going to be sad when he left.
To the rest of the world, he was a nationally ranked baseball superstar, but to me, he was so much more.
Chapter Six
Tripp
I was glad when Ember changed the subject away from practice and ball. I wasn’t interested in talking about it. Everyone seemed to want a piece of me when it came to baseball. Ember never did. She always saw me as me. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t stay away when we first met. She was the only person who ever thought of my “stardom” as a non-issue.
“How are you feeling?” I asked as the twins helped clear off the table. “You hear anything from that douchebag?”
“What’s a douchebag?” Molly piped up.
I winced. “Nothing, sweetheart. I made it up.”
“Good one,” Ember said with a snort.
“I aim to please.”
She sighed heavily and lowered her voice so the twins couldn’t hear. “I blocked him everywhere. I don’t plan on giving him the opportunity.”
I bit my tongue, then asked, “What about your parents?”
“Nothing there either. It’s not going to give a girl abandonment issues at all.”
“Lucky for you, you’re never getting rid of me.”
“Pfft. You’re leaving at the end of the year when you move on to play pro ball.” She shoved my shoulder jokingly, but there was a thread of real concern in her voice. I tried not to read too much into it. She was hurting and probably feeling a little alone.
“Maybe I’ll invite you to one of my games when I go pro. You can always come out and watch, you know.”
My hope was to be drafted to the Orlando Falcons once I graduated, but I’d be happy anywhere. Except getting drafted to a team across the country would mean leaving my family and Ember. Playing ball was all I had ever wanted, and she was the only person who’d ever made me second-guess my dreams. Though she’d kill me if she ever knew that. She’d given up her aspirations of being a doctor to take care of her family. If she ever thought I’d give up pro ball to be here with her, she’d skin me alive.
“Can we come, too?” Tillie asked, clearly eavesdropping on our conversation.
I lifted her up and spun her around. “Of course you can. I can’t play without my favorite cheerleaders.”
“Me, too?” Molly asked eagerly. Her wide, innocent eyes were exactly the same color as Ember’s.
After ruffling her hair, I knelt down to her level, her sister still on my hip. “Of course, short stuff.” I glanced up at Ember, who seemed relaxed for the first time since all that shit had gone down. “All of you.”
Ember helped the twins with their nighttime routine after they had thoroughly decimated their tacos and virgin daiquiris—which they called slushies. Their voices trailed from the hallway down to where I was cleaning up in the kitchen, making me smile. I was an only child, and while my parents had been attentive and loving, there had never been any other kids to play with when I was younger. My life growing up had often been solitary. I had to admit it was nice to have their noise and clutter around. It was like a constant hug.
“Tripp!” came a high-pitched call. “Come here.”
“Almost done,” I answered.
“We want you to read us a story,” came another voice.
“I’m sorry,” said Ember as she appeared at the end of the hall. “I tried to convince them I was perfectly capable of reading a story, but they want you. According to Molly, you do the voices the best. There wasn’t any telling them different.”
I dried my hands on a dishtowel and put the leftovers in their Tupperware containers in the fridge. “You don’t have to do that. I don’t mind at all.”
She retrieved her daiquiri and drank deeply despite all the ice being melted. “Proceed at your own risk,” she warned. “They seem like they’re nice little girls, but they can be pretty demanding.”
Ember screeched when I flicked the dishtowel at her legs. “Sounds like they take after their big sister.”
“Hey!” she protested behind my back.
I laughed on the way down the hall to the room she shared with the twins. That’s another thing I admired about her. She didn’t have anything of her own and didn’t whine about not having any luxuries. She even shared her room with the twins without complaint.
Somehow, they’d managed to cram a small set of second-hand twin bunk beds in the tiny space along with a large dresser and double bed for