Page 148 of The Plan

Our opponents are batting first, so the team heads for the field. I throw my warm-up pitches, and with all the smiling I’ve been doing, my cheeks hurt. Vid did her follow-up or whatever, and as we both expected, I’m cleared. It feelssogood to be pitching at normal speed again, not needing to hold back anymore.

When the first batter comes to base, I get ready to throw the first pitch. The crowd is loud, but I block them out and stay focused on where I need to throw the ball. I release the ball, and in a flash, the batter swings, but it's already in my catcher's glove. I throw two more strikes, and just like that, we have our first out.

The next batter comes and goes like the last. When the third one is up, our catcher, Diego, holds up two fingers between his legs, signaling a curveball. I give him a nod and then get in position.

The batter swings and surprisingly hits. It’s a line drive, and reflex takes over as I move my glove to the left and catch it before it passes me. The crowd roars, and some people shoot up from their seats.

Feeling generous, I throw the ball into the crowd, and everyone in that section dives for it. When I walk into the dugout, my teammates start tapping my back, and when August slaps my ass, I barely give him a reaction.

“Okay, what the actual fuck? Why are you so damn happy?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Coach says before I get to. “Just keep playing like that, son.” I nod at him with a smile. I doubt anything can ruin this day, and I can’twaitto go home with Vid later.

The entire game, she’s all I can think about. I keep going over how she told me she loved me in the parking lot, and I want to hear her say it again. I get close to calling her twice during the game, but I want to see her when she says it.

I feel like I’m on a high as I play. No. This feels better than a high.Lovingher and being lovedbyher is better than any goddamn high.

I get an idea while I’m pitching during the third inning about what we’re going to do after the game, and as soon as I get back in the dugout, I text Jackson so he can help with the surprise. Hemakes me swear to never show Isabelle another curse, and after I quickly do, he says he’ll help me.

“We are spanking them out there!” one of my teammates starts, and it’s like a domino effect as the rest of the teams get hyped. August goes out to bat, and before we know it, the game is over, and we won by a long shot.

I celebrate with my team in the dugout before quickly rushing out, but on my way, Kayden calls. I decline it, but he immediately calls back. I roll my eyes and answer so we can get this over with and I can be with Vid without interruptions.

“I’m fine.”

He’s quiet for a few seconds, and then it sounds like something is moving around. “Where are you? We can meet.”

I feel myself smiling at his concern, but it’s not needed. “No, I really am fine. I’m just busy, so let me call you back.” I’m nearing the physician’s room, and I can hear Vidia’s laugh, but Kayden doesn’t let me hang up.

“You said not to let you skip our weekly calls, so let's talk, and you can go back to being busy.” I let out a sigh and lean against the wall. After I told him about wanting to drink the day I made a year sober, he wanted to do weekly updates, and I stupidly told him to keep me accountable to actually answer his calls.Dumb move.

“How’s your sister?”

I feel my brows furrow and stay quiet for a second. “For your fucking sake, I’m going to choose to believe you’re asking about Lisette.” Kayden chuckles on the other end, but I’m sure if he saw my face, he wouldn’t find this funny.

As far as I know, he only ever met Sage once when she planned the night of my soberversary celebration, and they didn’t speak much, but then I remember Lis talking about that message Sage got from someone with a K or L, so it better have not been Kayden who was sending my sister dirty messages.

At the reminder of my other sister, I add, “And if you are asking about Lis, I’m going to also choose to believe you're asking about her sobriety and not just her.” I roll my eyes when he laughs again.

“Are you always this protective of your little sisters?”

“Yes,” I answer without hesitation. “And Sage is actually older than me.” I kick something on the ground as he replies.

“Well, I was only asking about Lisette’s sobriety. I sadly have a girlfriend.”

I feel my brows furrow at his words. “Sadly? What can possibly be sad about having a girlfriend?” I clearly wouldn’t fucking know because my girlfriend loves me. I feel myself smiling again.

“Yes, sadly, because your sisters are hot as fuck. Sage—”

“Yeah, I’m going to punch you in the face the next time I see you, so you better hope I don’t feel like relapsing any time soon.”

He laughs on the other end, but my bored expression doesn’t falter, and I really hope he doesn’t think I’m joking. He tells me he was only messing with me, so I update him on Lisette. While I’m her sponsor, I’m still new to this, so Kayden has been giving me advice but I never overshare out of respect for Lisette's privacy.

She hasn't self-harmed and she also makes two months sober soon. I only tell Kayden that she's been doing really good and smile to myself as I think of what obnoxious gift I’m going to get her. Everyone makes a cute effort to get us nice things and make the day special, but it’s been tradition for us to give each other cheesy gifts. She got me socks that said “Sober AF”for my one-year soberversary, so I need to top hers with something worse.

“That’s good to hear. Last week, we said you’ll start thinking of small goals you want to set for yourself to keep you motivated. Do you have a goal?”

Two immediately come to mind. “Learning Spanish and winning over Vidia’s mom.”

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