Page 4 of (Un)Rivaled

That was the problem with giving your heart away before you’re old enough to know better. You don’t realize you might never get it back.

TWO

“Great,” I said as I dropped my keys on the front porch. “Just fucking great.”

I tried to grab them quickly, hating that the alarm was already blaring at full force, but the damn things had lodged themselves behind my mother’s planter, making me stretch as much as possible to reach them.

Closer.

Closer.

Got ‘em.

Scooping them up, I pushed the door fully open, scrambling to find the glowing alarm box on the wall. Elsa, my golden retriever, barked at my legs, trying to say hello like normal, but with the alarm bells, I could only focus on pressing the numbers as quickly as possible. I must not have been fast enough, because by the time I hit the last number, the phone trilled to life.

I rushed into the kitchen, grabbing the old yellow landline hanging from the kitchen wall. The damn thing had to be over thirty years old, but my mother refused to get rid ofit, even with my offer to upgrade their wireless service provider. She didn’t trust cell phones, especially not in the middle of the woods. She claimed the cell towers would all go out one day, and we’d all be here, begging to use her ugly yellow phone.

I didn’t have the heart to argue with her.

I grabbed the phone, pulling the receiver to my ear.

“May I have your code word, please?”

“Ace of Hearts,” I muttered, hating my mother a little for picking that phrase, especially tonight.

“Thank you, sir. Have a good night.”

I hung up with the security firm and took a steady breath. Elsa jumped excitedly at my feet, reminding me she had business to take care of. Reaching down, I scratched her head and led her through the kitchen. “I know, girl. Come on.”

I pushed open the back door, and she rushed outside, staying close enough that I could see her, even without the porch light on. Usually, we’d spend some time out here so she could stretch her legs, but considering the dropping temperature and the late hour, we were both ready to get back inside. I grabbed her favorite toy from the counter, depositing a few treats inside before letting Elsa wander back to her spot by the fireplace. She happily played as I crossed my nightly chores off my list, hoping it would be enough to lull me to sleep when the time came.

As I poked my head up the staircase off the living room, I said a silent thank you to the universe for my parents not waking up. However, once I stepped back into the kitchen, footsteps creaked along the floorboards. I turned, spotting my mother as she entered the room, wrapped up in my dad’s old, tattered robe. When she got close enough, Ipulled her into my arms, kissing the top of her head. “Sorry about that. Dropped the keys, so I couldn’t put the code in on time.”

“Happens,” she shrugged. “I was up anyway.”

“Everything okay?” I asked, pulling back to look her in the eyes. My mother, Marta Anders, was the strongest woman I knew and could handle anything life threw at her. But the past year had worn heavily on us all, and we both knew the days were taking their toll. She was exhausting herself, and I hated that she wouldn’t ask for help.

“Everything is fine,” she hushed as she moved to where she kept the tea bags. She grabbed the kettle from its place on the stove, filling it with water before returning to turn on the burner. “Your father had a rough night, but we worked it out. I had to give him a little medicine to get him to relax.”

“You should have called me, Mom.” I pulled out one of the stools and took a seat on the island. “I’m here to help.”

“We’re okay, Gray. You have your own life, and you need to live it. I hate that you already gave up so much to be here for us.”

“It’s not enough.” I looked down at my hands, knowing the sacrifices my parents had made to help me live my dream. I’d started playing baseball in middle school after one of my friends took me to the batting cages after school. Something about the rhythm of the machines, focusing on the ball, helped me silence the noise around me. When I was in that metal cage, nothing else mattered. After a lifetime of being unable to focus, it felt like a sign I could tune out the rest of the world as soon as a bat was in my hands.

After that day, I begged my parents to let me join every team. I was on travel teams, rec leagues, and every intramural I could find before I was finally able to join the modified league in eighth grade. And as much as it strained them,my parents were at every game and sacrificed everything to make sure my dream became a reality.

It was the kind of love you could never pay back, but I would be damned if I wasn’t going to try.

My mother reached out, taking my hands in hers. “You’re here, Gray. That’s all I could ask for. I know you should be back in the city, but selfishly, I love having you home.”

“Even when I set off the alarm in the middle of the night?”

She leaned back and shrugged. “Kind of reminds me of high school, when you and Devyn used to think you could sneak out without us finding out.”

“You knew?”

My mother leaned her head back and barked out a laugh. “Of course, we knew. God, did you actually think you’d gotten away with it? There were plenty of nights your father followed you, making sure the two of you were safe, even though we knew you would be.”

---