All That Matters ❁ Benny Rodriguez

27

Monday, July 20, 2015

A week had passed since the day I hit Phillips, and to my surprise, we hadn't any problems. We assumed his coach called the police after he saw what happened, but no cops ever showed up.

Benny and I sat at a table for two, eating ice cream. I got a hot fudge sundae and he got cookie dough ice cream. I looked up at him, slowly pushing a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth.

Benny brought his spoon to his mouth, then looked up, his eyes meeting mine. My lips curled into a smile as I looked back down at my bowl of ice cream.

"What?" he questioned.

I looked back up at him with a tiny smile. "Huh?"

He smiled lightly. "Why do you keep looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"

I shook my head, looking down as I scooped up another spoonful of ice cream. "There's nothing on your face."

"Then why do I keep catching you staring at me with that look on your face?"

"What look?" I asked before eating the ice cream on my spoon, and I looked up at him.

The smile on his face never disappeared. "You know, you have that little smile or smirk . . . whatever it is."

I giggled, shaking my head at him. "I just can't believe you're mine."

Benny's smile widened slightly and he dropped his spoon into his ice cream before standing up, leaning over the table and giving me a kiss. When he sat back down, his smile returned.

"That's the only thing I can think of anymore," he responded to my previous words. "All those others guys are really missing out."

I chuckled. "They don't matter anymore. I used to love making my exes jealous, but now I don't really care what they think. All I care about is being happy with you."

Before Benny could reply, a man stepped to the side of our table, standing to my left. We looked up at him, waiting for him to say something.

"You guys are the kids from a week ago," he said, pointing at us.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied, not recognizing his face.

He pointed at me, his attention set on me now. "You're the one who punched one of my players, Jordan."

I immediately came to the realization that he was Phillips' baseball coach. I continued to stare at him, and though my stomach dropped, I kept a hard look on my face.

"He brought it on himself," I returned.

The man nodded. "I understand how Jordan can be sometimes. That's why I didn't call the law. I'm not here to say something bad." He glanced back and forth between Benny and me, then said to the both of us, "I couldn't help but notice how fast you two ran. That was quite impressive."

Benny looked at me, chuckling. "They don't call me The Jet for nothing."

The man looked over at Benny. "I know you. It's Benjamin Rodriguez, right?"

Benny nodded, his smile subsiding. "Yes, sir, that's me."

"I remember you. You have a reputation for having a strong passion for baseball. Correct?"

"Yes, sir."

The man extended his hand to Benny, and after they shook hands, he said, "My name is John." He then moved to me and we shook hands. "And what's your name, miss?"

"Makayla," I answered.

John turned to face Benny again and said, "You ever thought about playing on a real team?"