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Felt his stomach drop when he spotted Mikey sitting beneath her bedroom window, hugging her knees tightly against her chest as she cried. God, she was killing him, Sebastian thought hollowly as he walked over to her and sat down next to her. He reached over and picked her up, placing her between his legs so that her back was against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as she continued to cry.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Sebastian whispered softly as he pressed a kiss against the top of her head.

They sat like that for a long time, long past when the sun finally went down and he should have gone home. Nothing else mattered but her. He kept his arms around Mikey, holding her while whispering that everything would be okay. When she was finally done crying, he leaned around her as he reached up and gently wiped away her tears.

“Feel better?” Sebastian asked softly as he wiped away the last tear.

With a sniffle and the cutest damn pout that he’d ever seen, Mikey stubbornly shook her head, making him bite back a smile.

“Do you want to go inside?”

Another stubborn shake of her head.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

A sniffle, a slight hesitation, and a stubborn shake of her head later, Sebastian murmured, “I see,” before clearing his throat. “Would you like me to shut up and continue holding you while looking at you adoringly?” Sebastian asked dryly only to chuckle when she nodded.

“Fine,” he sighed, making sure to sound put out as he wrapped his arms back around her.

When she snuggled back against him, Sebastian found himself watching as the first glimmer of stars appeared in the sky while he tried to figure out what could have set her off. He’d watched her when she ran drills, when she was waiting for her turn to pitch, and then for the next two and half hours the coach had her taking a turn on the pitching mound and at bat, and he hadn’t seen anything on her face that would have led him to believe that something was wrong.

She’d been in her element, focused, and so damn beautiful, Sebastian thought, wondering if he’d missed something when he was talking to Mrs. Blaine. He didn’t think any of the boys had been stupid enough to say something to piss Mikey off, mostly because she hadn’t decked any of them, but…

Then again, it depended on what they’d said. If they’d called her a tomboy or made fun of her for playing a boys’ sport, Mikey would have mocked them until they either cried or mumbled an apology and stayed the hell away from her. If they’d said something about someone that she cared about, she’d probably just beat the crap out of them. The only reason that he could see her crying was if–

“They’re putting me in right field,” Mikey said, making him frown because that couldn’t be right.

“Why are they doing that?” Sebastian asked, trying to make sense out of what she was telling him.

Mikey was born to pitch. He’d never seen anyone with an arm like hers, which was why he was having a difficult time picturing her in right field. He’d watched everyone that pitched today and Mikey had easily been the best pitcher out there. She’d put in the most effort and worked her ass off to show them what she had. She’d also been the only one that the coach had worked for hours without a break, something that he’d taken as a good sign, but now…

“He said a lot of things, but basically he doesn’t think that I can pitch at this level. He doesn’t think that I could keep up,” Mikey mumbled sadly as she tilted her head back against his chest so that she could look up at him.

Sighing, Sebastian said, “The guy’s an idiot.”

“That’s not even the worst part,” she admitted with a sniffle.

“What’s the worst part?” he asked, wrapping his arms more tightly around her when a gust of cold wind swept over them.

“He’s going to be the coach next year at the high school,” Mikey mumbled, making him bite back a curse. If the coach was already hellbent on keeping Mikey off the pitcher’s mound this year, then he probably wasn’t planning on giving her a chance to pitch next year.

That would destroy her.

“It’s over,” Mikey said softly, sounding completely defeated.

“No, it’s not,” Sebastian promised her, because this was far from over.

Chapter 21

“I knew you’d be back,” Jonathan said with a satisfied sigh as he dropped down on Sebastian’s bed next to Mikey and–

Released a pained groan when Sebastian, who’d been pacing back and forth, reading something on his iPad, reached over and grabbed hold of his brother’s leg and yanked him off the bed before going back to pacing the room.

“Why can’t you accept our love?” Jonathan asked with a sad shake of his head as he pulled himself back up, and once again found himself knocked back on the floor before Sebastian stepped over him and dropped down on the bed next to Mikey.

“How sure are you that he’ll be coaching at the high school next year?” Sebastian asked, throwing her a questioning look as he swiped his finger across the screen.

“A hundred percent sure,” Mikey mumbled as she curled up more tightly into the fetal position, which as everyone knew, was the official position for loathing in self-pity.