The Perfect Game (The Perfect Game 1)

“Like a bitch,” he muttered.

“Before I forget, Melis said you could stay in her room. ”

“Yeah? Well I was going to stay in there even if she said I couldn’t,” he said with a laugh. “It’s okay if I take a shower, right?”

“Of course. There’s a shower in Meli’s room. She has extra towels under the sink. ” As I spoke, Jack reached for my hand and pulled me toward the couch.

“We’ll be out here when you’re done,” Jack said, before sitting down and pulling me onto his lap. “I’m going crazy inside right now, Kitten. I feel like I’m losing my fucking goddamned mind. I’m not going to practice this weekend. I won’t leave you alone. ” He leaned his head against my chest and I ran my fingers through his hair.

“Jack, I love that you care so much about what happened to me, but you can’t be by my side twenty-four hours a day. And you absolutely cannot skip practice this close to the draft. Are you out of your mind?”

He glanced up at me, the pain evident in his narrowed eyes. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”

“When you go to practice, Dean will stay here with me. I won’t be alone, okay?” I prayed my suggestion would ease his worry.

He let out a long, exasperated breath. “Okay. He’s the only one I trust anyway…” His voice trailed off. “We’ll take shifts. ”

I rolled my eyes, but he didn’t notice. “You have to get past this, Jack. You can’t take it upon yourself to be my personal bodyguard. ”

“Yes, I can. ”

“You’ll drive me insane,” I snapped, my voice harsher than I intended. “And then I’ll break up with you. ”

Jack’s head snapped around as he glared at me with shock and surprise. “What?”

“I don’t want a babysitter. I don’t want a bodyguard. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Jack, but I don’t want to feel like I’m in a fucking cage. ”

He slid my body from his lap and turned to face me, his forehead creased. “Cass, just give me some time to deal with this, okay? It just happened and I feel like I’m losing my g

oddamn mind. ” He cringed as he continued. “Do you know what it feels like to want to beat the shit out of four of your teammates? Four guys I’m supposed to respect and trust. Four guys I trusted completely before tonight. ”

I watched as his face twisted with his pain, my heart aching. “I can’t tell you not to be mad at them, Jack. I don’t know why they ran and left me there. I’m sort of conflicted about all that. It did happen really fast, though, I can tell you that. It’s like one minute the guy was with me, then with Dean, then back at me. ” I closed my eyes, my head shaking.

“That’s exactly it. You might be conflicted in regards to them, but I’m not. ”

Dean walked into the room, a towel wrapped around his waist. “Remind me that it’s really going to fucking hurt next time I try to wash my hair. ” He smirked. Dean’s ability to bounce back so quickly after what happened amazed me and gave me hope.

“I’m really tired. I’m gonna go to bed, okay? Love you both,” I said before pushing myself from the couch.

“So much for our weekend alone, huh?” Jack offered me a slight smile.

I looked at Dean before responding. “It’s okay. This is better anyway. ”

TWELVE

JACK

The fact that some stranger had beaten up Kitten and stolen her camera drove me out of my fucking mind. It had been three weeks and her bruises had faded, but my anger hadn’t. I never told her, but I cruised up and down that street every day, sometimes before and after baseball practice, looking for the asshole that had touched her. He was lucky I hadn’t found him yet.

I also looked everywhere for her camera. I searched online, went to local pawnshops, but it didn’t show up. I wanted justice for her…vengeance, really. But more importantly, I wanted to be the one to deliver it. And every day that I was denied that, my anger toward my cowardly teammates grew. I hadn’t talked to any of the ones who were there that night, my temper flaring out of control whenever one of them was near.

I walked into the locker room and changed into my practice uniform in silence. “Carter!” Coach Davies shouted from his office. I glanced up and our eyes met. “Get in here,” he demanded before turning his back to me. Coach was a good baseball player, but he was an even better man. He was the reason I chose Fullton State over the other schools. I wanted to play ball for someone I respected, and I respected Coach Davies.

I slammed my locker door shut and hustled into Coach’s office. “Shut the door. ” He motioned before leaning back in his swivel chair. “Come sit. ”

I sat in the old wooden chair, my mind racing before he spoke. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you and your teammates. I heard something about your girlfriend getting beat up and I’m really sorry about that, but your team is your family and you need to work it out. ”

“No disrespect, Coach, but my family wouldn’t let my girlfriend get the shit beat out of her while they ran away and hid. ”