Page 61 of Pitcher Us
The first loud bang sends shivers down my spine and Will pulls me tight to his chest, holding me until the bat finally breaks.
“I’ll pay the school back for that,” he says with no emotion in his voice, then walks out without looking back.
When the door slams shut, another jump runs through me and Will holds me tighter.
“It’s okay, he just needs to cool off.”
“And you?” I place my chin on his chest to meet his eyes. “Do you need some space?”
“Callie, I’m going to need zero space. Holding you here is the only thing keeping me from going on a murder spree.”
I snort a pained laugh. “I’d be your alibi.”
Will places his hands on either side of my head. “Listen to me. If your dad ever calls you, hand me the phone. If Nic tries to talk to you at games, you come find me. Hell, call in fucking sick for every Chicago game. Never subject yourself to those assholes again. I don’t care if you want to walk away from whatever is happening between us tomorrow, if I ever find out that you brought yourself back into their fucking mess, I will hunt you down and bring you back to me.”
“Kidnapping? Rather bold move.”
“Don’t joke, Callie. I’m serious. I’d throw away my entire career if it meant you not going back to that. Promise me. I need to hear you say that you’ll never let them have any hold on you ever again.”
My heart aches in my chest and I feel like there’s this baseball of emotions stuck in my throat. “You know, I did some online therapy back in Seattle, and for a while I was so angry. I wanted to get back at everyone, I wanted them to feel the pain I felt. But then my therapist told me that sometimes the best revenge is just having a happy life. That took me a while to come to terms with and it’s easy for me to forget sometimes, but that's what I want—a happy life.”
Will sighs and places a kiss on my forehead. His lips linger and I shut my eyes, breathing in this moment.
“I want that for you too, Blaze.”
The day drags by. The training camp ends at noon and Adam refuses to look at me. The car ride back to Jett and Wyla’s is painfully silent. Dinner is tense with only the four-year-old talking up a storm because, thankfully, she has no idea how to read the room.
After dinner Jett takes Adam and Will to his gym for a “workout.” Everyone knows it’s a ploy to give me and Adam a little space from each other. It feels weird fighting with him like this, if we could even call it fighting. Avoidance? Irritation? Disappointment, maybe? I don’t know. But every part of me wants to apologize to him. I know I don’t need to, and even if I wanted, I can’t bring myself to do it. I remember how upset I was when I was old enough to understand where Adam’s injuries really came from, but he never told me. I stand by my decision to leave him out of it.
“Here you go.” Wyla holds out a glass of wine then places two bottles on the coffee table. “Stevie’s finally in bed, and I say you’re due another good cry paired nicely with a merlot.”
I take a big gulp while staring aimlessly in a daze. “You hate merlot.”
“That’s true. That’s why I made me this.” Wyla reaches for another glass that I didn’t see from the side table. “Jack and Coke, you know I love a good whiskey.”
The laugh that bubbles out surprises me. “You drink that; I'll stick to this.” I refill my glass with a gracious pour.
“So, you told them, huh?”
“Yup, it didn’t exactly go over well, as you can see.”
“Adam just needs to work through it. I’ve learned some shocking things that my sisters went through, and it rattles you. Learning that the people you thought you knew struggled so heavily and you had no idea—it’s hard to move past.”
Taking another big sip, I sigh. “I get it, but Wyla, you know why I didn’t tell him, right?”
Wyla’s the only person who has ever heard the full story. We had a night similar to this one back in Seattle. By bottle two I started crying profusely and let everything out. The next morning when she made me breakfast and forced a gallon of water in me, I made her swear to never tell Adam.
“Yes, of course I do. It’s also the reason I've never told Jett either.”
“You didn’t?”
“Nope. I promised you I wouldn’t tell anyone, and you were no longer in that situation, so I didn’t feel like it was my place to tell anyone else.”
“Aw, Wyla. You’re the best.” I rest my head on her shoulder. “I think you're the first real girlfriend I’ve ever had.”
“I’m honored. And full disclosure, if you did try to go back to that whole fucked up situation, I was going to rat your butt out in a heartbeat.”
A small humph of a laugh finds its way out.
