Dare You to Fall for the Catcher (Rock Valley High 3)

“Fine.” His answer was short and clipped. He picked up a roll of quarters from the ground and took a few more out of the roll. “You?”

“Better, although Charlotte is pretty much grounded for life now.”

He grunted but didn’t look at me. Okay, so he was mad. I couldn’t blame him. We’d left things in such an awkward way and then he didn’t hear from me again for several more days. He had every right to be angry with me.

I watched him place the quarters one by one into the money slot. He hesitated on the last one, his gaze darting to my face. “Did you want something?”

“Yeah.” My palms were sweating. I rubbed them on the front of my yoga pants. “I wanted to say I’m sorry. Sorry for the way I treated you.”

“It’s fine.” He shrugged, his gaze moving back to the quarter pinched between his thumb and forefinger. The slight narrowing of his eyes and redness in his cheeks told me he wasn’t as unaffected as he pretended to be.

I leaned up against the outside of the cage, my fingers curling around the black chained link. “It’s not fine. You were just trying to help. I froze you out. And it kills me to know that I hurt your feelings.”

His frown deepened and he pushed the last quarter into the slot. Picking up the bat, he shot me a look that held a glint of pain. “Listen, Mandy, I got the hint when you didn’t return any of my messages this week. You don’t need me around. You don’t need anybody’s help.”

Ouch. I totally deserved that, but it still stung coming from Jayden’s mouth.

I scrunched my face up and inhaled a shallow breath. “I can see why you’d think that—”

His desperate gaze seared into mine. “I confessed my feelings to you this week. I told you I loved you and then you pushed me away. I get it. You don’t want me. Honestly, you didn’t need to drag this out by coming over here.” I opened my mouth to argue, to explain that I’d been under lock and key, but he cut me off. “The truth is, I’m already over you. So don’t worry, you didn’t hurt my feelings.”

Shock hit me like a baseball going ninety-five. I clutched the muscles in my torso, fighting against the impact. “You’re already over me?”

“Yeah.” He turned to line up at the plate, avoiding my gaze. “So go back to your track team. Forget about me. Just like I forgot about you.”

I was too distracted by my heart breaking to notice the first pitch being released by the machine. But when Jayden swung and missed it, the loud sound of the ball hitting the backdrop made me jump. He swore and then lined up to bat again, this time clipping the second pitch and making it spin off behind him.

I backed away slowly, not taking my eyes off of Jayden’s form for several seconds. There was a voice inside me desperately wishing that he would turn around and look at me. Just one last look. I needed that much. But he didn’t. And when I couldn’t stand the sight any longer, I ran out of the building, tears spilling down my face.

“What happened?” Charlotte threw open the sliding door of the van and scanned me over as I hurried to the front seat. “What’s wrong?”

“He hates me.” I sniffed and pulled my seatbelt across my lap. We needed to get out of there as soon as possible. I didn’t want to stay in this parking lot a moment longer than I had to. “He says he’s already over me. And that he’s forgotten me. This was obviously a huge mistake. Let’s go home.”

I pulled down the visor to check my bloodshot eyes in the mirror. Instead, I saw Charlotte in the back seat, rolling up the sleeves of her denim shirt, her nose scrunched up as anger flashed in her eyes.

“I don’t care if he saved me at that party,” she growled. “I don’t care that he loved my cookies. Nobody makes my big sister cry. I’m going to go teach him how to make an idiot sandwich.”

“Slow your roll, Gordon Ramsay.” Mom sent Charlotte a warning glare in the rearview mirror. Her face softened when she looked at me and she reached over to squeeze my leg. “Baby, I’m sure he’s not over you. Nobody gets over somebody that quickly, especially when he’s been crushing on you for so long. It sounds like he’s hurt and it might take a little more to make him see that you’re truly sorry.”

I wiped away the tears and hiccupped. “But what else can I do? I told him I was sorry.”

“Sounds like we need to come up with a plan.” Mom narrowed her eyes at the warped and dusty dashboard of the van. It was the same look she got when trying to think up a new recipe.

We all sat in silence for a few seconds as they brainstormed in their heads and I tried not to relive the last five minutes over and over in my mind.

It was easy to see that I’d hurt Jayden. I’d expected him to be frustrated, but this was in another category of pain. In all of our fights, in all of the years we’d had this insane rivalry, we’d never hurt each other like this. It wasn’t right that just when I’d realized how much he meant to me, I’d lost him.

Finally, there was a shuffling in the backseat. Charlotte popped her head between the front seats and then clicked her tongue in excitement. “I’ve got an idea.”

Mom slapped the middle console and grinned. “That’s my girl.”

“It‘s pretty inspired, but I don’t think Mandy’s going to like it.”

I grimaced at her, imagining all sorts of Charlotte-flavored pranks. “Okay...but will it work?”

It was going to have to be something majorly good to get me back in Jayden’s good graces.

“Oh, it’ll work.” She grinned evilly. “Trust me.”