Page 132 of The Plan

“Right!”

I chuckle at him, and he smiles so damn big.

“I have news, too. Guess what?” I mimic him, and he turns to me before looking to the side, thinking.

“Did you buy a turtle?” He sounds so damn excited, and I roll my eyes at him.

“You and Lis and these fucking turtles.” I shake my head at him, and he fills the entire dugout with his laugh.

“I have no other guess that could be better.”

I look over at him and give him a small smile. “I got my girl back.” I try to play it cool, but when he literally shoots up from his seat, I burst into a laugh.

“You got your girl!”

I somehow laugh harder, but it’s cut short by the sound of someone clearing their throat. When I turn, my eyes land on our coach.

“Circle around for the line-up.”

I get up with the rest of the team and circle around Coach Fred. I know I’m not playing, but I still want to hear the lineup.

“We’re switching it up a bit today.” I avoid his gaze. We’re switching it up because I’m not playing… since I’m suspended. “First up, Noah. Following, Diego, August, Justin—”

“Wait, why isn’t Sire batting fourth?” I always bat fourth, but the team doesn’t know I’m suspended. They’re about to be really pissed, but whether I’m captain or not, I should tell them.

“Because I’m—”

“Because I said we’re switching it up.” Coach interrupts. He goes on to list the rest of the lineup, and no one else speaks up when he still hasn’t said my name, but I don’t miss their questioning glances.

“Closing, we have Henry, Nick, and Sire.” I look up from the floor at Coach Fred. I’m playing? He looks over at me and then holds his clipboard against his chest. “Anything you want to say to your team before we go out there, Captain.”I’m still captain?!

“I thought—”

“You can thank the love of your life,” he says, mocking my voice from when I said that to him over the phone. Vid talked to him? I feel a smirk growing on my face at the thought of her talking to my coach for me. God, I love that girl.

“Let’s kick some Blue Jay ass.” The team cheers, and then we all put our hands in the middle, saying Dodgers on three. The team goes to warm up, but I grab my water bottle and turn to Fred.

“I need to fill my bottle.” I hold up the bottle to him as I back up out of the dugout. He can’t see it’s a full bottle since it isn’t clear, so he just nods, and I quickly make my way into the stadium.

When I walk in, Vid and that Asher kid are having a heated stare-off like they were just arguing. “Am I interrupting something?” Asher breaks eye contact with her first and looks over at me. He just rolls his eyes and walks out, mumbling something under his breath.

“Say it with your chest!”

I lightly snicker at Vid. She’s so petty. I make my way over to her, and she starts reorganizing things that don’t need to beorganized. I wonder if she knows she does this every time she’s mad.

“What was that all about?”

“Nothing.” Her tone is dismissing and sharp, but instead of being bothered by it, I turn her so she’s facing me instead of the cart she’s angrily reorganizing.

“What did we talk about?” She’s still learning how to be better at opening up, so I’ll just have to help her. Her eyes meet mine, and she takes a deep breath.

“He’s been such anassholetoward me ever since I came back to work.”

“He’s the same coworker you got into an argument with at your meeting yesterday?”

“Yes!” She lets out another frustrated sigh. “I’m pretty sure he’s jealous that we’re together because he had a thing for me, but I don’t give a shit, and that doesn’t give him the right to call me names.”

I falter, and I feel my brows furrow. “What’d he say to you?”

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