Page 3 of The Run Home
I had to grit my teeth to keep from punching this asshole’s ugly face. “Yeah, well, I have a plan for her. A little something to get her back for some shit she pulled over the summer. Think you can get everyone to lay off of her? I want her to let her guard down, and then I’m going to pull an epic prank on her.”
Grady laughed like a fucking donkey. “You bet, man. That’s going to be hilarious. I’ll spread the word.”
“Remember. We have to keep this quiet. It can’t get back to her.”
He held out his hand and we did some stupid handshake like we were buddies. “You can count on me, Wolfe!”
He lumbered off to his car, and I watched him go. I’d be a little late changing out for hitting practice, but it was worth it to get him and his buddies away from Shae. I didn’t actually have a prank planned yet, but I’d figure that out later. For now, hopefully they’d leave her alone and I wouldn’t have to see her crying through her bedroom window every night.
Somehow, someway, that girl in her fancy pink dress had reached right into my chest all those years ago and settled there. Every time she hurt, I hurt. Every time she wished for something, I wanted to move heaven and earth to make it happen for her. Every time she switched out her light to go to bed, I said a little prayer that she’d sleep tight and dream of me.
I highly doubt she ever did, but that was okay.
There was no world in which Shae Fletcher and I would ever be together in that way.
Especially when I got drafted to the majors straight out of high school and left Blueball far, far behind.
CHAPTER TWO
Shae
Past (16 yearsold)
I didn’t even recognizethe girl staring back at me in the mirror. Probably because I ditched the glasses for contacts that were making my eyes itch. I’d just have to deal with it, at least for tonight. Senior prom only happened in a girl’s life once.
“Oh, honey.” Mom walked into my bedroom, taking in the long black dress with sequins. It hugged my figure a little more than I would have preferred, but somehow the curvy silhouette of my body still looked pretty. Black was slimming. Wasn’t that what every girl chanted when trying on clothes? “You are stunning.”
Dad grunted, which was his way of saying, “Yeah, what your mother said.”
“Thanks.” I had mixed feelings about prom. Jason, a guy in my honors math class had asked me to go as his date, and I’d said yes. I was excited. Surprised to be asked.
But if I was being honest with myself, I always secretly hoped Boon Wolfe would ask me to be his date.
He and I had grown up together. I hated him for as long as I’d secretly been in love with him. I thought middle school had been a turning point for us. We played volleyball for hours together in my driveway, forging a quiet friendship that had been everything I needed to get through school. We didn’t exactly acknowledge each other in high school, but I felt his silent looks in the hallways. I saw his concerned frown when Grady and his juvenile friends decided to pick on me for sport.
“You don’t like your dress?” Mom put her arm around my shoulder and stood next to me, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I smoothed a hand down my hip and tilted my head.
“No, I do. I feel pretty.”
Mom’s relieved smile made me feel bad for not beaming the second she walked in. She and Dad had me late in life, a surprise pregnancy they claimed they welcomed. They were both already in their early sixties as I graduated high school, arguably the oldest parents of any of my friends. I knew they cherished every moment with me and carefully put aside their hard-earned money to buy me the things I needed and wanted. Mom had even taken on a second job, cleaning houses, to earn enough money to buy this dress and send me to science camp over spring break. I was grateful, I really was.
“Is Jason here yet?”
Mom’s smile slipped a bit. She glanced at her slim gold watch on her wrist. “No. What time did he say he was picking you up?”
“Seven?”
“It’s seven thirty,” Dad groused from the doorway.
I turned away from the mirror, worry starting to bubble in my already nervous gut. “Maybe he got lost?”
The plan was for him to pick me up, we’d head out to dinner with some of his friends, and then go to the dance. The three ofus walked out to the living room where I paced in front of the window, watching the driveway. My feet were already killing me in these heels. I planned to kick them off under the table while we ate dinner.
Not five minutes later, headlights at the end of the long driveway snagged my attention. My heart started to pound. Except the headlights veered right, like they were going up to the Wolfe house instead of mine. And it was a limousine. Unless Jason had made a different plan, this was not my date.
Awkwardly, I ran over to the kitchen window that looked out the side of the house, watching the limo pull up to the Wolfes’, Boon’s friends spilling out in tuxes and fancy dresses. Boon came out the front door, looking like a man hot enough for aGQmagazine cover while he greeted his friends in a tuxedo. He moved to get back in the car, but stopped, his gaze landing on me in the window.
I ducked. But not soon enough.
