12. Steff

TWELVE

STEFF

Once my team and their families got to the pizza place, the restaurant morphed into a cacophonous echo chamber. The boys, excited from their win, were wound up like crazy. The proud parents were equally hyped. I was thankful no one else had been in the pizza shop before we got there. I'd have felt bad for any casual diners who had to deal with us. Since it was only us? I kind of enjoyed it.

I went to the counter to order. The little Italian man who owned the place came out of the kitchen and clapped his hands, then waved them across the room. "So many? A wonderful day. Mr. James, it looks like your boys won today. Am I correct?"

I laughed. "Yes, sir. It was a good day."

"Very good. What can I get for you?"

I turned and counted, as best I could, the number of kids and parents. "Umm, let's do five pepperoni and five cheese pizzas to start? And maybe six pitchers of soda?"

The owner raised a finger in the air. "Done. And since it's a celebration, I'll send out a tray of cannoli for dessert. On the house."

I really didn't know how the guy made a living. I think he'd given me something on the house every time one of the guys or I came in. I smiled and found a table in the center of the dining room. My bear was rumbling happily, excited that April would be here soon. When my phone buzzed, I glanced at the screen to see Miles calling me.

I stepped outside, away from the noise, to take the call. "Miles? What's up?"

"Hey, bro. How'd the game go?"

"We won. Though, I doubt that's the only reason you're calling."

"Yeah. I got a call this morning from April's manager. The Larry guy, the one who had us set up her home security system?"

"I remember." The way-over-the-top guy. I was glad Miles did most of the communication with him. I didn't know how he didn't drive April crazy.

"Well, he wanted me to know that April's phone has been blowing up. The same unlisted number over and over again. He's a little freaked out, since she got a brand-new number before moving back home. He doesn't know how it could have gotten out. He thinks it might be one of those stalkers."

My bear grumbled at the thought, but the odds of it being someone dangerous were low. "Could have hacked the phone records. Most cell companies have shit security. There are a lot of thirteen-year-old hackers who could get that information in an hour. It's like a rite of passage or something for those types."

"That's what I thought, but Larry wants us to be on high alert. I'm going to try to trace the calls that come in and see if I can find out who the douchebag is. In the meantime, you could use this as a chance to show April your protective side."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Miles, I know how to pick up a woman. I don't need dad hints."

"Hey, this isn't any woman. This is the love of your life, and your mate. Every little bit helps, right?"

I pursed my lips. He was right about that. "Okay, I'll see how things go. Let me know what you find out about that number."

Back inside, most of the kids had huddled around the two video-game cabinets at the back of the restaurant. Donkey Kong and Street Fighter . I was a little surprised they were interested in something so old school, but they looked like they were having the time of their lives.

"Hey, Coach."

The voice came from behind me. I turned to find one of the moms looking at me. She was my shortstop's mom. Single mother, if I remembered correctly. At least, I hoped she was single. If not, the look she was giving me was highly inappropriate.

"You looked good out there today," she said, putting her straw into her mouth suggestively.

It was all I could do not to laugh at her. Instead, I simply nodded. "Thanks. The team looks good."

I walked away before the flirting got any worse. There was only one woman I wanted to look at me that way. Anyone else was just in the way. The food was starting to come out and I assisted with setting the pizzas out on a few tables. April, Aiden, and her brothers walked in right as I set the paper plates out.

I stopped what I was doing and watched April guide Aiden to one of the few empty booths. Unable to stop myself, I let my gaze slide up and down across her body. A knot of pressure built in my chest, until Kellan cleared his throat behind me and I jerked and turned. The look on his face wasn't one of anger exactly, more of a what the hell, dude look. Which I could understand.

"Kellan, hey. Let me get someone to take care of serving the food, and I'll meet you over at that table. I really want to talk about that baseball camp."

He nodded and went to the table I'd nodded to. My assistant coach came over and I let him start plating up the slices. After wiping my hands on a paper towel, I joined Kellan at the table. I was nervous. So nervous that my hands were shaking. This was going to be the longest conversation I'd had with Kellan since I dumped April. Before today, the most words he'd said to me was a long expletive-filled rant at an end-of-the-year party two days before I left for college. He'd been… inventive with the curses he'd used. There were several that were so creative I'd been impressed even while my heart broke, knowing my friends were severing all connection with me.

"Okay," I said, "That camp? What do you think about it?"

Kellan sat back and crossed his arms. "I don't know. What are they going to teach Aiden that you can't?"

I nodded. "I know a lot, and I can teach him everything I know, but there are twelve other kids that need my attention. The camp will have a ton more one-on-one stuff than we can offer. Plus, he'll get a lot of experience playing with and against really high-level players. Most of the kids on his team are great kids, but they aren't at his level. He'll improve faster if he's practicing against kids who are closer to where he is skill-wise."

Kellan chewed at the inside of his cheek and glanced over at Aiden, who was sitting next to April, Kris, and Chelsea, stuffing pizza into his mouth. "How much is the camp? How many days?"

I sighed. "It's several hundred dollars. It is pretty expensive. I'm not going to lie about that. It's two towns over, in the next county. They hold it at a college athletics compound. It's two weeks long. Ten days, actually, not counting the weekends."

Kellan let out a breath and put his elbows on the table. "Steff, that's a lot of money for me. Plus the travel back and forth? I don't know when I'd have time."

Before I could stop myself, I blurted, "I'll take him."

Kellan frowned. "What?"

"Uh… I said I'll take him and bring him back. I'm one of the guest coaches for the whole camp. It's ten days, I don't mind swinging by before and after." I shook my head. "Aiden has so much potential and natural talent. He looks better than I did at that age. I want him to have all the chances he can get to become a better player. I mean, a full ride to college will be nice in about ten years, won't it?"

Kellan raised his eyebrows. "Ain't that the truth. Okay, okay, I'll think about it."

It was all I could ask of him. Hopefully, he agreed. No matter our history, I didn't want that to be the thing that made Aiden miss out on something awesome. Thinking the conversation was over, I stood to leave, then Kellan stretched out a hand and clasped my forearm. Not hard, or aggressively, but firm enough for me to stop moving and look at him again.

"So, what's going on with you and April?" he asked.

My eyes widened in surprise. "I just want to make things right," I said, being careful with my words. "There are some things I need to tell her, and I don't want to miss the opportunity while she's in town."

"I don't know if you understand how badly you hurt her back then. Kris and I had to sit in our rooms and listen to her sobbing. Hours, Steff. She cried for hours, nonstop. Kris and I sat in the hall outside her room, trying to get her to let us in. To let us take care of her. She wouldn't. I've never seen someone so broken.

"When that talent scout found her at the mall a few months after you left, she jumped at the chance. Anything to get out of Lilly Valley. It wasn't because she'd dreamed of being a model. No. It was because it was killing her, almost physically killing her, to stay in the town that reminded her of you."

My stomach sank and my eyes burned at the effort it took to keep tears from filling them. The bear inside me whined and grumbled, aching at the thought of how much April had suffered. And it had all been because of me.

"When I say this, Steff, know that I'm being serious. If you hurt her again, I will not be responsible for my actions." His fingers tightened on my arm, "I promise you that. If I have to hear my sister cry like that again? God help you, Steff."

I didn't pull my arm away. Instead, I simply nodded, keeping my eyes on his. He was right. I'd nearly broken her. Almost destroyed her entire life, because I thought I knew better. Without another word, Kellan released me and went to his table. April and Chelsea had made their way to the counter and were talking as they decided which cannoli to have for dessert.

I approached them and touched April on the shoulder. When she turned, the smile on her face vanished. She didn't look upset to see me, just surprised. It was a start.

"Steff? Yeah?"

"Uh, I need to talk to you about that number that keeps calling you."

Her eyes flashed back to her brother's table and she put a hand on my mouth. The feel of her cool soft fingers against my lips almost made my knees weak. A bear growl of lust almost erupted from my throat, and I only barely managed to subdue it before it became audible.

"Shh. Come over here," she said, pulling me into the hallway that led to the bathrooms. "I don't want Kellan and Kris hearing. I haven't told them, and they get pretty overprotective."

No shit .

"Your manager, Larry, let us know about it. We're trying to do some digging to see if we can figure out who it is by tracing the number."

April nodded and looked back over my shoulder at the dining room. She looked stressed out. I wasn't sure if it was the calls or something else. I took her hand in mine. Her eyes shot down to look at our intertwined fingers, surprised.

"My team is handling it." I slid my thumb gently across the back of her hand. " I won't let anything happen to you."

I made sure to put emphasis on the word I . Not we, or they, or us. Me. She was mine to protect. I wanted to make sure she knew exactly what I was saying. What I meant and what I intended. Without looking at me, she slipped her hand from mine and took a step back.

"What are you doing, Steff?" she asked, her eyes still downcast.

I didn't really know how to answer that. My bear was begging me to tell her the truth. The full truth. I winced as I fought inwardly with the creature that was half of me. When I didn't answer, April finally looked up and locked eyes with me.

"I appreciate you wanting to help, but I can't be here right now. I'll talk to you later. Okay?"

Without waiting for me to answer, she walked past me, going back to join her family. The bear whined, and I explained that we had a lot of shit to fix before we were anywhere near close to letting her know everything. We had to at least get her to sort of trust us again before we sprang something this crazy on her.