Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1) (12 page)

            Without thinking of any consequences, I go on
Facebook and message Chase.

Me:
Hey, I
’
m Alex
’
s sister. Just curious if you or your sister could get
me some vodka tonight. I
’
ll pay you for it.

Chase Morgan:
Not sure how Alex would feel about this.
Where are you?

Me:
Home with Tiffany. Everyone else is up north for
the weekend.

Chase Morgan:
Wow. They left two teenage girls home
alone? Ha!

Me:
Is that a yes?

Chase Morgan:
So demanding. Be there in a half hour.

            True to his word, Chase shows up at my front door in
a half hour with paper bags covering bottles of alcohol. I think he is just
going to drop them off and leave, but he walks into the house behind me
instead.
Okay… let
’
s see what happens.

12 Skyler Swanson

The Fourth of July weekend that I'm forced to bring Makenna
because Alex is bringing Leah is the worst fucking weekend of my life. As
expected, Buzz doesn't respond to my text telling her I'm bringing a girl, and
she also doesn't show up to the cabin. I feel like such an ass for doing that
to her, especially on her favorite weekend of the year, but Leah and Alex
insisted. It's the first time since my birthday weekend at the cabin that he
even talks to me off the baseball field.

            I can't tell if forcing Makenna on me is Alex
’
s way of torturing me and calling it even or if it's his way of
apologizing and he's just too fucking stupid to know I don't like her. Either
way I
’
m sure Alex knows bringing Makenna will keep me away
from Buzz, so props to him for doing what he has to do to get what he wants.
Fuck him for ruining my weekend.

            Makenna does not shut the fuck up the entire car ride
up north. Once we arrive at the cabin is when I realize Buzz isn't coming, and
Makenna continues squeaking in my ear about what we're going to do all weekend.

            “When are we going on the boat?”

            “Are we drinking this weekend?”

            “Can we go skinny dipping?”

            “Are there fireworks on the lake?”

            “Is there a parade?”

            Those are all asked in the first half hour of being
in the house before I can't take it anymore and run upstairs and lock myself in
the bathroom. Even though I know she's mad at me, I still text Buzz.

Me:
You seriously should
’
ve come.

            I take a few deep breaths and think about how much I wish
the answer to Makenna
’
s second question could be “yes” to
drinking because I already need some kind of aid if I
’
m
going to pretend to tolerate her all weekend. And Buzz isn't fucking answering
me.

           
Ugh, this has to be karma for going behind Alex
’
s back and kissing Buzz.
I realize I
’
m
going to have to find another way to get through this weekend without killing
anyone.

Me:
What are you and Tiff doing?

Buzz Ferrari:
Partying with Chase
Morgan.

Me:
I hope you
’
re
fucking joking.

Buzz Ferrari:
I
’
m not. Have fun with what
’
s
her name. Bye.

            “Skyler! Come on!” I hear Makenna
’
s
raspy mouse voice on the other side of the closed door as she pounds her hand
against it.

            “
Gimme a sec,
” I beg.
This is
really going to suck.
Im not sure how I'll be able to have any amount of
fun at the cabin when all I
’
m thinking about is Buzz… and
apparently Chase Morgan, who's nothing but bad news. And she knows that. He
played baseball on our cross town rivals
’
team growing up,
and since we all ended up at the same high school we became teammates. But none
of us guys like him. His older sister and their deadbeat dad both supply him
with whatever alcohol he wants at a moment
’
s notice. He
has already played four girls over the course of our freshmen year, and I do
not want Buzz to be his fifth. I
’
m hoping she
’
s just doing this to get back at me and not for anything
serious.

Me:
Fucking be safe.

Buzz Ferrari:
I
’
m at home.

           
Fuck, he
’
s at
her house? And I
’
m two hours away incapable
of doing anything.
My mind races with images of him taking advantage of
her. I hope Tiffany is really there; at least then she'll have someone as
backup. Buzz doesn't really indicate that she is or isn't there, but I have to
have faith that she is fucking smart. I know her and Alex share some genes.

Me:
You
’
re killing
me.

Buzz Ferrari:
I
’
m not the one who brought someone up to the cabin for
the 4th of July.

Me:
I didn
’
t have
much of a choice.

Buzz Ferrari:
Fuck off.

            I throw my phone into one of the bathroom drawers and
slam it shut. This makes Makenna stop pounding on the door for a moment before
she asks, “Sky, are you okay?”

            It
’
s hard to hear, or see,
rather, those words coming from someone besides myself, especially Buzz and
even more so when they
’
re aimed directly at me.

            Swinging the door open, I storm past Makenna and go
down the stairs saying, “Please don
’
t call me Sky.”

            “What? Everyone calls you that,” Makenna points out,
following my quick footsteps.

            “Not anymore,” I snicker. I realize I only want to
hear that nickname out of one girl
’
s mouth, and she's two
fucking hours away. When we get to the basement where we left our overnight
bags, I turn around to Makenna
’
s already half naked body
in a skimpy bikini. Her hot body doesn’t have the same effect on me as it did
the first time in the hot tub; fuck, I barely even noticed her exposed skin as
she chased me down two flights of stairs. “Did you bring alcohol?” She evilly
raises her eyebrows at me in a teasing way and waits to see if I'm serious.
It's the first moment of the day she isn't flapping her fucking mouth. “Did you
or not?” I ask again.

            “Yes,” she smirks. “It
’
s in my
bag.”

This will definitely be breaking rule
number one under my parents
’
roof. To be honest the only
thing that actually bothers me about it is that Buzz isn
’
t
here to break the rule with me. We're the rebels together. If I break this rule
and get caught, it
’
ll only be my ass that gets chewed out.
We
’
re no longer a team; she doesn
’
t
have my back. However, if I get caught drinking, especially with Makenna, I
’
ll definitely be grounded, which means
I won
’
t be able to hang out with her anymore, at least for a while.
Darn. Insert a sarcastic Jim Halbert looks-directly-into-the-camera look here.

            “Let
’
s do this,”
I
tell her.

            She
’
s smart enough to already
have the alcohol in water bottles, but we mix them in cups and head down to the
lake where my dad is waiting for us to go out on the boat. I choose not to go
water skiing or tubing; literally all I want to do is drink and get away from
this weekend as quickly as possible.

            “Is something wrong with you and Makenna?” Benny
leans over to ask me as the girls are being pulled by a rope while lying on a
tube behind the boat. Alex is in the back spotting for them while the dads are
in the middle of the boat, my dad driving, and Benny and I at the bow looking
back.

            “There is no ‘me and Makenna
’
,” I
blurt out. My sunglasses disguise my eye roll, but I
’
m
sure he knows it happened anyway.

            “Kind of like there
’
s no me and
Baylee?” Benny mumbles. Since my birthday weekend he knows me, Alex, and Buzz
have all been upset about his charade with Baylee. Everyone is walking on
needles around each other. I guess it
’
s bound to happen
with how often we all hang out. But Benny is a fucking idiot if he really
thinks there
’
s nothing between him and Baylee. Everyone
can see it.

            “No. That
’
s kind of like there
’
s no me and Buzz,” I snap, taking a sip of my vodka and
lemonade. He just looks confused, so I add, “Meaning that there
is
a ‘you and Baylee
’
.”

            “Seriously get over it-” he starts, but I throw my
arm at his shoulder before he can finish his perverted statement.

            “You
’
re four years older than
her when you turn sixteen in a few weeks. She
’
s not even a
fucking teenager for Christ
’
s sake,” I remind him.

            “And there
’
s nothing going on,
just like
there
’
s nothing going on with
you and Bianca
. So relax,
” he tries convincing me, but
I can see the way he acts when he
’
s away from her. It
’
s exactly how I am when I
’
m away from
Buzz. Right now Baylee, our moms, and my siblings are back at the cabin. Except
for this conversation that included talking about Baylee, Benny has been
unusually quiet the whole day. Also he
’
s a fucking idiot
because I just admitted that there
is
a “me and Buzz” and he acted like
he didn
’
t hear it.

            Just then my dad turns the boat slightly and the
girls
’
tube falls out of the wake sending them both
flying.
Rookies.

            “Dad,” I call, raising my eyebrows at him and tilting
my head towards the back of the boat for him to see what happened. We all laugh
a little, but he slows down so we can go back and pick them up. As he stops the
boat near the girls and they climb in, Benny is standing at the front of the
boat next to me, so I forcefully shove him overboard. No one notices because
their attention is all on the girls, so when he pops his head out of the water
and tries to splash me out of anger, I just laugh.

            “Ben, what the hell are you doing?” Benny
’
s dad, Tom, shouts out to him after everyone else is in the
boat except for Benny. His dad is a lawyer and always seems to have a stick up
his ass, even when we
’
re just goofing around.

            “Ugh, you have to be kidding me,” he mutters,
swimming over to the back of the boat to climb the small ladder.

            When my dad docks the boat in front of our cabin, I
run to catch up with Benny on the dock as everyone else lags behind grabbing
their flip flops and towels.

            “Hey, sorry for throwing you overboard,” I apologize,
glancing behind us to make sure we are still out of earshot from anyone else.

            “No you
’
re not,” Benny calls me
out.

            “Okay, you
’
re right. I
’
m not. But I do want to forget about it,” I tell him.

            Glaring at me through his sunglasses, he chuckles, “Of
course you do.”

            “Benny, c
’
mon. It was harmless,”
I point out. “And I need your help.”

            “With what?” he doubts. His head tilts towards the
house up the hill when we hear Baylee
’
s high pitched
giggle. I can see him trying to hide a smile and eventually he puts his hand
over his mouth and squeezes his face from showing any emotion.
Damn, he
really likes her.

            “I can
’
t stand Makenna,” I
admit. “Also Buzz told me her and Tiffany are hanging out with Chase Morgan.”

            His entire demeanor snaps as he whips his head back
towards me. “What?” he angrily demands a clarification. This is the big brother
I need on my team.

            “She texted me earlier and told me to fuck off,” I explain.
My insides are boiling as I rekindle my anger from earlier in the day when I
received the text. She used my own words against me because she knows it riles
me.

            “But Tiff is with her?” Benny questions me. He
’
s actually concerned for his sister for once; it
’
s
nice to not be the only one who cares.

            “I think so, but the fuck if I know,” I answer,
running my hand through my damp hair.

            “Sky we can
’t just leave. You don’
t
even have your Jeep here,” he reminds me. We have another two days up at the
cabin and no way out. Shoot me now
.

            “So, what? We just let Chase take advantage of the
girls? You know he probably brought alcohol over to her house to get her drunk
and do shit,” I rant. My chest compresses at the thought of Buzz being with him
under any circumstances, whether she wants it or not.

            “Where
’
s your phone? Fuck, never
mind. She won
’
t answer you. I
’
ll call
her,” Benny suggests, and we both run up the steps on the hill to the basement
where he finds his phone. Immediately he dials Buzz, knowing that his sister
probably won
’
t answer him. “Hey, Bianca, it
’
s
Benny… are you busy?” I stand there wishing I could hear what she
’
s
saying but he refuses to put it on speaker in case someone else walks in the
room and busts us and her. “Is Tiff with you? … okay.” Another moment of Benny
’
s silence passes. I just want to fucking rip the phone out of
his hand and talk to her myself, but every time I reach for it he turns away
and waves me off. “B, you know Chase isn
’
t the best guy. I
don
’
t want him hanging out with you two……. you heard what
he did to- … you
’
re going to care if he does it to you…….
fine then don
’
t come crying to me when he plays you.” And
then he just hangs up.