I Saw That

“James!” Casey yelled, startling Keegan and myself, “Hey friend, Jeff is here. He is waiting by the batting cages for you,” she said, pushing me in the direction of the door. She shot Keegan a nasty look and kept pushing me away from him.

“What in the everloving hell was I walking in on?” she scolded. Her face looked so disappointed. Actually, that is the same face that my mom makes when she is upset with me.

“Nothing. I don’t know. He was apologizing,” I said, struggling with a comprehensible sentence.

“With his lips? Brees, no thank you. He has ignored you for over three weeks. No texts, no calls, nothing. He doesn’t get to just have you when he feels like it. Do you understand me? You are worth so much more than that James. I can’t let him keep hurting you,” she said, hugging my neck tightly.

“I know Case. I was having a momentary lapse of judgment. When he touches me it’s like nothing I have ever felt before. I just…” but before I could finish, Jeff spotted me and jogged over to me.

“Hey babe! Where were you? I’ve been waiting for you. Jersey decided to cut our game short and he drove me over as quickly as he could,” he said, gesturing to a very well-dressed brown-haired boy. Jersey nodded and kept sitting back against the fence. He really thought he was cool and to be honest, he was.

Jeff grabbed me and kissed me. This was what I needed. My boyfriend to keep me on track. When we pulled apart, I saw Keegan standing there looking at us. He tightened his lips and started brushing his hair forward. I knew he was pissed, but I truly didn’t care. I am sure he and Jada have been doing a lot more than watching movies at her house. I looked away from him as Jeff guided me over to the line for the batting cages.

“Jers, you’ve gotta see my girlfriend tear it up in these cages bro,” he said, proudly beaming about my talents.

I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Thanks babe,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

After a few rounds in the batting cages, we headed to the food bar to grab pretzels and cotton candy.

“Brees is a killer in that cage bro!” Jersey shouted.

Everyone cheered in agreement. Jeff picked me up and spun me. He was beaming with pride. I felt good. I felt validated. I didn’t need Keegan or his acknowledgement. Jeff was everything I needed.

Our Irish Twin celebration was a lot of fun. My boy drama didn’t overshadow this and I’m glad it didn’t. Baylen and I did a round of pics in the Photo Booth and then Jeff and I recreated our Homecoming pics. This time I kissed him first for the photo. Jeff won me a huge giraffe from the bottle throwing game and he named it JAMES. It was quite adorable.

Baylen led us out to the car with Quinn on his back. They were so cute together. Jeff looked at me and I shook my head immediately. That will never be me. I won’t ever be that girl to ride on someone’s back. You couldn’t pay me enough.

The ride home was quiet. We dropped Casey off first. Then we headed to Keegan’s house. I knew he hated going home because it just reminded him that his parents were getting a divorce.

“I didn’t love seeing you with Jeff today,” Keegan whispered, low enough so Baylen couldn’t hear over his music.

“I don’t care,” I mouthed, as I turned my head away from his direction.

As we drove towards his side of town I sat my hand on the seat to make sure my giraffe didn’t slide. I looked at Keegan, and I didn’t even break eye contact when he saw me staring. I just wanted to know what he was thinking. We just looked at each other for a while. No words were exchanged between us. There was an unspoken exchange of understanding. He knew that I had feelings there and I knew he did too. We also knew that there was nothing either of us was willing to do about it.

Baylen hit the railroad tracks pretty rough and we bounced all over the back seat. I went to grab my giraffe at the same time as Keegan and our hands touched. Neither of us pulled away, even though I wanted to. The giraffe fell to the floor, but we didn’t move. I wasn’t holding his hand, so it was fine right? What would Casey say? She would literally put me on punishment if she could by now I am certain. Keegan started to rub his pinky on mine. He looked at me and laid his head back against the seat. Why was this kid so damn sexy? He literally knew exactly what he was doing with those blue eyes. As we pulled up to his house, he grabbed my hand. He intertwined his fingers with mine, but we still said nothing. He knew he had me and I hated it. He knew I loved him, and he knew I turned into a puddle of mush whenever he flashed those gorgeous white teeth my way. He knew that he hadn’t called me in weeks but that the minute he wanted me, he could have me.

“Alright dude this is you my guy,” Baylen said, coming to a stop.

Keegan kissed my hand and got out of the car. He looked back at me for a second and smiled. Then he said goodbye to Baylen and Quinn and closed the door. I watched him walk all the way to his door. Even his walk was super hot. I really need to get a grip. I can’t be with him and I know this, but try telling that to my heart. Keegan Patts, one, Brees Hamlin, zero.

“I saw that,” Baylen said, looking at me in the rear view mirror. I slid down the seat as far as I could so he couldn’t see me. What the hell was I going to do?