698 V2 ch170 (1/2)

”I'm going to go home and shower real quick.” Garret said after sniffing himself.

”Same.” Mitchell agreed.

About half of the guys echoed similar sentiments.

”Go home and shower if you want.” Zeke said. ”If you can't or don't want to go home, then just come straight to our house.”

Everyone got in their cars and we left the park.

”Man, I'm exhausted.” Dave slumped in the front passenger seat. ”Chasing those long fly balls in the sixth inning was killer.” He rubbed his right shoulder with his left hand.

”Did you hurt yourself when you flipped over the fence?” Kyle frowned, clearly concerned. His concern made the rest of us concerned as we looked at Dave.

Dave shook his head. ”Nothing serious. Just going to be sore tomorrow.”

”Make sure to ice when we get home.” Zeke told him. Then he glanced back at Kyle. ”You too. You both have to do better in taking care of yourselves. Offer Bryce and Brian ice too when they show up.” Zeke pulled into the driveway.

”I don't think I should ice when I'm not in pain.” Kyle brushed Zeke's suggestion off. ”I'll just take a warm shower and do some stretches.”

Zeke turned the car off. ”Okay. As long as you know what you're doing.”

We all got out of the car, bringing our bags with us. A few of the guys that chose to come straight to our house walked up the driveway and followed us into the house.

Zeke went to the living room to turn on a baseball game. Dave went to the kitchen to get a bag of ice, offering one to Bryce, who was one of the few to follow us straight home. Kyle went to his room to shower, while Noah and I went to our own room.

”Do you want to shower first? Or want me to shower first?” Noah asked me as he put his baseball bag down.

I set my bag down next to all my spare bats that were still leaning against the desk. ”Up to you.” I pulled my phone off the charger and found that I had a missed call from Jeremy. ”Hey, what time do the A's play today?” I asked.

”Probably right about now.” Noah said after checking the time. ”It's 7pm in Boston. Why? Did Jeremy text you?”

I shook my head. ”No. Just a missed call. I'll text him back instead of calling back.” I started to type, sending Jeremy a message that I was out playing baseball when I missed his call and that he could call back after his game when he was free.

”You go shower first.” Noah laid down in the middle of our room and started to do some pushups. ”I want to add in a little more work.”

”Okay...” I let him be.

”Hungry?” Zeke came up from behind me and asked. He was holding two giant plastic bowls. One was filled with pretzels and the other had chips.

I shook my head. ”Nah. I'll wait for the pizza.”

”Mom said it should be here soon.” Zeke passed the bowls to Mahki and they started to move throughout the room with each guy taking a handful. ”Go find a seat and watch the game.”

I glanced at the packed room.

”Want to help me set up instead?” Zeke offered.

”Jake!” Bryce yelled my name while pointing at the TV. ”Look! It's Jeremy.”

I glanced at the screen that was zoomed in on Jeremy's face as he stepped up to bat.