46. MATTHEWS

MATTHEWS

“ G od I missed you,” Julien cooed and the sound of his voice was like an ice pick to my spinal cord.

His hands wrapped around me and I hadn’t realized that, at one point, six or maybe seven months ago, Julien had touched me and it was the last time I had ever enjoyed it.

Now, every time he touched me, I forced down the urge to shudder.

“I’m still surprised you came down here,” I said. More surprised his mother had let him. She was not a kind woman and, after meeting her, it became apparent where Julien had gotten his passive-aggressive behavior from.

I hated everything about the situation, but causing a scene wouldn’t do any of us any good and, if I forced Julien to leave, he’d make it everyone's problem. It would be best to talk to him at home where he could flip out on me in private.

“When Ryan called I was surprised, but it’s incredibly generous of them to invite me and I’d do anything for my Clemmy.” His lips pressed to my neck and I forced myself to lean into it.

The teams were called quickly, and I knew instantly that Cael was going to cause trouble.

“Cael and Jensen are captains this year.”

I felt every important set of eyes turn on me.

“I want Mary.” He pointed at me.

“Idiot,” Arlo groaned under his breath as I unlinked from Julien’s grasp and made my way through the crowd to stand beside Cael.

“You could have at least picked me after a few actual players,” I whispered without looking over at him as Jensen chose Arlo .

“What happened to choosing him last?” Ella scoffed with her hands in the air.

“Thanksgiving rules, Blondie.” Arlo shrugged. “You’re just mad I got picked first.”

“You’re damn right.” She rolled her eyes.

“Dean,” Cael called out. “You know more about baseball than most of these idiots, you were a good pick.”

“I was a selfish pick,” I said under my breath.

“Prove me wrong.” Cael shrugged as Dean settled in on the other side of me.

I missed whoever Jensen picked next because I was too nervous that they’d pick Julien last and start a fight. Cael had been good all morning, as good as he could be without outright insulting him, but he was riding a line. Julien had made a remark about Cael being rude when we went to get changed into warmer clothes.

“He’s just protective,” I said.

“Possessive,” Julien corrected.

Cael scanned over the crowd. “Silas,” he picked, which was received with a chorus of groans. “You can’t have Arlo and Doc, Jensen, shut up.” He shook his head.

Jensen narrowed his eyes on Cael. “Fine, I want Ella.”

“Fine.” Cael shrugged with a cocky smile on his face.

“Why the hell are you happy about that? She'll pitch and we’ll be screwed,” Dean growled, but it had been purely strategy and it became clear as Arlo started whispering to Ella in their group, her face twisted into a scowl and she shook her head at them.

“She got picked sixth, she’s already pissed off,” Silas laughed.

“That’ll only make her play harder,” Dean said.

“Ella and Arlo play their best when they’re in competition with each other, putting them on the same team creates discontent within the team.” Silas nodded like he was proud of Cael. “Smart. They’ll spend the whole time fighting each other instead of playing.”

“Not just a pretty face,” Cael declared with a clap and chose Van.

“I see what you’re doing,” Silas mumbled to Cael, catching on to his game play before anyone else. I watched them pick people one by one, creating a team that might actually stand a chance to win.

“Lucas,” Cael chose next.

“Sawyer,” Jensen scooped up the next King sibling.

It was strange how much they all looked alike, with dark hair, tawny skin, almond eyes, and that signature scowl. Sawyer clapped Arlo on the back, his brown eyes flickering toward our group with a smirk, and Arlo gave him a quiet, tight laugh before turning to Ella. Cael had miss-stepped somewhere and they had picked up on it faster than us, but what was it?

“What are they whispering about?” I asked Dean who was watching them as well.

“Luc hurt his pitching arm in his final season, he hasn’t played baseball since. It was an odd pick to take him over Sawyer,” Dean explained.

“Sawyer plays shortstop.” Cael shook his head. “But not better than I do, I wasn’t going to lobby for a position on my own team.”

I couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled from me. They took the game much more seriously than I had expected them to. “Isn’t this supposed to be fun?” I asked.

“That went out the window when your ex showed up.” Dean nodded to Julien.

“Cael’s not going to do something stupid is he?” I turned to look at Dean who just smiled down at me.

“Nicky.” He chose his next pick, and I felt Dean tense beside me. Even with a smile on his face, he couldn’t hide the nervousness that coursed through him.

“He’s in the middle of doing something stupid. The best you can do now is find something to hold on to. Wait out the storm. This is going to be a long day.” Dean looked over at Cael, who seemed even more focused than before.

Endless ocean eyes focused far from where we stood, with determination staining his boyish features. The sun licked at the tips of his dirty blond hair that escaped the dark green beanie he wore, and the breath caught in my throat at his beauty. His sharp jaw was tilted proudly forward as he scanned over the remaining players, including Julien and Ryan Cody.

“Todd,” Jensen picked.

Leaving Zoey, Julien, and Ryan.

“Zoey,” Cael chose over either of them, and Dean sighed under his breath.

Both men stared at me like I was responsible and it felt like I had an anvil sitting on my chest.

“I’ll take Texas,” Jensen pointed to my ex.

“You’re with us, Coach,” Cael said with a tight huff of air. “Mrs. Shore,” Cael turned and cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling for her. “Will you be our Ump?”

“Of course, Darling.” She stepped out of the dugout with her long, dusty-brown hair in a high ponytail that pulled all her features tight. She was stunning, the kind that was terrifying, and I admired her for it. It was no wonder why Silas was handsome, his Mom was ethereal and she floated across the pitch toward the two teams.

“Quite the team,” she noted and turned her slender frame around the field. “Picked last,” she turned to Ryan with a smile. “That must be new for you.”

“Happens more often than you think.” Ryan squared his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest as he bantered with her.

“You sure you can keep up with these youngins?” Mrs. Shore smiled at him.

“I think I’ll be alright, Ma’am, I’m not as out of shape as I look.” He chuckled.

“You don’t look out of shape, Ryan,” she hummed and moved around him as some color filled his usually pale cheeks. “Keep it as clean as you can, no funny business,” she warned everyone. “I’m not calling for a helicopter to take any of you to the hospital.”

“She has a helicopter?” I looked up at Cael to my left.

“She has two,” Silas scoffed, his eyes darting between his Mom and Ryan as he walked backward into the dugout.

The game started, Cael lost the coin flip, and we ended up in the field first. I could tell that it pissed Cael off because he stomped back to the dugout like a toddler, with Ella on his heels.

“Cael.” She grabbed him by the hem of his sweater and pulled him back so she’d look at him. “Don’t push it,” she warned him, saying a string of words I couldn’t hear but the look on her face was tight and serious as she spoke to him .

It only made his mood worse because when he turned around the light was gone from his usually bright blue eyes and was replaced by storm clouds. His hand found my back as he guided me to the edge of the dugout for privacy.

“Where do you want to play?” He asked me, his eyes never leaving the field.

“It doesn’t matter, I may know the rules but I can’t play…” I laughed. “Your weird passive-aggressive way of stealing me away from Julien is ridiculous and it’s going to lose you the game. You could have had anyone. You messed up picking me first.”

“ No . I didn’t,” he said in a low tone that sent a current of electricity down my spine and curled my toes. One that meant I’ll always pick you first. “Where do you want to play, Clem?” He asked me again.

“Catcher.” I shrugged, somewhere safe and relatively unimportant.

“Alright.” He scanned the field and nodded, handing out positions to everyone else. Dean was on first, Sawyer on second, Cael would take shortstop and Silas on third.

“Nick, I need you to pitch.” He turned on him.

“Are you high?” Nicholas scoffed, carding his fingers through his thick brown hair and everyone froze. “I didn’t mean…” He stopped and sighed. “That’s a stupid plan if you want to win.”

“Yeah everyone keeps using that word this morning.” Cael let go of a cold, tight laugh and walked toward him. “You’re pitching. As much as I hate you, which, by the way, I definitely still do and will continue to do so long after Arlo forgives you.”

Dean pushed off the fence ready to get between them. Cael was taller than Nicholas by nearly six inches and he towered over him with his hands behind his back, inking them together with white knuckles as if they had a mind of their own and would lash out given the chance.

“Which… eventually he will forgive you and you will never deserve it,” Cael snapped in a tone I had only heard from him twice before.

At the family dinner the first night in the nest, and the night he found Kiefer on top of me. I shrank in size watching him as the memory flickered across my vision.

“You’ll get under their skin and more than I need you to disappear, we need to win this game,” Cael said.

“You sound like your Dad.” Nicholas smirked but gave in with a simple nod as Cael scowled at him. “Fine.”

Dean relaxed as Nicholas shoved his hand into a glove and walked toward the field. I watched him go, his shoulders tense as he took the mound and flexed his fingers around the ball. More interesting was Arlo’s reaction to it. His eyes flickered from his older brother to our dugout and back again before turning to his own team.