Behind the Plate (The Boys of Baseball #2) - J. Sterling Page 0,82

My keeping this information from her had hurt her.

“Let’s talk inside.” I opened the front door and held it for her to walk through.

She looked fucking beautiful, walking into my house as I directed her toward my bedroom. Knowing she was here for me and not some party we were throwing fired me up.

“Hey, Chance, how’d it go with Tutor Girrr—” Mac started to yell before stopping short. “Oh. Uh … never mind. Hey, Danika,” he said before giving me a look that screamed, Oh shit, and disappearing.

She giggled, and I took it as a good sign. Ushering her through my door, I closed and locked it behind her.

“For privacy,” I said when she shot me a look after hearing the door latch. “If you’re uncomfortable, I can unlock it.”

Her head shook. “I’m not uncomfortable.”

Danika looked around my room, and I had no idea where to tell her to sit. She basically had three options: the chair at my desk, my bed, or the floor. I’d be lying if I said I hoped she didn’t choose the bed. She moved to one side of my mattress and sat down before propping her feet up. I sat on the opposite side of her. Far enough away but still close enough to reach out and touch her if she let me.

We both stayed silent, staring, not knowing where or how to start, so I took the initiative.

“I want to hear everything that happened with you and Jared,” I said because I was damn curious.

She was single now, and I was dying to know exactly how it had happened.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know. But can you tell me about the cheating thing first?”

I nodded in agreement because whether we started with this topic or ended with it, it still had to be discussed. “Um, I was at a party before break, and he was with some girl. I told him he’d better tell you about her or that I would.”

“We were already broken up by then,” she said in almost a whisper, and surprise ripped through me.

“Really? He sure didn’t act like it.” I remembered what I’d said to Jared and how he’d reacted, the way he’d insinuated that they were still together and I had, of course, assumed that they were.

“So, you definitely thought he’d cheated on me?” It was a question and not a statement, like she was looking for clarification or needed me to say it out loud again.

“I did.”

“And you came over to my apartment to tell me?” Another question.

“I did. But you were already gone. And I took it as a sign,” I tried to explain, feeling foolish.

She shifted on my bed, pulling her legs in front of her and crossing them over. “A sign for what? To never tell me?”

I swallowed hard. This was one hell of an uncomfortable conversation, and I’d never had one like it before. “Pretty much. I convinced myself that if you were supposed to hear it from me, you would have been home for me to tell you. Plus, everyone told me to stay out of it.”

“Well, everyone’s a fucking idiot, Chance!” Her voice rose.

“I know that now.” I wanted her to understand where I was coming from, but the only way was to tell her what had happened last summer. I sucked in a long breath. “Can I tell you a story?”

“A story?” Her eyes narrowed like she wasn’t sure if I was joking or not.

“I played baseball this past summer. It was a really prestigious league. Invite only,” I described, and she nodded along, her eyes softening. “Okay, well, there was this guy on my team, Tanner. He had a girlfriend back home, but he was hooking up with the local girls almost every night.”

Danika made a sound, and I swore she’d mumbled, “Pig,” under her breath.

“He was an egotistical asshole. Typical dirtbag guy, thinking he could get away with anything he wanted and never get caught. His girlfriend was coming out to visit, and when she got there, one of the local girls didn’t see her.” I stopped for a second and thought a littler harder. “Or maybe she did. Anyway, she wrapped her arms around Tanner and started kissing him.”

“She did not.” Danika’s eyes grew wide. “What did the girlfriend do?”

“Flipped out. She wanted to leave. Tanner tried to calm her down, but another guy on the team and I ended up taking her back to the airport,” I said, filling her in on what