The Ninth Inning (The Boys of Baseball #1) - J. Sterling Page 0,90
wasn’t into sex trafficking and wouldn’t get you kidnapped.” She laughed, and I laughed too.
There was no way that Cory was lying or making any of this up. She knew way too many things. I was mad that I had been so stupid that night. Honestly, anything could have happened to me, and no one would have known.
“My roommate wasn’t there though, right?”
“No. No one was there,” Cory said. “I fed you a glass of water and put you in your room.”
Suddenly, a vision of me standing in front of the mirror with my shirt on inside out flashed in my head. “Oh! Do we know why my shirt was inside out?”
“Ha!” She started explaining, “Because, apparently, it was too hot in my car, but you didn’t want the windows down because it was too cold outside. You took your shoes off, and then you pulled off your shirt and curled into the seat. I told you to put your shirt back on, and you did, but it was inside out. Basically, I was just happy you were dressed.”
I covered my face with my hand because my behavior was so embarrassing, but holy shit, it was so much better than what I’d been thinking this entire time. “I’m sorry. I’m honestly mortified right now.”
“You were pretty entertaining. Anyway, I’m glad I ran into you, so I could fill in all those missing pieces. I’m also glad you’re okay. I was a little worried you might die in your sleep or something, and I am not cut out for prison.”
“Not dead. But thank you. You have no idea what you’ve done. No idea.” I leaped forward and wrapped her in a bear hug.
She awkwardly hugged me back before she shifted away. I knew my compliments and affection were making her uncomfortable.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What did you think happened to you that night?”
I let out a cough before launching into it. “Logan said he drove me home and fucked me in the backseat of his car. Then, he texted Cole a picture of us together, and I’m sure you can guess the rest.”
“You thought you’d slept with Logan this whole time?” she practically shouted before looking around.
“I couldn’t remember anything. Even though I didn’t want to believe that I’d do something like that, I had no memory telling me that I didn’t.”
She shook her head, as if in total disbelief. “What kind of person does that? Who in their right mind lies just to hurt someone else?”
“A competitive person? A vindictive person? A psychopath? I just …” I let out a breath as everything hit me all at once like a wave forcing me underneath it. “I can’t believe it was all a lie. That I really didn’t do anything with him.”
“Except spit on his shoes,” she reminded me.
“Except spit on his shoes,” I repeated.
She told me she needed to get to class, and I thanked her again. And awkwardly hugged her again. And exchanged phone numbers before she sped away. I stood there, watching her go, her hair looking like a flame against the blue sky, as every piece of information she’d told me started to fully sink in.
Logan had lied. It was all a lie.
Holy shit.
The Truth
Christina
I sat in my car, torn between going home to talk with Lauren first or going straight to find Cole and spilling my guts. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard and realized that he would still be at practice. His schedule gave me the answer I needed.
Driving home, I was on edge, antsy, hoping like hell that Lauren would be there. I needed to talk this out with her, tell her what I’d just learned, and figure out the best way to inform Cole. For whatever reason, I felt like I needed an actual plan.
I ran through the parking lot, into the complex, and busted through the door like someone was chasing me.
Lauren screamed, “You scared the heck out of me!”
“I’m so glad you’re here!” I shouted, breathing hard. Damn, I am seriously out of shape.
“What’s going on?”
“I didn’t sleep with Logan,” I said between labored breaths. “Did you hear me? I. Did. Not. Sleep. With. Logan.”
Her eyes grew wide. “How do you know?”
I leaned over, my breathing still erratic as I held up a finger. My heartrate, my mind—everything was firing at a rapid pace. “Let me get some water first.”
“Screw your water,” she shouted with a laugh. “Get over here and tell me everything.”