Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1) (6 page)

5 Bianca Ferrari

The day after school lets out is the first of Skyler
’
s sweet sixteen birthday parties. He chooses to have half the
school come to his house in Hinsdale and then celebrate with just our families
at the lake house next weekend. Sam, Tiffany, and I are the only non high
school attendees at his party, but it
’
s only natural since
Sam
’
s his brother and we are basically his sisters. I can
tell Tiffany is excited to be invited to a high school party, even if it is
just Skyler
’
s; however, I
’
m not too
thrilled. I would rather go on a road trip with him across the country. Crowds
are not my thing. Our parents would kill us, but that doesn
’
t
mean the option should be ruled out.

            Susie and Stephan gave Skyler his gift of a new Jeep
yesterday on his actual birthday, but we all know it
’
s
intended to be more of a present for his mom so she has him to run her errands
and pick up his brother and sister from their practices and friends
’
houses.

            When Tiffany and I walk up to the Swansons
’
house, people are scattered everywhere like it
’
s
a frat house on a college campus. Every balcony is lined with people who look
years older than me, and I immediately feel uncomfortable walking into one of
the houses that has practically felt like an extension of mine for as long as I
can remember.

             “Let
’
s just find Skyler, say
happy birthday, and go,” Tiffany suggests, clearly feeling the same vibe as me.

             “What? You
’
re not excited to be
here anymore?” I antagonize her, nudging her with my elbow almost forcing her
to run into someone that looks like a linebacker.

            She scurries away from him but reaches her hand out
for me to follow as she scratches her neck with her other hand. She tries to
hide it by turning away from me, but I can hear her fingernails against her
skin.

             “Tiff,” I glare at her, giving a warning for her
stop her nervous habit.

            Over her shoulder she reiterates, “Let
’
s
go.”

            We have a game plan, but we resort to Plan B, which
is trying to fit in with the crowd because we can
’
t find
our brothers or Skyler anywhere. I head towards the stairs to the basement when
a giant, very good looking guy steps in my way. He has on a backwards white
baseball hat, which is one of my many weaknesses. I blame Skyler for that since
that
’
s how he always wears his, even under his catcher
’
s helmet during games. Even though the theory is mine, I always
seem to forget about baseball hats making guys more attractive and end up hypnotized
to anyone that
’
s sporting one.

            “Where you going, cutie?” backwards baseball hat guy
questions me, sliding his hand around my waist like he
’
s
about to escort me somewhere; I only hope it isn
’
t a
bedroom. He could do so many things to me that would make me terrified to say
no. Damn baseball hats.

            “Just thought I would see what was going on
downstairs,” I answer firmly, not reciprocating his flirtatious aura.

            “Mind if I come with you?” he asks.

            “You just came from down there,” I remind him nicely.
I don
’
t want to be one of those girls he
’
s
probably used to falling all over him. “Clearly there
’
s
nothing interesting you.”

            “Yeah, but now you
’
ll be down
there,” he points out, and I can
’
t help but smile at that
smooth comment. I
’
m not trying to flirt with him, but when
someone says something like that, fake or not, it
’
s hard
to play it cool. He takes this as me accepting his offer, so he cuts between me
and Tiffany to guide me down the stairs. The
room
is
filled with people playing pool and video games while listening to music over
the speaker system. I look around for Skyler, but this new, older guy distracts
me. “Do you want a drink?” he asks me.

            “This is practically my second home; you don
’
t need to offer me a drink,”
I sneer.

            “Oh. Are you the girl Skyler
’
s
been hiding from everyone?” he blurts out.

            I
’
m sure my face turns into a
tomato, which somehow he thinks confirms his assumption, so he removes his hand
off my back. “
Wait,
”
I stammer.
“He
’
s dating someone?” My voice cracks. For some reason it hurts,
and I think it
’
s just finding out this way, from a total
stranger. I know Skyler couldn
’
t ever be into me; to him,
we
’
re practically brother and sister. But I thought I
would hear about if he
’
s dating someone, even if he
’
s trying to hide her from whoever else. He shouldn
’
t hide her from me of all people. We’re supposed to be best
friends.

            “Oh. I
’
m sorry. I thought it was
you. I heard he was helping you with your pitching for next season,” the guy
explains genuinely.

            “He is, but we aren
’
t dating,” I
assure him.
So much for keeping that a secret, Sky.

            “So I can kiss you then?” he forwardly implies.
Before I can answer, he swoops in and presses his lips on mine. They taste like
booze, and I suddenly wish I was tipsy so I could at least half-enjoy my first
kiss. Such a disappointment.

            “
Buzz?
” I hear from behind me,
but the other guy has me in a pretty strengthened hold. I try to struggle away
from him, but he
’
s too powerful. In less than a second,
Skyler yells, “Enough!” and pushes the guy away from me. “What the fuck are you
doing to her?” He
’
s level with the guy, but I
’
ve never realized Skyler
’
s true size until
he
’
s standing like he
’
s going to beat
this guy
’
s ass who
’
s like Godzilla
next to me. Sky never makes me feel small like that even though he stands at 6
’
2”, seven inches taller than me.

            “What did it look like? I was kissing her,” the guy
laughs, not backing down.

            “Well clearly you suck at it,” Skyler snaps before
walking away from him and taking me under his arm. I look around for Tiffany, but
she’s disappeared from my sight, especially with Skyler’s body blocking half of
my vision. “Let
’
s go wash your mouth out.”

            “You didn
’
t have to do that,” I
mumble as we walk up the stairs to the main level and head for the second
floor. I
’
m so embarrassed that Skyler just watched that
happen and then suddenly goes all big brother on me. Disappointment number two
of the night.

            “Don
’
t tell me you enjoyed that,”
he pleads, expressing his clear dislike for the guy.

            “
Well
… no, but-” I try as we
enter the upstairs bathroom. He hands me mouthwash as he continues his plea
bargain.

            “That was Josh Thompson,” Skyler starts as I swish
the liquid around my mouth unable to speak. “You do not want to get involved
with JT. He
’
s the captain of the baseball team and just
graduated and is so stupid he couldn
’
t even get into U of
I. And to top it off, he
’
s slept with half the
cheerleading squad and half of the softball team. You can
’
t
seriously think about talking to him.”

            I bulge my eyes out and make some noises that are
supposed to be words but they
’
re just little moans because
I
’
m still sloshing around the mouthwash. I grunt a full
sentence that would be translated into words as, “I was looking for you and ran
into him; I didn
’
t even know who he was,” but Skyler obviously
doesn
’
t understand.

            He continues after my spree, “
B, don’
t make me
…
I won
’
t let
you date him.”

           
Oh my God. Enough!
I spit into the sink and
rinse out my mouth before shouting, “
I don’
t like him! I
don
’
t even know him, and I don
’
t plan
on it either!”

            “Why didn
’
t you just say that
then?” he sighs, resting his hands on my shoulders and looking me dead in the
eye.

            I roll my eyes and land them on the mouthwash on the
counter before letting out a slight giggle. All the tension has washed away. He
catches my drift, so I wrap my arms around him as he does the same around me. “Happy
birthday, Sky,” I smile up at him.

            “Thank you,” he chuckles, not letting me go. We
’
re in a position to slow-dance with each other, and I
’
m almost peeing from excitement.

            “I think I
’
m gonna go before
anymore of your older friends hit on me again,” I joke.

            “What? No,” Skyler pleads, increasing his hold on me
for a second before opening the door. “Here, come with me.” He grabs my hand
and leads me downstairs where he takes his car keys and pulls me outside to his
Grand Cherokee. Usually it
’
s me pulling him along on my
adventures, so this is a change of pace.

            “Sky, what are you doing?”
I question
him.
“This is your party; you can
’t just leave.
”

            “You
’
re right; it is my party.
So I can do whatever the fuck I want. Now get in,” he insists as we approach
his Jeep in the street. He pays no consideration to the people on the driveway
trying to get his attention; he just starts the Jeep and takes off.

            Even with the windows open I can still smell the
scent of “new car.” While most people like that smell, I don
’
t
particularly care for it. I
’
d rather smell the memories I
’
ve made and the adventures I
’
ve been on in
my car. If I have anything to say about Skyler
’
s new car
smell, it won
’
t last for very long.

            “At least tell me where we
’
re
going,” I beg as he turns out of our neighborhood. He just got his license
yesterday, so I guess I
’
m his first official passenger
outside of his parents. At least I
’
m his first with
something.

            “Where
’
s the fun in that?” he
smirks.

            A few minutes later we pull up to the high school
baseball field, and he takes two gloves out of his backseat. Slightly confused,
I follow his lead onto the field. Handing over a glove and a softball to me,
Skyler enlightens me, “I want to catch you.”

           
Catch me?
I try really
hard not to smile at his comment because I
’
m sure he doesn
’
t mean it to be flirty, but I fail. It
’
s
not a full blown “I just won tickets to a Garth Brooks concert” smile, but he
definitely sees the crack before I turn away and walk out to the pitching
mound.

            “It
’
s your sweet sixteen
birthday party, and you want to catch me?”
I question.

            “I
’
m not a fucking girl who
actually cares about my ‘sweet sixteen.
’
The party is more
of a kick off to summer,” he brushes the focus off him. I throw some warm up
pitches to him as we continue bantering about his birthday and me pitching.
Then he asks, “Are you ready?”

            Nodding, I take my place on the mound and focus on
his glove. After the first night where he blindfolded me and I didn
’
t hit him in the balls, Skyler always takes his normal catcher
’
s stance behind the plate. He never wears a cup even though I
’
m throwing a softball sixty-five miles an hour at him. I guess,
to an extent, he trusts me.

            “Why did you want to catch me tonight?” I rephrase my
question when he walks the ball back to me after I throw a dozen pitches to
him.

            “JT is a bad guy, and I don
’
t
want you with him, or with anyone else for that matter,” he tells me.
What?
Holy
shit my heart is pounding. Sighing, he closes his eyes for a few seconds before
quietly murmuring, “I need to ask you something, and I don
’
t
want you to be embarrassed… but was that your first kiss?” My heart feels like
it
’
s been dipped in ice cold water, and I can
’
t help but let out a mortified chuckle. I drop my head into my
open glove as I try to hide my tomato face. “Buzz, you don
’
t
have to be like that with me; I told you not to be embarrassed.”

            “I didn
’
t mean for that to be my
first kiss though!” I shriek until I hear my voice echoing in the distance.
Can
this night get any worse?
“I
’m gonna go, but I’
ll see
you next weekend at the lake,” I say in a quieter and calmer voice.