Page 5 of Love Rewritten

Thankfully, the ride to practice is quick, and Abby takes her usual spot next to the dugout. The team has been very hush-hush about the whole situation since the day the cops got called during practice. I don’t know if someone said something to them to keep quiet, but they’ve been oddly reserved since then.

But today seems to be the day everyone is suddenly curious. As Abby watches intently from the bleachers, the team takes notice.

“We can’t keep parading around like nothing happened anymore, man. You’ve got to explain. We haven’t seen her here in over two weeks.” Dante, our starting pitcher, and I lean against the chain link in the outfield, patiently waiting our turn to run the practice plays of the day.

“I mean, you can. It’s not going to kill you,” I retort. He cocks his head at me with an unamused look. “And since when do you care about my love life?” Dante doesn’t say anything as I look toward Abby. Her head shifts from player to player. “It’s not really my place to talk.”

Dante folds his arms. “Oh, come on. Everyone wants to know. But Coach threatened to castrate us if we asked. I’m taking one for the team here.”

I sigh, watching a ball land in on of our outfielders, Connor’s, gloved hand. “All I’ll say is she was in a bad situation and hopefully no longer is.”

He cocks his head to the side. “Dude, that’s so vague”

“I told you; it’s not my place to say.”

“Then maybe I’ll go ask her myself.” He pushes off the fence as if he’s about to go over to her.

I laugh, knowing this will not end well no matter what. Dante’s always been a little too cocky for his own good, and it gets him in trouble sometimes. Usually when he’s trying to pick up girls.

“I’d like to see you try,” I say.

Dante gives me a look that says “watch me” before confidently waltzing across the field to where Abby sits. I did egg him on a little so I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised. I follow close behind him and when she sees us approaching, she looks confused. All I can do at this point is warn her. I scrunch my face together and mouth “sorry” as he comes to a stop at the fence before her. The chain link clinks together with his grip on the metal.

She raises a brow at me before turning her attention to Dante.

“So,” he starts, “I have a question.”

“Okay?” She crosses her arms over her chest to prepare for whatever he’s about to ask.

“I, well, we, the entire team actually, would like to know what happened. My boy Dallas here won’t say a word. Said I had to ask you if I wanted to get any information.”

She looks between the two of us, and then at the field of players behind me, who seem to have stopped practice to watch the possible theatrics. She looks at me one last time with a slight smirk. I don’t know what she’s about to say, but I’m hoping it’ll put Dante in his place. She stands from her seat, taking a step down over the bottom bench to stand directly in front of Dante. She mimics his position and grabs the fence.

“Your boy,here,” she says, nodding to me, “would be correct. It’s not his place, nor is it yours. Where you would be wrong, is thinking you have any right to ask when you barely know me.” She holds her index finger up. “We’ve had one conversation in the time we’ve known each other.” She holds up two fingers. “Two if you count the day you so rudely asked me to cash in your meal at the cafeteria. And you know what the best part of this is?” She doesn’t wait for Dante to answer, but he does take a step back from the fence when she points to his groin. “You haven’t the slightest clue that your coach is about to castrate you in three … two … one …”

Her comment catches me off guard, as well as Dante, but she has a smug look on her face as Coach Charlie marches up next to him.

“And what exactly do you think you’re doing?” Coach asks, hands on his hips.

“I, uh,” Dante stutters, backing away even farther. “We were just talking.”

“Talking. Right. You don’t seem to care about those balls of yours, do you?” He pauses, looking around at the rest of the team before focusing back on Dante. “Ten laps. And when you finish those ten laps, do it again,” he says sternly. “Anyone else care to join Dante?” When no one answers and everyone starts moving back to their positions, he looks back at me. “Dallas? Get back to center field. You’re up.”

I glimpse at Abby to make sure she’s okay. She shrugs, a sly smile on her face. I chuckle as I run to the outfield, a sense of pride rising with each step.

When practice finishes, I meet Abby in the parking lot. She’s leaning against the seat of her bike reading a book.

“Took you long enough. I was starting to worry Coach had castrated everyone.”

I laugh, shaking my head as I hike my bag over my shoulders. “How on earth did you hear about that?” I move to stand in front of her, her legs outstretched between mine. “I hadn’t heard a word about that until today. There’s no way you heard us talking way out in center field.”

She closes her book, rests it in her lap, and smiles delightfully. “Logan told me a couple of days after your coach said something to everyone.”

The thought of Coach threatening everyone in the locker room, picturing his face contorting into his usual twisted expressions when he’s being serious, makes me laugh. Although, he had to have known someone was going to break the silence. I would have put my money on Connor. He tends to be a loudmouth.

“Well, I have to say,” I start, placing my hands on her hips. She looks at me, waiting intently for my next words. “I like seeing that side of you.”

She raises an amused brow. “What? The bitchy, catty side?”

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