Page 26 of The Perfect Play

The bell rang, and I shuffled to my class, not ready for the usual early morning motivational pop quiz my professor tended to give.

“Hey,” I heard behind me but didn’t turn, thinking it was for someone else. The voice said it again, this time with a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Jake giving me a small smile.

“Hey. How have things been?” I asked, debating between being late to class and having a normal face-to-face conversation with him.

He played with his hair a moment before looking back at me. “Good. It’s been good. I better not keep you from class. I know how you like being on time.”

My insides were warring about the need to be prompt and kicking myself for even worrying about stuff like that.

“Text me later. We’ll be on the bus around noon to head out to Westchester.” I bit my lip, surprised I’d been so forward. Despite our history, it still felt like we were beginning all over again, and I hoped I hadn’t gone too far.

Jake’s face brightened, and he nodded. “Will do. That will help me get through my last class of the day. Too bad we don’t have a game too.”

I took a few steps backward and gave him a little wave. Part of the way down the hall were stairs, and I had to turn so I didn’t stumble over them. I glanced back once more to see Jake in the same spot, looking as gorgeous as a Greek statue.

I was heading for real trouble when it came to him. I just hoped his change of heart lasted longer than a couple of weeks.

Chapter 21

Jake

“Are you guys dating or not? You’ve never had such a problem deciding before, Jake.” Dax opened a protein bar and sat down on the bench between the lockers in the guys’ locker room. He took a large bite, his lips smacking so loudly I had to turn away to keep from gagging.

“We haven’t talked about that. It was just one kiss, Dax. I don’t know if she wants to date me after all I’ve done to her.” I sat on the bench, untying the laces on my sneakers. It was nice that we were the only ones in the locker room. I’d have been mortified if any of the other guys at the school heard me trying to figure out where I stood with a girl.

Dax finally swallowed and said, “She kissed you back. I’d say there’s definitely potential there.”

For the hundredth time, I thought about the kiss I’d shared with Penny, and with the way my lips still tingled at the thought, I wondered if she felt the same. Seeing her in the hall that morning had been awkward at first, but when she’d said to text her, something like hope exploded within me.

“But the kiss came after me talking about my dad’s alcohol problem. You don’t think she just felt bad for me?” I’d finally confided in Dax about my home situation the day before, knowing he wouldn’t say anything to the other guys. I didn’t need it going around school that things were complicated outside of baseball.

Dax stopped to think. “I’ve never seen you analyze a relationship as much as this one. That means you’ve got it bad for her, man.” He took another bite of his bar and chewed a couple of times before saying, “Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss, you know.”

That didn’t reassure me at all. I opened the messaging app on my phone and scrolled through the short messages we’d sent each other over last period. The final one said her team made it to the school where the game was to be played, so I had to settle for radio silence for the next several hours. At least I had baseball practice to keep me occupied for some of it.

A bunch of other guys came in and started dressing. The sound of lockers squeaking open and jokes being passed back and forth broke the silence I’d had just moments before.

“Listen up,” came Coach Maddox’s voice from somewhere in the room. “We’re going to have some college coaches at our game tomorrow, so I suggest you all work out the kinks today. These are some big schools, and the opportunity to attend would be worth your effort.”

I had peeked around the lockers, and he glanced my way, nodding as if to single me out silently. Play baseball in college? I’d just now begun to like baseball again, as my father had eased up on it quite a bit, but would I still love it if I had to play and practice all the time at a more competitive level?

Maybe it was worth a shot, worth just doing the best I could tomorrow and seeing what happened from there. The least I could do was try, and if I decided I didn’t want to play baseball after high school, I’d just tell them no.

I tapped out a message to Penny, knowing she wouldn’t get it for a while but still wanting to send it anyway.

Coach said some college coaches will be at the game tomorrow.

I paused and tried to think of something else to say. Instead of putting any other emotions down, I pressed send and tucked the phone away in my backpack in my locker. Penny would know what to say, and I hoped she’d respond by the time we were done with practice.

Chapter 22

Penny

We all got on the bus as the sun had almost set, ready for the long drive back home. I’d had an awesome day both on the mound and at the plate, and I felt like I was on top of the world.

“Great game today, ladies,” Coach Ambrose said.

As she took her seat at the front of the bus, we all settled in. I pulled out my phone and stuck in my earbuds, knowing I needed to make the most of the ride back home. I looked for my music and saw I’d received a message from Jake three hours earlier.

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