7. Cleo

7

CLEO

I slammed the small sedan door behind me as I hopped out of my car, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. It was a crisp weekday morning, the spring dew covering the fresh-cut grass.

As I walked over to the field, where a few of my teammates were warming up, a yawn escaped my mouth.

Catching the tail end, Bri looked over her shoulder and raised her hands at me from across the parking lot. "Tired already?"

I shook my head as I made it to the chain link fence where Bri's fingers interlaced with the metal. Stretching her back leg, she looked up at me. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just didn't sleep well." I smiled at her, trying to dismiss her concerns as quickly as possible.

Raising an eyebrow, Bri watched me as I entered the dugout. "Because of the rumors?"

My head tilted before I could stop it. I wasn't entirely sure what she meant. In reality, it had been my book idea swirling in my mind that had stopped me from sleeping. But now I needed to know what rumor Bri thought was juicy enough to keep me up at night.

"What rumor?"

Bri cleared her throat and sat on the bench. "It's better if you don't know."

Rolling my eyes, I set my bag on the dusty ground and took a seat on the rickety bench. The dull green paint had faded over the last decade of use. I reached into my bag and pulled out my cleats.

As I did, my notebook fell out of my bag. It flipped open a couple of pages, where scribbling from the night before filled the pages.

Before my exhausted body could reach for it, the leather-bound notebook was in Bri's hand.

My shoulders slouched. "Don't read that, asshole."

Bri scoffed and stood up from the bench, getting the book out of my reach. "Yeah right."

Shaking my head, I went back to my shoes. The last thing I wanted was to know what anyone thought of these underdeveloped ramblings about a story I'd never write. I tried to hide my nervous blush by keeping my head down.

But from the corner of my eye, I could see Bri lifting her eyebrows as she read.

After a moment, she lowered the book and let the hardcover close on the pages. Placing the book delicately back in the backpack, Bri shook her head and sat next to me.

Sighing, I looked up at her frustrated face. "What?"

"I just know you're going to let that die in that stupid notebook." Bri crossed her arms as she leaned back on the bench. Her jaw was clenched with frustration.

"It's just scribbles. It's not even a full idea." I shrugged, tightening the laces on my shoes with a double knot.

Scoffing, Bri leaned forward to interrupt my gaze. "It's always going to be just scribbles if you never actually work on them."

Once my shoes were tied, I stood up and grabbed my glove as I stretched out my tired muscles. "I don't have time to write. The shop is a lot and then there's practice and my mom and…"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Bri bit her lip as she followed my lead, pulling herself off the bench. "But I guess this means you did hear the rumor."

"What do you mean?" My forehead wrinkled, trying to figure out what exactly my friend was alluding to.

Bri tilted her head. "Cat?"

Laughing, I shook my head. "What about her?" I felt my stomach drop at the sound of her name. It was rare to hear her mentioned to me by any of my friends – except for updates on her wild benders.

Looking over her shoulder, Bri lowered her voice. "Look, I don't know if any of this is true."

"Spit it out." I slapped her shoulder with the leather glove, a dull clap echoing off the cement blocks of the dugout.

"She's back."

Shrugging, I scoffed. "Like in the pros?"

Bri shook her head, her eyes softening as she scanned my face. "No, like here. In New Winford."

My throat tightened at the thought. "Fuck."

"It's just a rumor, I could be wrong. Someone said they saw her but she could've just been visiting Daniel." Trying to ease my mind, Bri rested a calloused hand on my shoulder.

There was always a chance that it was just a short visit, that it was nothing to worry about. But a part of me knew it was more than that. It wasn't Christmas or Thanksgiving and as far as I knew, Cat didn't come home for anything less.

Pounding in my chest, my heart ached a familiar pain. I shook my head as I watched my teammates finish their warmups. "What am I supposed to do with that information? Hide away in the store, hope she doesn't remember I run it, and pray she knows better than to talk to me?"

Bri shrugged. "Probably. But knowing better might be the problem."

Shit. The last thing I wanted was for my ex to come back into town, especially after she broke my heart all those years ago. But New Winford was a small place. There were only so many places I could hide from Cat before she found me.