The Final Score (31 page)

I fly back home for the start of spring training, I’m due to report in less than a week. I stop by Lora Rae’s apartment to say good-bye before heading to the airport, telling her I’ll be back as soon as I can and if she needs anything to give me a call.

I rest my head on the backseat of the cab and close my eyes, trying to rid myself of the headache that is forming across my skull. How could I have gotten myself into this mess at this point in my life? I’ll admit I was reckless when I was younger; looking back, this could have happened to me back then. However, ever since I was given this opportunity, I’ve always tried to keep my head on straight. I’m definitely no Saint, but I’m always careful. My thoughts are interrupted by the annoying ring of my phone.

“Hello?” I ask, distracted by the noise that is swirling around my head.

***

(Deanna)

I’m tired of sitting around, feeling sorry for myself. Mikey has been in LA all week and he hasn’t contacted me. All I do is think of him, the least he can do is give me a call and check in, we’ve always done at least that.

I’ve been keeping busy with school and studying. I think I need to get out and have a good time. I also need to break loose from all of the happy couples surrounding me, not that I don’t love them, but in my spare time, I’m either hanging with Luke and JJ at their house, or hanging with Mya and Dan at our apartment. Yes, even my new roommate is in love. What are the chances of that? Mya has finally crossed to the dark side and entered the light. I don’t even have her to sit around and be miserable with. As I sit here wallowing in my self-pity, Mya and Dan have come home from their dinner date.

“Hi, De. We brought you some Chinese food if you’re hungry,” Mya greets me cheerfully.

“Thanks, sure,” I say, dragging my feet to the kitchen. I tear off the paper of the chopsticks and dig into the container of vegetable lo mien, watching Dan and Mya as they playfully dance around the kitchen.

Mya takes notice of my gloomy mood. “Have you heard from Mr. MVP?” she asks gently, aware of the situation.

“No. He hasn’t called. He’s still in LA
with her
.”

“Alright, girlfriend, you need a night out. Forget him,” she says as if she’s reading my mind. She begins to take out the fixings to make some martinis. “Dan, we’re going to take De out for the night. She needs to get out of here and have a good time.”

I laugh, appreciating the offer. “Mya, no, you just got home from dinner. You don’t have to do that.”

“We want to, right?” she asks Dan. He obediently nods his head, agreeing with her. “Besides, it’s been awhile since we’ve all been out and got really blasted. We can all use a night like that every once in a while!”

Mya cranks up the music while we down a few drinks at the apartment, I call JJ and tell her and Luke to meet us at the Green Iguana.

I carry my martini into the bathroom as I shower and change. I leave my hair long and wavy and shake it out wildly. I apply my make-up carefully, finishing it off with my deep red lipstick. I slip on black leggings underneath a pair of black short-shorts and grab my new, silver, off the shoulder sweater that I bought last week. I throw on my high, black boots and head back to the kitchen with my empty martini glass. I’m going to have fun, even if it kills me.

“Ready!” I say cheerily, entering the kitchen and tipping my glass.

“Yes, you are,” Mya gives me her approval.

***

(Jesse)

Hearing the blaring music in the background of my old apartment and the sound of Deanna’s voice, I can tell that she’s been drinking. I figure it’s a good idea to head over to the Green Iguana just in case she gets herself into trouble. Mya isn’t good at babysitting, but she’s great at drowning your sorrows away.

Luke and I make our way to the second level of the Green Iguana. Usually we hang out on the first level, where the atmosphere is low key, with numerous TV’s viewing sports and a decent menu to order from. The second floor is more of a club scene, with occasional bands and DJ’s, though, and De is in the mood for loud music along with dancing.

When we arrive we find her out on the dance floor dancing with some guy.

“Who’s that?” Luke asks protectively as we meet up with Dan and Mya at the table.

“Relax, Prince Charming, she’s just having a little fun. I’m keeping an eye on her.”

“Great. That makes me feel better,” Luke responds sarcastically.

Mya laughs and playfully punches him in the arm. I watch De dancing on the lighted floor with some pretty-boy-looking guy that’s practically drooling all over her.

“How much has she had?” I ask. Mya holds up three fingers while Luke places an order for another round of drinks for everyone.

I see Luke’s phone light up on the counter. He picks it up and texts.

“Look who’s back.” He holds out his phone for me to read.

A text from Mikey reads,
wer ru?

green iguana, u?

home, gotta talk to u.

I raise my eyebrow, surprised to see him home. “Tell him to meet us here,” I tell Luke. He sends the text and Mikey agrees.

***

(Mikey)

It’s a long flight home. My mind is mentally drained; not just from the trip, but from all of the drama of the last couple of weeks. I need to talk to Luke about the call I received while heading to the airport. I send him a text, telling him I need to talk to him. He tells me to meet him at the Green Iguana. Even though I’m tired, I’m anxious to see everyone, especially De.

Being apart from her is making me crazy. I don’t like the way I left her hanging, I should have called her and kept her in the loop as to what was going on. I miss her terribly and, for the first time since finding out about Lora Rae, I have a little bit of hope from the phone call I received. That’s why I need to talk to Luke, I need his opinion. I don’t want to get my hopes up or hers until I have a chance to investigate.

One thing I am certain about is that I want to be with De. I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect her from Lora Rae, but I need to be with her. I realize there is no denying how I feel. We’ll have to work it out together because she is it for me and always will be. We want the same things, we’re comfortable with each other and we know all of each other’s secrets, good and bad. She’s the only girl I’ll ever trust completely.

When I finally arrive at the Iguana, I’m happy to see Luke is alone at the table. The girls are busy dancing, and Dan is making his way to the men’s room. I don’t waste any time filling him in. “So, I’m on the way to the airport and my phone rings. I’m not sure how he gets my number, but anyway, he goes on to tell me that he was involved with Lora Rae in high school. They were together for awhile until he ended up meeting someone else and breaking things off with her… What do you think happens next?”

“She’s pregnant,” Luke responds.

“Exactly. So this guy is freakin’ out because one, he’s only in high school and he’s thinking,
oh shit, now I’m gonna be a dad
; and two, he cares about Lora Rae because they were together for a while and he didn’t want her to go through it alone. She insists on having the baby. So, he breaks things off with the other girl and goes back to Lora Rae. He’s with her for like four months or so, and finally he realizes she’s not getting any bigger…”

I stop mid-sentence when I spot Mya and JJ walking towards our table. I look past them and spot Deanna dancing with some guy who’s all over her in the middle of the dance floor.

Luke interrupts. “And…”

I break my gaze away from Deanna momentarily, obviously now I’m distracted, but I manage to wrap up my story quickly. “Turns out she was lying the whole time.” I turn my attention back to the dance floor where she seems to be really enjoying this asshole’s company.

“So what do you think?” Luke asks, interrupting my crazy thoughts again.

“I’m gonna check it out.” I’m no longer able to concentrate on the conversation because I’m being consumed with jealousy. I glare at the dance floor in her direction. “Who the hell is that?” I ask, pointing out the guy.

Luke laughs while JJ tries to brush it off casually. “She’s just having fun. It’s just some random guy that started dancing with her, it’s innocent, she…” Before she can finish the sentence, I’m already walking briskly out to the dance floor.

I walk up behind her and tap her on the shoulder. De turns in my direction, obviously unaware that I am here, I catch her by surprise. I fiercely glare at the guy who is dancing with her and my presence alone is enough to make the poor guy scurry away, leaving us standing in the middle of the dance floor.

“What are you doing here?” Deanna asks, full of fury.

“I just got back. Who was that?” I ask with total attitude, nodding in the direction of the asshole who hurried off.

“None of your business,” she replies, practically breathing fire.

“Really?” I ask, smirking at her.

“Really,” she answers angrily.

“You’re drunk.”

“So what? Your friends in LA don’t drink?”

“We’re outta here,” I respond, ignoring her sarcastic question.

“I’m not going anywhere. I was having a great time till you showed up.”

“Uh huh, I see that. Let’s go,” I say as I throw her over my shoulder and she yells at me to put her down.
I pass by our table on our way to the exit. “We’ll catch up with you guys later.” I wave goodbye as De continues to rant and rave at my back.

“Oh shit, is this what we are going to have to deal with?” I hear Luke ask JJ while they both laugh.

“Put me down, you big idiot!” DeDe demands as we get to the bottom of the steps and I push open the exit door. I think about how happy I am to have my girl back in my arms as I slip into the alley next to the bar.

“Not until you tell me who the goon was that was all over you?”

“First of all, we were just dancing. Second, why do you care? And third, I hate you.”

I slide her gently off my shoulder, pinning her against the wall with my body so that she has no way to escape. “You hate me?” I tease, raising her chin so her mouth meets mine. I kiss her passionately and she responds to my kiss as if she doesn’t hate me at all. “That’s too bad, ‘cause I love you,” I whisper in her ear as my tongue plays
along the lobe before trailing softly down her neck. The taste of her sends fire through my body. I can’t resist her any longer.

“You didn’t call,” she says breathlessly, trying to fight her desire.

“I know. I’m an idiot. Forgive me?” I ask, my mouth still softly kissing her neck, her ear, and then trailing back to her lips.

“That depends,” she says, hardly able to keep her composure. I feel the goose bumps forming on her body where my mouth is making its trail. “What changed? Why are you here?”

I stop playing with her and look into her eyes so that she knows I am sincere. “As of right now, nothing has changed. I’m here because it doesn’t matter if there is a baby or not, or if it’s mine or not, I’ll always love you. Pushing you away isn’t going to change that. I know you. You love me and you’ll love that baby if it is mine because that’s who you are. I can’t change what happened, I made a mistake, but whatever comes of this I want you with me.”

There was silence between us for a minute as I held her gaze to mine.

“I’ve made mistakes, too and you’ve always stood by me. You know me better than anyone. Anything that is a part of you is a part of me, but you can’t think you are protecting me by pushing me away; it’s not right.”

“I promise. I will never let you go. We do this together, whatever the outcome.”

“I love you so much, Mikey. It drove me crazy thinking that you believed we didn’t belong together.”

“I’m sorry.” I kiss her again. “Just so you know, I didn’t think for a second that we don’t belong together. That, I always knew. I thought I was protecting you from having to be a part of something you weren’t prepared for.” My lips softly brush against hers.

“Now that we cleared that up, can we get out of the alley before we get arrested?” I plant one more kiss before taking her by the hand and leading her to my bike. I hand her my jacket and helmet. She climbs on the back and wraps her arms tightly around my waist as we speed towards my condo.

As soon as I park, I climb off and then help her, immediately pulling her to me and kissing her. It’s all I thought about on the way home. We can barely keep our hands off one another. I can literally feel the blood pumping through my body as we clumsily make our way to the door. Our bodies are molded together, our mouths not giving up each other for air. I fumble with my keys with one hand while the other runs up and down her body, holding her tightly against me. De’s hands make their way to the waist of my jeans as she frantically reaches for the button.

We stumble through the door, laughing as I guide her to the bedroom. Once inside, we make our way to the bed. I reach for the top drawer in my nightstand, but she tells me she’s protected. I momentarily worry what she must think of me, given my current situation. She senses my uneasiness and tells me that she loves me as she takes my hand and pulls me down on the bed with her.

I begin to slow things down just a bit. I want to take my time with her. Savor every second. I’ve waited so long for this moment that I don’t want to rush through it.