The Game Changer (39 page)

After dropping him off at JFK, I bob my way in and out of traffic on the crowded parkway, trying to make good time.

I burst through the kitchen door, scaring the hell out of my mom and dad, who are peacefully watching a movie in the family room. My mom jumps up to give me a hug, surprised to see me home, not expecting me till Monday as well. I spend a few minutes sitting with them, filling them in on the Fall Instructional League and Mikey getting called up.

“Are De and JJ at the beach?” I ask.

“Where else?” My mom answers.

I quickly change, then head down to the beach. It feels good to be home, taking in the cool ocean breeze the closer I get to the beach. September and October are the two best months at the beach if you ask me and probably everyone else that lives here. The weather is perfect, the crowds are gone… Awesome.  As I get closer to the beach, I can hear the familiar sounds of the music blasting. I try to keep my head down, not wanting to stop and talk to anyone on the way down. Mostly, all of my friends are gone, headed off to college. I stop to talk to a few people before spotting De sitting on her blanket.

“Hey! What are you doing home?” she asks, surprised, jumping up to greet me.

“I wanted to surprise her. Where is she?”

De points in the direction of the water. She has her back to us, standing with Cathy and some other girl. I head out to the water. Cathy spots me, but I motion for her to keep quiet. My heart is racing as it usually does when I see her. I watch as the sun touches down on her perfectly tanned skin and she splashes water on her arms, which is her idea of getting used to the water. I quietly sneak up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. I can feel her body tense up.

“What did I tell you about taking too long to go in,” I whisper from behind, kissing her neck, right below her ear.

“Oh, my God! Luke, what are you doing home?” she screams as she turns to face me, jumps into my arms and wraps her legs around my waist. Holding her to me tightly, I carry her deeper into the water; not taking the time to answer, my mouth hungrily tasting hers.

After several minutes of forgetting that we’re not alone, we finally pull away from each other long enough to have a conversation. I cradle her in my arms as we wade in the warm water. “So, are you surprised?” I ask.

“What do you think? I thought you weren’t going to be home till tomorrow.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“You did. I missed you. I can’t believe I actually have you home with me for the next couple of months,” she states.

We talked the other night about me coming home. At the time, I thought I wouldn’t have to leave again until January. I wasn’t thinking about the Fall League.

I fill her in on the details. I can tell she’s  disappointed that I’m leaving once again, but I tell her it’s  only for four weeks and then I’ll be home. It’s bittersweet. I know she is happy for me, but at the same time, it’s so tough leaving each other. I’m so close to telling her to forget everything… to just come be with me... and then reality sets in. I know I would never do that to her. She has a lot of important things in her life that she is working towards. I take her hand as we head back to a blanket.

“Is Mikey on his way down?” De asks, looking around as if he’s suddenly going to appear.

“No, he’s not coming home,” I answer.

Panic crosses her face as she asks what I mean.

“He got called up today It’s awesome. He had to fly into Kentucky; I dropped him off at the airport this morning. He has a game tonight.”

“Oh... Well, good for him,” she answers dismally. “It’s odd, I haven’t heard from him in a while. I feel like I haven’t talked to him all summer.”

“Yeah, it’s not that easy. We’ve been really busy. We play every night, practice a lot during the day. There’s not much time to talk, right, JJ?”

“Sure. Luke and I are lucky if we get five minutes to talk each day.”

***

By now, friends that haven’t left for school or are going to school locally have noticed that I’m back. Everyone is stopping by to talk to me. It is great seeing everyone, but I feel like I’ve answered the same questions, over and over again.

JJ is stretched out on her stomach beside me. She seems to be sleeping or, at least, pretending to sleep. After updating what feels to be everyone on the beach, I finally stretch out along side of her and prop myself up on one arm as I run my fingers across her back. I brush her hair aside and softly kiss the back of her neck.

“Are you sleeping?” I whisper.

“Not really, just relaxing. Do you want to go?” she asks drowsily.

I continue to run my fingers across her back. “No, I like just watchin’ you right now. It feels good to just hang out and be here with you.”

She keeps her eyes closed while lazily giving me a smile. “I was thinking the same thing, I like listening to your voice, knowing you’re close.”

Funny, after all of this time, the electric shocks don’t seem to go away. I lean down to softly kiss her cheek and soon I’m overcome with the calmness and tranquility of being home with her, too.

***

(Jesse)

Later that night, De and I walk along the beach. It’s a cool night; a reminder that fall is right around the corner. I ask her what is bothering her and she admits that she feels like she is losing touch with Mikey. She seems a little comforted when I tell her he seemed disappointed that she didn’t visit much this summer. She decides to give him a call to congratulate him. “He’ll like that,” I tell her.

As we grow closer to the crowd, we spot Alexa, with her skin tight mini dress and big golden locks, heading in Luke’s direction. He’s standing around with a group of friends. I glance down at myself, wearing Luke’s Renegades hoodie, which pretty much covers my whole body. I kinda wish I had left the hoodie back at the house. She gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I watch from afar as he removes her lingering arms away from his neck and takes a step back. He smiles, says something and walks away; leaving her standing alone. He walks towards our blanket and sits down, he hasn’t spotted me. De stays back to talk with Lori and Matt while I walk towards Luke.

“Hey, where’ve you been?” he asks as he reaches up, takes my hand and pulls me into his lap.

“Walking with De,” I reply, leaning in to kiss him.

“I don’t like when you leave me alone for so long,” he says, wrapping me in his arms.

“Why? Because some strange girl may come up and try to make a move on you?” I ask sarcastically.

He laughs, knowing what I witnessed. “She tries to play that innocent role, like she’s not a troublemaker.”

“No kiddin’.” Again, sarcastic.

Laughing, he pulls me around and lays me back on the blanket, leaning his body over mine. “You’re the only strange girl I need makin’ a move on me.”
He says in his rough, playful voice, nuzzling my neck.

“Good to know,” I whisper as I lightly tug on his ear with my mouth. I then whisper something I know will definitely get him wound up.

Grabbing both my wrists, he pulls me up with him. “Okay, time to go,” he says huskily, pulling me close to him.

“Sounds good. Where to?”  I ask seductively, pressing my body close to his while his hands roam my body, causing me to tremble with excitement.

(Luke)

I’m deep in thought, staring through the small rectangular window at what looks to be fluffy white cotton set against a bright blue back drop.

“What’s so fascinating?” Mikey abruptly interrupts as he glances over my shoulder.

“Huh?” I shrug, trying to act like it’s nothing.

“You’ve been staring out that window for half the trip. I thought maybe people were jumping or something; the way you are so focused on it,” he jokes.

“Funny,” I say dryly, trying to avoid the interrogation. Unlike JJ, who gets the whole quiet thing, Mikey likes to talk constantly most times. We’re just coming off a month of training in Florida and are heading back to Jersey. Right before we left, we were notified that we will be playing with the Charlotte Stone Crabs and are due to report in February. We can hardly believe our luck, once again getting the same assignment. Our hard work is paying off.

I’m glad we found out where we’re assigned come spring. JJ seems happy when I call to talk
with her about it. We have a lot to discuss when I get back. I thought this year was going to be tough on us, me all over the place, and her in school finishing her senior year, but, so far, we’ve been working it out. This is probably the longest we have gone without seeing each other, but we talk every day. The month flew past and now I’m home for the next few months.

What I’m focusing on, as Mikey pointed out, is how this is going to play out. I’m strategizing over how to approach David. JJ and I discussed it somewhat over the phone. Mikey and I talked about purchasing a condo, nothing crazy, just somewhere to call home while we’re away. We figure it doesn’t matter if we’re assigned to other places, we will still attend spring training in Florida and we’ll have our own place to stay. Plus, we love it there; it’s a great spot to vacation, so it would still get use. With the housing market being the way it is, we can practically steal something and it will be cheaper than renting, so we’re looking at it as kind of an investment, too.

JJ checked out USF online. She seems excited about it and is going to apply. I checked it out in person and, honestly, I think she’ll love it. They have an awesome Art program and the campus is great. We’re thinking maybe we can bring David after Thanksgiving so he can see it for himself. Then, we’ll hit him with the rest of our plans. We’ll try to make it seem as if David is still calling the shots, make him feel good, even though I’m sure deep down, he’ll know he doesn’t stand a chance once JJ and I have our minds set on something. I love David, he’s awesome. I feel bad sometimes. It must suck being the dad of a daughter, but, he knows I’ll do anything to make her happy and protect her. I think that’s why he gives in to us so much, that’s got to count for something, right?

“Well?” Mikey interrupts my thoughts once again.

“David,” I finally answer. He knows what I mean, we’ve already discussed it. Mikey’s cool with the idea of JJ living with us. See, the plan is, she’ll go to school at USF and move in with us. I get to spend the off season with her and spring training, which is most of her school year. The only time I may have to leave is when I get assigned to a team outside of the state, which would be sometime in April. After she finishes up her school year in May, she’ll spend the summer with me wherever I’m playing, or at least visit whenever she can. She’ll return to school mid-August, I’ll be finished with my season in September, then I’m back with her in Florida again; which only leaves about two months out of the year that we actually have to live apart. We’ve got it figured out. It’s convincing David that we’re still working on.

“Man, you worry about the stupidest shit. You know he’s goin’ to give in to whatever she wants to do.”

“I know... but I want him to be okay with this, too. She’s all that he has. I feel selfish sometimes, like I’m takin’ her from him.”

“Yeah, well, all David cares about is her being happy and, for some reason that I can’t figure out for the life of me, that person is you.”

We both laugh and, to be honest, I can’t figure it out for the life of me either, but I’ll take it. We arrive home in time to head over to the school. Mikey hasn’t been back since graduation. We figure, we’ll stop by to visit Coach Briggs.

After visiting the coach, we head towards the Art department to JJ’s last class of the day. As Mikey and I walk down the hall, the final bell rings. Out of the class, JJ emerges with Blake Christiansen cozily by her side, his arm comfortably thrown across her shoulders. I feel as if all eyes are on me, like I just walked into the middle of something. Our eyes meet... mine on hers
and his
… hers on mine... slime balls also on mine as he sneakily lowers his arm while telling Jesse he’ll catch up with her later. I stare him down as he slithers away.

At the same time, Mikey and I both say, “What’s that about?” Him to me... Me
to her
.

JJ, seeming innocent as to what just transpired, has a smile on her face from ear to ear as she rushes over to kiss me hello, making me momentarily forget what I’ve just witnessed as my arms wrap around her waist, kissing her back. I’m brought back to reality when I glance at Mikey, who is picking up where I left off as he continues to stare down Blake, who is scurrying out of the hallway. I drop my arms down and step back as jealousy overcomes me once again.

“What’s goin’ on?” I ask as she finally catches on to the shift in my mood.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, confused.

Mikey interrupts, “I’ll let you two talk. I’ll see ya at home. Where’s DeDe’s locker?”

“A-112,” JJ says, distracted as she looks at me curiously. We both stand there watching Mikey walk away, she then takes me by the hand and leads me through the metal doors to the outside of the school. “Is everything okay?” she asks innocently as she searches my eyes for answers.

“You tell me,” I say coolly as we continue to walk towards home. “Why did that asshole have his hands all over you?” I ask possessively.