Page 39 of Curveball: The Baby and the Grump

“It’s pretty big.” I laugh, mostly to cover for how intense and awkward this interrogation is. If I’d known I’d be getting the big introduction, I’d have worn a nicer shirt.

“So, you’re the nurse who stalked Jackson all the way back to his house,” sneers Max, looking down on me with the most judgmental eyes you can imagine.

“Well, I wouldn’t say stalked,” I say, touching my face nervously. “Just went above and beyond in the duty of care.”

“And,” interrupts Huan, “he told us that you didn’t even know who he was! Are you for real?”

“Not everyone loves baseball, you know,” I say, clenching my fist to stop myself from snapping. This is Jackson’s team. These are his friends. I want to make a good impression.

“True, but everyone likes a baseball player, especially a hot one like Jackson.”

Jackson laughs, waving his hands at them to try and calm them down a little. I’m not sure if it’s flattering or not that Jackson has been talking about me behind my back. At least he seems to have been saying nice things, even if the truth has been exaggerated here and there. I’ve said things to my friends too. We’re not a secret.

But I did think we were a little more private than the showing Jackson is making of me now. He wraps a possessive arm around me, and I get a little glimpse into the person he’s known for being. An ass.

Right now, I’m just a little thing to hang from his arm and make him look good. It’s a million miles away from the Jackson I’ve been getting to know, and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

“Anyway, Frey, we can’t stay very long because me and the boys are going out for drinks. It was good to see you, though.”

It takes my brain a second to catch up with the fact that “Do you want to come?” wasn’t included in that sentence anywhere. It’s not that he owes me anything — and not even that I want to go — but it would have been nice to be asked. Would it have been awkward as all hell being interrogated by at least a dozen men who have only heard rumors about me? Sure, it would.

But he said it himself. I’m his girlfriend. And he doesn’t want to spend any time with me.

He pulls me into another hug and kisses me chastely on the lips before saying goodbye and turning away, leaving me standing there in his world, abandoned for the game that he loves so much, breaking my heart right down the middle.

This hurts more than it should.

I walk back out to my car and just sit in it for a long while, not even bothering to turn on the engine as my thoughts churn inside my skull. I think I know what I have to do. I hate it, but it’s for the best.

It’s too painful to consider, and I’m going to give him a chance to settle. He’s not been back to playing for long; there’s still time for things to go back to normal. Except… I have the cold feeling that this is the normal, and I don’t have much of a place in it. I think I have to face facts.

Something has to change, or I have to break up with Jackson Kerr.

CHAPTER 21

JACKSON

Isigh a huge sigh and sink onto the hard wooden bench in the changing room. Man, I love baseball. Did you know I love baseball?

Best of all, my arm is feeling right back on top form, and the whole team have been so supportive of my injury. I decided not to tell them that it was technically Freya’s fault because I didn’t want any of them to be nasty to her when they met her. She means too much to me to let the other important group of people in my life dislike her.

Not only was normal practice good today, but I stayed a little later to go through a couple of plays with the coach, and that was all very positive too. We have a big game tomorrow, but I’m feeling good about it. In fact, I’m feeling the best about any of this that I have in a long time. Life is great.

I’m just taking a few seconds to myself when Ben the batboy comes running up to me. “Hey, Mr. Kerr. Can you get your phone? It’s been ringing like crazy in here. Next time can you maybe put it on silent?”

What I want to say is, “Hey, I don’t think you’re supposed to speak to me like that,” but what I actually say is, “Sure thing. Where is it?”

“How should I know?” says Ben. “It would just be really cool if you could get a less annoying ringtone.”

I decide not to say anything else before I regret it. After all, Ben is the one who has to deal with all our dirty socks.

He sighs, shakes his head, and then wanders off, leaving me alone again, my good mood ruined. Who was calling me? I don’t know that many people outside of this room.

I want to change, but a sudden terror grips me that someone has died, so I rush over to my locker and rummage around in my bag until I find my phone. The screen lights up with twelve missed calls. Shit. They’re all from Freya.

And then it hits me. I agreed to meet her for lunch today, and I completely forgot because my phone’s been in here the whole time. It’s not like I even saw her message until now. She’s gonna be so mad with me. And I deserve every second of it. But that doesn’t stop the guilt. I have to get her to forgive me.

I take my phone and sit back down, dialing her number. Straight away, she picks up with a terse, “Hello.”

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