The Perfect Game (The Perfect Game 1)

“Oh, really? Trading me in already?” He winked at me and I laughed.

“Ouch. Don’t make me laugh, it hurts. ” I grabbed my cheeks with both hands. “No, it’s just that I want to be around him ’cause he was there. He knows how I feel because he experienced it too. Is that weird?”

“It makes sense to me, Kitten,” he said with a smile.

“I really need to call Melissa before she shows back up here. ” I started to press buttons on my phone and Jack turned away, closing my bedroom door as he left.

“Oh my God, Cassie! What happened? What is going on? And what took you so long to call me back? I’m freaking out here!” Melissa yelled into the phone.

“Sorry, it’s been a crazy night. ” I held the phone away from my face, taking care to not press it against my cheek like I normally would.

“Is Dean okay? Is Jack there? What happened?” Her questions shot out rapid-fire.

“We were walking to the softball game to see Jack and we got jumped. Some guy stole my camera, beat me up, broke a forty-ounce bottle over Dean’s head—”

“Oh, Cass, he stole your camera?” I could hear the sorrow in Melissa’s question as she interrupted me, and her compassion for my loss affected me more than I expected.

I struggled to even out my breathing as I swallowed hard. “Yeah. ”

“I’m so sorry. I know you’re more upset about that than anything else. ”

“You know me well. ”

“Are you okay? I mean, where did he hit you? Did Jack freak?”

“Jack’s pretty…” I paused. “I don’t know what Jack is. Pissed? Sad? Angry? He’s all over the place. Oh, but hey, I think Dean’s gonna stay here this weekend. Do you mind if he sleeps in your bed?”

“Not at all. Just tell him no funny business in there. I don’t want to come back to sheets I have to crack in half or anything. ” Melissa laughed at her own joke.

“You are so gross. ” I chuckled, trying not to scrunch my cheeks.

“I know,” she responded proudly. Her tone changed as she asked, “How’s Dean? Is he going to be okay?”

“Apparently he’s going to be fine. He must have a pretty hard head,” I joked.

Melissa was quiet for a moment. “I’m just glad you’re both alright. ”

Before I could respond, there was a knock on my door and it opened slowly. “Kitten, Dean’s here. ”

“Hey, Melis, Dean just got here and I really wanna go see him. Can I call you later?”

“Yeah, you go. Tell the boys I said hi and I’m glad they’re staying with you. ”

“I will. Love you. ”

“Love you more,” she said before hanging up, and I tossed the device onto to my mattress.

I emerged from my bedroom and locked eyes with Dean as Jack stood beside him. My eyes instantly watered up at the sight of him. “Dean! Are you okay?” I said, my voice frantic. I ran to him, locking my arms around his back and squeezing.

“I’m fine. How are you? Are you okay?”

I nodded. “You have no idea how scary it was to see you hurt like that. ” I tried to shake the images from my mind that I was certain were seared there forever.

“You have no idea how horrible it was to see some guy hitting you,” he replied, his voice rising in anger.

“Can we not talk about that right now?” Jack’s voice sounded angry and I was grateful for the subject change.

I let out a sigh. “I’m just happy you’re okay. Does your head hurt?”