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Nodding, she said, “And I’m going to let them,” taking him by surprise.

“Why?”

“Because Braxton deserves to be saved like my Haley,” Mrs. Blaine said with a fond smile for his aunt.

“And that’s why you haven’t failed. Aunt Haley is a wonderful person and that’s because of you,” Sebastian pointed out, making her smile.

For several minutes, neither one of them said anything as the conversation lulled into a comfortable silence and Sebastian found himself watching Mikey. She never looked happier than when she was playing baseball, he thought, unable to take his eyes off her.

“Your friend Mikey is very beautiful.”

“Yes, she is,” Sebastian murmured in agreement.

“Why aren’t you in school?” Mrs. Blaine asked, making him sigh.

“I made a mistake,” he admitted, wishing that he’d done at least a hundred things differently.

“And how do you plan to fix it?” she asked, watching him.

“I honestly don’t know. I’m trying to convince the high school to give me a chance, but they’re not willing to listen, and honestly, I really can’t blame them,” Sebastian said with a helpless shrug.

“Why haven’t you applied at Latin Scribe? Your Uncle Jason would probably be able to help you,” Mrs. Blaine pointed out.

Shaking his head, Sebastian said, “I can’t do that to Uncle Jason.”

“Why did you turn down that scholarship?”

“It seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” Sebastian said, even as he wondered why he was telling her any of this.

“If you could go back would you take the scholarship?”

“I couldn’t do that to my brother,” Sebastian said, because no matter how many times over the years he’d been tempted to change his mind, and god, had he’d been tempted, he could never do that to Jonathan.

She considered him for a moment, then with a firm nod, murmured, “You’ll do.”

Before he could ask her what she was talking about, Mrs. Blaine said, “Be ready tomorrow morning by nine,” as her helper joined them. With that, she gestured for Steven to take her away, leaving Sebastian confused, once again.

Chapter 20

“Campbell, you’re up!” came the announcement that she’d been waiting for all afternoon.

Taking a deep breath, Mikey grabbed her glove off the bench next to her and found herself looking toward the stands and…

Felt herself relax when she saw Sebastian.

Slowly exhaling, she headed for the pitcher’s mound. She was just here to have a little fun, Mikey reminded herself as she slipped her hand inside the glove that she’d spent an entire year breaking in just for this moment and held it up. Seconds later, a baseball was cushioned against the soft leather as Mikey focused on the catcher waiting for her to make her first throw.

Shifting her weight back onto her right leg, she took another deep breath, moved her arm back and let it fly. The ball slammed against the catcher’s glove a split second later, eliciting a pained grunt that Mikey ignored as she held up her glove for the ball’s return. She ignored the catcher’s curse as he tossed it back to her, the assistant coach’s shocked expression as he grabbed the radar gun, and the boys scrambling closer for a better view of her next pitch and threw the ball again.

Nothing else mattered.

The only thing she cared about was hitting her target and she made damn sure that she hit it every time. She kept throwing, giving it everything she had until the coach walked over and held up his hand, motioning for her to stop. With a nod, Mikey pulled her arm back and let it drop while she waited.

“How fast is she throwing?” Coach Dilmore asked as he glanced down at the iPad in his hands.

“She’s nailing ninety-five miles an hour, every time,” the assistant coach said, showing him the radar gun.

Absently nodding, Coach Dilmore glanced up at her as he said, “Keep throwing fastballs until I tell you to stop,” before shifting his attention back to the iPad in his hand and walking away.