The Other Game: A Dean Carter Novel (The Perfect Game #4) (8 page)

Even though I swore I wasn’t going to apologize to my brother, I still did. I hated the idea of anything being off between us. Aside from Gran and Gramps, he was all I had in this world, and I needed him on my side.

Jack forgave me easily, telling me that I only pissed him off because I was right and he hadn’t wanted to hear it. I told him that I hoped him and Cassie talked about everything before it happened from now on. He told me to stop being such a know-it-all when I didn’t know shit about being in a relationship. I wanted to argue with him, but he was right.

On Friday afternoon a couple of days later, Jack poked his head into my doorway, his keys in his hand. “Tonight, we’re going to Matt’s place to hang out before the softball game. You in?”

Since the baseball team only had practice this week and no games, Jack had been asked to throw out the first pitch for the school’s softball team. It was good PR, or so he said, so he’d agreed to it.

“Yeah. Should I just meet you there?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’m going over to Cassie’s now, and then we’ll probably head there together later. I’m trying to convince her to come straight to the game with me, but she keeps telling me no.”

“Sounds like your girlfriend,” I said with a grin. “What time?”

“About six. And that’s good because if she doesn’t come with me, then I want her to be with you, Dean. You understand what I’m saying?” He leaned against my door frame.

“Not really. You want me to babysit your girlfriend?”

“No. I want you to make sure you don’t leave her alone on the walk there. I want to know that if she isn’t with me, she’s with the only other person in the world I trust. Okay?”

I grinned back, happy that he needed me. “Okay. You got it.”

“Good.”

As he turned to go, I asked, “Do you think Melissa will come?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. You should invite her. I’m out,” he said, jangling his keys on his way out the door.

I pulled out my phone and sent Melissa a text.

Dean
: Come out with us tonight. Please?

Melissa
: Can’t. I’m heading home for the weekend. Next time?

Dean
: I’m holding you to that.

Melissa
: I dare you. :)

That girl. She turned me into a sap with a three-word text message. She knew what she did to me, and she toyed with me at every turn.

Damn it, I wished she was going to be in town.

• • •

At Matt’s front door, I could hear the rowdy shouts from inside, so I didn’t bother knocking. I just opened the door and stepped inside Jack’s teammate’s apartment.

“Dean!” the group of five baseball players all shouted at me in unison.

“Dude, where’s your brother?” Matt looked up from the kitchen table where they were playing some sort of drinking game that involved cards.

“Probably with his girlfriend,” I said with a shrug.

“It’s so fucking weird that Jack has a girlfriend. You know that, right?” he asked before downing a shot, his face contorting into a grimace as he gulped it down.

“It was at first,” I said, but it actually wasn’t weird at all anymore. What would be weird would be them not being together. I hated the idea.

“Come play with us,” Ryan insisted as he stared at the cards in his hands.

I moved to a small space at the table as Matt’s girlfriend, Jamie, brought me an extra chair. “Thanks,” I said before she wandered back into the kitchen area.

The guys taught me the basics of the drinking game, mostly telling me that I needed to play to really learn it. I was half terrified I’d be a drunken mess by the time I got the hang of it. As they dealt the next hand, I glanced at my phone and wondered where the hell my brother was.

“President!” Cole slurred from across the table as he slammed down a card.

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I pretended to play along. I wasn’t sure how much time passed before the front door opened and Jack finally walked through it.

“Carter! What’s up, buddy! Hey, Cass,” Matt yelled, his eyes trained on the game.

“Hey, Jack. Hey, Cassie,” Ryan said without looking up from his hand.

“Finally! Where have you two been?” I asked, wondering what had taken them so long.

“Not sure I’ll ever get used to you holding some girl’s hand,” Brett added, his gaze locked on their joined hands.

“Get used to it, BT, she’s not just some girl.” Jack planted a kiss on Cassie’s cheek, and we collectively groaned at them to get a room, and tossed other good-natured insults their way.

Jack asked to be dealt in and the banter continued, the usual guys being guys and teammates giving each other shit because they could. He was lucky to get along with his teammates. I knew quite a few guys who had left the state to play ball and couldn’t stand half of their team. Jack never had that problem. Ever since freshman year, his teammates had welcomed him, and now they were some of his closest friends.

We played a few more hands, and every time I had to drink, I barely sipped my shot. No one else noticed, thank God, otherwise I’d have been too plastered to walk anywhere later, let alone make sure Cassie stayed safe. I had no idea how half these guys still had their eyes open.

When it was time for him to leave, Jack stood up from the table and headed for Cass. What followed was a ridiculous display of affection, including things I wished I could un-see and un-hear.

Once they’d said good-bye, Jack headed for the front door but stopped to address the group. “Make sure she doesn’t walk alone to the game.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Cassie said, echoing what I’d said earlier.

Jack frowned and shot a look my way. “Dean?”

“I got her, J. I promise we’ll all go together. She won’t be alone.” I smiled at him and Cassie, hoping to ease his worries.

“See you guys at the game.”

When Jack closed the door behind him, we all turned toward Cassie like vultures.

“What? Don’t look at me, I’m not the crazy one!” she yelled.

“Just so you know, I’ve never seen him act this way about anyone other than Gran,” I told her, hoping she knew that he was just looking out for her. Jack was protective of those he loved and wanted to make sure she stayed safe.

• • •

We wrapped up our drinking game a little while later and left for the softball game. Cassie had her camera with her, something I hadn’t noticed earlier when she first came in.

“Are you taking pictures of Jack tonight?”

“I plan on it,” she said with a smile.

“Cool.”

Matt and Jamie held hands as the seven of us walked in a group toward the far end of campus where the softball field was located. Even though I had no idea what Jack was so concerned about, I wanted to keep my word, so I walked close to Cassie or kept her in view at all times. But then Brett started messing around with me, tapping my shoulder as he ran by, trying to get me to chase him, which I did.

When I realized that Cassie wasn’t next to me anymore, I stopped and turned to see her squatting and removing her lens cap. She waved me ahead, signaling that she wanted to shoot pictures of us, so I rejoined the group and let her go to work. I knew she’d yell at me if I tried to stop her. Photography was as important to her as baseball was to Jack.

Figuring I’d give her something to shoot, I knocked Brett’s hat off his head and he chased me, trying to punch me in the arm as I ducked and weaved around everyone else to avoid his fist. I glanced back to make sure Cassie was getting all of this when I noticed a man standing way too close to her. Cassie’s eyes were huge and she was frozen in place, clutching her camera to her chest.

Shit
.

I was too far away to hear what was being said so I walked toward her, wondering what the hell was going on, when I saw her head snap to one side and her hair whip around.

Stunned, I halted in my tracks, unable to believe what I’d just seen.

“That guy just hit Cassie! Hey!” I shouted at Jack’s teammates and started running, not knowing who else was following me, but hoping they all were.

Rushing toward Cassie, I watched helplessly from a distance as the stranger struck her again and she stumbled, knocked off-balance from the force of the punch. My mind spun, not able to comprehend exactly what the hell was happening, but one thing was certain. Jack was going to kill me for letting Cassie get hurt. And I was going to kill this guy for hurting her.

I started sprinting at full speed when the man tore away from her and gunned for me. I came to an abrupt stop, expecting the two of us to collide, but he stopped as well, dangerously close to me. I looked past his shoulder to see Cassie holding her cheek, and furious, I shoved him, wanting to get to her.

“You wanna die?” He was holding something in one hand as he pointed to his hip with the other, which was covered by an oversized shirt. A bulge underneath it looked like it could have been a pistol.

It only took a second of my taking my eyes off him for him to catch me completely off guard. The sound of glass breaking followed by excruciating pain in my head took my breath away. My head snapped back as beer spilled into my eyes, blurring my vision, and my knees buckled. I tried to scream for Cassie to run, but I couldn’t formulate the words as the rest of the world went black.

Blink. Pain.

Blink. Pain.

Blink. Pain.

Dazed, I had the feeling of being dragged along, my feet scraping against the concrete like they no longer worked. It almost felt like I was floating, but the pain that followed felt nothing like floating. It felt like hell.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was in someone’s arms. I glanced to my left, my head feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds, to find Brett practically carrying me across campus, his arm looped underneath mine.

I recognized where we were. “Hey,” I croaked out, and he slowed down.

“Thank God. Are you okay?” He glanced at me, his eyes wide and worried.

“My head hurts like hell.” I reached up and pulled my hand away, surprised to see blood wetting my fingertips.

“It was worse before. It’s actually almost stopped,” he said, and I assumed he was referring to the blood.

It was then when I noticed his shirt was stained red down the front. I pointed at it.

“Mine?”

“Yours.” He nodded, pulling the fabric away from his body before letting it go.

“What the hell did he hit me with, anyway?”

“A forty-ounce bottle of beer,” he answered, shaking his head at the memory.

No wonder my head hurts so damn bad.

“Where are we going?”

“To the campus police station,” he said, and it all came back to me in a rush of pain and fury.

“Where’s Cassie? Is she okay? What the fuck, Brett? Where is she? Where’s Cassie?”

I tried to pull out of his grip, desperate to find Jack’s girl, but I was too unsteady. My vision was still a little blurry, and my head pounded with each beat of my heart.

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug.

That answer couldn’t have been more wrong. I shoved at him, trying to push him off me.

“You don’t know? We have to go back!” I shouted. “We have to fucking go back and get her!”

“Dean?”

I thought I heard Jack’s voice coming from somewhere so I called his name out, although not very loudly in case I was hearing things.

“Dean!”

A figure in the distance sprinted toward us. When he got closer, I could see Jack’s face looked horrified and confused.

“What happened?” he demanded. “Why are you so bloody? Are you okay?”

Jack reached for me, patting me over to see where I’d gotten hurt as he looked around, frantic. Then he froze and said, “Wait. Where’s Cassie?”

I looked into his eyes, terrified that I’d let him down and he’d never forgive me.

“Where’s Cassie, Dean?

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But you’ve gotta go find her, Jack.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know where she is?” he growled, but more at Brett than at me.

“Dean was unconscious, man. What was I supposed to do?” Brett said, trying to explain.

“Where are you two going?” Jack looked at the two of us as if suddenly realizing that we were walking into campus instead of out of it.

“To the police station,” Brett said before I could.

I grabbed my brother’s arm. “Jack, please go find Cassie. I’ll be fine. Some guy hit her.”

His face turned cold with rage. “What do you mean, some guy hit her?”

“Just go. Ask questions later,” I begged him.

Jack sucked in a sharp breath to calm himself and looked me in the eye, his expression filled with pain. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.”
But I’ll never forgive myself if Cassie isn’t
. “Go find her. I’ll be fine,” I said, and he didn’t hesitate for a second before he took off running.