Page 23 of Unwritten Rules

I saw him easily. Number seven. Even warming up he held that same cocky swagger he used when he went anywhere.The dark star of the baseball team.

Garrett and I got cozy with snacks and drinks before the game started. The team lined up for their usual pre-game routine, Brent’s gaze landing on mine. I knew that he knew that Garrett didn’t know about last night, and an evil grin only Brent could have appeared on his lips.

“That’s Brent Vaughn,” Garrett whispered into my ear. “He’s a beast and the best shortstop I’ve ever seen.”

I nodded along with him, a faux smile plastered on my lips while I saw a group of girls flocking to greet Brent specifically before he went out for the official start. Knowing I was watching, he leaned over and kissed a few of them on the lips and smacked some others on the ass.Yeah, a beast, I thought, fighting hard to keep myself from rolling my eyes.

We were playing another strong team, but our players seemed to have a competitive edge and laser focus. I didn’t quite understand baseball–or sports in general–but I knew that we had some solid guys playing on our team. It dragged on for a while and Garrett was completely involved in the game.America’s favorite pastime, I thought, sucking down what was left of my soda. We were up in points, and while I hated to admit it, Brentdidseem to be a great baseball player.

“Wow, what a great game,” Garrett said, his attention snapping me back to reality. “I’m happy you came with me.” He leaned in to kiss me, and I got more into it than I should have–for show.

“Me too.” I kept letting him kiss me.

He finally pulled away. “Let’s go get some real food, babe.”

He took me to his favorite diner and told me about the nostalgia surrounding the place. He and his brothers would come here after games with their dad back in the day, but their dad became too consumed with work, and they started going by themselves to keep up the tradition. It was a cute story, and I wondered when I’d be able to chat casually about my mom again. I kept her memories bottled up like a dirty secret from others, just wanting to have her to myself.

She was all I knew. Then, I was thrown into a pretty abusive situation with Sylvia.

“I’m telling you, we have this next football game in the bag. Hudson has no idea what’s coming for them.” He was cute when he talked about things that made him excited–a little sparkle in his eye as he spoke.

I kept up a soft smile, holding his eye contact despite my mind wandering back and forth between the diner with Brent, my mom, and Garrett in front of me. Taking small sips of my coffee, I tried to make myself look more animated than I felt. Kelly might have been right.

“You’ve basically started your own soap opera.”

How much more drama could I get myself into?

Garrett turned at the sound of yelling coming from outside.Maybe I shouldn’t ask those types of questions to the universe. A group of guys were standing around while another one approached and was cursing up a storm, pointing his finger toward someone in the group.

Looking more intently, the group looked like...the baseball team. And the guy was yelling at Brent. Because of course he was. And of course Brent looked as cool as a cucumber while it happened.

The guy took a swing. Brent backed up a few steps, laughing while a cigarette hung from his lips.

“I’m going to go see what’s going on out there,” Garrett said, easing himself out of the booth.

“Wait,” I grabbed his wrist. “Don’t.”

He gently pulled my hand off of his. “I’ll be fine. Remember, I get tackled all the time.”

“Tackled, but not sucker punched!” I chased after him.

Garrett was already out the door. “Everything good out here?”

“Go back inside, Bradford,” one of the baseball guys called out.

The man who was screaming at Brent had a few guys with him. Screaming guy and Brent were on the ground instantly, throwing punches and grunting like cavemen. The rest of the group erupted into flying fists, shouts, and taunts.

There were shouts from inside about calling the cops. Brent rolled off of the guy, blood dripping from his lips, and had a deadly grin as he looked up at me.

Garrett stepped out in front of me, blocking my view and pushed me back towards the door. He turned around to face Brent sucker-punching him square in the jaw, throwing him out into the fight where he took a few more hits after taking down one of the other guys.

What a mess.

Luckily, the fight didn’t last much longer and Garrett slowly backed out looking as if he hoped that would be the end of it. The baseball team was victorious after they brought a few more men down while the others retreated, leaving their beaten members on the ground, probably hoping the baseball team wouldn’t follow them. Brent fist bumped one of his teammates to his left. “Fuck yeah, dude.”

Garrett looked like he took a few too many hits that hurt, but still came to inspect me. His eyes were full of concern as he searched my face. “You okay? Did anyone touch you?”

“No, I think I’m fine.” My eyes weren’t quite focused on his face.

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