The Perfect Game (12 page)

I didn’t respond. 

I couldn’t. 

My stomach twisted into pretzel-like knots as my heart yearned for the truth. I curled my body into a ball, clutching a pillow tightly as the pounding in my head resumed. Closing my eyes, I reached for an escape.

The sound of my ringtone blared loudly from the floor, waking me from a dream-free slumber some time later. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand, its red numbers alerting me that almost four hours had passed. 

My phone continued blaring the music I’d picked out for Jack’s calls.

“Are you gonna answer that?” Melissa yelled from the other room.

I pressed the Ignore button, stopping the music from playing. After a minute, my cell phone beeped, alerting me to a new voice mail. I didn’t listen, afraid that if I heard the sound of his voice, my resolve would weaken completely. Another beep followed and
O
ne new text message from Jack
flashed across the screen. 

I tried to resist reading it, but my heart wanted to know what he had to say. I clicked Read.
Everything okay
,
K
itten? We won today. I pitch tomorrow. Call me as soon as you get this. Miss you
.

I turned off the display, tossed my phone back onto the floor, and headed into the living room where Melissa sat watching TV. 

“Did you really ignore his call?” she asked without looking at me. 

“I can’t talk to him right now.”

She turned to face me. “You need to talk to him right now.” 

I shook my head. “I can’t have that conversation with him over the phone. I need to be able to look him in the eyes when I ask him about those pictures.”

“He’s not your dad, Cassie.” Melissa’s face softened as she placed her hand on my knee.

I dropped my gaze. “I know that.”

“Do you?” 

“Of course I do.”

I knew my tone sounded defensive, because she asked again. “Are you sure?”

“What the hell is your point, Melissa?”

“My point is, Jack’s not going to promise the school a popular band for grad night and then disappear, leaving you to clean up the mess and answer all the questions. He’s not going to make a bunch of promises to people he can’t keep.”

I cringed at the memory I’d tried so hard to block out over the past few years. But the truth was, the embarrassment my father caused me was etched deep inside and was never far from my mind. And whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was affected by his lies and inability to follow through on the smallest of promises. 

I didn’t say anything. I continued to glare at Melissa, angry at her for pointing out the flaws I felt I couldn’t change.

“Cass, I just don’t want you to punish Jack for the mistakes your dad made.” Her voice was soft as she leaned in to touch her forehead to mine.

“How can you even say that? You know what I saw today. Those pictures have nothing to do with my dad.” I jerked back, my jaw clenched.

“No, the pictures don’t. But the fact that you refuse to speak to Jack unless it’s in person, does. I know what you’re doing,” she stated, her expression solemn.

“Why don’t you inform me then?” 

“You want to test him. Judge his body language. Watch his eyes, his mouth.”

“You’re damn right I do. Please tell me what’s so wrong with that?” 

“Nothing, I guess.” Melissa shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “I just thought that maybe you wouldn’t
need
to talk to Jack in person to decide if he was lying or not.”

“But I do. Don’t you see?” I took a long breath. “I don’t trust myself when it comes to him.”

“Why?” 

“Because I’ll want to believe anything he tells me over the phone. I’ll hear his voice and turn into a stupid girly ball of mush.”

“This is about protecting yourself, isn’t it?” Melissa rested her chin against her hand and sighed.

I nodded. 

“You think someday you’ll be able to trust the way a normal person does?” 

“You mean blindly?” I laughed harshly before continuing. “Probably not.”

The sound of Jack’s ringtone blasted from my bedroom again, grinding our conversation to a halt. “Please go answer that, Cassie.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry.” I winced before walking into my room and pressing Ignore once more.

My phone beeped with another voice mail alert, followed quickly by the sound of an arriving text message. This was going to be a long weekend.

Kitten, I
’
m getting worried. Please let me know you
’
re okay before I lose my fucking mind over here.
I love you.

Part of me thought,
Good. Lose your mind. Be worried. You deserve it
. The other part of me breathed in with relief that he actually cared. I shook my head, disgusted at my conflicted emotions, and turned my phone off. I couldn’t deal with any more text messages or missed calls tonight. Not to mention the fact that I couldn’t stop wondering if
Miss Thin
Brunette
would be making another appearance inside Jack’s hotel room later. The very thought made my stomach churn. 

I heard Melissa’s cell phone ring, followed by the sound of her voice. “Cassie, get out here!” 

I reluctantly walked back into the living room where Melissa held out her phone in my direction. “Who is it?” I whispered, afraid of the answer.

“It’s Dean. Get on the phone.”

“Hello,” I said, my tone irritated.

“Cassie, Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on? Jack’s calling me like a lunatic. He’s
flipping the fuck
completely flipping
out. Says you won’t answer any of his phone calls or texts!” 

“So what.” I pretended not to care. 

“You gotta talk to him, Cass. You can’t ignore him like this when he’s on a road trip, it’s not fair.”

“Yes I can!” I screamed back into the phone. “He’s the one who had a fucking girl up in his hotel room, not me! So don’t tell me I have to talk to him, Dean. Don’t talk to me about what’s fair!” 

The tears reluctantly escaped my eyes once more as Jack’s betrayal settled into my damaged heart. 

“You’re so goddammed stubborn! He’s going
fucking
apeshit and you’re just going to let him?” 

“I just can’t call him, okay? I can’t talk to him right now.” I pleaded with Dean for some sort of understanding. “Just tell him I’m busy with a project for school or something. He’ll believe that.”

Dean breathed heavily into the phone. “Fine. I’ll tell him. But, Cassie, he’s not stupid. He’ll figure out something’s wrong and then I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“What does that mean?” 

“It just means that I’ve never heard him sound as crazy as I did tonight. He was literally flipping the fuck out because he couldn’t get a hold of you.” 

“I guess he should have thought about that before he invited some whore up to his hotel room
,”
I snapped.

“You
’
re completely unreasonable, you know that?” Dean
asked, his voice harsh.

“How am I unreasonable?!” 

“Because you’d rather ignore this entire situation instead of put an end to it,” he snapped.

“I’m not ignoring it! I simply refuse to discuss it over the phone. So what?” 

“See? Unreasonable and selfish.” 

“Now I’m selfish too?” I shouted with a laugh.

“Sort of. You’re only thinking about yourself and your feelings. You’re not thinking about Jack at all. This isn’t just a game to him. This is his future. This is his career. He can’t
fuck
mess
up. Don’t you care about that
at all
?” Dean’s voice was pained.

“
None of that matters
Not
if he cheated on me,” I responded, my tone cold.

“But you don’t even know what happened. You don’t even know who that girl was. She could be an old friend of his…you have no clue because you won’t ask!” He sighed loudly.

“Nope. I won’t. Not until he gets home. And don’t you dare say a thing to him either, Dean! I don’t want you tipping him off so he has an entire weekend to think up the perfect response.”

“I’m not saying a word to him. But, Cassie, can you please at least send him a text message? Just give him something so he can focus on the game? Please do that for him.”

The phone fell silent between us. Of course I cared about Jack and wanted him to pitch well. No matter how badly I hurt, I didn’t want to distract him from the one thing that truly owned his heart. “Fine. I’ll text him as soon as you let me get off the phone.”

Dean huffed out a small laugh. “Talk to you later then.”

“Wait! Dean?”

“Yeah?” 

“You know I’m not picking him up on Sunday.” 

There was a slight pause before Dean sighed. “I’ll come get his car.” 

“Thanks. Bye.” I pressed End and handed Melissa back her phone before walking into my bedroom and powering my cell back on.

I quickly typed out a text that read:
Sorry, Jack,
been busy with a photography project. I
’
ll probably be pretty swamped until you get home. Good luck tomorrow.
You’ll be great! xo

Less than a minute passed before my phone beeped, signaling I had a response.
It makes me crazy to be this far away from you and not know what
’
s going on.
I just completely lost my shit on Dean. What have you done to me? LOL
Call
me
if you have a chance. If not, I understand. Good luck with your project.
Can’t stop thinking about the other night…

I tried so hard to be strong when it came to him, but even his text messages challenged me. I knew I’d jumped to conclusions about the pictures, but I refused to look like a fool. And in my opinion, only a fool would carry on like nothing had happened. Simply put, I didn’t want to be that kind of girl. The kind of girl that needed Jack in her life so badly, she’d overlook potential relationship-ruining material. 

But in trying so hard to be unlike all the other girls, I made myself irrational, declaring Jack guilty before viewing the facts of the case. I clung to my principles with both hands so tightly it was the only way I got through the next day and a half Jack-free.

That, and the fact that I’d turned my phone off. 

NINE

Panic set in when I realized that Jack would be arriving home soon. I hadn’t communicated with him in any form since the text messages two days ago. I half wondered if I should leave the apartment. But where would I go? I couldn’t hide from him forever. The sooner we had this conversation, the better it would be for everyone involved. 

I paced back and forth in my bedroom, my thoughts all over the place. It was easier to be the tough girl when Jack was in another state and I could simply shut him off with the press of a button on my cell phone. 

Nerves shot through my unsettled stomach as I curled up on my bed and waited. Finally, tires squealed outside and I peered out my window just in time to see Jack come to a screeching halt in one of the parking spots. He appeared to be shouting at poor Dean in the passenger seat before he bolted out of the car and sprinted out of sight.

Within seconds, his knuckles knocked wildly against the front door. “Cassie!” He banged relentlessly as he yelled through the door. “Cassie! Please, Cassie, open up. It’s not what you think.”
So much for Dean not saying anything.

My stomach rolled when the door finally creaked open and I heard him ask, “Melissa, where is she?” 

“Kitten? I’m coming in,” he announced from behind my closed bedroom door. When he walked in, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. His hair was wild and wind-whipped from the quick drive over from the stadium and he was still in his dress clothes from the airport, although his tie was loosened and barely hanging on.

He ran to the side of my bed, dropped to his knees, and reached out for me. I pulled back before he could touch me, my eyes focused on his as he spoke. “Kitten, it’s not what you think. That girl wasn’t in my room for me.”

I refused to move, unwilling to be deceived. “Did you hear me? She wasn’t there for me. I roomed with Brett and he met her our first night. He invited her up to our room, but she wasn’t there for me. I just answered the door.”

“Where’d the picture come from then?” I wondered, the question suddenly dawning on me. 

“She came upstairs with a bunch of other girls, but I wouldn’t let them in. One of them must have taken it.”

“Really?” I asked, my voice filled with more hope than I’d anticipated. 

“I swear it.” He reached out again for my hands and I allowed his fingers to intertwine with mine. He brought my hand to his lips and he kissed it all over.