Chapter 9

9

The next morning, I had wrapped myself under my covers with my portable air conditioner on full blast. It was another thirty-degree humid day, a normal summer day that made me never want to leave my bed or room because it was too hot to do anything else.

Apparently, it had rained here all week while we were away, and now, we were in the after-effects of it with no breeze in the humid air. It was absolute torture to live in that kind of temperature. It was safer to stay in the air conditioning and watch reruns of my favourite TV show or read a book.

But obviously, my brother had another idea.

He burst through my room with his Oakwell Royals baseball cap on and a frown on his face.

"What the hell are you doing? Get up. Get ready. Let's go."

I groaned into my pillow as I rolled onto my stomach. "Go away."

The blankets were ripped away from me almost immediately, and the chill of my room bit into my skin, causing a ripple of goosebumps to wake along my skin.

"What the hell, Nathan!" I exclaimed, jumping off my bed to grab back the blanket, but he pulled it out of reach. "Give me the blanket." My legs bounced as I tried to keep the warmth in them, but it didn't work too well.

"I'll give it back once you get ready to go. We have a game to head to."

I sighed in exasperation, dropping my hand as I met his eyes. "I'm not going."

I knew it was going to be awkward. I knew Liam wouldn't want to see me, and I didn't want to ruin the thing he loved most. No matter how much I wanted to apologise to him and talk to him, it was best I kept my distance. The week away with Reece, Jake, and Sage was fun, but I wasn't going to take away his friends, or make them choose. I'd broken his heart already. I didn't want to tear him down more.

With Liam and I, it was always up and down. He was attentive, and caring, and listened when you talked. But, when I tried to show the emotional cuts that burrowed underneath my skin, I never felt like he could truly see me. He would try to give me advice and tell me I needed to patch things up with my mother, but he never understood and made me seem like I was overreacting. He had the perfect life and the perfect family who loved him. It grated me, and made me a bit envious.

Nate wagged a finger in front of me. "Uh uh. You promised some people you would go remember. Plus, you'll be my DD."

I rolled my eyes. Right, of course .

I chewed my lip, thinking about whether I should go to the baseball game, or sit at the cafe around the corner for a few hours and people-watch. Maybe I would be able to bale out before anyone saw me.

"I don't know if I should go, Nate. Not with how things ended with Liam. It will be awkward as hell."

His eyes softened, and he sighed, the blanket limp by his side. An easy grab. I could have just plucked it from his loose grasp and wrapped myself back up. But I didn't, even as a shiver raked my body.

"Look, I didn't know Liam that well, but he's a big boy, Dakota. I'm sure he can handle himself." Nate squeezed my arms while his 6'2 frame bent down to look straight into my eyes. "Okay?"

"Okay, fine. But you better not leave me alone there."

He smiled as he straightened. Then he lifted a hand to the top of my head and messed up my hair, which I immediately smacked away. "Will do. Now hurry up. Gotta leave in ten minutes and pick up Reece."

He left my room, leaving me with my heart ricocheting in my chest at the mention of Reece. Going by the interaction we had after Nate picked me up yesterday, I knew it would be an awkward car ride ahead. It was too late to go back, though. I'm sure Nate would just drag me out anyway.

I could still feel the ghost of Reece's breath against my lips, the peppermint chill skating across my skin in light puffs as my mind drifted to that night. The green and gold flecks in his eyes were barely visible through the dilated pupils as lust and desire flared in his eyes. The feather-light touch against the skin of my jaw and the side of my neck. He was so close, I had never felt my heart thud so hard against my chest. It felt as if time had stood still in that moment. Everything disappeared around us, and it was just us there, consumed by each other's company. A fantasy lived in only a short moment before the spell was broken by the announcement.

I needed to wipe all memories and any fantasy between Reece and me from my mind. It was too alluring to have him near yet so far away after that moment and I needed to keep my distance. Even if it meant sticking my brother between us. To never be found in the same room alone together.

I begrudgingly got out of bed and threw on a random top and shorts before sliding thongs on my feet. It was just a few moments after I threw my hair up into a ponytail that Nate started calling for me from downstairs, telling me he was leaving. I knew he would have dragged me out of the room if I hadn't come down in the next five minutes, so I tucked some concealer and mascara into my purse before making my way downstairs, meeting Nate by the door as he tugged his shoes on.

It was only a five-minute drive to Reece's house, and when Nate pulled up on the street, Reece was already lugging his baseball bag over his left shoulder as he walked down his driveway. His wooden bat swung in his other hand, his fingers nimbly adjusting it as he swung it around in large circles by his side.

He wore a navy blue undershirt and light grey baseball pants, both clinging to his lean muscles like a second skin, molding to his biceps and thighs. His team baseball hat was thrown backward on his head, his hair curled slightly around it.

I had to look away, my heart beating unusually fast when my eyes slowly raked down every inch of his body. Swallowing had become difficult when my throat had become dry.

The very first night I met Reece as just a mere stranger, there was no doubt that there was a flicker of attraction there. Maybe that's why I initially felt pulled towards him when I saw him slouched on that pier almost two years ago before I saw the downcast of his features and that far-away look. Then, the moment had changed.

I hadn't opened up to anyone like I had that night. Not even to Alex and Avery. I hadn't told them why Liam and I broke up, but I had gone into details with Reece that night, not knowing then that they were friends.

The attraction was still there when we kept running into each other at the river, but I had never seen him as more than a friend.

That boundary only solidified when I found out his connection to Liam.

But it had begun to be tested with his return back into my life. With the knowledge of how it felt to have him so close, to taste his breath. It was knocking that wall down brick by brick, and I needed to find the strength to rebuild it.

I shook my head to rid those forbidden thoughts.

He threw his bag in the tray and climbed into the back seat, popping his head between the front seat after becoming situated. "Summers." He clapped his hand on my brother's shoulder. "Thanks for the lift."

Nate nodded, then put the car in gear and started off towards the field.

Reece's eyes turned to mine, a small smile touching his lips. "Summers number two."

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Fischer."

He sat back in his seat, but I swore, for a split second, I saw his eyes flick down to my lips. But it was so quick I put it down to my mind, playing tricks on me.

We pulled up to the field just over five minutes later, and I felt my heart hit my throat the moment I stepped out of the car. Because it was the exact moment Liam hopped out of his car across the parking lot, and guilt rushed back in.

He hadn't seen me yet as he grabbed his bag and bat from the boot of his car, but both Nate and Reece saw him. Nate wrapped his arm around my shoulder, squeezing me close, while Reece stood on my right.

"He's a big boy, Dakota. He may be hurt now, but he'll get over it," Nate whispered to me.

Liam looked up and over to us then. The two boys waved to him, but Liam was looking at me, his thick brows turned down and the muscle in his jaw ticking. It was only a moment before he looked away, but it was enough for me to want to run, feeling the way I was unwanted here.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Reece said, and as he passed me, I swore I felt the brush of his pinky against my hand, drawing goosebumps up my arm. I swallowed.

Reece clapped him on the back as he met him at his car. I watched the entire interaction before they made their way to the field. When they walked past, I heard Liam whisper, "What is she doing here?"

My heart sank. I didn't hear Reece's response. I didn't need to hear anymore. Those words were already a sucker punch to the gut. But, I deserved it.

Nate nudged me toward the stands, knocking me out of my thoughts and stopping me from acting toward my instinct to get out of there.

We found a seat near the front, right behind the team's dugout. A huge net separated us from the field and blocked any foul balls. The smell of dirt, grass, and grilled food filled the air.

I dropped into the seat to the right of Nate while he placed his keys on the seat, not yet sitting down.

"I'm going to grab some food. You want anything?"

"Yeah. I'll take a hamburger and a can of coke."

"Coming right up."

He jogged upstairs while I turned my attention to the field where some of the players had come out to warm up. I spotted Reece immediately, throwing up balls before launching them into the field of waiting hands with his bat in a timed precision. He was still only in his undershirt, but he had added a red arm sleeve to his right arm that hugged right to his wrist, keeping his pitching arm warm. His cap still sat backward as well as he always did until game time.

It was like my eyes magnetised to him. It was like my body called for him. Wherever he was near, I couldn't stop myself from seeking him out.

My eyes followed him throughout the warm-up as Sage came out of the dugout in half of his catching gear, and Reece followed him, away from everyone, to warm up his pitches. Even when Nate had plopped down next to me, arms full of food and drinks, my gaze did not waver from him.

"For you," Nate said, passing me my hamburger and coke as I took them like I was in some sort of trance. He unwrapped his own food, unbothered in the slightest that my attention was focused elsewhere as he brought his own attention to the field.

"You reckon they're gonna win?" I asked.

Nate scoffed. "I would hope so. They better win. Otherwise, I'm gonna be mad. This is the first game of the season that I'm here for. It's a special day."

He munched on his hamburger as I chuckled.

He nudged me then, leaning over to speak lowly to me. "Hey, wanna make some bets?"

But I knew how sneaky Nate was, how he would hustle me out of money like he had times before. So, I replied, "No, I'm good with keeping my money. You know how terrible I am with my knowledge of baseball."

Nate cackled. "Fair enough."

The game started shortly after, and I watched Reece in his element, throwing perfect pitch after perfect pitch. I watched him get his third home run in the season and internally celebrated, afraid if I got too excited, it would draw too much attention and suspicion from Nate.

The two and a half hours went by fast, even under the radiant heat. They had won, much to Nate's satisfaction.

The team changed and gathered their things in the dugout, while spectators started celebrating. Nate was on his third drink by the time Reece and the rest of the team joined us.

It was standard that after the last game of the evening, there would be post-game drinks before moving the party to the pubs if they had won. This evening would be no different.

I laughed at something Jake said when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liam walking out of the dugout and towards the parking lot instead of where we were, and the guilt found me once again.

I shouldn't have been there. I shouldn't be making him feel like he can't hang out with his friends, and celebrate his win because I was there. It was like I was trying to steal away his friends, and it ate at me.

I had no plans of talking to him beforehand. I wanted to give him the space I know I would have wanted, given the circumstances. But the guilt became too much, and I needed to make sure he knew that he didn't have to leave because of me, or that I didn't mean to make him uncomfortable by showing up here.

My feet started moving before I knew it, and I weaved around everyone to make my way towards Liam.

I was halfway there when a body stepped in my way, blocking me from my path. I knew exactly who it was before he spoke by his smell and his shirt. The same shirt he wore at the airport before our flight to Airlie Beach.

"Don't."

I sighed before meeting his eyes. He wore a frown I had never seen on him before. So serious and guarded. He crossed his arms, becoming someone I hardly recognised.

"Get out of my way, Reece."

He shook his head. "I can't do that, Summers."

I swung my arms out, exacerbated already. I knew what he was trying to do and I understood it. I would do the same thing for my friends. But still, I asked, "Why the hell not?"

He lifted a brow. "You know why."

I sighed again. "I just need to talk to him, Reece. Please."

I tried to step around him, but he stepped back in front of me. I saw Liam close the back seat of his car before opening the driver's door to get in. I was anxious to get to him, but Reece was wasting my time.

But before I could say or do anything to get rid of him, he spoke first. "Do you know what you did to him, Dakota? You broke his heart. Of course, he doesn't want to talk to you and I don't blame him."

It was like a punch to my chest. My attention was no longer on Liam but on Reece. His words, although true, hurt more than the guilt I bore. I couldn't do anything other than stare at him. His green eyes, the ones that were usually the colour of the forest, were darker, with no glint of the light or amusement that normally shone in them. The crease between his brow became more prominent as his jaw tightened.

I swallowed, trying to find my words after that blow. I knew Liam was long gone by then, but I didn't have it in me to care at that point. It was just Reece and the arrow he shot through my heart.

"Wow. How long have you been holding onto that one?"

And then, seemingly realising how those words affected me, his eyes softened, and he stepped closer.

"I didn't—" he started but stopped himself, clenching his fists as if to hold himself back from touching me.

I swallowed again and took a deep breath, trying to shake off the tension that had built, thick and hazy, strong enough to choke me.

"Tell Nate I'll be waiting near the car when he's ready."

I walked past him, my shoulder softly bumping into his arm.

I heard him whisper my name, but he never said anything more. I kept walking.

Nate still had the keys to the car. I didn't have the confidence to walk into that minefield again, knowing how badly everyone probably thought of me after that display. So, when I got to the car, I sat on the ground and leaned against the front wheel on the driver's side, waiting for when Nate decided he wanted to leave. It was too long before he appeared, enough for me to wander into my head. To my relationship with Liam and where I went wrong.

Why couldn't I fall in love with him? He was easy, funny, and kind. Everything was good with him. But when I fell asleep at night, I couldn't stop thinking that something was missing. A gap in the relationship that I didn't know how to fill.

Was it me? Was I just like my mother and couldn't find it in myself to love?

I thought about that every time I thought about Liam and me. It was the only conclusion I could make about how stupid I was for letting go of the one good person to have entered my life.

It was a quiet trip home.

Quiet, and awkward, because Nate had decided he wanted to go to the pub with his friends instead, leaving me alone to drive Reece home. I didn't have anything to say nor did I want to speak to him. He respected the silent request as he looked out the passenger window the whole drive.

When I pulled up in front of his house, he paused with one hand on the handle and the other scrubbed across his mouth. He didn't say anything but a quick muttered ‘thank you' under his breath before leaving, grabbing his bag and walking up his driveway.

Then, I was left alone, with an aching feeling in my stomach and my spiraling thoughts.