555 V2 ch27 (1/2)

Noah laughed awkwardly after being caught. ”Not you, Mr. Johnson. Someone else...” He kept up the awkward laugh as we made it to the porch. ”How are you doing, sir?” He straightened up. ”I thought you would be at the stadium already?”

”Oh, so you can make fun of my age behind my back instead? I see.” He nodded.

Noah shook his head vehemently. ”It was a compliment! A compliment, I swear!” He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me forward. ”Jake is a hitting genius. Rarely strikes out. And I mean, almost never.”

The man looked me up and down, judging my physique. ”A compact hitter?”

I stared blankly at him.

”You would have to see him in action.” Dave laughed. ”His swing isn't always compact. He's constantly changing and adjusting to where he wants to hit the ball. It's scary.”

The man looked surprised. ”I'd love to see it some time. Unfortunately, I've got to get to the stadium.” He lifted his car keys and jingled them. ”I'll see you boys there.”

”Bye, Mr. Johnson!” Noah called out as he went down the path we came up. Once he was out of sight, Noah sighed with relief. ”Man, I thought I was going to be in trouble for a second.”

”In trouble? You are trouble.” Rhys said from the doorway, leaning against the frame. ”Are you guys just going to hangout on my doorstep all day or what?”

Zeke was the first to moved towards him. He held out his fist to Rhys, who responded in kind. They bumped fists. ”Thanks for the invite.”

Dave went next, bumping his fist against Rhys's. ”Yea! It's been so long since we could hang out like this.”

”Yea, I thought it would be cool to go to a game with you guys too. Especially since your birthday is coming up. Too bad Kyle couldn't be here.” Rhys said.

”It's probably a good thing that he isn't.” Noah went up and bumped fists too. ”He's been kind of moody lately. Dad took him on a solo camping trip.”

”I've heard.” Rhys said, then turned to me. ”You coming, kid?”

I hurried after Noah. I followed their lead to fist bump Rhys.

He waited patiently, grinning. ”You look good. Zeke told me how you raked in some awards after that championship game. Believe it or not, you're better than he was at your age.”

I blushed and hurried in.

Rhys closed the front door and led us to the kitchen. ”Mom! They're here!”

A tiny woman came out of the kitchen, holding a bunch of water bottles to her body. She grinned at us. ”Zeke, Dave, Noah, so glad to see you boys. Pizza is already here. I set it up on the back porch so you all can eat outside and get some fresh air.” She zeroed in on me. ”You must be Jake. Nice to meet you.”

I nodded, sticking close to Noah.

Rhys grabbed the waters from her and passed them out to us. ”I'll take them out, thanks Mom.”

She nodded. ”Oh, sure. I'll be inside if you boys need anything.”

She smiled at us, watching us leave. So friendly and kind. She...she's like a mini-Mrs. Atkins.

”You good?” Dave whispered to me as we followed Rhys to his backyard.

I nodded. Just...feeling a little down. My eyes stung so I quickly blinked a few times. It's wrong to wish that more people had a mom like mine. It's messed up and unfair. I have Mrs. Atkins now; I shouldn't be this upset.

The back porch was a wooden deck, slightly overlooking his actual backyard. There was a grill, hose, a table and chairs. It would be normal if he also didn't have a pool and a pitcher's bullpen taking up space beyond the deck.

I looked on in amazement. So spacious. It definitely put the twins fake backstop to shame.