Page 27

Chapter 27

Will

Pulling into the college baseball fields bright and early, Callie shivers next to me in the car the moment I open the door. It’s really quite ironic that a girl whose whole being is fire is constantly cold.

She climbs out of the car and pulls her jean jacket over her Blues crew neck. Her skintight leggings make it near impossible for me not to check out her ass, which sucks because I know every other fucker on this field is going to want to do the same.

She flashes me a quick smile before turning back around to grab her backpack off the floorboard. Her long red hair is pulled back in a low ponytail that is tucked in from when she put on her jacket.

Not even thinking about it I reach for those fiery waves and pull them out from under her coat. The action is innocent enough until my fist is wrapped around her hair, and I give it a light tug. She goes completely still and I swear she’s holding her breath. I don’t wait for her to turn around, even though I’d love to see the pink on her cheeks. I walk to the back of the car and grab some of the equipment to take to the fields.

I might not be able to stake my claim on her in front of people, but I can take every opportunity in private to remind her that she’s mine.

Throwing the last bag down by home plate, Callie shivers again. “Why did we have to do this so early? Why does it have to be so cold? I thought the south was warm?”

“Cals, we've never lived anywhere but up north. How are you always cold?” Adam huffs. “It’s nowhere near what we normally experience.”

“I don’t like the cold. I like to be warm,” she states, clearly unamused.

“I brought a sweatshirt that I don’t think I’ll need if you want it,” I state in the most nonchalant way I can. I knew she’d be cold, so yeah I planned ahead. I might have coincidentally brought the one with my number on the back.

Oh, you’re cold? Put this on, because I want to send a fucking message.

“It should warm up pretty soon, Cals,” Jett promises. Dream crusher.

“We’ll see.” Callie rocks on her feet and crosses her arms. “I’m going to go get organized in one of the dugouts.”

I give her a slight smile as she walks by. I overhear Adam say something to Jett, but I don’t really pay that much attention because there’s only been one person occupying my thoughts as of late.

“You might want to dim the lights on the heart eyes a bit, Will?” Jett says.

Looking over at him, I realize Adam’s halfway to the parking lot now. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Okay, I'll be blunt about it. I don’t know if there’s something going on between you and Callie. I don’t need to know, but either way, if you’re trying to be subtle about liking her, you’re not.”

“Thanks for the tip, but Callie and I are just friends.”

“That ‘just’ you threw in there really made it sound believable.” Jett laughs. “And I’m just Wyla’s baby daddy. The statement itself is true but the added ‘just’ is so very false.”

“Right, you’re also her ticket for the senior discounts, right?”

Any upper hand Jett felt he had was lost in that moment because he knows Wyla begged us to make all the old jokes we could today. She’s seven years younger than Jett. They met in their twenties, so it really isn’t that bad, but she lives to call him old.

“That woman,” he grumbles under his breath, but there’s a hint of a smile.

“Hey, Jett, some more of the guys are here,” Adam says, walking back up with three other guys. I recognize them all immediately. There’s Damon Moreitti, the Chicago Knights shortstop, and Logan Pettersen, an outfielder and one of our old teammates back in Seattle. Both of them are great, never had any problems. The third guy, however, is the Knight’s new designated hitter and a complete asshole, Nic Collins.

I may or may not have intentionally hit him with a ball in Chicago last season.

Logan makes his way to Jett, clapping him on the shoulder. “Hey, Ellison, did you lose all your good contacts after retirement because I know these assholes lost their edge the moment they became a part of the Blues.”

“Yeah, I was desperate, so I called you too,” Jett throws back, then turns to Nic. “No offense, I don’t remember inviting you.”

“That’s on me,” Damon says. “I don’t think you guys have formally met Nic. Well, I think Will has… He got called up midseason as our designated hitter.”

“Oh, shit. He’s the guy you intentionally hit.” Adam hits my shoulder and jokes, “Go on, say you're sorry.”

Not fucking likely.

“Nah, I deserved it. Plus, it didn’t even leave a bruise.” Nic shrugs to cover up the obvious lie. I pitch ninety-six miles per hour on an off day. Didn’t leave a bruise, my ass.

“Not that it matters anymore,” Damon cuts back in. “When Jett mentioned the Blues’ team photographer was going to be here, we thought this could be some good PR exposure. That is, if you guys don’t mind.”

“You’ll have to talk to her about it,” Adam replies. I know Jett talked to Callie about taking pictures of the fundraiser as a whole, but I’m relieved that Adam isn’t straight up volunteering Callie for more work. Adam’s also been sizing up Nic like he’s trying to place him from somewhere.

“I can do that,” Nic says, a little too enthusiastic for my liking.

As if she knew we were talking about her, Callie walks up to us while looking down at her camera. “Hey, Jett, can I get your car keys? I think I will get—Nic?”

Callie looks as white as a ghost.

“Hey, Cupcake, long time no see.” And with those words it’s like the whole atmosphere changes. You could hear a pin drop on the dirt right now.

Callie’s mouth gapes and the only conclusion I can make is that this has to be her ex. The ex who made her swear off baseball players—before me that is.

“Wait, that’s why you look familiar,” Adam says, breaking the silence. “Your parents are friends with ours.”

“Yeah,” Nic responds but his eyes don’t leave Callie. “Calliope and I might have taken the friends things a little further, though.” He tilts his head, addressing Callie now. “You were in your last semester getting your master’s in finance when we started dating, but—you always did love photography, didn't you? I just assumed you liked being in front of the camera.”

What the fuck does that mean?

In a millisecond I see Callie go from shocked to outright pissed. She takes two steps, shoves her camera at Adam and punches Nic right in the face. “Fuck you.”

It takes all of us a couple seconds to recover, and before I can even process what just happened Callie’s halfway to Jett’s car.

“I see you leaving didn’t make you any less of a stuck-up bitch,” Nic hollers after her.

I’m pretty sure Adam and I both see red at those words. But where Adam’s red comes from Nic, my red is blazing away and I need to check on her. Adam grabbing Nic’s collar is the last thing I see as I chase after Callie.

“Callie, hold on!” I shout after her, but she doesn’t stop. “Callie!”

When she reaches Jett’s car she yanks on the door handle trying to rip it open but it’s locked. Tears stream down her face. Fuck if someone sees. I turn her to me and cradle her face.

“Callie, it’s just me, baby. It’s okay.” I wipe away her tears, and she sighs.

“I’m sorry, I thought when I saw him at a game or something I would be more prepared. Practice being professional, but I didn’t expect?—”

“Shh.” I pull her in, holding her tight with my hand on the back of her head. “Don’t apologize. What did I tell you about apologizing on behalf of men?”

“I was apologizing for hitting him, Will. My action, not his. “She sniffles.

“His actions caused it.” I kiss her head.

She snorts a sad laugh. “You don’t even know what he did.”

“It doesn’t matter. He deserved it, end of story.”

Her arms squeeze around my waist a little tighter and it seems that her tears have stopped. I should probably let go, but I don’t want to.

“Callie,” Adam calls.

We get a small arms distance away from each other before he comes barreling around the other cars.

“What the fuck just happened?” he barks.

“Adam. Chill out, man,” I throw back at him.

It takes Adam a minute to register my words and for a moment I think he might lash out at me next but then he takes a deep breath. “You’re right. Callie, are you okay?”

Callie wipes the tears off her cheeks. “Yeah, I’m fine. But I’m not staying here if he’s going to be here. I was going to manage when you played against Chicago and hoped I would be too busy to interact, but not here. I’m also not taking any pictures of him, so don’t even ask.”

“I wasn’t,” Adam replies. “Jett’s called him a car to take him back to their hotel. Damon is going to stay, if that’s okay?”

She nods. “That’s fine.”

I probably shouldn’t be the one to ask this—to Adam it might come off weird, but fuck it. “Callie, what happened?”

She exasperates a breath. “Can we do this later?”

Adam sighs next to me. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to need some sort of answer. I rarely play the brother card, but I am now.”

Rolling her eyes, she huffs. “Fine, but can we go somewhere else for a minute?”