know . . . ugh,” he grumbles playfully. I can tell there are sincere nerves under the surface of his jokes.
To assuage them, I cup his cheek and stand on the tips of my toes, touching his nose to mine.
“I love you, no matter what.” I repeat the core of our pledge. I’m not sure when we started saying it to each other, but it’s become habit. It’s become a promise. It’s our future.
No matter what.
“Okay, on the count of three,” he says, his chest rising with a deep breath. I follow suit and fill my own lungs.
“One,” I say.
“Two,” he follows.
We pause; there’s no turning back. A promise to each other means no cheating. We said we would share at the same time, and if we make it to three, we must. We don’t hang each other out to dry.
Our eyes lock, and I wait until certainty passes through the hazel oceans of his irises. His mouth turns up, and his cheeks lift. He’s ready.
“Three,” I say, immediately followed by the word, “Chicago.”
“Northwestern.”
Our nerves have vanished.
Two schools, twenty miles apart. A train ride.
There were endless combinations that could have been. He didn’t know my final five, and I didn’t know his. Maybe fate whispered to us in our dreams. Or maybe sometimes, friends are also meant to be in love forever.
Hollis Taylor is allowed to break the rules. She’s coach’s little girl. And she’s good. If that means she gets to bump one of the guys for the starting catcher’s job on the Public High baseball team, then the others on the squad better suck it up and deal.
Breaking rules has taken Cannon Jennings far in life. One of the nation’s top pitching prospects, he came here to throw to his cousin and show college recruiters everything he could do on the mound. Taking his signs from a girl was not part of his blueprint, especially one that screwed over his favorite relative and best friend.
Too bad he broke the biggest rule of all before he knew exactly who she was.
It was just a New Year’s kiss. Totally forgettable. Especially under the circumstances.
So why can’t he stop thinking about it?
Cannon Jennings
I’m perfectly content ringing in the new year with a sparkler and the leftover pizza. Unfortunately, my cousin Zack is an extrovert. He needs to feed off the energy of others. I prefer to cut out distractions.
“It’s one party, Can. You need to pull the stick out of your ass and enjoy one night. One party will not derail your future.”
Zack has been on my ass about loosening up for weeks. Deep down, I know he’s probably right…to an extent. If I keep grinding like this through my entire senior year, I’ll burn out before I even land at summer camp wherever I get signed. But when you’ve dreamed of pitching for Vandy since you were six years old and it’s legit within your reach, it’s hard to let up off the gas, even just a little.
“Come on, man. It’s New Year’s Eve.” Zack’s head falls to one side and his lip juts out.
“Are you gonna fuckin’ cry?” I toss my glove to the corner of the sofa and get to my feet. Zack rubs his hands together while shuffling his feet in this weird-ass jig.
“I’m not going if you’re going to do that,” I say, pointing at his lower half. He freezes and instantly stands tall, rolling his shoulders and clearing his throat.
“Sorry. Must have been overcome with shock that Cannon Jennings is actually going to do something social,” he says.
“Pfft,” I huff at him. I grab my keys and my lucky hat and we both head out to my car.
Zack is overexaggerating. I’ve been social. I went to a party a week ago, and I’ve made some decent friends. I’ve done pretty well for being the new guy at school. I moved in with my cousin over the summer as part of the grand plan my dad and my uncle, Zack’s dad, devised to maximize the attention we both could get for offers to play college ball. Zack has caught for as long as I have pitched, and we used to play together when we were younger. But Zack’s family moved to Indiana for work right after junior high, and it broke up our dream duo. We’ve both done all right without the other, but we’ve got one more year to really show our