Page 45 of Off Season

Daylen breaks his game of tonsil hockey in time to say, “Vance and I were walking down the street the other day and saw the cutest puppy licking his own balls. Vance said that he wished he could do that. I told him he should probably just pet the puppy.”

Kamryn starts laughing along with Daylen while Vance flips him the bird. Daylen’s laugh can probably be heard from ten miles over. It’s a good thing because it’s masking the sound of my heart breaking.

CHAPTER NINE

KAMRYN

I’m sitting in the stands at Bailey’s basketball game, cheering for my sister. She’s a true superstar. One of the best basketball players in the country. I’m so proud of her. I love watching her shine doing what she loves.

There are two rows of college coaches watching her play and she’s only a freshman in high school. I find myself calculating which of those colleges also have great softball programs. I need to end up at the same college as my sister. She’s too naïve and innocent to be in the real world without me protecting her. I think we’re both good enough at our respective sports to earn scholarships.

Running through the list, I’m realizing that there’s no overlap. I’m being recruited by schools on the West Coast and in the Deep South. She’s being recruited by schools in the Northeast and Midwest.

I start feeling anxious. Sweat pours from my body at the thought of four years away from the other half of my soul. I can’t imagine it. There will be people lined up to take advantage of her innate kindness.

My mind drifts to that night five years ago. The one thathaunts me every single night of my life. What would have happened to her if I wasn’t there?

Nope. Not happening. I need to find a way to keep her by my side.

I smile as an idea starts to take form in my head.

I jerk awake in the middle of the night. Looking around, I realize that I must have fallen asleep on our couch. The words on the laptop lying across my stomach are staring at me in the face.

A suffocating feeling of guilt washes over me for manipulating my sister into playing softball. It wasn’t her passion, basketball was. It still isn’t her passion, working with children is. Yet I continue to push her to play. I’m such a horrible person. Sometimes I truly hate myself.

Suddenly there’s a soft knock on my front door. I look at the clock on my laptop. It’s three in the morning. Who the fuck is knocking at this hour?

I look down at myself in sleep shorts and a tank top with no bra. I notice that my nipples are visible. Standing and wrapping a blanket around myself, I open the door a small crack and see bright carrot-orange hair.

Opening the door a bit more, I scrunch my eyebrows together. “Justin? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

He twists his lips. “I saw your light on.” He offers me a mug with steam billowing out of it. “I made you some warm milk. It sometimes helps me.”

“Oh…umm…thanks.” I reach for it. A normal woman would assume she’s about to be roofied, but I’m a good judge of character and I think Justin is harmless. He’s just fucking weird. That, and he’s so scrawny I know I can beat the shit out of him, even if I’m drugged. “Do you want to come in?”

He gives the sweetest smile. “I would love to.”

He steps inside, and I notice he’s wearing an Anacondas T-shirt and gym shorts. Yep, fucking weird.

Looking around, he says, “Wow, you guys did a great job with this place. I have the same layout, but this looks so much better.”

I’m just now realizing that I’ve never invited him inside despite the fact that he’s brought me dozens of goodies throughout our first few months here. I’m sort of an asshole.

I shrug. “My sister has a good eye. We need to keep it down. She’s asleep.” And I want to make sure he knows we’re not alone in this apartment in case he’s related to Jeffrey Dahmer.

He lowers his voice to a near whisper. “No problem.”

“Can I get you anything?”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m good.”

I sit in a big chair so he can’t sit next to me. Curling my legs in, I tightly wrap myself in the blanket and sip the milk. It’s actually pretty good. No signs of poison, but I’ll wait another minute or two before I take another sip just in case.

He happily plops himself down on our sofa before looking at me. “You don’t sleep either?”

I shake my head. “No. Not for years.”

“How come?”

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