Page 18 of Worth the Risk

“Athletic training,” I look him up and down, “that fits.”

“What does that mean?” He laughs, letting me go ahead of him on the stairs.

I laugh along with him answering when he’s back at my side after we get to the first floor. “Well, you’re a baseball player so I don’t know it just makes sense to me that your major would be somewhat related. So, do you want to work with baseball players when you graduate?”

“Um,” he clears his throat, “kind of. I’m actually planning on playing in the major leagues. Well, hopefully, anyway.” My jaw drops, I didn’t expect that. I mean he’s fit as hell and I didn’t doubt he was good but that’s next level.

“Wow. That’s… wow.” We’ve made it back outside now, the sun still warm in the sky.

“Yeah, we’ll see what happens.” He runs his hands through his hair. “So, when do you want to start this project?”

“I usually work at Nico’s Wednesdays, sometimes Fridays but Mondays and Tuesdays are good for me after classes

“How about we do Tuesdays. Baseball practices have been starting up and right now one of our practice days is Monday.”

“Perfect. Just text me and we can figure it out, yeah?”

“Will do.” An alarm blares, Liam looks down at his phone.

“Fuck. Sorry I gotta run to practice. I’ll text you.” He flashes his beautiful smile and a small wave before turning away and jogging around the building to where the fields are.

∞∞∞

Liam

Emilia and I ending up in the same class is not something I saw coming but man oh man I’m glad it happened. I’ve been thinking a lot about what Ryan said, deciding if the risk is worth telling her I may have a huge crush on her. I was honestly fifty-fifty on it, then when I saw her earlier I was more one hundred percent on telling her, especially with that outfit she had on? I mean that girl is gorgeous in anything but the outfit really did something for me.

However, after realizing we’re going to spend more than half the semester working on a project together I decided it wasn’t worth the risk, yet anyways. Having to work on a project if she rejected me would be incredibly awkward for the both of us. It’s better this way, we can focus on school, our friendship and I can focus on baseball.

Baseball is what I need to focus on. When she asked if I was going to be a trainer for players my brain started to spiral. A spiral I quickly got myself out of just like I have been for the past year. Whenever someone mentions my future career or I start to think too much about it my mind goes down a rabbit hole, panic entering my body. Every time I stomp it out, I refocus myself and remember my goal. I chose this major to help myself and maybe my future teammates, to give me a leg up when it comes to playing baseball professionally.

I need a good training session today and as captain, Coach has let me dictate this week's practice. When we get to the field I lead the team in a group stretch before we start conditioning. Today we start with base running drills. Part of the sport is needing to be fast, so we need to work on our sprints and in my opinion the best way to practice is between the bases since that’s how far you’ll need to go.

We run this drill for a while, everyone taking turns sprinting to first, walking to second and then sprinting to home plate. After everyone’s had three sprints around we change it up and work on our throwing and team communication. Throwing the ball to second, who throws to right field and back to me. I get lost in the repetition of it all, trying to focus my mind on the ball and the feel of it hitting my glove, but after twenty minutes of running different throwing drills I need a change.

“Alright team. Let’s head into the cages and then we’ll be done for the day.” Luckily for us our school has a small set of batting cages for us to use. There’s ten different cages so today everyone’s getting twenty minutes of hitting in.

Two groups of guys go in the cages before it’s my turn. Trying to be a good captain and all I let the other players go first so they can go home when they’re done. I’m getting antsy on the bench, ready to shake off this panic that hangs over me.

Finally, the pitching machines turn off after the designated twenty minutes, leaving the last group of us to hit. Focusing in, I start up the machine, taking my spot on the other end. The crack of the bat against the ball used to soothe me. It felt right, but today it feels off, again.

Chapter 12

Liam

I’ve been running around the house all afternoon cleaning up. Since we’ve been back on campus we’ve been a little lazy with making sure everything is in order. In my defense most of the piles of clothes and papers I’ve found around are Ryan’s. His season starts in a month which means his practices have been consistent and as captain he’s taken even more on his shoulders, helping train some of the freshmen. I don’t necessarily blame him for the mess but I don’t need Emi to see the place like this.

I’m just finishing up some of the dishes that were in the sink when there’s a knock at the door. Quickly, I wipe my hands on the kitchen towel and jog over to the front door. When I pull open the door, I’m greeted with my favorite eyes that look even brighter today thanks to the blue shirt she’s wearing.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” She smiles at me before turning to my driveway to wave at Rosie, who dropped her off in a small silver car. I open the door further, stepping out of the way for her to come inside.

“I figured we could work at the coffee table, if that’s okay with you?” I close the door and follow behind her into our open concept ground floor.

“That works.” Emi places her backpack on the ground before claiming a space on the couch. “Want to do an outline today to see where we want to go with the topic?” She digs out her laptop and the course book.

“Yeah, let’s start there.”

---