Kari was quick to text Jeffries and told him to meet us at the pizzeria after the game.
"Of course you already have his phone number," I smirked.
When I had approached my dad following the game about our plan to go out for some food, he wanted to come along at first.
"Um, Mr. MacKenzie," Holly tried to approach the subject delicately. "We were kind of hoping to have just a... um, a young people's hang out?"
My dad looked from Holly to me.
"I don't know if it's safe for Jordan to be out. She's still supposed to be resting. The company might be too much for her. "
"I'll take the responsibility for her, sir," Nate said, clapping a hand on my dad's shoulder. "I mean, obviously she is aware of her own capabilities but what I mean to say is that, if Jordan feels ill or overwhelmed, I will be with her so I will escort her home. I assure you I won't leave her alone."
"If my daughter has so much as a scratch on her..." My dad started.
"Not another scratch sir, I promise," Nate responded, holding up his right hand in a Scout's Honour fashion.
For the first time all summer, I was walking to the pizzeria in a group that I didn't feel uncomfortable in. In addition to Holly, Kari and Nate, Jeffries had brought another teammate, Nino Rodriguez, that Holly seemed smitten with right away.
Rodriguez was short for a baseball player, but he was lean and walked with a swagger that someone of a much higher stature would hold. He had a dark olive-skinned complexion and he had a heavy Central American accent. Holly was quick to suss out that he was originally from Puerto Rico but his family had moved to Connecticut a few years ago. He played in left field and he had already been signed by the Minnesota Twins organization.
We walked along, recapping all of our favourite moments from the game that afternoon. "Yeah well if you didn't save that terrible throw I made from the outfield, we'd have never gotten the out at home plate," Nino high-fived his teammate as we approached the doors of the pizzeria.
As Nate opened the door and motioned for the rest of us to enter, I became aware that I would have to remove my hat and sunglasses to sit in the restaurant. It was inevitable that I was going to get strange looks.
Sheepishly, I removed the straw hat and sunglasses as we all crammed into a booth together.
"You look great," Nate leaned over and brushed a stray piece of hair away from my face, sensing that I was feeling self-conscious.
Holly winked at me from across the table.
I don't know if any of the others had instructed Jeffries or Rodriguez to ignore my garish face but neither of them flinched or asked about my appearance. It occurred to me the whole team might know, since Nate left the road trip early to get back to me.
"What do you like on your pizza?" Kari twirled a string of hair around her index finger as she flirtatiously batted her eyelashes at Jeffries. "Choose wisely, because I judge men harshly for their pizza topping choices."
"Oh dear..." Jeffries mocked being afraid. "I mean, for me, nothing is off limits."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing." He repeated with a mischievous look, locking eyes with her.
"Well, I draw the line at pineapples and anchovies," I piped up.
"I second that!" Nate agreed.
"I third that," Holly replied.
Kari and Jeffries were still busy staring into each other's eyes to bother with the rest of us continuing the conversation with them.
"Do you guys want to get a room? If you start making out beside me, I am out of here," Holly hit Kari on the shoulder.
A young girl approached our table, ready to take our order. I recognized her as Cressida, the girl who had asked Nate to the end of summer party. She took in all of us at the table. She glanced first at Kari and Jeffries, in their own private conversation and then to the rest of us. She did a double-take when she saw me sitting there with my forehead gash and black eye and then looked at Nate.
"Oh! Oh, hi," she stammered, and fumbled pulling her notepad from the front of her apron. She looked up again at me and then made a determined effort not to look at me, so she wasn't staring. Instead she fixed her gaze on Nate, causing her cheeks to flush bright red. "C-can I take your orders?"
Nate ordered three large pizzas for the table, two all dressed and one with just pepperoni, knowing that the guys would eat the majority of the servings.
Cressida nodded and it almost seemed like she did a small curtsey before turning and scurrying back to the bar. She motioned excitedly to one of her staff mates and pointed in the direction of our table. Her co-worker looked over and nodded at Cressida approvingly.
Nate was oblivious, instead focussing on more shop talk with his boys.
All through the night, Cressida catered to Nate. If he looked like he needed a napkin, she came right over. If his water glass started to get low, she brought him a fresh refill immediately. The rest of us on the other hand were neglected and thirsty.
"Hey, switch glasses with me so I can get some more water," Rodriguez said halfway through the meal.
"What?" Nate said.
"Dude! That girl is only serving you!" Rodriguez switched the glasses on the table when Cressida had her back turned.
Almost immediately a new glass appeared in front of Nate. Rodriguez stole it back.
"Oh, she is thirsty for you brother," Nino raised his glass in Nate's direction before taking a sip from his refreshed glass. "Have you even gotten any ass this summer? You could get that."
"Excuse you," Holly elbowed him in the side. "Not every girl in the town is here for you boys to get some ass, you ass! I oughta pour that glass of water all over you but I'm going to call that strike one. You speak respectfully when you're in the company of ladies. Haven't you ever been taught that before?"
I didn't know if was possible to love Holly anymore for all the kindness she had shown me lately, but I now knew that I respected her even more. A girl I had presumed was self-absorbed and shallow had not only rescued me from Scotty but she had gumption enough to demand respect for all womenkind.
"I'll raise to that," I lifted my water glass to clink hers. Nate and Kari followed suit.
Kari poked Jeffries in the side and he too, lifted his glass.
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"Thank for the ride," I said to Holly as I stepped out of the back seat of her car.
"Yeah, thanks Holly," Nate got out of the other side.
After dinner, Kari had gone for a walk with Jeffries along the beach. I knew my dad would be sending out a search party if Nate and I didn't adhere to the promised eleven o'clock curfew.
"Ok, but call me, if you get a migraine or feel dizzy or need me to bring you anything at all!" Holly had rolled down the passenger side window to give me one more offer of motherly caretaking.
"I'm ok," I promised her.
"Yeah, she's in good hands now," Nate smirked and winked at Holly.
Holly rolled her eyes and drove off with Rodriguez in the passenger seat of her car. After she asserted her stance on treating women with respect, Rodriguez had been on his best behaviour and by the end of dinner, had found himself back in her good books.
"That was fun," Nate commented as we walked up the driveway to the house. There was a hint of a question in his tone.
"Yes," I agreed. There were times during the night that I had completely forgot that my face looked like I had lost a boxing match. The others in the group never brought it up nor made it awkward. No one talked about Scotty or what happened to me.
Holly told me that I shouldn't think of myself as a victim but rather as a fighter and survivor. So far it was working. I was trying not to dwell on it. The most important thing for me now was to not waste a single second thinking about Scotty and concentrate on getting back to my life. With the competition coming up, I couldn't afford to slip back into the angry depressive state that had consumed me at the start of the summer. It helped that this time I wasn't avoiding all contact with the people around me.
"I really admire how brave you were today," Nate reached out and took my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
We were standing there together under the porch light.
I was very much aware that there was still fifteen minutes left until eleven o'clock.
"I haven't been brave," I turned to face him. "I was scared to go out in public. It was Holly and Kari that came to get me. I covered up myself with a hat and sunglasses."
"You still came out. You could have stayed home in your dark room. You could have hid in the shed. You're braver than you think. You need to stop being so hard on yourself."
Nate closed the distance between us. I thought of that night that Nate was in the hospital, when he pulled me in close to him. When I could feel his breath on the side of my face. It was happening again. I didn't know what to do with my hands or my body. It was like my arms were leaden and heavy. My thoughts were going into overdrive.
"Can I ask you a question?" I blurted out.
"Sure," his voice was low and husky sounding.
"I have been sulky and cranky and downright rude to you this summer. Why do you still want to be around me?"
Nate smirked and blew out a sigh of pizza breath onto me. I didn't mind.
"Your brother had a lot of photos of the two of you in his room. When I first saw them, I saw this girl who was happy and carefree. She radiated charisma and charm. I knew that was in you. And I understood that you were grieving. Like I said before, I know what it's like to lose your family, so I knew your anger was coming from a place of grief. I also knew that the radiant girl was still in there. I saw glimpses of it over the last few weeks, each time a little brighter and for a little longer each time. I just wanted a small part in bringing that happiness out of you again."
"Can I ask you another question?"
He nodded.
"How come you're so sweet and you always know the most charming thing to say?"
"Ah, that's just a natural gift," he lifted his palms upwards as if praising the heavens. "I told you I was irresistible."
I rolled my eyes.
"Do you have any more questions?'
"No."
"Good," Nate leaned forward and very gently kissed the middle of my forehead. I could smell the mixture of dryer sheets and that cedar and honey scent I loved on his t-shirt. My hands found their way around his body as he tilted his head further downward.
I raised my face up to meet him. Ever so lightly, his lips grazed my mouth as if looking for permission to continue. I pressed my lips more firmly against his. Permission granted.
"We'd better get inside," I said. I didn't really want to go in, but I also didn't want my dad interrupting us yet again, this time in an even more compromised position. "I don't know what the rules are for kissing your billet's daughter, but something tells me they don't really approve of it."
"My lips are sealed," He agreed.
"But hopefully not totally sealed," I snuck in another kiss. This one longer and more hungry. My fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer into me.
"We better get inside. We're cutting it close and I don't want your dad to murder me," Nate said when we finally parted.
My dad was sitting on the couch as we entered through the front door.
"What took you so long to get inside?" he asked as soon as the door closed behind us. "I saw Holly's headlights pull up and drive away ten minutes ago."
Nate and I stood there dumbfounded.
"We were just talking," I finally found my voice.
My dad sighed, nodded and stood up to walk down the hall. I have no idea what he was thinking. He either thought we were lying and hiding something, or he completely bought it but somehow I believed the former to be true.
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