Homerun (Pro-U Book 4) by Ali Parker Page B

look good today."
    She snorted. "You tell me I look good all the time. Good like healthy or good like pretty?"
    I stopped and turned to face her. "Good like fucking beautiful."
    "Oh. Wow." Her cheeks bleed pink as she glanced up at me. "In that case, you look good too."
    I laughed and grabbed her hand as we walked toward the sandwich shop. I had to get beyond my comfort zone if I was ever going to have a chance with a woman like her.
    "So do these dates include dinner?" I glanced down at her.
    "They could."
    "Dancing?"
    "Maybe?"
    "How about a make-out session at the end?" I reached for the door to the sandwich shop and tried to force the hot ball of fear back down my chest.
    "I think they should, you know... just so we can call it a real date." She walked into the shop and glanced back. "Unless that's too much?"
    "Nope. Definitely not too much to ask for." I sucked in a shaky breath and moved up behind her, hoping she was struggling to breathe like I was.
    I was going to score a hundred and ten on every test from here on out without a doubt. I had the right incentive in place - Layla Roberts.

Chapter 12
    Layla
     
     
    We spent the rest of Saturday unloading my stuff and watching TV together. I passed out way before I wanted to, and woke up Sunday morning in my bed, still fully dressed from the day before. My pjs hadn't been used in two days. Something had to change.
    I stretched in the bed as a smile spread across my lips. Aubrey was right. Living with Jayce was a great idea. Not only did it give us both someone to lean on seeing that she'd left us, but it was fun. It left me feeling a sense of hope for something better to happen between us. He knew my dirty little secret, and he wanted to help. I should have known he would have responded that way. He's an all-around great guy.
    "Jayce?" I mumbled and sat up, listening for sounds of him moving around.
    Nothing.
    He was already gone to his parents’ house? I glanced over at the clock to see that it was almost lunchtime. Of course he was gone. I'd slept half the day away.
    I reached for my phone on the nightstand and dropped back into the bed. I needed to get out of the apartment and play some ball. It was the only thing that left me feeling fully alive besides Jayce. Leaning on him would have been fine if he didn't have three million things going on in his own life already.
    The group chat on my phone exploded after I asked if anyone could meet in an hour to play a scrimmage. I smiled at the responsiveness of my team and launched myself out of bed. Someone would have to clear the field, and I knew the maintenance guys didn't work on Sundays. Good thing I had them teach me how to do it during my sophomore year.
    I worked a pair of yoga pants over my legs and then put my baseball pants on over them. I'd need two to three layers just to make sure I didn't freeze to death, but it would be worth it. Seeing all my girls after having the Christmas break would be good for me, and them.
    My phone buzzed and I grabbed it, seeing that it was my mom.
    "Hey. Everything okay?" My pulse spiked as I prepared for an emergency.
    "Yeah. I'm good. I just wanted to thank you for coming out Friday night. Your poor daddy cried all morning over what happened. He's mortified that Jayce came out here. I think he's ready to get some help." Her voice was soft, docile, nothing like the woman who had raised me.
    "Good. Is he going back to the school this semester or..." My father needed some time off from his job. It was the source of his pain and had been the trigger for his PTSD to rear its ugly head again.
    "He's taking a leave of absence. He's going in tomorrow morning to talk with Principal Daniels. I think Paul will help him out seeing that your father has such a long history of teaching at the school. Maybe he'll go back to teaching once he finishes his rehab and treatment, but I don't know."
    "What about money, Mom? I know you guys are making it, but that's because Dad's job pays well. Is he