The Ninth Inning (The Boys of Baseball #1) - J. Sterling Page 0,87

when Logan had first pursued me and how she had encouraged me to say yes because he seemed so nice and un-Cole-like.

I blew on my coffee before taking a tentative sip. “I guess he’s a really good actor.”

“Or a sociopath. He definitely would have sold you into sex trafficking,” she said, and I rolled my eyes, assuming I was about to get another lecture. “No. You roll your eyes, but I’m mad I didn’t see it. I pride myself on being a good judge of character, and he completely tricked me.”

He had tricked us both.

“I don’t care about Logan,” I said, sounding as exhausted as I felt. “I only care about Cole.”

“Yeah? Then, you should tell him.” She stuck out her tongue before pushing up from the table.

“I can’t mess with his head like that. His season’s almost over. And you’ve seen his batting average.”

I gave her an incredulous look because Cole had absolutely been dominating at the plate since he came back from his suspension. He was hitting home runs in almost every game. Not that I’d witnessed any of them in person, but I’d been following him online, quietly cheering on his success from behind my computer screen.

“He is hitting like crazy. But you see how mad he looks? He’s only hitting like that because he’s picturing Logan’s face on the ball. Guarantee it.” She gave me a small smile.

“Yeah. Or mine,” I argued, and she let out a loud groan as she reached for her coffee.

“I need to get ready for class. But seriously, think about it. Just tell him you heard what he did to Logan. Tell him you love him. Tell him you’ll run away to an island and give him a whole baseball team of babies if that’s what he wants. Tell him you know he’d never sell you to the black market.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“But at least I’m cute.” She flipped her blonde hair before disappearing into her room and leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I used to love my alone time, craved it even. Being alone never used to bother me. But that was before. Alone time now equaled emotional torture, overthinking, and a brain that wouldn’t shut off. Running Lauren’s words through my mind, I decided against reaching out to Cole, no matter how badly I wanted to. He needed to focus, and I’d promised myself that I wouldn’t screw that up for him.

That afternoon, during class, the girl next to me kept glancing over at me. I could see her in my peripheral vision, but I didn’t turn to make eye contact. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my composure if I did.

“Aren’t you the one who cheated on Cole?” she whispered toward me, and I broke my no-looking rule as I stared but gave her no response. “How could you do that to him? And with Logan of all people. Gross. Are you stupid?” When I continued to stay silent, she ended with, “Yeah. You’re obviously stupid. Can’t even answer my question.”

The girl next to her leaned forward and added, “Who cares why she did it? At least Cole’s back on the market. Thanks for fucking up, by the way. I, for one, really appreciate it.”

They both started giggling as I packed up my things and walked out, my eyes already misting over, my heart pounding in my chest. Pushing open the glass door, I stepped outside and immediately started following wherever my legs wanted to take me as I wiped at my eyes and sucked in a steadying breath.

“Christina?” a voice I didn’t recognize shouted my name.

I knew I couldn’t take any more confrontations today. Just that small one had pushed me over the emotional edge I’d been teetering on for weeks.

“Christina! Wait!”

I looked up to see a redhead in the distance, waving at me. I had no idea who she was, but she continued heading my direction, and I stopped walking altogether.

“Hi,” she said with a big smile when she reached me like we were long-lost friends.

I tilted my head and knew I had a confused look on my face. “Hi,” I said back, sounding unsure, and she laughed.

“Cory.” She reached out her hand for me to shake. “We met a few weeks ago.”

“We did?” I searched my mind and came up empty.

“Yeah. At The Bar?”

The last time I’d gone to The Bar was the night I tore my relationship apart. “When The Long Ones were playing?” I asked, and she nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah. I’m actually really glad

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