Page 50 of Lost in the Current of You

I nodded, absorbing his words as I took a bite of my own chicken.

His knife and fork clattered on his plate as he turned toward me, squeezing my shoulder. “Anything you do, I’m going to be proud of, chook. You don’t need to ask me. I’ll support you in whatever you do. In whatever you need.”

I couldn’t stop the slight watering of my eyes. All it took was Dad’s words of encouragement to soothe my spiralling thoughts and anxiety. He was so opposite to my mother that I wondered how they even ended up together, and why they married. Dad was like a cool ocean breeze that made you breathe a bit easier. Mum was like wildfire, threatening the structures of the building you’ve worked hard to build. I could see it working for a short time, but nothing could contain my mother.

But it had been a week and I hadn’t touched those photos, since that day with Reece. I’ve been putting it off since thinking more seriously about it. I’d thought on more than one occasion that I wasn’t even good enough to make photography a career. That maybe it was just a fun little hobby to take under to remember my friends by, knowing they would be moving away. Anyone could snap a photo, it wasn’t anything special.

Maybe Reece and Dad were just trying to appease me. Dad has to say nice things because he’s my dad. Reece, well, I don’t know. We’ve been texting on and off since that day but he hasn’t mentioned wanting those photos since. I’ve been avoiding it, nerves biting at me anytime I thought about sending them. There were a few photos in the collection I had taken of him while he wasn’t looking and I could practically hear his teasing even when he wasn’t there. I could just leave them out, but something tells me that he would know.

It was Sunday evening, and I decided to sink into the couch and eat my way through my feelings, snacks surrounding me as I replayed classic rom-coms. I thought it would distract me from my need to be praised for the photos I had taken.

I knew he had already told me he liked them and encouraged me to send them to him, but I couldn’t help thinking that he was just being nice.

Then my phone lit up with a text message and I picked it up with lightning speed when I saw the name I had been waiting for.

Reece:

This might be a huge ask of you, but do you mind coming to Sandpoint? The baseball field out there?

I stared at the text until the screen faded to black with furrowed brows.

Their last game before starting the Christmas holiday break was at 1 p.m. His game was well over by now. The sun had almost disappeared from view, and I wondered why he was still there.

Are you okay? What are you still doing there?

The bubbles appeared and disappeared for a short while.

I’m fine. Just wanted your company. Maybe you can give me tips on my wind-up. Thinking of switching it up a bit for a bit of fun

He punctuated his text with the emoji with its tongue out and crazy eyes, and that made me shake my head and chuckle to myself.

Don’t think I'll be much help but I'll be there in 20.

I was in my car, ready to pull out of the driveway five minutes later, after throwing on a change of more presentable clothes and grabbing my phone, wallet, and keys, when his next text came through. I glanced at it, and a rush of heat built up in my cheeks, and the widest smile appeared on my face.

I know. I just wanted an excuse to see you.

The ballpark had a few baseball fields but it was easy to spot Reece when he was the only one there.

The crunch of gravel rolled under the tyres of my car as I parked in the top car park and switched the car off.

I watched him for a moment. He didn’t once look up from his focus. He was throwing pitch after pitch toward the home plate, hitting the fence behind. One after the other, he would pick a ball from the bucket he had propped next to the mound, walk up, and ready for his set before releasing the ball at the top. The ball flew at an incredible speed every time, but I could tell he didn’t care about his accuracy. They were flying everywhere.

I rushed out of the car and carefully down the steep hill until I was standing behind the home plate, the towering fence, and the ninety or so feet between us. It was then that he noticed me, and the subtle crease I could just barely see between his brows relaxed as his lips softened.

He pulled out one of his earbuds and dropped the ball he had in his hand and his glove next to the mound before jogging over to me.

Once he was close enough, he slowed to a walk and I started to talk. “Shouldn’t you be resting? You just played a game and now you're here throwing pitches like your life depends on it. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

He grinned as he grabbed the fence above us and leaned close enough that I felt every breath of warm air puff against my face. “You worried about me?”

I looked away, focusing on the pitching mound behind him. It was like he had direct control of the blood in my veins, making it rise to my cheeks and my entire body warm, with just one look. His eyes, all too hypnotising with the swirling greens and flecks of gold and brown.

The sun had almost set, giving us just enough light to see, casting shadows around the angles of Reece’s face making it appear sharper. His hair was a damp, dishevelled mess on the top of his head with a few ringlets falling onto his forehead. I couldn’t help but notice the way the muscles in his arms bulged with the way he leaned against the fence.

I took a deep breath to clear my thoughts. “I might be.”

He shuffled and the movement brought my eyes back to him. His face softened and just for a moment his eyes held mine, heavy and intense as they bounced from one to the other.

---