Behind the Plate (The Boys of Baseball #2) - J. Sterling Page 0,47

I never even got the chance to tell him about my mom or the pictures Cassie had gifted me of her. We got off the phone with him still pissed. I’d assumed he’d show up at my apartment to finish the conversation in person or to make up, but he never did. Not even after I’d asked him to.

“Jared,” I said, reaching across the table for his hand and taking it in mine, “I messed up last night, and I really am sorry. I should have told you where I was going. I should have let you know.”

He pulled his hand from mine and huffed out a disgusted sound. “No. That’s just it, Danika. You shouldn’t have told me. There should have been nothing to tell. You should have never agreed to go over there in the first place. You’re my girlfriend, but you’re running around like you’re Chance Carter’s whore.”

“Excuse me?” I stood up, my pride finally making an appearance. “What did you just call me?” The derogatory names that some felt were okay to call girls were such hypocritical bullshit, and I wouldn’t tolerate it.

“You need to start acting right.” He pushed back his chair and stood as well. “And if I find out you’re cheating on me—”

“You’ll what? Call me another name?” I mocked.

“I’ll make sure your little Baseball Boy knows whose girl he messed with. And I’ll let him know where we come from and how we handle things like this back in the city,” he threatened before walking away and leaving me alone at the table, strange eyes still on me, as I wondered what in the hell kind of reality television show my life had just turned into and how the heck I’d let it happen.

I sat down and put my head in my hands for only a moment before I heard Sunny’s usually cheerful voice. “Well, that was fun to watch.”

I glanced up to see her holding a tray of food and a book before setting it all down on the table and sitting next to me, where Jared had just been. “How much did you hear?”

She shook her head. “Not much really. It was more of the body language. He looked like he was yelling at you.”

“He kinda was,” I confirmed, and she bit into an apple, moaning as she chewed before swallowing.

“What is Jerk-Off mad about now?”

“He thinks I cheated with Chance.”

She let out a sound, her head shaking. “He thinks you cheated? Oh, that’s rich,” she said before taking another bite.

“What does that mean?” I asked because her response was odd.

Is she insinuating that Jared’s cheated on me? Does she know something that I don’t?

“Nothing.” She waved her arms around. “I just don’t like him anymore; you know that,” she admitted before swallowing. “Sorry. I know that sucks to hear, and it’s not my place.”

Her admission was hurtful, but it wasn’t a surprise. I knew that she had stopped liking Jared. We’d already talked about it before.

“I know you don’t like him.”

“For you,” she clarified like she had when we talked about this at home, and my phone buzzed. “I just think you can do better.”

I reached for my cell, assuming it would be a text or something from Jared, but there was a simple message from Chance waiting instead, which read, I passed. I felt the smile break out on my face before I could stop it.

“Now, that’s a smile I haven’t seen in a while,” Sunny said with a matching grin of her own. “Bet I know who the message is from.”

“Stop,” I said, trying to make my smile disappear but failing.

“It’s not my fault Chance Carter makes you smile more than your own boyfriend does.” The accuracy of her words made the breath catch in my throat. She shrugged, her blue eyes shining. “What? It’s true, so I’m not sorry for saying it.”

I knew that it was too. I just wasn’t ready to admit it out loud and deal with the consequences of what exactly that meant.

Catching Up with Cole

Chance

My professor must have graded the tests right after we finished them or something because as I’d headed toward the field after breakfast, I’d pulled up my online account and seen that I’d gotten a B-minus. I was feeling pretty good for pulling that grade, and I knew Danika would be happy for me too.

I had texted her and was waiting for her to respond, but after about a minute, I needed to put my phone in my