Hotbox (9 page)

My hopes for deterring the guys from talking to me failed when Aaron stopped
my
music.

“So tell me about your night with Jayden,
” he
said
.

I didn’t really want to talk to him about it because of how crass he could be. He had already said some things th
at I
hadn’t
want
ed
to hear
, and now he was just making a scene for the other guys to listen
.

“It was great.”

“Great?
That’s it? You didn’t get any action during the movie?” he laughed. “Or is she too ‘respectable’ for that?”

“She
is
respectable. It’s nice
for a change.”

I turned the music back on; he said something else and laughed, but I was glad I didn’t hear it. I didn’t know why he gave me su
ch a hard time about Jayden. I
t got old really fast. I was glad he
was moving out after graduation.

Jayden
was
respectable, and I think that’s why I liked her so much. She was so different from any girl I’d ever met. She didn’t throw herself at me, but she also didn’t play games, either. She liked me and let me know it
, and for a stupid guy that isn’t smooth with the ladies, it suited me just fine
.

I closed my eyes and thought about kissing her. I couldn’t wait to see her again…

“Hey, Ty, there’s someone here to see you,” Jack said with a smile.

My first thought was my dad, and I was almost shocked. But Jack nodded his head toward the fence
past first base
and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Jayden had come all the way to see my game.

She saw me look her way and she waved. I had the perfect opportunity to go see her
,
so I jogged over to where she was
, looking cute and perfect and just…kissable
.

“I’m absolutely stunned to see you here,” I told her
.

She shrugged with a smile and said, “I felt like going for a drive.”

“
You’re not her
e
by yourself, are you
?”

“No, Cali came with me. She’s always
up for anything.
Plus she’s kind of hot for your third baseman.”

“Devin?” I chuckled. “Huh.”

“You’
d better thank him.
That’s why I had to start coming to the games with
her
in the first place.”

“I will definitely thank him. I think I’ll
be forever
in his debt.”

“Well, you’d better get back to your team. I don’t want your coach to ban me from your games. Get a hit for me, ‘kay?”

She leaned forward to kiss me over the
four
-foot fence.

“Absolutely,” I replied
, the adrenaline restarting once again
. “
And you look beautiful, by the way.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Well thanks. You must really be a jeans-and-sweatshirt kinda guy.”

“You look amazing in anything.
In fact, you could be wearing
nothing
and I guarantee I would like it.”

With that she laughed and lightly patted my face. “I’m sure you would, sport. Now get your head in the game.”

“Yes ma’am. Oh, and t
ell Cali that Devin’s available
.”

“Okay,” she
smiled
.

I kissed her once more before rejoining my team.
The
feel
of her lips set my whole world right.

“Unbelievable,” Aaron said. “She’ll follow you to away games?”

He
also
said a couple of remarks that I
pretended not to
he
ar
.

I was so excited
Jayden
was
at the game
.
The thought of her coming all
that way
really meant
a lot to me. My dad was only in Tacoma
and
he
didn’t even show up.

I noted where she sat before I immersed myself into my other role. That way I wouldn’t have to take a lot of time searching for her when I had a moment to look.

The game was
a
tough
one
but we played it
rea
lly well, and even though
I played the same way I always played, there was something about having Jayden there that made
me feel
ten times better. I did get a
couple
of
hits for her, but
I suppose
the best one was
a
homerun
. It sent two
of us
home and we ended u
p winning the game 4-2
. We were just as successful with our second game th
at day, and we beat them again 5
-1.

The guys were hauling their gear to the bus when I saw Cali talking to Devin near the stands.
I didn’t want to interrupt anything they could be talking about, but I had to ask, “Where’s Jayden?”

“She was right here,” she said, looking around. “You’d bett
er find her. She’s been fighting
the guys off with a stick.”

I gave her a questioning look, hoping she was just jokin
g, but I did see some guys talking to them earlier.
I didn’t think anything of it
though, assuming it was someone she knew.

“Nice game,
catcher,
” I heard her say from behind me.

I turned around and
replied, “Thank you,”
as she wrapped her arms around me
.

“So all I have to say is ‘get a hit for me’ and you’ll hit a homerun?”

I
smiled
but Devin
laughed and
said, “Ty’s our homerun hero, didn’t you know that?
He leads the
division
.
”

Jayden looked at me with a smile and said, “I guess I have a lot to learn.”

“
Well, you can take all the time you want,” I
told her
. “Anyways, w
here’d you go?”

“Oh,
a little girl
hit her
shin
pretty hard on the blea
chers
,
so I went
to get some ice.”

“T
hat was nice of you,” I replied.

She looked up at me with a
nother
smile,
and
I was
happy I could finally kiss her again. It was becoming addicting.

A couple of guys walked by
and looked us over noticeably
. At first I thought they were bothered that I was kissing my girlfriend, but Jayden seemed to tense up when she saw them
, and she turned
her back to them
.

“Hey
Ty, you ready?” Devin asked, making his way toward the bus.

I
looked
at
Jayden and said, “Wait here with Cali for just a sec, okay?”
and
I made my way to Devin. “Hey, do me a favor will ya? Can you take my bag to the bus? I’m going to walk the girls to the car.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Those two guys were standing at the edge of the parking lot looking our way
,
and I didn’t like it one bit.

Jayd
en joined me as I turned around and she asked, “What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing. I just want to walk you to
your
car.”

“Aw, how sweet,” Cali replied
, but Jayden eyed me cautiously and seemed a little less fooled
.
However, she didn’t say anything about it as w
e walked to
her
car and I
kissed her
before she got in.

“I’ll see you back in town,” I told her.

             
“Okay, bye
.
”

             
I watched until her car left the parking lot and then
I
headed
for
the bus. The two guys were still standing there
,
and one of them laughed.

             
“Did she
tattle
on us?” he asked with a smirk.

             
I stopped about
five
f
eet from them
and replied, “No, w
hy? Do you have something to say to me?”

             
His smirk disappeared and he stared at me. I could tell h
e was torn between walking away
and
trying to finish
what his big mouth started. I wasn’t sure what his problem was, so I
just
waited for him to answer my question.

             
Finally he turned to his buddy and said, “Let’s go,” and they left.

             
I shook my head and made my way to the bus, realizing that Jack and Devin were standing at the door
watching the entire interaction
.

             
“What are you guys doing? Just waiting until I
get my ass kicked
?”

             
Jack
smiled
and said, “No,
we were just waiting
until they threw
the first
punch. That way we could rescue you properly.
”

             
It made me laugh as I stepped onto the bus, and at the same time, I
received an array of comments. B
ut Coac
h Tucker’s stuck out in my mind when he said,
“Already having to defend her honor, huh? The pretty ones are
always
trouble.”

             
I thought about that for a second and nodded my head.
“Yeah, but she’s worth it,” I replied.

             
We got home at
six
-
fifty
that night.
I was so excited to see Jayden again that even Aaron’s comments couldn’t keep me down. He was currently restating his previous opinions about those two guys earlier, claiming that Jayden was probably just a tease. It pissed me off, but with Aaron, it didn’t matter what you said to him, he would oppose you no matter what.

“
What are you doing tonight?” I asked,
quickly
changing
the subject.

             
“Girls, girls, and more girls,” he smiled.
“Bunch of us are gonna hang out at
Zero
, wanna come? Or does your girl have Bible study for you?” he mocked.

             
“Actually I’m heading there,
too
. I’m supposed to meet
her at nine
.”

             
He raised his eyebrows. “
Oh, yeah?
She
got
friends
as hot as her?”

             
“I don’t know,
I thought you said she was there once. I’m sure she was with her friends then.”

             
He thought for a moment before shrugging. “I only remember
her
,” he smiled. “Besides,
I wanna know how
you convince
d
her
dad to let her go out with you.
What was the interrogation like?”

             
“I’ve never met her dad.”

             
“What?” he laughed. “Oh, man, t
hat m
eans he doesn’t know about you
!
You’d better be ready to explain why you’re seeing his daughter behind his back. I’d hate to see what kind of trouble he could get you into.”

             
“What do you mean?”

             
“You don’t know who her dad is, do you?” He was s
taring at me with
a smile, and I wondered if he himself had just found out from someone.
.