Chapter 6

Can this day get any fucking worse?

I swear there's nothing like Mother Nature to fuck up your plans. Jesus, this is Texas, why is an ice storm even happening?

Right now the team should be on a bus heading for Arlington for the Showdown Tournament. Instead, we're busy preparing for a damn ice storm.

Thank God the university and our landlord value athletics because they've been dropping off supplies to the Baseball House all afternoon since we were supposed to be gone all weekend. A few grocery bags of food, two cases of water, a large space heater, and a cell phone bank were delivered. Hudson went out and found a generator and filled up a large can of gasoline. He said if he was getting iced in, there was no way he was going to not be playing video games. Nerd.

Is the team spoiled? Maybe. But here's the thing, I don't care. I'll take advantage of all the handouts because why not?

"Jacobs, wanna go grab a pizza before we're stuck in this fucking house for the weekend?" Hudson asks from where we're chilling in our living room. We've been playing Xbox for the last hour.

Tossing my controller on the coffee table, I stretch my arms over my head. "Yeah, man. Wanna order Cousin Jimmy's?"

Cousin Jimmy's is a CTU staple. This place is the only takeout on campus that stays open until four in the morning. They have the greasiest pizza that is the shit for late-night munchies or hangovers. And they're cheap as hell. You can get an extra-large pizza, ten breadsticks, and two large drinks for ten dollars. Who the hell can pass that up?

"You order, I've got to take a shit," Hudson says as he gets up from his spot on the sectional.

"Less information, Hud."

Glancing around, I can't find my phone. Standing, I start searching the floor and the cushions. This couch swallows everything. Tossing the cushions on the floor, I finally find my phone tucked in the back corner.

I close out of the million alerts from the weather app letting me know that there's an ice storm approaching. No shit, I get it. I don't need a reminder every fifteen minutes.

Pulling up the Cousin Jimmy's app, I type out our pizza order. Three Cousin Jimmy's specials for the whole house. The four of us will crush this order in no time.

"Twenty minutes," I shout, hoping Hudson can hear me. I should send him a message, no doubt he's on his phone using it as his newspaper like everyone else.

When Hudson and I make it back to the house, Niko and Ty are both home sprawled on the couch waiting for us. Carrying the food straight into the living room, I set the boxes down on the coffee table. Tossing the guys a few napkins, we sit around and eat our food like heathens. All of us are depressed over the shitty circumstances we found ourselves in today.

All week we've been hyping ourselves up because baseball was officially supposed to be back, and now we are left with shitty weather and a major adrenaline crash. I watch as Hudson and Ty duel it out in Call of Duty in between slices of pizza they are inhaling. Maybe I should have ordered another special? I didn't realize the guys would scarf down the food like savages.

My phone vibrates in my pocket pulling me from another zombie being slayed.

Brynn: Sorry to hear about the tournament.

Me: It's all good. Fucking sucks, but I'll live.

Brynn: You will! Look at it this way, now you have a chance to think about your perfect girl and let your bestie know all the traits you're looking for so I can find you the perfect woman.

Me: Baseball is the only thing I need. What's with you trying to constantly set me up?

Brynn: I want someone to double date with!

Me: Bored with Q already?

Brynn: Never. Look I know this is going to be your year, but don't forget to have some fun. There's more to life than baseball. Why not try and find a girl to actually date?

Me: Not gonna happen, B. Stay warm this weekend.

Brynn: Don't worry, Q will keep me warm.

Me: Gross. Chloe go home?

Brynn: No, she's at the townhouse, but I haven't been able to get a hold of her.

Locking my phone screen, I tap it against my thigh as I let Brynn's words replay in my head. Knowing Chloe, she's got her nose in a book and is completely ignoring the world around her.

But what if she's not okay?

What if she let her battery drain and now she's stuck at home, alone, in the middle of an ice storm? If it were my sister stuck alone in an ice storm, I would want someone checking in on her. As much as I want to stay inside and avoid the shitty weather, I can't sit here and worry about her all night. Which I know I will, even though my mind shouldn't be on Chloe Mariano.