Friends with Benefits - Nicole Blanchard Page 0,66

me in the arm, tossed his dark hair back, and slid his baseball cap over it. It always made the chicks who came to the games go crazy. “You wish. Don’t think I’ll take it easy on you if that day ever comes.”

“It will. Believe it. You’re almost as good as I am.”

“Asshole,” he said without heat. “Where’s your girl? I thought she was coming?”

Thinking the same thing, I scanned the crowd again for her face in the family seats. She and the girls weren’t in their normal spot next to my parents, and neither were Liam and Dash. I figured something must have come up with the girls, but a niggle of doubt and worry wormed itself into my stomach.

“I’m not sure. She was supposed to be here, but she may have had to take care of her sisters or something.”

We cheered as our shortstop hit a double, batting in the player on third and scoring us another point. “What’s going on with that?”

I lifted a shoulder. “It’s complicated.”

“You sound like a chick.”

“At least I’m getting laid,” I said, making him scowl.

“Douchebag.”

One of the assistant coaches came out of the hallway that led to the locker rooms. He made a beeline for Coach Taylor, who listened with an impassive expression as he observed the next player up at bat. His body went still as the assistant coach kept talking, gesturing wildly. Then Taylor’s gaze moved to me, and I stiffened.

Coach Taylor murmured to the assistant, his eyes still on me. The assistant coach nodded, and Coach Taylor started to cross the dugout to me. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Coach Taylor was always focused on the game. Especially a game as important as the one that would lead us to the championships in Omaha.

“Wilder. A word?” I nodded and followed him to the hallway where the assistant had come from. “Listen, I’ll get straight to the point. Are you involved with a young woman named Ember Stevens?”

“Yes, sir,” I answered, fighting to keep my voice steady. Coach Taylor wouldn’t interrupt a game for any reason other than an emergency.

“There’s a Miss Charlie St. James here who says you need to go with her immediately. Ms. Stevens is in the hospital.”

My heart dropped to my feet along with my stomach. “The hospital,” I repeated faintly. The baby. Fuck. Something was wrong with the baby. I had to get to her. “I have to go to her. She’s pregnant,” I said without thinking.

Coach Taylor’s expression didn’t change, but the words that came out of his mouth were the last ones I expected. “Of course you do. Miss St. James is waiting at the ticket gate to take you to the hospital.”

“I’ll make sure he gets there,” Alex said. I hadn’t even realized he’d come with me.

“What about the game?” I asked, more out of habit than anything. I didn’t really give a fuck about the game.

“Go be with your girlfriend.” I didn’t correct him. “You’re young, but you’ll realize there’s more to life than baseball.” I never thought I’d hear him say those words. “Get going. You need to be with her.”

When I didn’t move, Alex took me by the arm and hauled me through the locker rooms and up the stairs to the main level of the complex where the concession stands, and ticket booths were located. It wasn’t as packed as it usually was before a game, but there were still people milling around getting refills on their sodas and popcorn who stopped and pointed at us as Alex propelled me toward the ticket booth. Charlie was there, pacing back and forth, still in her pale blue scrubs.

She turned toward us when she looked up, and I noticed, almost emotionlessly, that her face was bleached of color. She rushed forward. “I’m sorry for interrupting your game, but she’s asking for you, and I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s alright.” To Alex, I said, “Thanks, man. You should get back.”

He started backing away, and his normal easy-going expression was grave. “Call me. Whatever time. I’ll be there.”

“I know. Go win for us.”

“You got it.”

Somehow, he must have grabbed my bag with my change of clothes from my locker when we went through the locker room because I found myself hauling it out of the complex to Charlie’s car. As I tossed it in the back seat, I managed to spit out the words I didn’t want to voice aloud for fear that it would make my worries