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After a minute of thinking about it, I got up and followed her into the kitchen.

“What happened to your plans with Cali?” I asked, leaning against the counter near her. “I thought you have a house you’re going to rent together.”

She sighed and her mouth revealed a partial frown. “Cali wants a one-wa
y ticket out of here
. She’s going to be moving
to
L.A.
before long.”

“
L.A.
? Are you serious? What’s
down
there for her?”

“Some fancy salon that her boss’s sister owns. When her boss leaves town in the fall to go work there, she
wants to
take Cali with her.”

Jayden kept busy with starting breakfast, but I could tell it bothered her. I had to admit I was really stunned.
The two of them
were pretty close and I couldn’t picture h
ow it was going to be with Cali being so far away.

Maybe it
was
the right time to make a few changes…

Nine o’clock found us on a baseball diamond at Jayden’s fo
rmer high school. Apparently it wa
s a long-standing tradition for some of her friends to play ball every
4th
of July. Shawn and Josh played high school
baseball
,
and so did Matt, but
Jayden said they
were dying for
me to play
with them too
.
I wasn’t sure if that was exactly true, but I was thrilled to play ball again and looked forward to it.
She also invited Jack and Megan, and Jesse came from
two
hour
s
away to play with us as well.

Jayden claimed she didn’t always play
,
but today
I convinced her
she was going to.

“Maybe I should have made you take me to the cages first,
” she
told me
. “Shawn’s a big
jerk
sometimes and thinks it’s funny when I strike out. He has no mercy.”

“You’re not gonna strike out,” I told her. “You’re a seasoned slugger now. Just pretend it’s Shawn’s ego you’re aiming at and you can’t miss.”

She laughed really hard. “You’ve only been around Shawn a couple of times and you already know how arrogant he is?”

“Guys just look at each other and we can tell.”

“And there’s no mixing up arrogance with confidence?” she teased.

“Nah, we just assume we’re all arrogant.”

Shawn called everyone out to play and the teams were split. There
were
just barely enough people to make two full teams
, but we made it happen
. There were four girls playing:
Jayden and Stacie were on the same team as Matt, Jesse, and me; Megan and
Aubrey
were with Jack, Shawn, and Josh. Silvia
and Cali came, but they weren’t
w
illing to play. I didn’t know the rest of the
guys so Jayden introduced everyone before we started.

Jack, Jesse, and I dropped the extra baseballs
we brought behind the backstop and Matt asked,
“What, you guys bring your own
spares?”

“This
is
a high school field
, isn’t it?
” Jesse
grinned
.

Our team fielded first
and Matt had me catch. Jayden was sent to the outfield, so Jesse took his usual spot and went with her. Matt was actually a pretty decent pitcher. He sent them in really well for the guys that could hit, and he eased up nice and accurate for the girls. Megan was up to bat so I was trying to help her out. She got a partial hit
but
it rolled right to Matt, so he
tossed
her out at first.

Jayden wasn’t even in right field anymore. She had moved closer to the center and I could tell she was talking to Jesse. When Jack was up to bat Jesse must have said something because
Jayden
returned to her spot and
Jesse
moved deeper into the outfield. Jack pointed his bat to center field and I saw Jesse smile
, motioning for him to “bring it on
.
”

“Maybe I should hit to Jayden,” Jack said to me. “Can she catch?”

“I have no idea,” I admitted. “She looks
bored
, though.
”

“I don’t want to make her feel bad if she misses it.”

“Nah, she’s
easy going
. But l
et’s just see if Jesse’s already out of practice.”

Jack laughed and stepped up to the plate. He hit a blazing grounder between center and left
,
and Jesse ran and dove to retrieve it in no time.
He quickly threw it in to second to cut off a double, so Jack smiled and back-peddled to remain
safe
at first
.

“Sheesh, d
id they purposely separate us into the furthest positions possible?” Jayden asked when she came in from the
out
field
to bat
.

I laughed and said, “I think I’ll make you play infield next inning, just so I can see you better.”

Jayden was t
he batter just before me,
and Shawn was teasing her before she even made it to the plate. She just smiled and gave me a look that said, “See? Told you so.”

“No worries,” I said to her. “Just get up there, watch the ball, and swing. You hit this ball, and I’ll let you give me a massage later on.”

She laughed and said, “Okay, sport, sounds like a plan.”

She wasn’t kidding when she said Shawn wouldn’t ease up on her. He threw it in there just like he did for the guys.

“Give her a break,” Matt said to him.

“No way,” Shawn said from the mound. “She’s too fast. She gets on base and you guys will score.”

Matt turned to me and said, “All you have to do is
threaten him
and he’ll listen. He knows better than to throw like that to Stacie.
”

Jayden stepped away from the plate and gave me a look. I mouthed “Shawn’s ego” a
nd pointed her back to the plate. With a smile she returned to the plate and waited for the pitch.

And she hit it.
Hard.

Matt swore and then added,
“Nice hit!
”

The ball was scooped up by the left fielder
,
but Jayden was already halfway to second.

“Holy crap,” Jesse said. “I think she could outrun
me
. Did you know she was that fast?” he asked me.

“Not really,” I replied with a smile. “I’ve never seen her run.
I’ve been jogging with her and she’s got great endurance, but I’ve never seen her speed.
”

“I think my pride is wounded. I might have to race her to the fence to prove to myself that I’m faster.”

I looked at her on second base and
hollered
, “
Great
hit, Jay!
You ready to run home?”

She gave me two thumbs up and said, “Just
hit it over the fence so I don’t
have to
work very
hard!
”

“
But
Jesse wants
to time you from second to home
!
”

She smiled
with a shrug
as
I stepped up to the plate.

“You’re pretty confident, huh?” Shawn
quipped
from the mound.

I shrugged and said, “If the girls can hit against you, I think I’m okay.”

I heard a few people laugh and so did
Shawn
. I was glad he was nothing like Chris; I might’ve ended up being pegged with the ball. B
ut Shawn was pretty laid back
and h
e was ready for the challenge.
I let him throw a few pitches before I chose one to my liking and swung the bat. After it went over the fence between center and left, Jayden stepped off second base and jogged home. When I crossed the plate I heard Jesse trying to convince her to race him to the fence.

“Nah, I wouldn’t want to make you feel bad,” she teased.

“Very nice hit,” I told her.

“Thanks. I have a pretty good coach. I think he has the
hots
for me, too.”

“Well, I certainly can’t blame him,” I smiled. “He has excellent taste.”

The game continued until noon. Between Jack, Jesse, and me, we hit a total of
nine
homeruns. Matt even hit one towards the end of the game.
When most of the people left,
we took the remainder of the balls and just hit for a while.
When Matt was done pitching to us he asked,
“Hey, Ty, you’re comi
ng over,
right
?”

“Yeah, we’re planning on it.”

“What about your other friends? Do they want to come, too? They’re more than welcome, you know.”

“Oh, thanks. I think Jack and Megan have plans, but I’ll
ask Jesse. I’m sure he might
wanna come
.”

“Sure. We’ll see you later, then.”

“See ya, Ty,” Stacie said.

She waved to Jayden in the outfield and Jayden hollered, “See you in a little bit!”

Jayden had me take her home so she could change her clot
hes, but she ended up showering
too, just as I knew she would. Jesse met us back at my house and he said it felt like it’d been longer than just a few weeks since he moved out.

“I was expecting girly
pillows on the couch and flowers and stuff,” he joked when Jayden was in the kitchen.

I smiled and said, “The only thing here that’s actually hers is a guitar.”

“So…what’s the plan? Are
there wedding bells in the near future? Y
ou guys gonna move in togeth
er?
What’s going on?”

I was a little hesitant to answer because I wasn’t really sure myself.
“I don’t know. It’s kind of complicated.”

“Yeah, she’s kind of
reserved.
The idea of living with you probably freaks her out,” he
chuckled
.

“Actually she was the one that brought it up this morning.”

He paused for a second. “Living together? And… You told her
no
?” He
was
shocked.

“No, not exactly…”

“Well obviously you didn’t say yes, so there’s only one other answer, bro. Ty, what’s your deal? She’s awesome. Can I have her as a roo
mmate, then? She’d be rad! How ‘
bout you move out, and she can stay here with me my senior year?”
             
I laughed, knowing he was completely serious, but before I could answer, Jayden popped her head out of the kitchen and asked if I had a box.

“You have that much stuff to bring?” I asked,
looking into
the kitchen. I
glanced
at the counter and saw several dishes that she had pulled out from the fridge.

“Kind of.”

“Maybe we should just host the barbecue here next year, since you mak
e most of the food.”

“That would be a lot easier,” she agreed. 

When she’d returned to the kitchen and Jesse and I were alone again, he quietly said, “What’s holding you back, man? You guys belong together, it’s so obvious.”

“Well yeah, we both feel that way too. But I guess I feel like there’s
a time and place for everything, and I just want to make sure I do everything right. I love and respect her too much to shortchange her. She deserves better.”

He gave me a smile that I wasn’t quite sure how to read, but he did say, “You know, I can’t believe you and Aaron got along as much as you did.” He chuckled and added, “You’re a good guy, Ty,” and patted me on the back. “Jayden is lucky to have you.”

Chapter Twenty-One

We
made it to Matt and Stacie’s
a
t two o’clock. Jesse followed us there since he had plans with his family and would be leaving by
three
-thirty
.
He fit in pretty well with Josh and Silvia
, and they spent a lot of time talking to each other
.
I was really disappointed to see Chris there, and he seemed just as annoyed to see me.
He was standing with Shawn by the grill and I hoped he was just going to ignore me.
Cali came around two-thirty and the three gir
ls—Jayden, Cali, and Stacie—g
ot pretty loud on the other end of the yard
.