“You’re right,” Jared said, his agreement fake. “Babe, can you go grab me a water?”
“Uh …” She stalled before agreeing, “Sure.” She gave me an apologetic look before walking away.
Jared watched her round the corner before he turned to me, his face twisted, his expression angry. “You’re not taking my spot. I haven’t put in all this time to get benched in the last inning.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Figured if I put it in baseball terms, you might understand. Guess I was wrong. I’ve put in the work. You don’t get to reap the rewards.”
“Work for what?” I asked because I had no idea what the hell this guy was even remotely talking about.
“Don’t play stupid, Carter. You know who her father is.”
Was this douche bag actually telling me that he was using Danika for her money? For her dad’s connections or company?
“You’d better not be insinuating what I think you’re fucking insinuating.”
He stood up from the table, slapped my shoulder, and plastered a fake-ass smile on his face. I wanted to hit him and knock it right off.
“You don’t know anything about how Manhattan works. Whole different ball game in the city. Stay in your lane, California boy.”
I shoved my chair back and rose to my feet, thankful that I had a couple of inches on the guy. “Get out of my face,” I growled, and he laughed.
He fucking laughed.
“What’s going on?” Danika’s voice broke us apart.
“Nothing, babe. I was just giving Chance a geography lesson.” When she didn’t say anything in response, he continued, “You know, letting him know how different New Yorkers are from Californians.”
She looked between us, not buying his lie. I willed her to suddenly have the ability to read minds, so she could read mine.
Please see through this charade, Danika.
“I need to go anyway. I have to get to the field,” I said, only hesitating once her eyes met mine. “I’ll text you when I get my grade,” I added, hoping it would piss Jared off.
Danika knew something had happened while she was away, and no matter how badly I wanted to tell her, what was I supposed to say?
Oh, hey, I think your boyfriend is using you for your money?
Without any proof other than my own thoughts and his words, which I could have easily misinterpreted?
No way.
I’d learned my lesson this past summer about staying out of other people’s relationships. That was one thing that was seared into my memory bank. Whatever the hell was going on between Danika and Jared wasn’t my business, no matter how I felt about her, and I needed to remember that.
Don’t Recognize Myself
Danika
“What the hell was that?” I asked the second Chance stormed off.
I had no idea what Jared had said to him, but I knew it couldn’t have been good. Chance had looked like he was seconds away from ripping Jared’s head off when I walked up.
“Nothing.” He unscrewed the cap off his water and took a drink.
“Sure didn’t look like nothing to me,” I snapped.
Jared walked me backward until I bumped the table with my lower back. His arms braced each side of my body, boxing me in. “I was just reminding Baseball Boy to keep his hands to himself.”
My jaw tightened involuntarily, and it took everything in me not to fight back, but we were in public, and I was all too aware of the eyes watching. “I don’t need you to do that.”
“The guy wants you, Danika.” He slammed one hand on the table out of frustration, and I swore it echoed throughout the whole commissary.
“Stop. You’re causing a scene,” I whispered, completely embarrassed before wiggling out of his arm shield and sitting down. I patted the chair next to me, hoping Jared would sit as well and was thankful when he did.
“I don’t want you hanging out with him,” he demanded, and I felt my defenses flare up inside of me.
“You have to stop doing that.” My voice was weaker than I’d wanted, and I hated that I sounded so submissive instead of strong.
“Doing what?”
“Telling me what to do. You never used to be like this. We never used to be like this.” I wanted to remind Jared that our relationship hadn’t started out this way. He wasn’t always so possessive and controlling.
I watched as his expression shifted. “No, we didn’t. But then again, there weren’t guys stalking you before, were there?”
And there it was yet again—the pretty justification for his ugly behavior.
“That was one time, Jared. And it’s done now. You can’t keep using that as an excuse to try to control my life.”
“Excuse me for caring so much about you. For not wanting you to be in a situation where that could happen again. For wanting you to stay away from other guys who clearly want you and are not used to taking no for an answer. I’m just looking out for you, Danika. I want you to be safe. Protected. Why is that so hard to understand?”
When he said things like that, all my strength flew out the window, and guilt instantly replaced it. I felt bad for making him worry. And even though I hated how controlling he’d become, it felt like it was my fault somehow. Because of the situation I’d been in, I’d created this new reality between us. I had no one to blame but myself.
“Well, you don’t need to worry about Chance.” I tried to sound convincing. “Pretty sure he’s not the type of guy to stalk a girl.”
“Are you cheating on me?” Jared asked bluntly.
I started choking on the air in my lungs, slapping at my chest to make it stop. His question caught me completely off guard. Being jealous was one thing, but thinking I’d actually crossed the line and cheated was another.
“What? No. Never.”
“I don’t believe you.” His eyes narrowed, and they looked almost … scary.
“Seriously?” I asked as I wondered what the hell had just happened. “Are you being serious right now? I’ve never given you any reason to—”
“You went to his house last night without telling me until you came back. You ignored my calls and texts while you were with him. Of course I think there’s something going on.”
I swallowed around the giant lump in my throat. Has that always been there? “I handled yesterday badly, and I’m sorry. But nothing happened,” I told him as I apologized again.
I had already apologized to Jared a thousand times last night after confessing to him about where I’d really been. If the roles had been reversed and he had been at some girl’s house without telling me, I’d have been beyond pissed, too, so I understood. But Jared was so angry that I never even got the chance to tell him about my mom or the pictures Cassie had gifted me of her. We got off the phone with him still pissed. I’d assumed he’d show up at my apartment to finish the conversation in person or to make up, but he never did. Not even after I’d asked him to.
“Jared,” I said, reaching across the table for his hand and taking it in mine, “I messed up last night, and I really am sorry. I should have told you where I was going. I should have let you know.”