Fair Catch (Love and Sports Series) (39 page)

             
Her coach leaned over and said, “A single would have been just fine but I’ll take a triple any day.”

             
Lexi chuckled and settled herself back on the base.

             
The announcer cut in before the next pitch was thrown. “Excuse me ladies and gentlemen. I would like to announce that Lexi Knox just surpassed the leader in all-time hits for college softball. Please join me in congratulating her.” Everyone stood up and gave her a cheer. The pitcher threw the ball Lexi just hit to her coach which her coach pocketed, letting Lexi know her record breaking ball would be safe with her until after the game.

             
There was a loud cheer and a whooping that caught Lexi’s attention. She looked over and saw Jake running up to the field with an exclamation point painted on his chest .He looked mouthwatering good. He winked at her and everyone took notice. More cheers erupted from the stands that almost blew Lexi over. She had never felt so much love but then she noticed no one was looking at her. They were all looking at Jake who stood there waving at the crowd.

             
“Ladies and Gentlemen. What a surprise.” The announcer chimed in. “Our very own Jake Taylor is here at the stadium today. For those of you who might be living in the dark, he was just drafted to our home team the San Diego Thunder. We could not be prouder of you Jake and will be cheering you on as you move forward in your professional career. Let’s give Jake a round of applause for his accomplishments.”

             
Lexi watched as Jake stood there and shook peoples’ hands, signing autographs and soaking up the lime light that was instantly taken away from her. Lexi tried not to let the pain that was festering in the pit of her stomach to take over but it was. She had just broken a national record and received two seconds of praise before Jake came waltzing in.

             
Her coach turned to Lexi and whispered in her ear. “Get your head back in the game, Knox. I see those wheels turning, wait to break down afterwards.” Her coach gave her a hard squeeze with her hand and then went back to her coach’s box to give the next batter her usual signals of swing away. No squeeze bunt, Lexi thought. Probably because her coach knew Lexi needed a second to regain her composure.

             
They ended up winning the game, granting them one step closer to the playoffs. Lexi ended the game going four for four and was a homerun away from hitting a cycle. She had only hit one homerun in her college career, it was very rare since she was slapper. Lexi cheered with her team but didn’t feel the excitement everyone else did. Instead she felt empty.

             
The school sports reporter came in the dugout and pulled out his recorder. It was the usual bit they went through after every game. “Hey Lexi, got a second?”

             
“Of course.” Lexi said to Harry who had a huge head of curly hair on him. His parent’s named him right, he was hairy for sure.

             
“Great, thanks. Good game today. Tell me how excited you are that Jake was drafted by the San Diego Thunder, how did you find out?”

             
Lexi almost stumbled backward. Not the question she thought he was going to ask. What happened to, how does it feel knowing you are almost headed to the playoffs or how about that record breaking hit you had? Lexi looked over Harry’s shoulder and saw the school photographer taking a picture with Jake with his guys. Harry followed her gaze and smiled.

             
“We want to do a whole story on Jake and how even though he just got drafted he still came to the softball field to cheer the girls on.”

             
Girls? Lexi refrained from punching Harry in the face. Jake was here for one girl and that was her, not that she really wanted to welcome him home right now. He was soaking up the lime light like it was his job. She always knew he had to put on a good face but the Jake she was seeing right now was different. It was as if he came back as a different person. She shook her head, she was being too sensitive.

             
She went back to answering his question. “I’m very excited for Jake. He called me last night to let me know who drafted him. Since we were playing a double header, I was unable to watch everything go down but I know he is extremely excited to stay in his hometown. That was the ideal situation he wanted.”

             
“That’s great.” Harry said. “Do you think he is going to stick with number eight and carry on the tradition?”

             
Lexi had to mask her face from the ridiculous question. “Uh, I’m sure if it is available he will want to snatch it up. It’s his go to number.”

             
“Did you pick number seventeen because it added up to Jake’s number?”

             
Ok, this was getting absurd. She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back to enjoy the Jake ride. “No, I didn’t know Jake when I first came here. We just started dating this year.”

             
“Oh, I didn’t know if you switched your number.”

             
Lexi was burning with fury. “What do you think I’m some lovesick puppy that my world revolves around the man I’m dating? Well it doesn’t I have been able to take care of myself and make decisions on my own way before Jake came around, I don’t need him convincing me about what God-for-saken number I slap on my back.”

             
“But I heard you had a job opportunity to work as an assistant coach with Texas but dropped the offer because you would rather be by Jake’s side.”

             
Lexi was inches away from slapping the idiotic reporter in the face. Instead she grabbed her bat bag and said over her shoulder.  “We will see about that.” Then she stormed off, using the back exit to avoid Jake and the crowd that had formed. She wasn’t quite ready to face him just yet.

                                                        ***

              The softball field was completely empty. Jake looked around but didn’t spot Lexi anywhere. He knew he had to stay longer at the game to accommodate all the well-wishers but he thought after she was done talking to the reporter she would saddle up next to him and be by his side, like she always did. When he went back to the parking lot, her car was nowhere in sight. Frowning, he pulled out his cell phone to find out where Lexi went.

Jake: Babe, where are you?

              He went to the locker room and took a quick shower to wash off the paint on his chest. His plan to surprise her was well executed and he was happy he had the chance to catch her record breaking hit. He could not have been more proud of his girl. His phone chimed back.

Lexi: At home, in bed. Have a terrible headache.

              Jake threw his clothes on as quickly as possible after drying off from the shower and went out to his Jeep to drive to her apartment. He felt like an ass that he stayed longer with his fans when Lexi wasn’t feeling well. He asked if she wanted him to pick anything up while he was out, she said no. She must have been feeling really bad because her text messages were short and lacking any kind of emotion. It was so not like her.

             
He pulled up to her apartment and let himself in with his key. Her door was shut and he saw no light coming from underneath. Slowly he opened the door and went to her bed. She was lying still so he assumed she was asleep. He closed the door quietly and tore his shirt off. He pulled back the covers of the bed and slipped in next to her while wrapping his arms around the soul reason he was able to function.

             
He must have startled her because she stiffened in his grasp

“It’s just me baby.” He kissed the side of her head and pulled her in closely. “How are you feeling?”

              “Fine.” She squeaked out with a nasal like tone. Maybe she was coming down with something.

             
“Do you need anything?”

             
“No, I’m just going to sleep.”

             
“Ok.” He pulled her in closer and lifted the back of her shirt so her skin was touching his. He always felt so at home when they were touching so intimately.

“Good game by the way, baby. You were amazing.”

              She must have drifted off to sleep because she didn’t say anything to him. He snuggled in closer and buried his head in her hair while closing his eyes. This was perfect he thought, he had the girl, he had the NFL contract, he got to stay in his hometown, nothing could be sweeter.

                                                        ***

              Lexi lay stiff in her bed while Jake held onto her tight. She quickly wiped away her tears when she heard Jake come into her room. She couldn’t let him see her crying, he would instantly want to know what was going on and she wasn’t ready to dive down into her feelings just yet. She faked a headache hoping Jake wouldn’t come over but she should have known better. She knew he would want to make sure she was ok.

             
Being ok was the farthest thing from her feelings right now. She wasn’t ok at all. Today was like a huge slap in her face. She knew Jake was the center of this schools attention but she couldn’t get past the fact that she was doing what everyone told her she was; living in his shadow. She tried to deny it but everyone was right and she finally saw the ugly truth today. While she made a huge accomplishment in her life, it was over looked by Jake’s presence. Not that she needed a parade but a little acknowledgement was all she was looking for and it wasn’t like Jake helped. He could have stopped everyone and reminded them of why he was at the game and who he was cheering for but he didn’t. What did that say about him?

             
He wanted her to be his little side kick, be at his beck and call and she didn’t think she could do that, especially after witnessing what happened today. He didn’t even realize she was gone until he was done with his fans. He didn’t text her until a half hour after she got back to her place. The thought made her sick to her stomach.

             
She heard his heavy breathing and knew he fell asleep. She didn’t want to be held by him right now, she wanted to be by herself so she could think everything through. Could she really live the life Jake was handed? Would he soon forget she even existed? The thought of him ignoring her again like he did today made tears fall from her eyes. Maybe today was a blessing. Maybe today was the rude awakening she needed, the swift kick in the ass her coach and others were trying to give her.

             
Could she really give up Jake and all the certainty she was looking forward to? With Jake she knew she would be taken care of and she wouldn’t have to fend for herself. She could rely on Jake for anything. But did she want that? Would he actually be there for her like she needed him to because he wasn’t there today. The minute he had all the attention he completely forgot about her. It would only get worse, she thought. The attention would only get stronger, he would be hounded by more women trying to throw themselves at him while he was on away trips and she would sit at home, alone with nothing to do but plan out the next meal to serve him when he got home.

             
Where had she gone wrong? She shook her head as more tears fell. She let herself get so wrapped up in a man that she lost herself. Not that she ever knew who she really was but Jake should have tried to help her establish that definition, instead he hindered her ability to focus on herself and made her into his little tag-a-long.

             
He rubbed the bare side of her belly and snuggled even closer if that was possible. Lexi silently cried herself to sleep wondering how she was going to even begin to talk about her feelings with Jake and if he would even care about the emotional battle her brain was currently going through.

                                                        ***

              Feeling amazing, Jake walked into the locker. He slipped out of bed as quietly as possible so he wouldn’t disturb Lexi in case she still had a headache. Now that his future was set, he was going to propose to Lexi. He had the ring picked out, now he just needed to go pay for it.

             
He couldn’t believe his luck when the Thunder drafted him. It was his number one pick and apparently he was there’s. He wished he had his parents with him to celebrate, they would be so proud but he had a great support system in place and he had Lexi. That was all that mattered.

Thinking about his parents, Jake knew they would have loved
Lexi, they would have loved everything about her from her spirit to her sweetness to her ability to put him in his place when he was being a smartass. He was upset they never got to meet her but he knew they would approve of his hopefully soon to be wife.

             
Jake was going to take Lexi out tonight to celebrate their new life since they didn’t get a chance yesterday. He felt bad that she wasn’t feeling well, it made his stomach twist in a knot when she wasn’t her normal self. He thrived on her ability to lighten the room whenever she was around him. He thought about proposing tonight but he really wanted the ring when he did it. He didn’t want to give her an I.O.U.