Page 27 of The Curveball

My fists clench and unclench as I slip into the team room. Good, most of the guys are already here. The sooner we get through this, the sooner I can get home.

“Griff!” Parker stands and waves me over, like the guy doesn’t tower over everyone, even when we’re seated.

Ryder and Dax flip around in their seats at the mention of my name. In a short-lived frenzy, my friends shuffle around, so I’m seated in the middle, then huddle on either side like a bunch of gossip queens.

“What happened last night?” Parker snaps under his breath. “You can’t run off like that and leave us hanging.”

“Did you hit Wren?” Dax asks.

Not sure if I should laugh or punch him for looking at me like he’s not sure if I did this on purpose.

“Let the blood back in your face, Daxy. I didn’t go on an attempted murder spree.”

Again, he lets out the slightest breath of relief.

Ryder is bolder and grunts. “Well, we weren’t sure after we got you all tense over your unrequited pansy feelings.”

“Feelings?” Parker looks like he wants to hitmenow. We tell each other a lot. The brightest pieces and the darkest pieces of me have gone inside Parker Knight’s ears.

“You guys are worse than my mom,” I grumble. “Yes, Wren and I were in an accident. I hit her, she got a concussion, I almost lost it, but didn’t because I’m incredible, now she is seething at my house because I put Alice on babysitting duty while I’m here. End of story.”

My friends say nothing. They all wear differing expressions of confusion.

Parker breaks first and whispers, “Wait. Concussion? She’s at your house?”

“Wren Fox is at your house?” Dax parrots back.

“Yes. She needed someone to wake her up every few hours, okay? I got the feeling she didn’t want to call her family. Something about overprotective brothers. That left her with me, and it’s been fine. Minus the part where she started planning ways to bury me in the desert when I called Alice.”

A long pause follows. One with enough umph to leave a bitter taste of awkwardness in my mouth.

“But . . .” Ryder starts slowly, “she’s okay?”

“Her head seems to be recovering, yes,” I say, trying to bury the pang of guilt for the entire thing all over again.

I’m not a good guy, and the guilt is made worse when I admit the truth. I hate that Wren is in pain, I hate that she had to go through any trauma at all. But the selfish, wicked side of me wouldn’t trade last night for anything.

“Be careful, Griff,” Dax says.

“With what?”

He lets out a long breath. “Wren is a nice person, and from the little bits I’ve observed when she’s with Skye and Alice, she’s been through stuff. Be careful with her.”

“Who do you think I am, Sage? Some guy who’s going to use her for what I want, then toss her to the curb?”

“Take it easy,” Ryder says. “He’s saying make sure this need for Wren to like you isn’t because you have to be liked or because you have to please everyone.”

“I don’t.”

Ryder gives me a look like he might smack my mouth.

I frown in return. I don’t need to be liked, and I don’t need to please everyone. Usually. Maybe I do a little, but not to the point that I’d hurt Wren.

“She doesn’t like me,” I say, hating the words on my tongue. “I’m helping her out because she needed it, and her apartment is being de-molded.”

I’ll leave out the part about how I absolutely don’t want her going back to her apartment building.

Dax sighs. “You’re a good guy, Griff.”

---