find her watching him.
Mrs. Blaine nodded absently as she returned her attention to watching the tryouts.
“Tell me about him,” Sebastian found himself saying.
“He would be so disappointed with me,” Mrs. Blaine said with a sad smile that had Sebastian frowning.
“Why?” Sebastian asked, because he couldn’t imagine anyone being disappointed in her after everything she’d managed to accomplish.
“When we started Blaine Industries, our hope was that our children would never know what it was like to go without. We wanted to give them everything that we never had and make sure that they had choices in life. We wanted to give them the world, but the problem was that they came to expect it. Believe it or not, Sebastian, we didn’t raise them that way. We taught our boys the value of hard work, made them earn their way, but somewhere along the line, we failed them.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we didn’t raise them to behave this way,” Mrs. Blaine said with a sad smile only to add, “They’re using my great-grandson to try to soften me toward them and ensure their place in my will,” at his questioning look.
“Braxton?” Sebastian asked, wishing that he’d been wrong about that. He couldn’t imagine what it felt like to know that your family was just using you and he hated that she knew that it was happening.
Nodding, she said, “And I’m going to let them,” taking him by surprise.
“Why?”
“Because Braxton deserves to be saved like my Haley,” Mrs. Blaine said with a fond smile for his aunt.
“And that’s why you haven’t failed. Aunt Haley is a wonderful person and that’s because of you,” Sebastian pointed out, making her smile.
For several minutes, neither one of them said anything as the conversation lulled into a comfortable silence and Sebastian found himself watching Mikey. She never looked happier than when she was playing baseball, he thought, unable to take his eyes off her.
“Your friend Mikey is very beautiful.”
“Yes, she is,” Sebastian murmured in agreement.
“Why aren’t you in school?” Mrs. Blaine asked, making him sigh.
“I made a mistake,” he admitted, wishing that he’d done at least a hundred things differently.
“And how do you plan to fix it?” she asked, watching him.
“I honestly don’t know. I’m trying to convince the high school to give me a chance, but they’re not willing to listen, and honestly, I really can’t blame them,” Sebastian said with a helpless shrug.
“Why haven’t you applied at Latin Scribe? Your Uncle Jason would probably be able to help you,” Mrs. Blaine pointed out.
Shaking his head, Sebastian said, “I can’t do that to Uncle Jason.”
“Why did you turn down that scholarship?”
“It seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” Sebastian said, even as he wondered why he was telling her any of this.
“If you could go back would you take the scholarship?”
“I couldn’t do that to my brother,” Sebastian said, because no matter how many times over the years he’d been tempted to change his mind, and god, had he’d been tempted, he could never do that to Jonathan.
She considered him for a moment, then with a firm nod, murmured, “You’ll do.”
Before he could ask her what she was talking about, Mrs. Blaine said, “Be ready tomorrow morning by nine,” as her helper joined them. With that, she gestured for Steven to take her away, leaving Sebastian confused, once again.
Chapter 20
“Campbell, you’re up!” came the announcement that she’d been waiting for all afternoon.
Taking a deep breath, Mikey grabbed her glove off the bench next to her and found herself looking toward the stands and…
Felt herself relax when she saw Sebastian.
Slowly exhaling, she headed for the pitcher’s mound. She was just here to have a little fun, Mikey reminded herself as she slipped her hand inside the glove that she’d spent an entire year breaking in just for this moment and held it up. Seconds later, a baseball was cushioned against the soft leather as Mikey focused on the catcher waiting for her to make her first throw.
Shifting her weight back onto her right leg, she took another deep breath, moved her arm back and let it fly. The ball slammed against the catcher’s glove a split second later, eliciting a pained grunt that Mikey ignored as she held up her glove for the ball’s return. She ignored the catcher’s curse as he tossed it back to her, the assistant coach’s shocked expression as he grabbed the radar gun, and the boys scrambling closer for a better view of her next pitch and threw the ball again.
Nothing else mattered.
The only thing she cared about was hitting her target and she made damn sure that she hit it every time. She kept throwing, giving it everything she had until the coach walked over and held up his hand, motioning for her to stop. With a nod, Mikey pulled her arm back and let it drop while she waited.
“How fast is she throwing?” Coach Dilmore asked as he glanced down at the iPad in his hands.
“She’s nailing ninety-five miles an hour, every time,” the assistant coach said, showing him the radar gun.
Absently nodding, Coach Dilmore glanced up at her as he said, “Keep throwing fastballs until I tell you to stop,” before shifting his attention back to the iPad in his hand and walking away.
Nodding, Mikey did what she was told. She kept throwing until he gestured for her to stop, and then told her to start throwing curveballs until he told her to stop again. She did that until he stopped her again and again, telling her to switch it up until finally he told her to go back to throwing fastballs before walking away. She kept throwing, ignoring the way that her arm was starting to ache and forced herself to focus. When he came back an hour later, he gestured for her to stop.
“Go bat,” he said, motioning for her get on with it.
Nodding, Mikey tossed the ball back to the pitcher and quickly did as she was told. Once she had a bat in her hands, she stepped up to home plate, rolled her arm a few times and got in position while a kid that looked a lot like the coach headed to the pitcher’s mound. Once he was settled, he took position and threw the ball, but she’d been ready for it. She saw the way that he gripped the ball before he threw it, letting her know that it was going to be a curveball. She managed to hit the ball, sending it to center field.
Before one of the boys trying out for center field managed to
catch it, someone was throwing the kid another ball. He kept throwing the balls and she kept hitting them, ignoring the way that the muscles in her arm and shoulder protested and–
“Campbell, get back on the mound,” Coach Dilmore said a half hour later.
Nodding, Mikey dropped the bat. She grabbed her glove and headed back to the mound. She glanced at the coach to find him gesturing for her to get on with it. By the time he finally told her to stop, the muscles in her arm and shoulder were on fire and she could barely feel her hand, but she couldn’t stop smiling.
“Line up!” Coach Dilmore called out, and within minutes, had everyone hoping for a spot on the team standing quietly in front of him.
“Listen up,” Coach Dilmore said as he finally looked up from his iPad. “You all did a great job and you should be proud of yourselves. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough spots on the team for all of you, and in the event that you don’t make the team this year, I don’t want you to give up trying. Next year, I will be taking over as head coach at the high school for the freshman team and will do my best to try to find spots for those of you who put in the work,” he announced, taking Mikey by surprise, because she hadn’t known that he would be taking over at the high school next year.
If everything worked out this year, that meant she would have a better chance to start next year. She just had to make sure that she showed him what she had, Mikey told herself as she stood there, biting back a smile as she risked a glance to her right to find Sebastian watching her.
She could definitely do this.
“If you make the team this year, just know that you will be expected to show up on time, work hard, and leave the excuses at home, because they have no place on this field. The team roster will be up Friday, until then, go home, relax and try not to worry,” Coach Dilmore said, gesturing for them to leave.
Sighing in relief, Mikey turned to follow everyone off the field when the coach said those magical words that had her stopping and turning around.
“Campbell, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Of course,” Mikey said, somehow resisting the urge to rub her shoulder.
Misunderstood: Inspired by the Neighbor from Hell Series (A Neighbor from Hell YA Book 1) Page 12
