Behind the Plate (The Boys of Baseball #2) - J. Sterling Page 0,115

warming. I was invincible as long as this girl chose me.

And all night long, I showed her how much I appreciated her choosing us.

Parental Advice

Danika

We fell back into our routine like we’d never been out of it. Chance never made me feel bad for taking time away to decide if I could handle things or not. There was no guilt, no pressure, no constant bringing it back up and throwing it in my face. I wasn’t sure why I’d expected a side of asshole behavior to accompany us getting back together, but then I reminded myself that this was Chance and not Jared, and everything made sense.

It was interesting to become aware of the dysfunctional things I had put up with once they had become a part of my life. I’d stopped seeing the behavior as crazy because it had slowly become the norm, and it had been easy to make excuses for it. Life had a funny way of showing you things but only once you were free of it. Hindsight truly was twenty-twenty.

Sunny had a paper she was struggling with finishing and wanted to get done before it ruined her entire weekend, so I was on my own for tonight’s game. Grabbing a bottle of water from the commissary and stuffing it into my bag, I headed toward the baseball field. From the looks of everyone around me, mostly girls clad in various baseball jerseys—Chance’s included—I wasn’t the only one going to the game.

“Isn’t she with Chance now?” I heard someone ask, and I couldn’t help but start listening in.

“I think so. If he’s anything like his dad, that won’t last long,” another female voice said from behind me, and I heard giggling.

“I heard his whole avoiding girls’ thing is just an act, and she’s just one of many,” another voice said.

I refused to put up with this bullshit the entire walk.

I stopped and turned to face them, the look of surprise on their faces fueling me on. Of course, they hadn’t thought that I’d say anything. “You have something you want to say to me? Something you’d like to ask about my boyfriend? I’d be happy to fill you in.”

“Uh, no,” they stuttered, completely caught off guard.

“Well, if you do, say it to my face next time and not my back.” I was not afraid of confrontation and had no issues with standing up for myself.

The girls stayed quiet the rest of the walk to the field, where I had tickets waiting for me and they didn’t. I knew they would be sitting in the shitty student section, and I silently hoped their makeup would melt off. Petty, party of one.

By the time I walked down to my seat, Jacey and Cassie were already sitting there, their blonde hair pulled back into ponytails with a baseball cap covering their heads. I got super excited to see them both, but I hadn’t seen Jacey since the dinner at her house, and that was months ago.

“It’s about time you came to a game,” I said as I pulled her into a hug.

She was a beautiful teenager, who was going to turn into an even more beautiful twenty-something-year-old. Chance and Jack were going to lose their minds with her.

“Me? You’re the one who hasn’t been here!” Jacey spouted back, and I realized that she was right. “Please tell me this means you and my dopey brother are back together.” She rolled her eyes the same way that Chance did, and the gesture was so familiar that I found myself staring at her face like a weirdo before pulling out of it.

“How did you know we weren’t together?” I asked her before looking around her shoulder at Cassie, who was grinning at our exchange.

“Because he was so annoying. I couldn’t take it anymore. If it lasted any longer, I was going to have to call you and demand you take him back.”

I looked at her, confused. “He was at your house?”

“Oh my God, he came over, like, every night, moping and whining and asking Mom and Dad for advice. I pretended to be in the other room, but I heard everything.”

Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re dangerous, you know that?”

“Yeah, I do.”

And I believed that she did. The girl was going to be a terror when she grew up, but as long as she was on my side, I was all for it.

Cassie laughed at her daughter’s admission before standing up to give me a hug. “I’m so