Reckless (Irresistible 6)

“Yeah, I never liked that little freakshow.”

“Wow. I don’t even know you that well, but that was definitely a lie,” I said as Cole cracked the absolute faintest of reluctant smiles. “I’ve seen that dog. He might look like an alien, but he’s adorable.”

The rest of Cole’s smile spread on his lips, but he looked over at home plate till it was gone. “He fully blind yet?” he asked, eyes back on me.

“No. But almost. You should see him before he can’t, you know… see you.”

Cole’s eyebrows lifted as he chewed his gum. “Poetic,” he said wryly.

I controlled the urge to roll my eyes. “I wasn’t trying to be, but thanks.”

We exchanged a few more lines about the dogs. About Gizzy’s. Then we parted ways, but just as I headed up the stairs, he said, “Hey.”

I turned again, and when I cocked my head, he gave a upward nod. “You were with him for what, five years?”

I took a second to realize we were talking about Adam again. “Yeah,” I answered.

He nodded. “That’s almost as long as I knew him,” he said. And for some reason the thought of that stunned me quiet for a little.

Cole broke the silence.

“You miss him more than I do though.”

I managed a laugh. “It’s that obvious?”

“From the way you’re going to bat for him? Yeah.”

Now it was my turn to just nod for a little. “So… was there an end to this thought? Or was that it?”

A smirk glinted in his blue eyes for a second but then he looked serious.

“Just saying. I know I haven’t seen him in awhile, but if there’s one thing I know about Adam, it’s that when he loves someone, he never forgets them,” Cole said, holding his gaze on me. “Even after they’ve forgotten about him.”

My heart ripped right in half as I let the words sink in. Everything inside me was still unraveling as I watched Cole turn around, but as he headed off, I said, “Hey!”

He turned around again, still walking backward as he lifted an eyebrow that said what?

“You got an agent?” I called out.

He laughed. “Yeah,” he said, cracking his gum as he swiped his thumb across his nose. He took another few backward steps before saying, “But he’s shit, so I could probably use a new one.”

I broke into a grin.

“Good to know,” I said, but he didn’t hear. He was already jogging down the field.

38

AJ

Three days after the game in Pawtucket, I got to work to find a package waiting for me on my desk.

From Cole.

In no time, I was sitting down, scissor in hand as I eagerly sliced through the tape to open the little cardboard box. It wasn’t that heavy and I genuinely couldn’t imagine what was inside.

But when I saw, I laughed.

Mainly because I hadn’t seen this kind of phone in ages. Since probably middle school. It was probably the best of its kind at the time but now it looked chunky, its screen too small.