Stealing Third (16 page)

When
Tyler tugs at my hand I’m not sure if it’s to stop me from continuing, or to
encourage me to keep going. Either way—I’m not giving up now.

It’s
time to play ball.

I
try to keep my voice steady, fully aware that claiming we didn’t break the
fraternization rule, since technically we were “together” before we got to
camp, is a truth I’m bending almost to the breaking point. But if it can keep
Tyler from getting into trouble, I’d do anything.

“Mr.
Robbins, again, this is my fault,” I say lightly, despite my heart beating so
hard I’d be surprised if he can’t see it thudding in my neck. “I should have
remembered that Lucy and Dave had to fill out a bunch of paperwork last year,
but since the rule about prior relationships isn’t clearly stated in the rule
book, I guess it just slipped my mind.” I give him my most genuine smile,
silently hoping this is going to work. “Had it been, you know, clearer, we
would have of course followed the rules and alerted you.”

Holding
my breath, he scratches the back of his neck, looking like I just might have
got him on that one.

“I
see,” Walter says, moving back around to his chair and sitting down. He slides
open a drawer, pulls out a file folder, and plops it down on his desk. “That is
a hindsight that will need to be amended for the future, Miss Evers. Thank you
for bringing it to my attention. However, that does not prove you and Tyler
were a couple before camp and I certainly can’t just take your word for it.”
Walter clasps his hands on top of the manila folder and sighs. “You must
understand this rule is to protect our campers, and if I simply took your word
for it—as you’re asking me to do—before the end of the week I’d have a line out
the door of my seventeen and eighteen year old campers and counselors claiming
they’d been together since before camp.”

“But
we can prove it,” Tyler blurts out before I can say anything. “Our friends who
are visiting can vouch for us.”

Walter
clears his throat. “Mr. Ford, while I’m sure that might be the case, a couple
of your friends vouching for you wouldn’t do it either. I’m very sorry. But
unless you can produce hard evidence of a prior relationship, there is no
possible way I can allow you two to remain at camp.”

Tyler’s
face falls, and it pinches my heart to see the small amount of hope he just
held disappear at Walter’s hard stance—but luckily for him—having our friends
vouch for us was never my plan.

Offering
him a reassuring smile, I drop his hand, reach behind me, and slip a small
white phone out of the back pocket of my jean skirt.

“Miss
Evers, if you’re attempting to convince me you and Mr. Ford fraternizing is not
grounds for your third strike, pulling out a cell phone, which is clearly
stated in the camp’s manual to be against the rules, is not helping your case.”

I
know it’s no laughing matter, but I can’t stop the small giggle that bubbles
up. He has a point. One I hadn’t considered. I just hope the means justify the
ends and I don’t end up with a third strike anyway.

“It’s
not mine, I swear.” I hold up the phone and show him the lock screen photo of
Kaitlin holding a sign that reads, ‘If found, please return to the saddest,
phoneliest girl in the world,’ along with her email address.

You’d
think it wouldn’t work, but her phone has been returned no less than three
times already.

“I
borrowed it from my best friend who came to visit today,” I say, sliding the
phone open and launching her photo gallery. I quickly scroll through nearly two
dozen selfies of her and Pete on the beach, or in her car, or making out on the
beach or in her car, before I find what I’m looking for. “See.” I hand the
phone to Walter so he can get a better look. “I think she has a few more of us
if you scroll to the right, and if you tap the picture a date stamp will pop
up,” I say, glancing at Tyler, whose smile is almost as big and bright as the
one he wore that night. The night of the party.

Walter
swipes his finger on the small screen a few times before suddenly handing the
phone back to me, the last picture still on display. Oh. The kissing one. Oops.
Although, after last night, it’s not like it’s the first time he’s seen Tyler
and I do that.

Taking
a deep breath, and looking somewhat relieved, Walter picks up his pen. “Well,
Miss Evers, it appears you and Mr. Ford were, in fact, a couple prior to
arriving at camp.” A ghost of a smile plays on his face. “And since you
are
correct, the rule book does not state the proper procedure in these types of…instances…I
will remove your third strike. Tyler’s, too.”

I
wrap my hand back in Tyler’s—despite wanting to throw myself in his arms
instead—when Walter’s voice cuts through my excitement. “Now, don’t get too
excited just yet, Emily. You still have two strikes on your record and we’re
only half way through the first session. It’s going to be a very long summer.”

Is
he crazy? How can I not be excited? I get to spend the summer with Tyler. The
longer, the better.

I
attempt to temper down my smile from ecstatic to grateful while pulling Tyler
towards the door, not wanting to linger and risk Walter changing his mind.
“Thank you, sir, and don’t worry. No more strikes. I promise.”

…

The
second Tyler and I are outside he pulls me into his arms and twirls me around
until I’m giggling and dizzy.

“I
have no idea how you just managed all of that,” he says, keeping his arms tight
around my waist after setting me back down on the ground. “But I have a feeling
I don’t want to know.” He laughs.

I
loop my arms around his neck and squint against the sun, smiling. “Unless you
want to be an accomplice to the things I did last night that could get me
kicked out of camp faster than Walter catching us making out on the baseball
field at two in the morning again, then you’re probably right. But seriously,
I’d do it all again to make sure you didn’t get in trouble.”

Tyler
leans his head down and presses his forehead to mine. “Thank you, Emily. I
don’t know what I did to deserve you risking getting into even more trouble for
me, especially after the things I said last night, but thank you.”

What
he did to deserve it? How about everything? And because I’m falling in love
with him.

“Considering
you’ve saved me about a thousand times, how about we forget about last night
and call it even?” I lift up on my toes, happy to let it all go, but stop short
when Tyler squeezes his eyes closed like he’s in pain. “What is it?”

“I
can’t just forget the things I said to you. I was angry, and confused, and I
shouldn’t have accused you of trying to hurt me on purpose. I know you wouldn’t
do that, and I’m so, so sorry, Emily.”

I
pull my arms back and cup his face, coaxing his eyes open by brushing my thumbs
against his cheeks. And just like the night we met, his piercing green eyes
take my breath away.

“No,
Tyler, this is my fault. What else
could
you think?” I lean back so our
foreheads are no longer pressed together. I want him to see how serious I am.
“What you read in the letter was a joke. I mean…the part about using you to get
kicked out of camp was a joke, I swear. I can go get the letter right now if
you want.”

I
shift in his arms to leave, but his grip tightens around my waist. “Emily, you
don’t have to show me proof. I believe you.”

I
take a deep breath, knowing I need to tell him the rest though. “But the truth
is…I did want to get kicked out of camp—at first.”

Tucking
a stray hair behind my ear, he furrows his brows as his eyes roam my face. “But
why? You seem to love it here.”

“I
do love it here…but my parent’s marriage is kind of on the rocks and so I
thought if I could somehow get kicked out of camp and go home, maybe I could
help salvage it.” I drop my eyes to the ground. “It was a stupid idea.”

Tyler
pulls me into a tight hug, and I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline of the day
fading, or the lack of sleep catching up with me—or just the way Tyler makes me
feel—but I melt in his arms, and let my worries melt away, too.

“I
get it, I do. When my parents split I was willing to do anything to keep them
together. Even if it meant trying to be everything to everyone. But—” Tyler
lifts my chin with his finger, a soft smile on his lips, “a very beautiful, and
very wise woman once told me if I made sure
I
was happy, then the people
who love me will be happy, too. And I know that’s what you really want in the
end, right? Your parents happy?”

I
nod. It’s all I’ve ever really wanted. And hearing Tyler give me my own advice
makes me realize what I’ve been doing to keep them together for the last year
isn’t making
anyone
happy.

“Wow,
she really
is
wise.” I laugh, wrapping my arms back around Tyler’s
shoulders, knowing I have a lot to do to fix the mess I’ve made. “But really,
thank you for reminding me what’s truly important,” I say, lifting up on my
toes. “And just so you know…I am happy.”

“Me,
too,” Tyler says, leaning down without so much as a glance around, no longer
worried about who might see us as he presses his lips to mine. “Wait—” he pulls
away suddenly, “you said ‘at first.’”

“Huh?”
I ask, not following his train of thought, too caught up in the feel of his
lips against mine.

“You
said you wanted to get kicked out of camp… at first. But, not now?”

I
shake my head.“Definitely, not now.”

“Why
the sudden change?” Tyler lifts his brows, but the smile on his face tells me
he knows exactly why.

“Because
someone,” I say, exaggerating each word, “managed to steal my heart faster than
I can steal third.”

Tyler
gives me a quick kiss before unwrapping his arms from around me and taking my
hand. “Todd sure does have a way with the ladies—damn that guy.”

I
burst out laughing, and give Tyler a playful shove. “I know, right?”

“There
you two are,” my dad says, his voice booming over the chatter of the crowd he,
Mom, Kat and now Pete, are weaving through. “Look who I found wandering around
aimlessly.” He looks at Tyler. “Please tell me he belongs to you.”

“Yo,”
Pete says, giving Tyler a high five. “Man, I’ve missed you, dude.”

“You,
too,” Tyler says as their greeting morphs into a typical bro hug. “Thanks for
coming all this way to, uh…” Tyler shifts uncomfortably, looking unsure what to
say before glancing between me, Pete, my dad, and Kat. “Visit?”

“You
know it.” Pete smiles and gives me a wink. “I’d do anything for my girl.”

“Oh
no, you don’t.” Dad shakes his head back and forth, his hands cutting through
the air like an ump calling someone safe. “No. No. No. No. No. No. No.”

“Bob,
honey.” Mom places her hand on his arm. “What is it?”

Did
she just call him honey?

Now
I’m the one shaking my head back and forth, wondering if I just got beamed by a
fast ball, or if this has all just been some crazy concussion fueled
hallucination from hitting my head on the dock.

“No.
No way. I won’t allow it.”

“Allow
what? What in the world are you talking about?” Mom asks, looking as confused
as me.

What
is
dad talking about?

“Pete
and Emily. That’s what.” Dad puts his hands on his hips, his back ramrod
straight and his expression dead serious. “Right before he said he’d do
anything for his girl, he winked. Didn’t you see the wink?”

Oh.
That.

Kaitlin
clamps her hand on my dad’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze before tucking
herself under Pete’s arm. “Sorry, Mr. E, I’m the only girl Pete would do
anything for.” Kaitlin smiles. “Even if that means driving me across the state
all night long so I could come visit my best friend.”

Dad
visibly relaxes as Pete leans down and plants a kiss on the top of Kat’s head.
“The girl is right, Coach. Sorry to disappoint, since it’s obvious you would
have loved to have me in the fam.”

At
that, Mom lets out a small giggle, followed by the rest of us, until Dad
finally lets out a long sigh of relief and joins in. My laughter is short lived
since Dad just made his stance on me dating one of his players pretty clear.
This is not good.

I
take a deep breath. I have to tell them. No. I want to tell them. After all
Tyler and I just went through, I don’t want to keep us a secret anymore. And I
don’t want to lie to my parents anymore, either. I just hope they can see how
happy I am—and that will make them happy, too.

“Um,
Mom? Dad? There
is
something I want to tell you.” I glance at Tyler to
make sure he’s okay with me telling my parents about us, and he silently
answers by reaching out and wrapping his hand around mine.

Dad’s
eyes widen, and for a split second I prepare for him to start shouting again,
but instead he smiles. A huge, Yankees just won the World Series, size smile.
“For the love of Pete Rose, this,” he gestures between Tyler and I, “this, I
can handle.”