Chapter 23

CHAPTER23

“You’re going to have to go home sometime,” Sebastian murmured as his gaze flickered to the small teenage girl who had been hiding in his room since he got home from school today to find her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and-

“What are the odds that my mother forgot about what happened at school today?” Mikey asked, absently rolling the baseball that she’d rummaged through his closet for between her hands.

“I’m sure that she forgot all about the school calling her to let her know that you made another girl cry,” Sebastian said, taking in the incredibly adorable teenage girl sitting at the end of his bed.

“Ugly cry. I made her ugly cry,” Mikey amended, making his lips twitch.

“And the fact that you’ll be spending the next two weeks in detention?” Sebastian asked, watching Mikey shift to get more comfortable, only to give up and stretch her legs out over his blanket-clad legs as he sat there, taking in his old Yankees tee-shirt that she’d helped herself to from his bureau that ended just above her knees.

“Should probably be something that I avoid bringing up until after I tell them that I love them?” Mikey said with a wince.

“Probably,” Sebastian murmured absently as he took in the gym shorts that she’d helped herself to from Mathew’s room since his kept falling off her. “And the fact that you’ve been hiding out here all day?”

“Will hopefully give them enough time to get over their need to beat me,” Mikey said, nodding solemnly as Sebastian ran his gaze down the short, tan legs thrown over his down to her cute little toes and-

“This is going to be so much fun,” Jonathan said with a satisfied sigh, drawing Sebastian’s attention to find his brother gesturing for him to get on with it.

“Or it could allow their rage to build,” Sebastian said, clearing his throat as he returned his attention to the book that he was reading.

“There is that,” Mikey mumbled sadly, only to sigh heavily. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“What would you like to talk about?” Sebastian asked as he turned the page and-

“I have a few suggestions,” Jonathan said with a satisfied sigh that had Sebastian grinding his jaw as he threw his brother a look of warning.

“And those would be…” Mikey murmured, drawing his attention to find her absently rolling the baseball between her hands, looking lost in thought while he found himself still wondering how he was going to tell her.

“We could start by talking about the way that Sebastian can’t seem to take his eyes off of you,” Jonathan said, making it difficult to remember how to breathe as his gaze shot back to Mikey.

“That’s because I’m adorable,” Mikey said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal and somehow leaving him even more confused than he was before.

That is, until she said, “But I have been wondering about all the glaring,” making Sebastian swallow hard as he shot his brother a panicked look, only to find the little bastard smiling as he released a satisfied sigh.

“Yes, Sebastian, why have you been glaring at Mikey?” Jonathan asked mockingly as Sebastian somehow managed to resist the urge to throw his iPad at his brother’s head.

“I haven’t been glaring,” Sebastian bit out with a look that should have told his brother just how close he was to getting the duct tape.

“What would you call it?” Mikey asked, sounding curious as Sebastian sat there, wondering what she would do if he reached over and took her hand in his. Probably pull her hand back so that she could continue rolling the baseball between her hands, Sebastian thought, biting back a sigh as he swiped to the next page.

“A normal reaction when you go out of your way to piss me off,” Sebastian drawled, watching as she slowly nodded.

“That’s fair,” Mikey murmured, making his lips twitch as he looked up and-

God, she was so goddamn beautiful, Sebastian thought, swallowing hard as the words that he’d been struggling to hold back now for months threatened to break free and-

“So, I have a question,” Jonathan said, saving him from doing something incredibly stupid.

Releasing a shaky breath, Sebastian looked away from Mikey just in time to see Uncle Reese, who looked understandably pissed, walk into their room and fold his massive arms over his chest while he glared down at Mikey. Swallowing hard, Sebastian’s gaze shot back to Mikey to watch as her mouth worked soundlessly for a few seconds before she closed it, cleared her throat, and somehow managed to get out, “And what would that be?”

“Shouldn’t you be running?” Jonathan asked, only to follow that up with a gesture for her to get on with it when Mikey continued sitting there, staring helplessly up at her stepfather.

“Probably,” she mumbled weakly as she went for a hopeful smile that quickly died when Uncle Reese narrowed his eyes on her.

Clearing her throat, Mikey gestured absently to herself as she said, “You may carry me home now,” with a resigned sigh.

Never taking his eyes off Mikey, Uncle Reese reached down and grabbed her. Within seconds, he had her thrown over his shoulder and was gone, leaving Sebastian to ignore the little bastard waiting to pounce.

“Don’t start,” Sebastian said, swiping back when he realized that he had no idea what he just read.

“You’re overthinking this.”

“I’m not going to rush this,” Sebastian said, refusing to do anything that would risk losing Mikey, even if it meant getting his heart broken.

* * *

“Tell me what happened again,”Reese said, slowly exhaling as he continued pinching the bridge of his nose, which made it really difficult to gauge how angry he was at the moment.

“Which part?” Mikey asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she glanced at her mother and-

Decided that she should probably look somewhere else until that small muscle beneath her mother’s eye stopped twitching. Never a good sign, Mikey thought, clearing her throat as she focused back on her stepfather, whom she’d like to point out was still pinching the bridge of his nose.

“All of it,” Reese said evenly, which, combined with the fact that he hadn’t been able to look at her since she’d finished telling him how she’d ended up with detention for the next two weeks, was making it really difficult not to panic.

Perhaps this would be a good time to tell them that she loved them, Mikey thought, opening her mouth to do just that when Reese bit out, “Mikey.” Knowing better than to push her luck, Mikey felt her shoulders drop as she admitted, “I’m irresistible.”

That was followed by her stepfather’s lips twitching as he dropped his hand away and her mother muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, “I need a drink,” to herself as she reached up and began massaging her temples with her fingertips. Not really sure how she should take that, Mikey continued.

“That’s really the only way that I can explain this,” she said with a heartfelt sigh and a sad shake of her head before adding, “There’s really no other way to explain her obsession with me.”

“That would explain why Jason told me that her mother demanded your expulsion,” her mother said while Mikey did her best not to wince at the memory of what happened when Nicole’s mother showed up.

Clearing her throat, Mikey murmured, “That was unfortunate.”

“So was being put on probation for the rest of the semester,” Reese said, making her stomach drop.

“I think I missed that part with the yelling and all,” Mikey mumbled weakly as his words sank in and-

“She had it coming,” Mikey said, really wishing that she’d resisted the urge to wipe that smile off Nicole’s face when she had the chance.

Sighing heavily, Reese reached over and cupped the back of her neck and pulled her closer as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I know she did,” he murmured against her forehead.

“Did she get probation, too?” Mikey mumbled sadly as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his chest. When she felt Reese go still, she bit back a sigh as she muttered, “Of course she didn’t.”

“You’re there on a scholarship, Mikey, which means that you play by different rules,” her mother reminded her as Mikey stepped away from Reese and dropped down on her bed with a heavy sigh.

“Which means…” Mikey said, letting her words trail off as she reached over and grabbed a baseball off her nightstand.

“That you signed a contract agreeing to keep your grades up, maintain almost perfect attendance, and follow their code of conduct to the letter so that-”

“So that I can play baseball,” Mikey finished for her mother as she began rolling the baseball between her hands while she thought about what that meant for her.

“Exactly,” her mother said as she sat down next to her on the bed.

“And if something happens before the semester’s over?” Mikey asked, needing to know exactly where she stood.

“Don’t let anything else happen,” Reese said with a heavy sigh as he pulled her desk chair out and dropped down on it.

“But let’s say that it does, what will happen?” Mikey asked, rolling the baseball between her hands while she waited for an answer that she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like.

“Then, you’ll lose your scholarship and your spot on the team. You’ll have to transfer to the public high school and-”

“And I’ll never play baseball again,” Mikey said hollowly with a nod, knowing that Coach Dilmore would never let her on his team. Not after what happened last year.

“No, you probably won’t,” Reese murmured in agreement with a look that told her everything that she needed to know.

She couldn’t do anything to risk losing her scholarship.

“What was Nicole’s punishment?” Mikey asked, needing to know what she was working with here.

Her mother shared a look with Reese before saying, “Nothing.”

“She slapped the tray out of my hand and then dumped her lunch on my head and she got nothing?” Mikey asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

“According to Nicole and her friends, you tripped and dropped your tray. When they tried to help you, you knocked Nicole’s tray out of her hand, which caused her to dump her lunch on your head and you took it out on her,” her mother said, not looking all that happy about it.

“But everyone saw what happened. Most of them even got it on camera,” Mikey pointed out.

“Apparently, they didn’t pull out their phones until you decided to ruin her uniform and it’s her and her friends’ word against the few people who actually saw what happened,” her mother explained as Mikey slowly nodded, finally understanding the situation.

There was nothing stopping Nicole from making her life a living hell.