Chapter 22

Jake

Things feel so much clearer since my trip home. Leave it to a little heart to heart with my dad to put things in perspective. I could have gone without the barrage of questions that came from my mom once he and I headed back into the house—thanks, Nat for spilling the beans—but honestly, I loved telling her all about Jenica and couldn't wait for my family to meet her.

Before that happens though, I need to see her. It's only been a few weeks and I miss her. I can't wait to go all night and wake up with her next to me. After today, there's just two more until I see her again and the wait is killing me because not only is it the thrill of being together, but we are also telling Cruz and Ellery about us.

There was never any real need to keep us a secret. I only suggested it because I know how insistent she was that we do so before and because I wanted to relish in the afterglow a bit of finally being with her. But things are different now. We are different. We're used to the idea of us, and it's time for our friends to be, too.

I've mapped the weekend to make sure I get to spend as much time with her as possible in between games. The guys and I fly down Friday morning, and I'll see her at our first game later that day. Then we'll have all night, followed by Saturday afternoon and night thanks to an early game that day, and Sunday morning, before we have a midday game, and then head back to Highland.

Three days doesn't feel long enough—especially since there is time in there that I will have to share Jenica with Ellery—but it's more than my last visit and this time we won't be hiding behind closed doors. The four of us can spend time together like normal, only I won't have to hide the way I feel. It's the best of both worlds, for now. In a few months, things will be different.

After a full day of classes and practice, I make my way home, while Cruz heads over to campus to wait for Ellery. She has a late class on Wednesday's so the two usually grab dinner after. They call it date night, and I can't wait to do that with Jenica, as well as all the normal things couples do.

When I get home, I call the hotel that I booked in Charleston to reconfirm my reservations. It's separate from the team's hotel, but Coach approved the change when I told him I had family in town and wanted to stay with them.

When I'm done making sure everything is set, I grab the bag of stuff I bought at the adult store on the other side of town out of the closet and take a look.

Jenica is fit as fuck, but my dick is big and her asshole is tight. We won't be able to jump into anal right away. She needs to be eased into it, so I thought a few toys and lube would help. She seems to be open to the idea. It's come up a time or two during phone sex, so I figured, why not give it a try. If she likes it, then game on. If she doesn't, then we do it the old fashioned way—with foreplay, my mouth, and lube.

Stashing the bag back in my closet, I reach for the phone and call her. I know she's in class right now, but I know she likes having a message to come home to.

"Hey," I say with surprise when she answers after the third ring. "What are you doing home? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Didn't feel like going today," she sighs. "Too tired."

A lance of unease slices across my chest at the sound of her voice. There is something there, and it's not fatigue. "Everything okay?"

"It's nothing," she exhales, breath filling the line. "How was your day?"

I sit down in my desk chair and lean back. I hate it when she has hard days. "It was good. I got you something," I say, trying to lift her spirits.

"Oh yeah?" Her response is light, which is good.

"Mm-hmm," I smile to myself.

"What is it?"

"It's smaller than a bread box and bigger than a penny," I reply teasingly.

"Hmmm," she clicks her tongue. "Does it have batteries?"

"No," I laugh. "Try again."

"Do I put it on?"

"No," I close my eyes, the idea of her in lingerie making my dick twitch. "But thank you for that mental image."

She laughs and yawns. "I give up."

"Well, it's for you, but you don't put it on. You put it in." She sucks in a surprised breath and I can't help but laugh. "Awake now?"

"Yeah," she laughs gently. "You can say that."

I open my eyes and turn to look at the calendar on the wall above my desk. "Two more days, Sparky."

"I know." She takes a shallow breath, then exhales. "I'm counting."

The line falls quiet and when I hear her breathing, I can't help but feel like there's something bothering her. "Hey, are you sure you're okay?"

"Mm-hmm," she murmurs. "It's just been a long week."

I thrum my fingers on the desk and nod. Jenica's days sound unbearable. Two jobs and school, and on top of it, caring for her Nana. I don't know how she does it. I wish I could make all her problems go away.

We talk for a few more minutes, then I suggest she get some rest. Jenica never misses classes so the fact she did today tells me she needs to rest.

"Sweet dreams," I say gently as we're about to hang up. "After tonight, one more day."

"I like the sound of that," she sighs. "Night, Hot Shot."

"Sleep well, Sparky."

After hanging up the phone, I look up at the egress window over my bed. I'm deep in thought when I hear a knock on my door. I swivel around in my chair and find Marcus standing in the doorway.

"Hey man," I lift my chin in acknowledgement. "What's up?"

He strolls into the room and looks around. "Just came in to check on you."

"Oh yeah?" I sit up. "Why is that?"

He shrugs. "Saw you sitting here, contemplating the meaning of life. Thought I'd see if you'd found the answer."

Marcus is an intuitive guy. He speaks when he has something to say and seems to know when there is something you need to hear. With the exception of our snow day a few weeks back, I haven't spent much time with him lately. Any time I do see him it's on the field or in the clubhouse.

"No answers," I grin. "Just more questions. How are things with Allison?"

"They're okay." He sits down on the edge of the bed and places both hands behind him, leaning back. "A couple bumps here and there."

"Bumps?" I can't help but note the way he says it. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just the whole, ‘where do we go from here,' thing."

"Ah," I nod, knowing that debate well.

I know Marcus had a couple of calls from scouts a few weeks back, but I didn't think conversations with any had progressed. Then again, neither Cruz nor I had told him about the Rockies and imagine if Coach asked us not to say anything to the team, he'd say the same to anyone else entertaining offers.

"Are you not ready for something more serious? Or don't want to talk serious until you know where you're headed?"

"I don't know man," he says honestly. "I thought she and I were serious."

"Did something happen?"

"Not something, but someone." My eyes widen and he lifts a hand to stop whatever I'm thinking. "She knows. She encouraged it."

"She did?" Now that's a surprise. I can't imagine Jenica ever encouraging me to hook up with someone else. In fact, I do believe she said she would tear any girl apart that looked at me, and frankly, that was hot, I'm not gonna lie.

"It's pretty ordinary out there," he says casually. "West Coast is super open-minded. Seattle in particular is pro anything that goes against social norms," he air quotes.

"So, if it's normal," I can't help but ask, "why did it cause issues?"

"Well, she didn't think I would like what she suggested and I did." He smiles slightly and shrugs. "Sometimes we don't know what we like until we try it."

"So what does that mean? You racked up a lot of frequent flier miles last semester to just throw in the towel."

"Oh, I'm not throwing in the towel," he straightens. "We're just giving each other some space. To be honest, I'm more interested in the rumor going around the team."

"Rumor?" I shake my head with the change in subject. "Which one is that?" The guys were always talking shit and sometimes it was hard to keep up.

"Well, word has it a couple of guys got offers. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

The way he's looking at me makes me think he knows, and I hate that we haven't told him. The fact Cruz and I have been keeping another secret from Marcus makes me feel like a Grade A dick. What happened last summer was one thing, but getting an offer was another. Marcus is one of our best friends. He should know. Especially since it was a dream we all shared.

I look down, not sure what to say. I want to tell him, I do. It's just…things weren't firm yet. There were a lot of moving pieces and Cruz and I agreed we wouldn't say a word until we were sure.

Thankfully, I don't have to say anything. The sound of someone knocking on my door a second time tonight shifts both of our attention to the door.

I turn and when I see Cruz standing there, look at him in surprise. "What are you doing here? Isn't it date night?"

"Not tonight." He comes into the room and plops down on the bed next to Marcus. "Ellie is working on a paper that's due Friday. Needs to finish it before she heads down to Charleston to see the series. Since her night is busy, I thought we could have a guys' night. A little pizza, beer, and pool. What do you say?"

"Hell yeah," I grin, and lift my chin in Marcus' direction. "You in?"

"Fuck yeah." He claps. "Let's do it."

"Awesome." I stick my fist out and he taps his to it. "Cabron, go grab Ellie's credit card and order the pizza. She still owes me. I said not to worry, but I changed my mind."

"What does she owe you for?" Marcus laughs.

"Going down to Georgia in the middle of the night to check on Jenica," Cruz answers before I can.

"Oh right," Marcus turns back to me. "I've been meaning to ask you about that."

"Yeah, me too, brother," Cruz grins.

"About what?" I push up from the chair, and stretch.

"Well," Marcus looks at Cruz who nods for him to continue. "We want to know when exactly, you and Jenica figured out your shit."

I stop mid-stretch and flick my eyes from him to Cruz. The way he says it, coupled with the way they're both looking at me, tells me not only do they know, but they came down here to get it out of me.

We were planning to tell Ells and Cruz this weekend. So what if I do it now, a few days before? "All right," I confess. "We're together. Satisfied."

Marcus pushes up from the bed and comes over, clapping me on the back. "About fucking time you admitted it."

Cruz gets up and looks at me grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "Amen to that."

"Wait," I look from Marcus to him. "You both know?"

"Hell yeah," he laughs.

"How?" I shake my head in disbelief.

"How do you think?"

"Ells," I say matter of fact. No doubt about it. "Did Jenica tell her?"

"Man, Ellie knew when you went down there."

"How?"

"You were different," he says matter of fact. "You had this big ass smile on your face and the tension you'd been carrying since Jenica's visit was gone. Ellie knew her plan worked and has been busting at the seams to say something."

All be damned. "So she planned it."

"I wouldn't call it planned," he shrugs. "More like, gave you two a little push."

"And you?" I look at Marcus.

"I overheard you two a few nights ago. Thought maybe you were calling some phone-a-sex line. When I asked Cruz when you shifted from sorority row to 1-800-HOT-BABE, he told me."

I don't give two shits that Marcus heard me. They'd all heard me at one point or another when we lived in the apartment. But there was something about them hearing words that were meant only for Jenica, that makes me feel a bit awkward.

"I think it's cool as hell," he smiles. "Just like the two of you being drafted to the same team."

This time it's Cruz and I who look at one another because we're the ones keeping a secret. "What was that?" I ask like I didn't just hear him.

Marcus rolls his eyes. "Guys, it's fine. It's the way it should be. I'm happy for you. I just don't know why you didn't think you could tell me."

"Honestly," I admit, "we didn't say anything because we weren't sure."

"And now?" he asks.

I look at Cruz and he grins. "And now, we are," he replies simply.

"Yeah?" I grin.

"Hell yeah." He sticks his fist out and I bump mine to it. "Let's do it."

"Well fucking A," Marcus looks up. "Looks like we have something to celebrate."

"Hell yeah we do!" Cruz claps. "I'll go upstairs and order the pizza. Jake, you grab the beer."

Cruz runs up the stairs to order the pizza, and I do the same to grab a six pack from the kitchen. When done, I jog back down the stairs, and when Cruz returns, we meet in the game room.

"So what do you think?" Marcus asks, reaching for the pool sticks hanging from the rack on the wall. "A game of cutthroat?"

He grabs one and tosses it to me. I grab it and he does the same with Cruz, who grabs it and twirls it in front of him like he's Luke Skywalker.

"Sounds good," he sticks out his stick like it's a lightsaber. "You won last time Marcus, so you break."

Marcus removes the rack from the balls in the center of the table, as I reach for the cube of chalk on the table and rub it over the tip of my stick. Cruz does the same and when done, passes it to Marcus.

When he's done, he heads over to the table and prepares to break. With a smooth, practiced motion, he pulls the pool stick back, then thrusts it forward. The cue ball connects with a sharp crack against the racked set, sending them scattering across the table in a burst of color.

As we wait for the pizza to arrive, Cruz and I fill Marcus in on the Rockies and he updates us on his own scouting calls.

"So, now that we have covered the baseball side of things," Cruz prepares to take a shot. "What are you going to do about Jenica?"

After lining up, he pulls his stick back once, twice, and on the third time thrusts it forward. The cue ball hits his target, sending it sailing into a corner pocket.

"What do you mean?" I ask, watching as he lines up his next shot.

"Well," he shoots and misses, then lifts his chin at Marcus for him to go. "I know how I feel when I don't get to see my girl. And clearly Marcus is willing to go the distance for his. So I want to know, what are you going to do for yours, now that you know we're headed to Colorado?"

I've been asking myself that very question since that day in Coach's office when he presented us with the offer. "I have an idea," I admit.

"Yeah?" He looks at me, a little surprised.

"Mm-hmm," I nod.

The past few days I'd been thinking through ways to get Jenica up to Highland permanently. With a contract pending, I'd have the money to pay for her school but I knew she would never accept the offer. She was determined to do it on her own and I wanted to honor that. But I could help make reaching her dreams easier, couldn't I?

"Well, think fast brother," Cruz watches as Marcus takes his shot. "The future is just around the corner, and you don't want to miss out on the best thing to ever happen to you. And I'm not talking about the Rockies."

As the night wears on and our laughter increases, I can't help but feel a twinge of nostalgia. When it was the four of us, nights like this were common. Now, they're fleeting. By this time next year, we will be living different lives, and the time we have to spend with friends and families will be sacred.

The first year playing pro ball would be an adjustment. The pace of a regular season was non-stop April to December, and having someone to share it with would help keep some semblance of balance. For Marcus, that someone may be TBD at the moment, but for Cruz it was Ellery.

From the moment they got back together, their plan was set. Ellery's decision to move wherever Cruz was recruited made sense to them as a couple, as well as her own goals of finishing school. When he moved, she would transfer and enroll in whatever college was close by and continue her classes. But moving to a new school was easy to do when money was no object. For Jenica, there was more at stake.

I respected Jenica and would always support her, but I also knew there were limitations on the help she was willing to receive. This meant any plan I might have needed to consider factors that Cruz and Ellery did not. But if Jenica did it on her own, if her talent could play a part in us being together…

"Jenica played ball," I say after we've hung up our pool sticks and laying around on the sectional in front of the big screen TV.

Marcus sits up slightly. "Ball as in…"

"Softball," I clarify. "She was a pitcher."

The way Cruz's eyes widen tells me this is one secret Ellery did not share with him. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, Cabron, I'm not. And she was good. Like D1 level good. She was being scouted as a freshman and could have gone anywhere she wanted."

"So why didn't she?"

"Hurt her knee. Freak accident on the mound."

"Fuck," he shakes his head.

"Can you imagine being told you would never play ball again?" I shake my head, the idea unfathomable.

"No," Marcus admits. "It would be like losing a part of myself."

"Well, for Jenica it was a double blow. She lost the sport she loved and her dream of going to college. Without an athletic scholarship, going to a four year school was out."

"Shit," Cruz sits back. "What about the folks at school? Didn't anyone help her apply for scholarships?"

"Apparently, they were useless." I curl and uncurl my fist, the fact those she trusted had abandoned her, making me as angry now, as it did when she told me.

"So that's why she's going to community college," he says with confirmation.

"Yup," I nod. "But she shouldn't have to do that. She should be in college, playing ball. Her accuracy is crazy good for being off the mound for two years. And the power in her snap…" I shake my head. "It's unreal."

"You caught her?" Cruz's brows push to his hairline.

"I did," I smile, remembering the way she stood there with the same focus in her eyes that he has on the mound. "I'm telling you, she's really, really good. Accuracy and heat. Just like you."

"Well shit," he shakes his head. "Then she needs to get back out there."

I nod in total agreement. "I know."

"So what are you going to do?" Marcus asks.

When Cruz asked me that question earlier, I didn't have an answer. Now, I do. My dad said I would know what to do about Jenica and me when the moment came and that moment is here. I know what my grand gesture is going to be.

Pushing up from the couch, I stride out of the game room, and head to my bedroom. Marcus and Cruz follow and when I dial Coach and he picks up, yelling it better be good, I tell him Cruz and I are going to accept the deal from the Rockies, and his grovel turns to enthusiasm.

"Well," Cruz dips his shoulder toward the stairs. "That's my cue to tell Ellery we're headed to Colorado next year, then call our parents. Gentlemen…" He holds out his fist and Marcus bumps his to it, and I do the same. "Tonight has been a pleasure."

He heads up the stairs and Marcus stretches and lets out a yawn. "Me too. Brother," he claps my back, "it was a good night. Let's do it again soon."

I grip his shoulder and watch as he turns and heads down the hall to his room. After closing my bedroom door, I grab the phone and call Coach back.

I didn't want to tell the guys what I was thinking when I first called Coach because I haven't told Jenica yet, and there's something about telling them, before I do her, that seems wrong. But when he picks up again and I tell him all about Jenica and softball and he says he will do everything that he can to help me out.

As the idea of her and I being together permanently next year becomes more of a possibility with each second that passes, my excitement grows. I don't want to wait until Friday to tell her. I want to fly down there right now and do so.

After calling the airlines and waiting on hold forever, I change my flight from Friday to tomorrow afternoon and headed to Savannah, not Charleston. It was the best they could do, but deciding it's better than nothing, I book the flight and confirm I will pick up my new ticket at the airport tomorrow.

When I am done with that, I call the hotel, and bump up the check in date, which is not a problem, then pack my bags. Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

***

By the time I land in Georgia the next day it's late afternoon. After getting the keys to my rent-a-car—a Pontiac Sunfire, not nearly as cool as a Camaro—and a coffee to go, I'm off.

I barely slept last night, but thanks to a little caffeine and finding the same classic rock station I listened to when I came down here before, I make my way to Davenport, using Ellery's directions, which are still in my memory.

Just after passing Cherry Cove, a detour on I-95 routes me away from the highway onto a smaller country road, adding an hour to my time. Thumping the wheel anxiously, I crank up the music, take a deep breath, and follow the orange signs.

When the signs disappear and the road grows windier, I look for a place to pull over to consult the map that came with the rental, when a driveway flanked by gas lanterns comes into view. Deciding directions from a local is better than mapping the rest of the way on my own, I pull into the drive and head toward the bright lights in the distance.