Homerun (Pro-U Book 4) Read online

  Now Jayce had stepped into the very worst of it.

  What would he think about my family? Would he understand that it was the liquor and not my father? Did I really believe that?

  He parked beside the apartment and turned the truck off, sitting there for a few seconds as I continued to stare out the window.

  "Layla, why didn't you tell me?" His voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper.

  "Goodnight, Jayce." I got out of the truck and walked up to the apartment as a nasty cocktail of emotions swirled in the pit of my stomach.

  I had no clue if he said anything else, or tried to stop me, namely because the sound of my own grief filled my ears. After unlocking the door to our apartment, I walked to my small bedroom, locked the door and stripped. I put in my ear-buds and turned my music on high before crawling into bed and crying harder than I could ever remember crying before.

  What happened to my family? To my mom and dad, who weren't perfect, but were working their shit out. What happened to them? What was happening to me?

  Who the fuck left a drunk man on the floor to possibly die, and his wife in the bedroom down the hall, beat up and bleeding?

  Maybe he wasn't the only monster in the family tree. Maybe I was one too.

  The beating on the door finally died down after a little while, and from what I could tell, Jayce gave up and went to bed.

  "Good," I mumbled against my wet pillow. I figured I'd pack up my stuff in the morning and find somewhere else to live. Going back home was a possibility, and one I needed to consider. If I wasn't going to go against my mother's wishes and call the cops on my father, the least I could do was try and protect her.

  I tossed and turned in the bed for another hour before finally getting up and putting on pajamas. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to sleep with everything that had happened.

  My phone had three messages from Aubrey and one from my mom, thanking me for taking care of her.

  "Did I take care of you?" I tossed my phone onto my bed and ran my fingers through my hair. There had to be an answer to all of this madness that everyone could live with.

  "What if it was Aubrey? What would you do?" I paced the floor as tears burned my eyes. I was so damn tired and weary from fighting myself. I knew what to do. Why the hell wasn't I able to do it?

  "Because I love him," I whispered through my tears. "He's lost in his madness and he deserves for someone to help him."

  But did he really?

  I tugged at my hair, driving myself half-mad with the conversation switching back and forth in my head. I needed Aubrey, but she was probably asleep. I checked my phone again and realized that the last text was only ten minutes before.

  I texted her quickly, 'you there?'

  Nothing.

  The sound of water running from somewhere in the apartment left my pulse spiking. Was Jayce up? Did I care if he was?

  "Yes," I whispered and tossed the phone onto the bed again. He wasn't just my love interest. He was one of my best friends too. He always had been. How many nights as a kid did he sneak out with me and Aubrey, wrap houses with us, snuggle down into Aubrey's bed and tell ghost stories? He wasn't just the man I wanted between my thighs... he was my best friend, the closest thing I had to a brother, no matter how jacked up it seemed in the bigger picture.

  He was mad earlier because he loved me. Like family.

  I opened the door and stood in the darkness for a minute, trying to decide if I wanted to chance it with him. I didn't want another fight on my hands, but I needed someone to hold me, someone to remind me that tomorrow would be better.

  "Lay?" His voice was soft as he stood at the other end of the hallway in his sleeping pants. "You all right?"

  I glanced down at my feet as sadness pulled me under a tidal wave. I shook my head no as a sob shook my whole body. By the time I started to sink toward the ground, he caught me.

  "It's all right. I'm right here, okay." He picked me up and carried me down the hall as I clung to him and let myself cry like I would around Aubrey. He was the closest thing I had to her.

  "I don't know what to do. I'm so scared to lose him and to lose her and-" I tucked my face against his neck as another sob wracked me.

  "Shhhh... we'll figure it out tomorrow. Come let me hold you, okay?"

  I continued to cry, unable to help myself. I had nothing left to cover up my lie. He'd seen it and come face to face with it.

  "I'm sorry you had to see it." I clung to him as he moved us onto his bed.

  "I wish you would have told me. We've been friends since we could walk, Layla." He laid down and turned on his side, pulling me flush against him as I wrapped myself around him.

  "I'm so embarrassed and scared and hurt and terrified. I can't be me in this situation. I can't walk in and fix it, kick its ass and save the day." I tucked my face against his neck again and breathed in deeply, finding peace for just a moment in his arms.

  "No more talking, okay. Just lay here and try to get some sleep. I got you now, and I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

  I nodded, but refused to believe his promise. It was too good to be true, and when the semester was over... he would leave.

  It was just the way things would turn out. I needed to prepare for the worst – for reality.

  Chapter 11

  Jayce

  I laid in the bed for what seemed like forever that next morning, just watching her sleep. She wanted peace in her life and now I knew why. Reaching out, I brushed her hair back from her face and forced myself to stay in place.

  How easy it would have been to pull her close and promise her that peace she was after, but it wasn't something I knew how to give, or find for that matter. My own life was a constant struggle to keep anxiety at bay.

  After fighting with myself over waking her up with a few soft kisses that would be out of place, I finally got up. With the fridge stocked up, I knew I could at least make her breakfast and show her that I cared - a lot.

  There was something cathartic about cracking the eggs and frying the bacon, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I liked it. Was it because I was doing something special for someone that I loved, or just the simple act of cooking.

  "Hey. Someone coming over this morning for breakfast, ‘cause I can grab my stuff and head to the gym. I don't want to get in the way."

  I glanced over my shoulder at the sound of her voice. She was dressed in a cute pair of pink pajamas, and her hair was disheveled and makeup a wreck. Somehow she was stunning and cute all in the same moment.

  "Breakfast is for you." I smiled and turned back to the stove, not quite sure how to start the conversation about the night before. I wasn't sure we needed to.

  "Oh." She walked into the kitchen and stopped beside me, reaching up to turn the burner heat down a little. "I'm going to shower and change. I'll be out in a minute."

  "Take your time." I glanced over at her, wanting to say a thousand things, but leaving my words unspoken.

  "Jayce..." She glanced down at her hands. "Thanks."

  "Anytime." I reached over, took her hand and pulled it toward my lips, kissing her knuckles a few times. "We're family, Layla. I'm here for you, okay?"

  "Yeah. I'm glad." She squeezed my hand and walked back down the hall.

  I glanced down at my erection and rolled my eyes. "Really, right now?"

  By the time she walked back into the kitchen, I had breakfast on the table and was just starting to pour us a cup of coffee.

  "I didn't know you cooked." She took her mug from me and walked to the table.

  "I didn't know I did either." I laughed and sat down, trying hard not to stare at her like I wanted to drag her back to my cave and make her scream my name. "I watched my mom and dad cook a lot growing up." I shrugged. "I guess some part of those memories helped me learn how to cook."

  "Maybe so." She took a sip of her coffee and let out a long sigh as she sunk down into her chair and gave me a sweet smile.

  "I'm sorry I blew up
at you last night. I got scared in the middle of all of that, and I just let my emotions get the best of me. I shouldn't have done that." I shook my head, honestly feeling like shit for brow-beating her in the middle of her almost getting physically hit by her father.

  "No. It's okay." She reached for a piece of bacon.

  "I haven't really told anyone what's going on, because honestly, it's embarrassing. I know I should call the cops, but my father would lose his job and my mother has nothing. He'd go to jail and she would be out on the streets."

  "She could come stay here with us, Lay. There are lots of other options. Us doing nothing isn't the only one."

  "Us?" She smiled and took another sip of her coffee.

  "You know how I feel about you. You're my sister’s best friend. I've cared about you since we were kids. Kinda hard not to, you know." I hated the shyness that swept through me, but it was Layla. My dream girl.

  "I know the feeling all too well." She sat up and reached for the plate of eggs. "Let's change the subject. I'll think things through and we'll figure it out, but I need to let it go for now. I'd stay in my room crying all day if I let myself think about how bad it's gotten for too long."

  "I get that. Let's talk about how you're going to single-handedly save my college career and help me pass Chemistry this year." I gave her a boyish smile. It had to be the same as batting my eyelashes, or so I hoped.

  Her eyebrows lifted as she glanced up. "Oh am I? I almost like the sound of this."

  "Good. I think it's a great ego booster for anyone who can pull off this nearly impossible feat." I grabbed a piece of toast and started to butter it. "You think you're up for the challenge?"

  "Hmmmm..." She put her finger over her lips. "What exactly do I get if you pass?"

  "The joy of knowing that you helped me graduate college on time? The accolades of our family and friends for being a hometown hero?" I was reaching.

  "Not enough." She shrugged and took a bite of her bacon.

  "All right... what do you want then?"

  "I don't want to cook, but I will clean."

  "Easy enough. I've obviously got this cooking thing down." I wagged my eyebrows, quite proud of myself.

  "And for every test you pass, I want a date." She leaned back in her chair and pinned me with a sexy smile.

  It took me a few seconds to process her words, but for some reason, I couldn't comprehend their full meaning.

  "Like, you want me to set you up on a date with someone?" Angst rolled around in my stomach. There was no way in hell I was setting up Layla with anyone I knew. She belonged to me, or should have by then.

  "No, silly." She shook her head. "Never mind."

  "No. Tell me what you mean. You wanna go on a date with me?" I forced myself not to cringe. Why the hell would she want to go on a date with me? I'd been after her our whole lives and nothing... not even a kiss other than New Year’s, which was when it was expected.

  "Seth and I broke up awhile back, and I miss going out." She shrugged as her aggression bled out and something softer took its place. I loved both sides of her like crazy.

  "Layla, I'll take you anywhere you want to go without me passing a test."

  "No." She jerked her gaze back up to me. "I want this to be fun. A challenge. I'll work hard to help you pass Chemistry, and you reward me with a fun date when you get a good grade."

  I laughed. "I guess that works. I'm not sure who's going to be working harder on the grades... you or me."

  "Good. Then it's set." She smiled and picked up her fork. "It's been lonely without Seth, but he's just not my type. He's all talk."

  "All talk, hmm?" I wanted to know what the bastard did wrong to make sure I didn't do it too. Not that we were dating-dating, but going on a date was definitely the door opening a little.

  "Yeah. It's probably too personal to talk about over breakfast, and with you." She laughed and shook her head. "Forget I said anything about him."

  "All right, so what's on your schedule for today? Wanna ride up to the bookstore and get our books for this semester?"

  "I already got mine, but we can go get yours. I don't have any place to be today."

  "Awesome. I'm going out to see my folks tomorrow. My mom has this thing with Sunday dinners, like you don't know." I let my eyes move across her beautiful face as her expression softened. "You can come with me if you want."

  "No, I'll stay here and get some sleep. I usually sleep Saturday and Sunday away, but the smell of bacon was something I wasn't willing to pass up this morning."

  "Sorry?" I chuckled and got busy on my breakfast. It was crazy how good it felt to do something as simple as share a meal with her.

  There was a slight awkwardness that sat between us, but it was all me. I was in love with her and pretending that I wasn't. Her setting us up on mini-dates was probably the worst idea ever, but I sure as hell wasn't going to tell her.

  *

  "I can't believe Aubrey is getting married in March. It's two months away." Layla glanced over at me as we walked out of the campus bookstore.

  "I think she's just in a hurry to get her life started. I wish she would have finished her last semester with us, but when Lucas got hurt last fall, she about lost it. I think she just wants to be beside him in case anything happens."

  "Or to simply enjoy life more." Layla shrugged. "If I was in love with someone, I'd want to be right beside them all the time too, you know?"

  "Yeah. I get it." I glanced over at her and tried to swallow the burning desire to tell her how long I'd loved her. It would sound silly and trite now.

  "You wanna grab a sandwich and go to the park?" She reached out and brushed something out of my hair.

  I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. It's freezing out here, but we can sit in the sun and pack up when it gets to be too much."

  "Tell me how you ended up captain of the baseball team. I thought Lucas was priming you to be hockey captain. Coach Billows didn't plan things to end up this way, right?"

  "Our captain, and several other guys on the baseball team got popped for steroid use." I opened the car door and set my books in the backseat. The sandwich shop was across campus, but it was a beautiful day outside.

  "Damn. That sucks." She moved back and crossed her arms over her chest.

  "Yep, so now I'm in charge of both."

  "Are you going to choose one or the other?"

  "I want to, but it's hard." I walked toward her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders as we moved toward the sandwich shop. Why it was comfortable touching her sometimes and not others was a mystery to me. I'd just live it up in the moments I could force myself out of my shell.

  "What do you like about each of them?" She glanced up at me, and my heart almost stopped. She had to be the most beautiful woman in the universe.

  Tell her. Just tell her.

  "I love the aggression you get to play with in hockey and I enjoy the individual and team efforts in baseball. Hockey is all about team, which is good, but I like being a contributor by myself and with the team." I squeezed her shoulders and released her. "You look good today."

  She snorted. "You tell me I look good all the time. Good like healthy or good like pretty?"

  I stopped and turned to face her. "Good like fucking beautiful."

  "Oh. Wow." Her cheeks bleed pink as she glanced up at me. "In that case, you look good too."

  I laughed and grabbed her hand as we walked toward the sandwich shop. I had to get beyond my comfort zone if I was ever going to have a chance with a woman like her.

  "So do these dates include dinner?" I glanced down at her.

  "They could."

  "Dancing?"

  "Maybe?"

  "How about a make-out session at the end?" I reached for the door to the sandwich shop and tried to force the hot ball of fear back down my chest.

  "I think they should, you know... just so we can call it a real date." She walked into the shop and glanced back. "Unless that's too much?"

  "Nope. Defini
tely not too much to ask for." I sucked in a shaky breath and moved up behind her, hoping she was struggling to breathe like I was.

  I was going to score a hundred and ten on every test from here on out without a doubt. I had the right incentive in place - Layla Roberts.

  Chapter 12

  Layla

  We spent the rest of Saturday unloading my stuff and watching TV together. I passed out way before I wanted to, and woke up Sunday morning in my bed, still fully dressed from the day before. My pjs hadn't been used in two days. Something had to change.

  I stretched in the bed as a smile spread across my lips. Aubrey was right. Living with Jayce was a great idea. Not only did it give us both someone to lean on seeing that she'd left us, but it was fun. It left me feeling a sense of hope for something better to happen between us. He knew my dirty little secret, and he wanted to help. I should have known he would have responded that way. He's an all-around great guy.

  "Jayce?" I mumbled and sat up, listening for sounds of him moving around.

  Nothing.

  He was already gone to his parents’ house? I glanced over at the clock to see that it was almost lunchtime. Of course he was gone. I'd slept half the day away.

  I reached for my phone on the nightstand and dropped back into the bed. I needed to get out of the apartment and play some ball. It was the only thing that left me feeling fully alive besides Jayce. Leaning on him would have been fine if he didn't have three million things going on in his own life already.

  The group chat on my phone exploded after I asked if anyone could meet in an hour to play a scrimmage. I smiled at the responsiveness of my team and launched myself out of bed. Someone would have to clear the field, and I knew the maintenance guys didn't work on Sundays. Good thing I had them teach me how to do it during my sophomore year.

  I worked a pair of yoga pants over my legs and then put my baseball pants on over them. I'd need two to three layers just to make sure I didn't freeze to death, but it would be worth it. Seeing all my girls after having the Christmas break would be good for me, and them.