Page 101 of How We Fooled

I glance at Maya, and Natalie doesn’t miss that I do.

“Hold up!” Natalie sits a little taller. “Did you know?” she asks Maya.

Maya grins from ear to ear and nods her head, covering her mouth like she’s a little girl getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Natalie nudges her. “And you didn’t tell me! When did you find out?”

“When we went to the mall in November, I think. When I was still dating Trevor. I saw them there,” Maya replies.

Natalie wears a stunned expression. “I can’t believe you were able to keep something like that and not even give us a hint that you just saw an absolute bombshell of gossip.”

Maya shrugs, grinning my way. “I was happy for them. Who am I to tell their story?”

She holds her hand out to me, and I grip it for a few seconds.

“Thank you again for keeping our secret.”

“Always.” She smiles.

We spend the rest of the afternoon talking about our guys, sharing stories, and just having all-around girl time. I forgot how much I missed this, and by the time they’re ready to head home, I feel like one of them. And being one of them feels damn good right now.

Eli

A week has gone by since our world imploded. Thankfully, people are slowly forgetting the drama surrounding us and moving on to the next town gossip.

With the hospital confirming the multiple accounts of women coming in with Liza’s same symptoms, an investigation was initiated, and turns out, there were a few guys in on it, including the bartender. Three guys had bets going on who the girl would choose to go home with.

Once approached, one of them squealed like a pig, taking the whole group down.

It makes me sick to my stomach that Liza almost got taken advantage of that way, and I thank God every day that I was there to protect her. I guess everything does happen for a reason. I hate to say it, but if Liza losing her job and the controversy surrounding me helped protect just one female, then it was all worth it.

We still don’t know exactly what’s going on with the possible MLB draft or my college recruiting, but my agent thinks we should just let it be for a little while and hope that things blow over. So, until then, Liza and I are trying to live as normal of a life as possible.

We have a home baseball game today, and I had to beg her to attend. She didn’t think it would be a good look, and I told her I didn’t care one bit. This will be the first time we’ve been out in public together, and I want her there, cheering me on.

She was officially fired yesterday, so she’s free to do as she pleases now. And what we both please is being together, so that’s exactly what we should do. It is the only silver lining in all of this, so we want to take full advantage.

I shouldn’t be surprised that they called to let her know during the school day, but it still made me angry that I wasn’t there when it happened. She texted me right away, and I instantly stood up and walked out of class, knowing I needed to be by her side. She can pretend all she wants that she was prepared and okay with their decision, but I know it still stung, so I didn’t want her to be alone.

A part of me didn’t think she’d show up today, but when I see her, Maya, Natalie, as well as Natalie’s friends Ashley and Susie, all walk up together, I couldn’t be happier.

They’ve invited her into their world, and seeing her there is one of the most beautiful things.

As they take their seats, I don’t miss the way parents look at her, but she holds her head high, and I love that about her.

When it’s my turn to bat, knowing she’s there gives me this sense of thrill that I haven’t really experienced before. I take two balls that the pitcher was trying to get me to chase, but when he hangs the curveball over the center of the plate, I swing with all my might and hit it out of the park over the center fielder’s head.

As I trot my way around the bases, I look for her in the crowd. When I see her standing and yelling at the top of her lungs, I blow her a kiss. Loving that I’m finally able to show the world she’s mine.

CHAPTER FORTY

Eli

Graduation has come and gone, and though I’ve committed to play college baseball in Tennessee, my draft status will most likely change that. I’ve waited for this day, and now that it’s here, my nerves are all over the place.

My agent thinks I will go in the second round, which means I was invited to attend the draft in person. Leaving my friends in Leighton River didn’t feel right though, so everyone is coming to my house, including a full camera crew to film the moment we find out.

“You ready for this, big guy?” Ben asks as he and the rest of the crew arrive at my house.

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