Redemption (Forgiven Series) (22 page)

We spent as much time together as we could, but with my practice schedule and his football workouts, plus school, there wasn’t always a lot of time. Some nights we spent at one of our apartments studying or completing homework, but even when that was the case, we still found time to talk. Josh was fun to be around, easy to talk to—even if he did have terrible taste in movies. We did, however, like the same type of music and food. That was a good thing because Josh was a terrible cook. To give him credit he did try one night, but gave up. Most of the time when we were at his place, Caleb cooked dinner, but the nights we were at my apartment we either ordered out, or if I didn’t get home from practice too late, I made something.

With the first game of the season coming up I knew our time would be even more limited. I was nervous as hell about Josh coming to the game. He’d never seen me pitch and I wasn’t sure I wanted him to. What if I had a terrible game? He’d heard all of these wonderful things from our friends and I just hoped I lived up to their hype.

When class was done, I went straight to the locker room, wanting to get changed early and have time to calm my nerves. It seemed pointless to go back to the apartment to get lectured by Morgan for pacing the floor so, pulling my stuff out of my bag, I changed and sat down on the bench in front of my locker. In the back of my mind I knew that it wouldn’t matter to Josh how well I played, but it really mattered to me. A while later the rest of the team began filing in.

“What’s up with you?” Kendra asked, walking up and taking a seat next to me.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” I lied.

She shook her head at me. “You are so not fine. Are you nervous?”

I sighed. Kendra and I had spent most practices together and had gotten to know each other really well. She wasn’t going to let it go until I told her what was going on. “Yeah. Josh is coming to the game today and I don’t want to have a crappy game.” I took a deep breath before continuing. “Everyone’s told him how ‘amazing’ I am, and I’m afraid I won’t live up to the hype.”

She put her arm around my shoulders. “Please, girl, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. That boy would bow at your feet if you asked him. You could walk every batter out there and he wouldn’t care. As long as you don’t break up with him I think everything will be fine,” she smirked.

I rolled my eyes and bumped my shoulder into hers. I had to believe what she said, and get through the game because if I didn’t get my head under control, it was very likely that I
would
walk every batter.

Once Kendra finished changing we made our way out to the field to warm up. The minute I stepped out of the locker room I heard someone call my name. Stopping, I turned in the direction the voice had come from, and who I saw shocked me. Off to my left was Ryan, waving to get my attention.

I took a step in the direction of the bleachers. Didn’t he get it? I guess my very clear ‘we’re through’ from a few weeks ago had fallen on deaf ears. Kendra caught up to me and we were halfway to the bleachers when I suddenly realized that I didn’t care if Ryan was there. Hopefully he’d run into Josh, or at least see that Josh was there to support me.

When I spun around and headed back toward the field, Kendra actually laughed. “Guess you decided he’s not worth the effort?”

“Something like that,” I giggled. “I’m actually hoping Josh will see that he’s here and scare him off.”

Kendra looked back in Ryan’s direction. “You think with an ego like Ryan’s that he’ll actually get the hint?”

Dropping my glove to the ground, I started to stretch out my arms and my shoulder. “Nah, he won’t get the hint from Josh alone, but I forgot to mention that Caleb, Nick, and Andrew will be here as well.”

She nodded and began to stretch her legs. “Ahh, brute force is the idea.”

“Well, not originally,” I said picking up my glove and the ball. “We’re all supposed to go to dinner tonight, but it definitely is a benefit.”

We talked a little more while throwing some warm up pitches but the entire time I kept peeking at the bleachers, waiting for Josh to get there. We’d finished our warm ups and made our way over to the dugout when something caught my eye. Josh had arrived and he was talking to some girl I’d seen around campus. Feelings of jealously began to rise up and I had to fight it back the best I could. He shook his head at her, causing her to pout and place her hand on his thigh.

Whoa, forget trying to stamp down the jealously, I wanted to jump the fence and beat her ass. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself while still watching the scene play out. If I was going to trust Josh, I had to let him handle it.

I needn’t have worried because, at her touch, Josh’s face turned to a look of disgust. He pushed her hand away and pointed in my direction. When he noticed me, his eyes softened and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Watching the blonde storm off made my insides warm and fuzzy. I returned his smile with a wave and moved into the dugout.

Being the home team meant we had the field first. The insides of my gloves were sticky as my hands started to get clammy from my nerves. Needing to get myself under control, I sat down on the bench and took a few deep, calming breaths. This was the place I’d always found peace—from my father, or lack thereof, from school, from boys. I needed to find that peace today. Even though all of my time lately had been consumed with Josh, it was my job to push him out of my mind for the next few hours so that I could play the best game possible.

Standing for the national anthem, I let the excitement of a new season wash over me. By the time the song was over, I was ready to head to the field.

“You ready?” Kendra asked as we jogged onto the field.

“As I’m gonna be,” I said, smacking her glove with mine. “Let’s do this.”

I got a few warm up pitches and then the game was under way. Facing the first batter, I closed my eyes and found my center. When I opened my eyes and looked up, I was ready to show everyone what I was made of.

Watching Lauren walk onto the field left me with a feeling of unbelievable pride. She looked amazing in her team jersey and I couldn’t wait to see her play. Nerves about me coming to watch her game had gotten to her and she was trying to hide it, but I could always see through her.

We finally got to the field after waiting on Andrew and Emily, who had been acting weird since we’d picked them up. The plan was that we were all going out to dinner after the game to celebrate Lauren’s first home game of the season. Since our do-over date a few weeks ago everything had been going great. It was a little rough the first week when the chicks kept hitting on me but every time they did, I made it clear that I was only interested in Lauren. They had finally started to back off—that was, until today.

When Aimee had come over to say hello I’d thought nothing of it. We had a few classes together over the years and we got along well. Even when she’d asked me if I wanted to go out with her,
that
I could handle. But putting her hand on my thigh was going too far. When I had immediately pushed her hand off my leg, I’d looked up to see the most beautiful eyes watching me. Instantly I forgot about Aimee, and my irritation at her putting her hands on me subsided.

Lauren’s smile always stopped me in my tracks. It still astounded me how much of an impact she’d had on my life.

Someone smacked me in the back of the head. “Dude, she went in the dugout,” Caleb laughed.

What the hell? Then I actually looked at where Lauren was standing last and, sure enough, she was gone. Wow, did I feel like a pussy. Lost in my daydreams I hadn’t even seen her walk into the dugout.

I shook my head. “It’s been a month, when are you gonna let up on me.”

Caleb stroked his chin in a dramatic fashion. Who did he think he was, Sherlock Holmes? “Let me think. Umm…
never
.”

Really? “I helped you through all your shit and all you’re going to do is bust my balls?” I asked sarcastically.

Angie put her hands between us. “Enough you two.” She turned to look at Caleb. “Give him a break, he’s already paid enough for torturing us. And remember, we probably wouldn’t be here without him.”

“Fine,” Caleb said, kissing the side of her head, “but only for you.”

Giving him a smug smile, I started to turn to face the field when Angie’s voice interrupted me. “Oh, no, no,” she said. “You’re just as guilty, constantly trying to rile Caleb up.”

It was true. Ever since the truth had come out, Caleb had become the type of person you could joke with and I made sure to take advantage of every second of it.

“Fine,” I huffed. “But he’s so much fun now.”

Angie smacked me in the chest. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

I looked at Caleb and I knew he was thinking the same thing as me. Nodding slightly, we both turned towards Angie. “Okay, Mommy,” we said at the same time and busted out laughing.

She just shook her head at us, while Nick and Morgan joined in. Looking over at Emily and Andrew, I noticed that they were huddled together, ignoring all of the commotion going on next to them. What was up with them? Before I had the chance to ask, the announcement for the national anthem came over the loud speaker.

We stood up and I was full of nervous energy. I’d heard from everyone how good Lauren was, but I was the only one who hadn’t seen her myself. When the song finally finished, and they announced our team, my eyes quickly moved to the dugout. There she was, running out to the mound with her long, brown hair in a braid. Damn. Even her run was sexy.

She threw a few warm up pitches before the first batter came out. The speed and accuracy of her warm ups increased my excitement tenfold and I couldn’t wait for the game to start.

When the first batter stepped up to the plate, Lauren took a moment to center herself, before throwing the first pitch. I watched in complete fascination as she wound up and released the ball at a speed I couldn’t even fathom. The sound of the ball slamming into the catcher’s glove made me leap out of my seat. “Go, Jersey!” I yelled out.

I knew she’d heard me when a smile came to her lips, but I assumed she was trying to maintain her focus because her eyes didn’t move.

After two more pitches the batter left the plate, dejected. By this point we were all out of our seats cheering and it was only the first inning. But that wasn’t what caught my attention. Coming from a few rows down and to the right, I heard a voice call out, “Come on, Lauren baby, you can do it.”

My head snapped in that direction and low and behold who did I see? None other than Ryan Bartlett. Who the fuck did he think he was? I started to move in that direction when Caleb’s hands clamped around my upper arms. The asshole must have been working out. “Don’t even think about it,” he whispered.

“Let me go, Caleb,” I growled, fighting against his hold. Just being in Ryan’s presence made my blood boil, but to hear him call her baby? I wanted to murder him.

“No. You’re going to sit down and ignore that asshole,” he ordered. “Lauren is trying to concentrate, and you are not going to ruin that by fighting him right now.” He used his grip on my arms to force me down onto the bleachers. “What you do after the game is up to you, but don’t ruin this for her. She was nervous enough about playing in front of you in the first place.”

“How did you know that?” I asked suspiciously.

He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “How do you think?” he asked shooting a glance at Angie.

If she was so nervous, why hadn’t she said anything to me? That knowledge was enough for me to stay in my seat and ignore the fucker… at least until the game was over.

I looked back at Caleb. “Can you let me go now?”

“Do you promise not to go after him?”

“For now,” I promised, a hint of menace still in my voice.

He shook his head, but let me go. He knew I would keep it together throughout the game. But once the game was over, all bets were off.

Lauren struck out the next two batters. The speed at which she threw the ball was mind-blowing. It was a good thing I’d found this out sooner rather than later so that I could remember not to make her mad enough for her to throw something at me.

Inning after inning, she retired the batters. Even if they did manage to get a hit off of her, the rest of the team were quick to make the out. After every inning her smile got bigger and bigger. The amazement and pride I felt watching her succeed astounded even me.

I still couldn’t believe how quickly she had become so important to me. We spent the entire game cheering and screaming for Lauren, and I was just waiting for the moment she would come off the field and I could congratulate her properly.

Finally, since our team was ahead and therefore didn’t need to finish the last part of the inning, after Lauren finished pitching the top of the seventh inning the game was over.

The team made their way into the dugout I quickly sent Lauren a text letting her know we would be waiting in the parking lot.

“Where does everyone want to go to dinner?” Angie asked as we made our way towards the cars.

We all looked around at each other and shrugged. “How about Max’s?” Andrew suggested, shooting a pointed look at Emily. Something was definitely up with those two.