Summer Swing (62 page)

“Can you tell me where he is then?”

“He’s up north. He’s supposed to start playing with his new team tomorrow.”

“In
Cuca
-whatever?”

He kind of chuckled.
“Rancho Cucamonga, yeah. Listen
Ellie,
this has to stop, okay? I can’t stand seeing him this way. You
gotta
quit playing games with him. Just leave him alone.”

“Okay, what games are you talking about?” I replied, starting to feel a bit angry.

“You’ve got a guy, okay? Just forget about Tyse and let him
get
his life together,
all right
?”

“What the hell does that
mean
?” I growled.

“Shit, I can’t
believe I’m saying this for him,
” he murmured. “It means that he’s in love with you, Ellie. My boy is so in love with you that he can’t even think straight. I mean he’s breaking parts and shit because he’s daydreaming about you
all the time
. I can’t even get him to focus for five minutes
. It’s a good thing he’s outta here; I’m losing money because of you.
”

I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I mean it’s what I wanted to hear but—

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he continued, “but the last thing he said was that you
were better off without him. Whatever you said to him on the phone really knocked him for one, you know? I like you and all chica, but lay off,
okay? He can’t handle all the ‘you’re my best friend’
crap that you give him—”

“Nate—”

“—Just let him play some ball without feeling like he’s gonna fall apart every time you call—”

“Nate—”

“—He needs to stop worrying about you and what’s going on in your life, and I swear if he listens to another one of your damn morning shows I’m gonna make sure you just lose your job, Ellie!”

Whoa. That was a chewing out if I ever heard one. But I was afraid he was going to hang up on me so I quickly said, “He listens to my show?”

“Pssh, yeah, like every
fre
akin
’
day. For an hour when he
wake
s
up, on the way to school
on his phone
, and then between his first and second class when you guys are just finishing up. He’s a
freakin
’ sap, and
I’m
sick and tired of it. You
gotta
leave him alone, Ellie. He just—”

“Would you shut up?”

“What?”

“Shut up, Nate.
I love him
. I told him how much I care
about him and he hung up on me!”

It was silent for several seconds.
“What? Did I just hear you right?”

“
Are you telling me he honest
ly feels the same way about me?
”

He was quiet for a few seconds. “
You told him…
?
He hung up on you?”

“Well I mean he said this and that, telling me to forget about it or whatever, but yeah…then he hung up and he won’t return my calls.”

He cussed again, but it
was
something
not
very nice about Tyse.

“Hey, don’t call him that,” I scolded.

He chuckled. “I called him that this morning when I told him he was being stupid. I told him to tell you how he feels and the bastard blew me off.”

“You gotta help me out then, Nate. Just tell me what I should do.”

“You’re really in love with my boy?”

“Yes. I have been for a while.”

“And you were just as dumb as him and kept it to yourself?”

“Yeah, I guess so.
But I basically admitted it to you, Nate. You’re just as clueless as he is.
”

“What?” he scoffed. “You’ve never told me you were in love with him.”

“I told you I wasn’t with another guy because I was
waiting
for
Tyse
, you idiot. What else is that supposed to mean?”

“Hey, I
ain’t
no Dr. Phil.
And I told
Tyse
what you said and he pretty much convinced me that I heard you wrong. You
gotta
spell these things out, honey.”

“Okay, okay, I know that I’ve screwed up more than once. But it’s time to stop beating around the bush. I do love him and I need to talk to him.”

He
sighed
. “Okay, whatever, a
s long as somebody’s being honest here. Just go see him, Ellie. If you can, just go to
Cuca
-town and see him. He has a harder time avoiding you when you show up out of the blue. Just don’t spook him before a game or something. He’s got stuff he wants to prove
and I don’t want anyone messing up his chances.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

“Just... Well, you
gotta
understand something, Ellie. Tyse is my boy, right? So I know him pretty well. He’s got this thing about him, this complex or whatever—”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not going to let him
give me any of that bull.”

“You may have an advantage by seeing him in person, but it’s not going to be easy, Ellie. I don’t know what you could do to convince him to ‘ruin your life.’ ”

“What?”

He sighed. “That’s what he thinks being with him will do. Ruin your life.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Well, I
already told him that you’ve ruined
his
life
,
so it’s only fair
.”

“Gee, thanks Nate.”

He laughed. “Well, you’ve been driving him crazy. But then again the kid pulled off a four-point-oh this last semester of school. He graduated with a 3.8. I guess you were good for something. He did everything he could to get his mind off of you.”

“Glad I could help. Look, I should get off the phone and, uh, make some plans or something.”

“Yeah, sure.
Call me if you need anything.”

“Oh, you’re giving me the invitation to call you now? Gee, I don’t even know what to think of that.”

“Well you’ve finally got your head on straight. Now if Tyse can’t do the same, let me know and I’ll take care of it.”

I laughed at his threatening tone, but after a playful agreement, I hung up and took a deep breath. What now? Should I really make a trip to Rancho
Cuca
-whatever? I knew that I should, so I got online, did some research about the team and their schedule, and then made a call about work.

I needed to take a couple of personal days.

I was on a plane
to California
the next morning. It was kind of a torturous flight because of all the thoughts and scenarios running through my head. I knew I couldn’t predict what Tyse would say or do, but I
reminded
myself over and over
that things would work out.

I basically had two options: I could just show up at the game that night and try to meet up with him afterwards, or I could send a text message that said I was in town. I
wanted to see him sooner than later, but what if he didn’t respond?

Oh, well. I had to start somewhere. I decided to call Tyse instead of text message him. I figured I’d have to leave a message, but I wanted to at least make an attempt at getting a hold of him. It was
almost
noon and I had no idea wh
ere he was or what he was doing
but
—

“Hey, Ellie,” his voice said
over the phone
.

I froze where I was in the
airport
.

“Ellie? You there?”

“Uh, yeah.”

And then there was an awkward silence.

“Tyse I’m sorry for everything, okay?” I
rushed
. “I didn’t mean to throw all of that at you, but I’ve tried to get it through to you so many times and I just… I didn’t want to ruin anything we had. Finally I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I had to tell you the truth, even if you just…hate
me or whatever
. I don’t know, I’m just…I’m sorry.”

“Ellie,” he said quietly. Then I heard him sigh. “I uh…I just panicked a little. See, I kind of… Well, I love you, Ellie. I love you so much that I just…I don’t
even know what to do about it.
Because
right now you aren’t an option for me
.
I can’t do it, Ellie. I can’t
pull you into my life like that. It would be totally selfish of me because you deserve so much better. I can’t give you what you deserve. You need a guy
who
has a good job, a decent place to live, and
who
doesn’t have psychotic parents. That’s what I want for you. That’s what you deserve.”

I paused for a few seconds to make su
re he was finished.
“I
don’t care what you want for me
, Tyse.
I don’t care about
careers or money or where I live. It has everything to do with how much I need
you
.
And it has everything to do with the fact that I fell in love with my best friend. All I want is to be with you, Tyse. I don’t care about the circumstances around us.”

It was his turn to pause, and as I waited for him to respo
nd, I sat down on a chair
and wiped the tears from my face
.

“
You know, I’ve
always wanted to hear that but…
I can’t do that to you, Ellie. Give me some time, maybe. Go ahead and live your life for now and—”

“Tyse, I’m here at the airport. I came to see you. Will you meet me somewhere? I need to see you and I can’t wait any longer.”

“
Wh
- what? What do you mean you’re at the airport? I’m in Rancho Cucamonga, Ellie. I’m—”

“Near the Ontario airport?”

He paused. “Are you joking?”

“No. I’m sitting here
in
terminal 2
, wondering how I’m
gonna
get to you. I plan on going to the game tonight, but I’d rather see you sooner than that. I guess I could just rent a car and drive around, yelling your name on every street—”

“Don’t leave, Ellie. I’ll-
I’ll come get you, okay? I’ll…
Y
eah, I’ll come get you. Just wait there, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Uh…”
I could hear him moving around and then a door shut.

“Tyse?”

“Yeah?”

“I fully expect you to kiss me when you get here.”

There was another brief silence and then, “Yes, ma’am. I’m already on my way.”

“Okay. Drive safe, then. I’ll
be here waiting for you
.”

“Gotcha.”

He hung up, b
ut for the first time it was a hang up I was happy for.

I swear he got there in
less than
ten minutes, and as I sat on a seat feeling elation, feeling excitement and happiness as I eagerly looked for his beautiful face, I only turned away for a moment before I heard my name. I
faced
the sound to see
Tyse
about twenty feet away.

He took
a
step toward me, but I was up in a flash and
into his arms within a second, and we were kissing each other right there in the middle of the airport.
I felt my heart melting in my chest and a warm sensation spread throughout my entire body. His kiss was firm and passionate, and the amount of love I felt for him was endless. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before.

After
a while
I had to pull back slightly, just so I could look at him up close. I placed my hands against his face and enjoyed the fact that he was right in front of me
, looking at me with his
beautiful
eyes.
It had been seven months since I last saw him, and
I almost couldn’t believe I was standing there with him, having just kissed him after all the things we’d been through in the past year.

He ran his fingers
through
my hair,
studying my features as well.
He kissed me again, for a long time
, and then w
ith a tiny smile said, “
I really can’t believe you’re here with me. You know how many times I thought about moments like this? But Ellie, this is…really awesome and really devastating at the same time. I mean…I love you. I really, truly do—more than anything I’ve ever had in my life—but this just…it scares me, okay? I don’t know what to do because…I’m afraid you won’t be happy with me. I’m afraid you’ll regret this and wish we hadn’t changed anything.”