genuine. As he moves to get up off the couch, I throw my blanket to the side to get up too. “Just make sure you tell Quinn that I hung with you all night and didn’t leave until I was sure you were okay.” He winks, and I melt.
“She will be very happy to hear that you took care of me all night.” I smile and feel the warm flush across my cheeks. “Seriously though, you’re a great listener. Thank you for being here.”
“You’re welcome, Ash.” He leans in and wraps his arms around me. The comfort I feel by being in there almost breaks me again because I don’t think Charlie ever hugged me with this much care. Cam holds me tight. He doesn’t expect anything. He doesn’t push me for anything. He just holds me, and for this moment I feel safe and cared for. Somehow, I manage to keep my tears in. “Until we meet again.”
I nod as he pulls back from me. Something about knowing we would not see each other again made it so much easier to share our problems. We talked about anything and everything for hours and it felt like talking to a male version of Quinn. “See ya around.” I manage a small smile.
I watch him walk down the stairs and back across the beach to the house next door. I instantly feel alone and head in to try and get at least a few hours of sleep.
Chapter 5
Cam
“W ills.” Perez slaps me on the back when I come around the corner. When he catches my eyes, his features drop. “Shit. You look like hell. What happened?”
“Don’t worry about it man. I’ll be fine.”
“Wills!” The sound of the kid’s voice makes me groan today. “Hey man, great to have you back. Hope you got everything done the last two days.” As he catches up to us the same look crosses his face. “Wow, you look like shit.”
“Fuck off.”
Fonz throws his hands up. “Whoa, sorry man, but you do.”
“Yeah, I get it. Enough about how I look. Last time I checked that’s not relevant to how I play.”
“I’m just sayin’. If you’re gonna be pitching today, I’m afraid we might be in trouble.”
“King will be ready to go and if not, I’ll do what I always do.” I toss my bag at him. “Get this loaded. Then get your ass on the plane and shut up about how I look.”
“You got it, Cap.” The dumbass actually has the nerve to salute me, and it takes the rest of my self-control not to smack him across the face.
“Damn rookies.”
“Hey, he doesn’t mean any harm. He just doesn’t know any better yet.” Perez lowers his voice. “Seriously though, you all right man? Anything I can do?”
Johnny P is my best friend on the team. I know he means well, but today I’m just not in the mood for anything, including him treating me like a freakin’ baby. “I’m fine. Just let it go.”
“All right. Shit. I hope King is good to go.”
“He will be. I talked to Coach last night after he talked to him. He’s ready.”
We continue in silence to the plane. I’m dreading stepping onto it. As soon as I see the prick, my blood will boil. I’ve tried to tell myself he’s just a sorry excuse for a man, but it doesn’t matter. He took my girl, and no matter how hard I try to look the other way I want to hurt him. He doesn’t deserve her. Obviously I don’t either, but he is a worthless piece of shit.
“I’m glad you’re back. The team needs you. Without you here, they fall apart.”
I know he’s just trying to be nice, but he’s partially right. I’m responsible for keeping them all unified and it makes me feel guilty for taking two days away. Although I needed to do it for family, I still felt like shit about it. Then spending six hours talking to a girl rather than sleeping was selfish. If I have to pitch today, the team is going to suffer because of my need to have a friend for a few hours. But shit, it’s been so long since I’ve had someone I could just sit and talk to. It felt great.
“Thanks, man. I’m back. My head will be in the game the rest of the season. Sorry I had to
“She will be very happy to hear that you took care of me all night.” I smile and feel the warm flush across my cheeks. “Seriously though, you’re a great listener. Thank you for being here.”
“You’re welcome, Ash.” He leans in and wraps his arms around me. The comfort I feel by being in there almost breaks me again because I don’t think Charlie ever hugged me with this much care. Cam holds me tight. He doesn’t expect anything. He doesn’t push me for anything. He just holds me, and for this moment I feel safe and cared for. Somehow, I manage to keep my tears in. “Until we meet again.”
I nod as he pulls back from me. Something about knowing we would not see each other again made it so much easier to share our problems. We talked about anything and everything for hours and it felt like talking to a male version of Quinn. “See ya around.” I manage a small smile.
I watch him walk down the stairs and back across the beach to the house next door. I instantly feel alone and head in to try and get at least a few hours of sleep.
Chapter 5
Cam
“W ills.” Perez slaps me on the back when I come around the corner. When he catches my eyes, his features drop. “Shit. You look like hell. What happened?”
“Don’t worry about it man. I’ll be fine.”
“Wills!” The sound of the kid’s voice makes me groan today. “Hey man, great to have you back. Hope you got everything done the last two days.” As he catches up to us the same look crosses his face. “Wow, you look like shit.”
“Fuck off.”
Fonz throws his hands up. “Whoa, sorry man, but you do.”
“Yeah, I get it. Enough about how I look. Last time I checked that’s not relevant to how I play.”
“I’m just sayin’. If you’re gonna be pitching today, I’m afraid we might be in trouble.”
“King will be ready to go and if not, I’ll do what I always do.” I toss my bag at him. “Get this loaded. Then get your ass on the plane and shut up about how I look.”
“You got it, Cap.” The dumbass actually has the nerve to salute me, and it takes the rest of my self-control not to smack him across the face.
“Damn rookies.”
“Hey, he doesn’t mean any harm. He just doesn’t know any better yet.” Perez lowers his voice. “Seriously though, you all right man? Anything I can do?”
Johnny P is my best friend on the team. I know he means well, but today I’m just not in the mood for anything, including him treating me like a freakin’ baby. “I’m fine. Just let it go.”
“All right. Shit. I hope King is good to go.”
“He will be. I talked to Coach last night after he talked to him. He’s ready.”
We continue in silence to the plane. I’m dreading stepping onto it. As soon as I see the prick, my blood will boil. I’ve tried to tell myself he’s just a sorry excuse for a man, but it doesn’t matter. He took my girl, and no matter how hard I try to look the other way I want to hurt him. He doesn’t deserve her. Obviously I don’t either, but he is a worthless piece of shit.
“I’m glad you’re back. The team needs you. Without you here, they fall apart.”
I know he’s just trying to be nice, but he’s partially right. I’m responsible for keeping them all unified and it makes me feel guilty for taking two days away. Although I needed to do it for family, I still felt like shit about it. Then spending six hours talking to a girl rather than sleeping was selfish. If I have to pitch today, the team is going to suffer because of my need to have a friend for a few hours. But shit, it’s been so long since I’ve had someone I could just sit and talk to. It felt great.
“Thanks, man. I’m back. My head will be in the game the rest of the season. Sorry I had to
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