543 V2 ch15 (1/2)

”Whattt..?” Dave asked, surprised.

He wasn't the only one.

Kyle stuttered. ”What, wh-what do y-y-you mean..?”

Noah got in my face, filling my vision with only him. ”Jake! Do you like someone?? Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

I pushed him away. ”What? No.” I turned red.

”Then why are you talking about relationships?” Dave asked.

I glanced back to where Chuck was, but he had left. ”I don't know. Chuck said something about Jeremy, maybe dating Rose..?”

Three new sets of eyes looked at Rose. She felt the stares and looked our way. She grinned and waved. She said something to the coaches before coming over to us.

”Oh no.” Kyle muttered. ”Does she know that we know?”

”What do we even know?” Dave asked.

”Can't we just ask her outright?” Noah whispered as Rose got closer.

”Of course not, you dummy.” Kyle slapped him on the shoulder.

”Hey Jake, you're back.” Rose smiled.

I nodded. That's true. I am back.

She kept her smile while looking at me, Noah, and the twins. ”What's going on? Why are you guys looking at me like this? Do I have something on my face?” She wiped her cheeks and touched her face.

”No.” Kyle shook his head, taking the lead. ”We were, uh, curious about, umm, the other teams. That are coming?” He looked around. ”Are they going to join us soon?”

”Oh!” She nodded. ”Yes, they'll start showing up in groups. In a bit, we'll send the parents and non-team members to their seats in the stands. The only people allowed on the field will be the players and coaches.” She explained. ”What will happen, you see, is that after all the teams are here and ready, we'll take all the groups out. Your championship will be announced and then we come back here. It really only lasts a few minutes.”

”That's okay!” Dave chirped. ”It's already pretty cool that we could hang out during batting practice. Was it a hassle for you and Jeremy to get all those passes?”

She laughed. ”No. No trouble at all. Like I said before, the A's organization want to keep Jeremy happy so he'll stick around. We've paid a heavy price to get him here after all.”

”So true.” Noah sighed. He looked at me. ”We definitely have to ask him about his plans on sticking around.”

I nodded slowly. Not that I cared if he stuck with the A's, but what if he left? I should ask what his plans are.

”Put in a good word for us then, Jake.” Rose grinned, tucking her loose hair behind her ear. ”Alright, I've got to start getting the parents to go to their seats. The other teams will arrive soon. See you guys in a bit.” She left to go do her job.

”She doesn't seem like she's in a relationship with Jeremy..?” Dave shrugged.

”But she asked Jake to put in a good word for her.” Noah pointed out.

”True.” Dave nodded. ”They could be keeping their relationship under wraps because of the media attention or something.”

”Do you think he has to? It's not like he's a celebrity?” Noah asked.

”He's a sports celebrity. A lot of things can happen in relationships. No one wants to announce all that stuff to the public because what happens if they break up?”

”They pretend like they never dated at all?” Noah gave Kyle a look.

Kyle smacked him on the shoulder again.

”Kyle! Stop hitting me.” Noah raised his voice. On purpose.

Zeke immediately joined our little group. ”I think it's time you guys split up.” His eyes narrowed at Kyle.

Kyle was as stiff as a pillar. ”Yep! Agreed! Bye!” He shuffled his feet away from Zeke, thoroughly scared off.

Zeke faced Dave next. ”And you?”

”I didn't hit Noah though...” Dave said.

Zeke tilted his head. ”How about you go mingle with your pitcher friends. I can't trust you all together. You'll cause trouble before we even get onto the field.”