Page 41 of The Perfect Catch

I wasn’t sure if it was just that he had his catcher’s mask on or if he wasn’t supposed to talk to me right now that made the tone of his voice sound so short.

I waved and stepped away from the fence, my stomach turning. I followed Serena up to the stands, and we took a seat in the shade. It was a nice break from the Texas heat, even this late in the fall.

“Well, that greeting didn’t go very well,” I mumbled, trying not to cry.

“Trent did post that picture on Quickstagram, Kate. Maybe it’s gotten to Dax by now.”

Everything inside me clenched at the thought. If that were the case, what would he be thinking? That I’m some girl who says she can’t stand a guy and then goes out with him? That made it seem like I wasn’t being honest, and I didn’t like that.

Maybe it would have been better if I’d stayed home today.

* * *

The game was exciting,with plenty of actions to help distract my overactive analytical brain. Dax missed a ball at one point, having to run back and get it as one of the runners advanced to the next base. He didn’t hit very well either, getting out the few times he was up to bat. The last at-bat, he swung on the third strike, ending the game. I expected him to throw his helmet and start yelling, but he just shook his head and walked back to the dugout, filing out with his team to congratulate the opponents.

I hadn’t seen Penny arrive, but she was already at the fence line, waiting for the guys to come in, dressed in her softball uniform.

“How’d it go today?” I asked, leaning against the chain-link fence next to her.

“About the same as here, it looks like.” Penny took losing hard, and I could tell she was mulling it over.

The guys started filing out after the award ceremony, and my heart pounded, hoping Dax would understand about last night if he’d already seen the picture.

Jake and Ben walked up to their girlfriends and hugged them while Dax waved goodbye and started walking out of the complex.

“Dax, wait. You’re not even going to say hi, or thanks for coming?” I asked, jogging behind him.

“Hi,” he said, turning around. “Thanks for coming.” His voice was so low and monotone that I was more irritated than anything.

I ran in front of him, putting out my hand to stop him. “Dax, why are you being like this?”

“We’re not dating, Kate, and it’s obvious you don’t have feelings for me if you’re going out with Trent Jacobs. Thanks for coming, and I’ll see you at school.” He pushed past me, not hard enough to knock me over, but enough to let me know how frustrated he was.

I watched his back as he walked away, and before I knew it, the words were out of my mouth. “Are you my Masked Kisser?”

He stopped, his posture stiff and his hands clenching and unclenching. When he didn’t turn around, I ran to stand in front of him to see his face.

He kept his eyes straight ahead, not glancing down at me.

“Are you the guy who kissed me at the party last spring?” I reached out and touched his arm, which seemed to break him out of his trance.

His eyes bored into mine, and his jaw ground back and forth for a minute. “What if itwasme?” he asked in a soft whisper. “It’s not like it would matter. There’s no way your mom would let us go out, and it seems you’ve already found yourself another guy. I wish you luck with that.”

“What do you mean, what if it was you? Why wouldn’t you tell me?” I pushed against his arm, anger surging. I was so sick of people treating me like I didn’t know any better about what I needed in my life. And I was sick of following other people’s plans for what I should be doing.

“It was me.” He broke his gaze away and walked out into the parking lot. His stride showed a measure of exhaustion and defeat.

I wanted to go after him, but at this point, it was probably better that I just leave him alone and push all thoughts of Daxton Stratton out of my life. He couldn’t trust me with a small secret, one that I considered to be huge. And he also didn’t know me well enough if he assumed I’d gone on a date with Trent Jacobs.

As much as I told myself it wouldn’t hurt to let him go, I needed to steel myself against the fact that it would all work out in the end.

An arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I turned to see Penny giving me a sad smile. “You found your Kisser, huh?”

I nodded, my chin wobbling as I tried to keep from crying. “Yeah.” I wiped away a tear that had broken free. “Why didn’t he tell me it was him?” He could’ve easily told me when we were designing our shirts. I had been one of the three people he’d kissed after all.

“Maybe he was worried you wouldn’t like him. He’s been through a lot in his life, and rejection might not go over well for him.”

“But he didn’t even give me that chance to decide.”

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