Page 39 of The Perfect Catch

In the picture, I sat several inches away from him, my face pinched in a half-smile. He’d just said something totally inappropriate about some of the people there, and I was over the whole date thing.

“Mom, I don’t even look happy here.” I pointed to the screen and handed it back to her.

She lifted the phone to her face and squinted, not having her glasses on at the time. “You look happy there. How was it? You got in later, and I was just happy you made it home safely.”

Not to mention she hadn’t cared about curfew for the first time ever.

“Like I said, I don’t want to go on any more setup activities with him.” The thought of his hug when he dropped me off on my doorstep last night, his hand trying to drift to areas off limits, made me cringe even now. It fueled me, and I looked straight at my mother, ready to be done with everything that had bugged me for a long while.

“I’m not doing a hundred activities anymore, Mom. I’ll keep one and then still teach at the studio, but I need to breathe, need the freedom to relax when I want to, to have a life of my own. I’ll get into a college, but I don’t want to major in business. I want to study art, all the facets and types. I know that will disappoint you, but I’m done. I just can’t keep up that kind of schedule, nor do I want to anymore.”

The emotions played across her face, the flicker of anger, hurt, and finally disappointment.

She stood, not saying a word as she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Guilt pulsed through me, and the silence between us felt like a chasm. But for the first time in my life, I didn’t go running out the door to appease her. It had been so long since I’d stood up to her that I had to hold out strong, had to tell myself all would be okay in the end, even if it didn’t feel so now.

She’d done a lot in my life to control the path I would go on, but something about her forcing me to go on a date with the slimeball of Rosemont High when she didn’t want me to date anyone caused my eyes to burn with a surge of tears.

I was done playing that game.

Pulling out my laptop, I pulled up the websites of my favorite art-focused colleges and began the application process. It didn’t matter if I got into one of the business schools. I was going to do what was right for me and would make me happy.

I hadn’t done anything outright bad, but in my mother’s eyes, I’d just burned the house down.

Chapter 29

Dax

The game had been a nail-biter, and adrenaline still pulsed through me minutes after the game finished. We’d managed to pull off the win of the semi-final game, and I couldn’t have been more excited. Now I just needed to prep myself to catch for Ben in the next game since his pitches were much different and faster than Tony’s.

The team sat under a tree, trying to take advantage of the little shade at the ballpark, waiting for the next game to finish so we’d know who we were playing.

Someone’s mom had brought a bag of sliced oranges, and we were downing them like we hadn’t had something so good in a long while.

“Are Penny and Serena coming to the next game?” Nate asked Jake and Ben between bites of his orange.

“Serena is,” Ben said, a slight grin on his face.

“Penny has her own tourney. I think I’ll see her later tonight, though. They were set to play the number-one competition team in the state this afternoon, so we’ll see if they can pull it off.” Jake scanned the field, watching as one of the players hit a double into left center field. “Like us, of course.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like Dax’s girlfriend will be making it today,” Colt said, lifting his phone. I was too far away to see what it was, just seeing the logo of the Quickstagram app.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I said, wishing she really was. We’d made so much progress and had so much fun over the past few weeks that the hope grew stronger each time we were together. I just needed to suck up my pride and ask her out.

The guys started making noises that sounded bad, and then I scooted forward, taking the phone from Colt.

The picture on the screen hit me in the chest like a dagger to the heart, and even though I had a group of guys around me, I couldn’t just shrug it off and not study it further.

Kate sat next to Trent Jacobs, looking beautiful with a white shirt and her hair up, the smile on her face hurting even worse. When did she go out with him?

I glanced down at the caption of the photo and saw he’d posted it last night, saying it had been the best night ever.

Was that what she’d been doing with “her mom”? Going out with the guy who had the moral compass of a snail?

I shoved the phone back at Colt, feeling the rising anger build in my chest.

“You’ll be all right,” Jake said, tapping me on the back. “Penny thought she saw me making out with some other girl. There’s got to be some explanation there.”

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