The Ninth Inning (The Boys of Baseball #1) - J. Sterling Page 0,41

proved to be too much. When she acted out of character, it hurt me even more. I hated feeling like Logan knew a side of her that I didn’t or that she was willing to do things with him that she never did with me. Although I’d never asked her to drink anything other than beer because I respected what she had always told me. Was I an idiot this whole time?

Striding into the backyard, I started pacing before tossing out my warm beer into the grass and filling up my cup.

“What was that all about?” Mac asked, suddenly appearing, sans redhead.

“Where’s your lady of the night?” I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders before pointing lazily toward the house. “In there. Out here. Who knows?”

Chance was clearing out the few people who were lingering around us, telling them all to give us some space and go inside. They all listened. He was lucky that he garnered that much respect as a sophomore. If he were anyone else, they would have told him to fuck off and stayed put until he physically forced them to leave.

“I saw the whole thing. The way she was looking at you when she took that shot,” Chance said once the three of us were alone. “Then, you flipped out.”

“She told me she didn’t drink hard alcohol. Only beer. It was one of her rules,” I said, trying to explain why I’d gone so crazy.

“Okay.” Mac shot Chance a look, and I knew they both must think I was losing my mind. “Then, don’t look inside right now,” Mac added, and of course, I did the exact opposite.

I watched as she downed a shot, quickly followed by another. “ ‘Alcohol makes you stupid,’ ” I said, repeating the words that she had once told me.

“What?”

“That’s what she always said. ‘Alcohol makes you stupid. And gives people something to talk about.’ Why is she doing this?” I asked to no one in particular.

But Chance answered, “That’s obvious.”

“Spell it out for me then.”

“She’s trying to get your attention. She’s mad at you. She’s hurt. This is her way of lashing out,” he said, sounding so sure of himself.

“Mac, do you agree with that?” I asked, looking for either a consensus or an opposing viewpoint.

“Sounds about right to me,” he said.

I continued to watch Christina. When she stumbled on her feet and Logan’s arms wrapped around her, I’d had enough.

“Oh shit,” Chance and Mac said from somewhere behind me as I threw my cup to the ground and started moving indoors.

I didn’t have to look behind me to know they were following. It was a good thing. I might need them.

“Oh, goodie, you’re back,” Logan sneered, still holding Christina, and I zoomed in on his fingers splayed across her lower waist.

“Stop giving her shots. I already asked you nicely,” I ground out, my tone dead. Fucking. Serious.

He let her go and took a menacing step toward me, his hands balled into fists at his sides, and I almost prayed that he’d hit me first, so I could finally end this shit between us. But his maneuver was too quick, and Christina swayed, clearly unbalanced on her own two feet. I rushed to her side before she could topple over and held her upright, all thoughts of Logan wiped away.

“Let’s get you home, huh?” I said protectively.

She looked up at me and batted those long, dark lashes. “I didn’t come here with you,” she said, her words slower than usual.

“That’s okay. You can still leave with me.” I tried to be cute, but she wasn’t having any of it.

She swatted me away, forcing me to let her go as she braced herself against the counter. “No. I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m not your property or your problem, Cole. Stop acting like I’m either.”

“I want you to be both,” I admitted quietly, but I didn’t think she’d heard me.

“Logan?” she said out loud, and he was suddenly at her side, pushing me away.

His hand splayed across her ass, and my eyes burned as I stared at his fingers, wishing they’d fall off one by one.

“Right here, babe,” he said the words so sickly sweet that they soured my mouth.

“I’m ready to go now.”

“Christina.” My voice came out pleading, and I swallowed hard to clear my throat as I prepared to say the one thing I had just promised myself I wouldn’t say in front of an audience. “He doesn’t want you. He just really fucking hates me.” I leveled my