FWB Friends With Baseball

Target Practice.

Jailyn~

"Don't be a stranger, Jai," Alecia says, embracing me tightly as I'm heading out to catch my flight to Australia. "Even if my son is being a jackass, you're always more than welcome. Especially to give me a break from the melodrama that is Shelby." 

"God," I say, laughing as I hug her just as tightly back, "I'm going to miss you. Please, reach out if you need anything too, especially if you just need some girl talk that's not about a weight loss tea." 

Alecia lets out a loud laugh before nodding as she pulls away, handing me my last bag. "You keep kicking ass, okay? I want to see another gold medal around your neck by the time we see each other again."

"I'm shooting for two more, but I guess one might suffice," I reply, shooting her a grin. Who'd have thought six months ago that I'd be more upset having to say goodbye to Alecia than I was for Christian? Not that Christian and I are saying goodbye to each other. We haven't talked since our little argument in his car the other day. Not that we'd been talking much anyway. 

"You know what I meant," Alecia comments back, waving me off, "Be safe, be smart, and let me know when you get to your hotel." 

"I will don't worry," I tell her, hugging her one last time before I really have to go. 

Getting into the airport, I remember back to when my mom had dropped me off before I went to Europe when I was seventeen. While no one could ever replace my mom, having Alecia makes things seem a little easier some days. 

Checking my bag, I head through TSA Pre-check and find where the rest of my team is waiting. Greeting my team quickly, I get over all the formalities of joining them before I take the time to sit down, knowing there's still about an hour until we board. Hitting shuffle on my phone, I drown everything around me out as I lose myself in my thoughts. As much as I've been forcing it not to, the whole Shelby and Christian thing has gotten to me. Christian ignoring me and acting like I mean nothing to him doesn't make it easy. We've been friends for just about two years now, but here he is, acting like I don't exist. God, if I never broke up with him, this wouldn't even be an issue. There'd be no ignoring me, there'd be no Shelby, there'd be no his mom picking me over him, there'd still be an us. 

Biting my lip, I stare out the window, watching different planes come and go, as I'm stuck in my thoughts. The most frustrating part of this is that it's my fault we're even in this position. I lost my shit, and now I've apparently lost him because of that. How am I supposed to fault him? I'm the one who told him not to wait for me. I'm the one who insisted he move on. Yet here I am, pissed off and hurt that he has. Heartbreak is a bitch, and somehow even worse when you do it to yourself. 

Tying the end of my braid, I spray the rest of my head with hairspray, ready to go for our first game. Laying my baby hairs, I stand up, pulling my pants on over my sliding shorts, wiggling my waist a little to get them in place over my hips. 

"Okay, Jailyn, work it, yes bitch!" Carly says, making me bust out laughing as she comes over and smacks my ass. Dancing around the locker room as she hypes me up, I shake my ass to the beat of whatever song is playing. "Christian Yelich couldn't handle that ass. That's why he moved to some twiggy bitch like Shelby." Snorting at the comment, I stop dancing as I shake my head. "You ready? We gotta go kick some Aussie ass." 

"Yeah," I reply, grabbing my bag and letting Carly lead up to the field. Stepping onto the top step, I feel the sun hit me for the first time, "God damn, am I glad to have a tank top option this year. It's toasty out here." 

"That and you get to show off those guns," Maddy jokes, flexing for me. Matching her energy, I flex along with her, laughing over our interaction. "How many at-bats do you think you get before you get drilled?"