Throwing Love #4 (Throwing Love #4) (2 page)

“What? He didn't tell you about the outburst? Did he assume
you were deaf or something?”

I smiled. “No, he just gave me some BS reasons for my father
being there and left out the whole argument. He basically lied to me about why
my father was there. I gave him every opportunity I could to be honest with me
and he just kept lying.”

“What the hell? I can't believe he would do that.”

“Neither can I.”

Connie took a sip of her wine, taking it all in. “Maybe we
are drawing the wrong conclusions about the whole thing.”

“What are you talking about, Connie?”

“Maybe you shouldn't be too hard on him.”

My mouth fell open. “How can I not be? He lied to me. I'm a
little surprised that you would say that.”

“I know. I'm just full of surprises.”

“Seriously, what are you thinking?” I took a large gulp of
wine, finishing off my glass. Connie refilled it for me, which I was eternally
grateful for.

“Work with me here. By the sounds of it, he was just trying
to help you.”

“Come again? Where are you getting this from?”

“Look, I'm trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt
and maybe you should, too. Let’s not forget the fact that he is crazy about you
and has no history of being a douchebag.”

“Okay, let’s hear it.”

“
Emma
, it's
obvious that Bennett needs to rearrange his priorities, I think he got that
wake-up call this morning. Can we agree on that?” I nodded. “Okay, so he needs
to get his head on straight and focus on what he needs to do to get back on
track. Maybe being embarrassed was bad enough for him and he doesn't want to
burden you with it all. Maybe he just wants to fix all this crap and have you
be none the wiser to his fuck-ups.”

“Wow, nicely said.”

“What you also seem to forget was that he has to deal with
your father. Imagine how embarrassed he would have been to have to explain to
you that your father just came over to rip him a new one? That wouldn't have
been easy for anyone to do. Men have a lot of pride; they don't want to be
embarrassed in front of their girlfriend – especially by their girl’s
father.”

I hadn't thought about it that way. Connie certainly had
shed a new light on things. I would have to take what she said into
consideration.

“I guess you are right. I never really thought about it that
way.”

“Just wait it out and see what happens. You can always bail
later on if you want to.”

I laughed. “I guess so. You want to go to the game?”

“Sure, let's go.”

We finished out wine and started to get ready to go.

Chapter Two

The game was thrilling; I loved baseball, and I was even
more excited that Connie had decided to come with me. She wasn't a fan of the
game in general, so I was really impressed that she had decided to come along.
The crowd was going wild as usual and there was a good vibe. It was easy to
feed into the energy and get yourself in a great mood after a bad day. That was
what I loved about live sports – the energy in the crowds was amazing. We
got ourselves a beer and some nachos and settled into our seats. From where we
were sitting, I could practically see the sweat glistening on Bennett's brow.
The team was winning, as usual. Bennett was holding the team together with his
pitching, and Connie and I were cheering them on. I cheered as if there was
nothing bad going on between Bennett and me. I just wanted him to do well and
win, prove my father wrong. Show him that he could do just about anything that
he wanted to do.

Bennett was pitching a nearly perfect game and my throat was
becoming hoarse with all the screaming I was doing. The other team wasn't even
coming close to making a big win. I knew that Bennett would win, and he would
probably be celebrating all night.

We were finishing our third beers when the last run
came in; Bennett's team won
by a
landslide.

I stood up to clap, beaming with pride. I couldn't have been
happier for
Bennett;
he did
so well, despite his missed practices.

Not only was I proud of his game and talent,
but also
I was
proud to be his girlfriend. He had done amazing that night and I was his girl.
It made me smile that much broader. He was so professional when he was out on
the field. It didn't matter that he had made some mistakes, he always put his
all in when he was playing a game and in the end, I think that was what was
most important. I had been to hundreds of games throughout my life and I had
seen many great players come and go, but I knew that Bennett was something
special. I had no doubt in my mind that Bennett was on his way to the major
leagues.

Chapter Three

Connie and I headed down to the field to talk with Bennett.
I was still jazzed about Bennett's win and couldn't wait to congratulate him
about it. I didn't want things to be weird between us anymore, I just wanted
tonight to be great. I was happy for him because he deserved a great career in
baseball. I walked up to him when he was amongst his teammates and he saw me
approaching.

“Hey, babe, how are you?” He was smiling at me.

I smiled back at him. I ran to him and hugged him hard. I
went to him and kissed his mouth. He tasted amazing and it made me think about
the last night we were together. Maybe we could have a reunion tonight. It
would be a great way to celebrate his win.

He smiled, but there was something off about his smile. It
made me feel weird, and I had a hard time reading him. He was certainly
affectionate with me, but something was a little off with him. He was holding
my hand as we talked, and it was still warm from his pitching. I looked up at
him and his gaze wavered. He didn't seem to be his normal self and I wondered
if he was still worried about what had happened earlier that morning. He
shouldn't be, he played a great game and if my father was watching, he would
have been very pleased. Speaking of my father, why hadn't I heard from him? Had
he intended on coming to town just for Bennett and didn't bother to contact me
at all? That was just as weird, but maybe he had been too busy to get together
with me. I wish he would have called, though. I could have talked to him and
maybe grabbed a coffee with him. But I wasn't going to worry about my father
just then.

“That was a great game, Bennett. I don't see too many of
them, but it's obviously this is where you should be. I really liked it, so
congratulations.” Connie was beaming at him.

“Thanks, Connie.” He walked over and hugged her.

“Yeah, I agree. You did awesome, baby. You should be very
proud.” I rubbed his back and started thinking once again about being with
Bennett that night. I could certainly help his sore muscles.

“Thanks, Emmi. I always am.”

“Do you want to go out with us? Go and do something?”

He paused for a moment. “I actually think I'm going to
pass.”

“Really? You aren't going to go out and celebrate at all? We
don't have to go out. Maybe we can just stay in and watch a movie. That would
be fun.” I was surprised that he seemed so uninterested in doing anything with
me. I hoped that he wasn't still upset about what my father said to him. My
father could be harsh sometimes – he was often right, but he could still
be harsh.

“No. I think I need to go and catch up on some sleep. Have a
good night, ladies.” He kissed me on the cheek and headed off with his friends.
I stared after him, unsure of what to say or do. His behavior seemed strange,
but what could I do about it? He didn't seem to want to do anything. He always
wanted to hang out with me, so what was wrong? Had my dad really got to him in
regards to dating while playing baseball? I hoped not. I was genuinely worried
about Bennett and my relationship with him.

I turned to Connie. “Do you think everything is okay?” She
could see the look of concern on my face.

She shrugged. “Who knows? He seemed a little off, but like I
said, maybe he needs some time to get his head straight. Remember what I said
before?”

“Well, I hope he does it fast.”

“Don't read too much into it. I'm sure everything is going
to be
all right
. He pr
obably has a lot on his mind. Do
you blame
him? He had a shitty morning. Don't worry about it until you have to.”

I nodded. Connie was always right.

Chapter Four

The next couple of weeks were really confusing for me.
Things were not any better between Bennett and I, and I really couldn't figure
it out. I worried that he was still hung up on things with my dad, but why
wasn't he talking to me about it?

Bennett appeared to be pulling away from me more and more
each day, and I didn't know why. I had been more than supportive the past few
weeks, and I didn't bring up the fight he had with my dad. He just seemed to be
losing interest in the relationship and it was heartbreaking to watch. I wasn't
sure if I was doing something wrong.

I knew he had been going through a lot the past few months
and I didn't want to be that girlfriend that always nagged him, but something
was really wrong. I tried to remember what Connie had said about Bennett
needing to get his head straight and prioritize his life. I was totally okay
with that – I wanted whatever was best for him. It just hadn’t occurred
to me that when he prioritized his life, I may be something he let go of. The
thought of it drove me nuts because I couldn't understand why he would make a
decision like that. But it was the only way to describe his current behavior.

He never missed a practice again, which I never doubted he
would after my father showed up at his place. The problem was, lately he seemed
to cancel our dates for extra practices. I was all for Bennett going to his
practices, but I didn't believe for a minute that he was the type of player
that needed additional practice. He had talent, after all, so I couldn't figure
out why he was busting his balls. I couldn't help but take it personally. The
other boys weren't even in on these extra practices for the most part, which
made it all that
much
stranger. He would just go into the field on his own time and use a machine to
pitch.

It hurt my feelings when he did this. I tried to
understand
, but I
could only see it as something bad for our relationship. I wasn't sure we were
going to survive it.

I tried to deal with it as best I could in the beginning
because I knew he was a little stressed after being caught missing practices.
That was totally understandable. But I had expected him to just go back to
doing normal practices and that was it. He was now killing himself on the
field, and I thought it was totally unnecessary. I was starting to worry that
my dad had really got in his head. What was next? Would he break up with me to
focus solely on the game? After all, there were plenty of girls in the big
leagues. Right, Dad?

I wanted him to do his best, and I tried to support him as
best I could, but as the days turned to weeks, I was finding it hard to stick
by him. He had left me feeling abandoned, and I didn't think I deserved it. I
had stood by Bennett even though he had lied to me because I believed in our
relationship, and now it seemed like it was all for nothing.

I thought Bennett was different from the men I had dated
before, but it wasn't looking that way. The feeling of being abandoned reminded
me of how lonely I had felt with the other men I dated. I had vowed I would
never put myself in that position again, I wouldn't date another guy like that,
and there I was doing just that. I didn't know how I had managed to do it all
over again, but there I was
,
seemingly being dropped by another guy I cared about.

Sadly, the only time I saw him lately was when I needed to
get a quote for the paper. I was still covering the team and submitting articles.

I had to consider the fact that Bennett was taking my
father’s advice, he just hadn't got around to cluing me in yet. I wanted him to
be happy and I was gladly willing to support him, but I didn't want to lose him
in that process, either. The best thing I could do right now was to support him
as much as possible in the hopes that I could prevent him from pulling away
from me completely. I was determined to support him, but at the same time, I
was losing my heart. My heart just wasn't in it anymore.

Chapter Five

Connie and I sipped on some delicious white wine as she
straightened my hair with the flat iron. I had to admit I looked rather
fetching. I loved when Connie did my hair for me. It was the first real date
that I was going to have with Bennett in weeks and I was overly excited. I
rarely did my hair because it took more effort than I was willing to spend on
it. I normally dressed conservatively with a casual air. Connie was doing my
hair and makeup and it was more than I could have asked for. I wondered if
Bennett would even recognize me in my racy attire.