Page 16 of Strike Zone

“I bet you don’t.” His words are deep and slow. It rattles something loose in me. As if a part of myself I’ve been holding on tightly to is trying to break free and follow him off a cliff with wild abandon.

Before I can think too much about why I’m suddenly feeling reckless, my phone lights up with a text notification.

“It’s Charlie,” I announce.

“Is she coming over here?” He leans closer to read the message with me. His sudden enthusiasm grates on my nerves.

“Do you mind?” I hold my phone against my chest. He backs off but is still close enough to breathe on me like a donkey and view my screen.

CHARLIE

Looks like things are going well. I’m heading home. Give me all the details in the morning.

Attached is a grainy photo of Wyatt and me from across the crowded bar. We are leaning towards each other and it appears as if we are seconds away from kissing. Only I know the truth, we were swapping insults. Again.

“You need to fix this,” Wyatt says, pointing at my phone.

“I don’t need to do anything. I will however tell her that she read the situation wrong.”

“So you didn’t want me to kiss you? Because in the photo it sure looks like you did,” he says, with a wry smile. We can now add delusional to his list of personality traits.

“Absolutely not.” I dig into my wallet for some cash. My extended stay at The Armory is over. If Charlie is going home then so am I. “I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you. Maybe it’s time to move on.”

“This ain’t over. Set up a lunch date. You, me, and Charlie.” He grips my elbow as I drop money on the bar for our drinks.

“Why would I do that?” I yank myself free from his grasp.

“Because you don’t fail at anything.” He throws my words back in my face knowing good and well I won’t be able to ignore the challenge. Especially not one coming from him.

“Fine. After this, I’m done. You’re on your own.”

“Deal.” He extends his hand for me to shake.

Why do I feel like I just made a deal with the devil?

4

WYATT

I’m not sleeping. My game is off. Something ain’t right with me.

For once it’s not the thing with Charlie eating at me either. Maybe because Wren is finally helping. It’s eased some of the turmoil I was feeling. Despite Sunday night being a complete disaster and a waste of time.

Instead of flirting it up with Charlie and making progress, I was stuck sparring with Wren.

And those cherry red lips. Bad Wyatt for looking twice at them.

I shouldn’t be thinking about those lips because those lips are attached to Wren. And she makes me certifiable.

It must be my family that has me on edge.

My mama hasn’t called in a few days. That’s unusual for her and slightly concerning. Typically she’s dialing my number so often, I’m dodging her calls. There are times she’s resorted to calling me from random numbers to see if I’ll pick up.

For the most part, my family leaves me be while I’m at school. They may not know the real reason but they know how important it is for me to get drafted. My focus needs to be baseball. Not the farm.

My family would never say nothing, but we all know the money would change our lives. I am banking on my pro salary to save our home and all our land from foreclosure. They sacrificed all of it to get me here. I’m one of the reasons we’re in financial dire straits to begin with. Now, it’s my turn to pay them back.

The fact that Mama hasn’t called to check-in with me means something is going on and they don’t want me to know about it. They think it will distract me. What they don’t realize is the not knowing is just as hard.

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