Page 62 of Taking the Pitch
“You may be taller, but I’m stronger, shithead.” His voice is muffled against my side. His arms tighten around my waist, and he tries to kick out one of my legs, but misses.
“Take it outside, boys. There’s too much you can break in here,” Dad says, opening the door. I let go of Kessler and move out to the yard. Just as I turn around, Kessler rushes me from behind, knocking me to the ground.
My back hits the ground and my breath whooshes out of me, stunning me and giving Kessler enough time to get me into a cradle hold, making it even harder for me to catch my breath.
I throw out my elbow in desperation to break the hold, but I don’t have enough leverage to make much of an impact. Kessler laughs and tightens his hold on me. “Is that all you’ve got, little brother?”
I’m about to throw another elbow when a growling sound behind us makes us both freeze.
“What the fuck is that?” Kessler says quietly, loosening his grip on me.
“Bruno! Here, boy! Where’d you go?” I hear Hudson call from the other side of the property.
I never pegged Bruno as an aggressive dog. “It’s Bruno. He must think you’re hurting me,” I tell Kessler. “Let go of me slowly.”
When I feel Kessler’s grip on me loosen, I roll to my knees and face Bruno. He’s about ten feet back and staring Kessler down, lips curled slightly in a snarl. Kessler sits up, extracting another growl from Bruno.
“Bruno, come here. It’s okay,” I tell him, patting my thigh. One of his ears flicks at the sound of my voice, but his eyes stay on Kessler.
“Bruno! There you are!” Hudson calls while coming out of the trees and jogging up to him.
“Hudson, careful, he might bite,” Kessler tells Hudson just as he reaches down to pat Bruno.
“It’s just Dad and Uncle Judd, Bruno,” he tells him, shaking the ball in his face and throwing it, distracting Bruno from Kessler.
Kessler sucks in a breath and watches Bruno and Hudson run off again like nothing happened. “Did he, did I hear that right? Did he just call me Dad?” He turns to me with a glassy look in his eyes.
I get to my feet and clap him on the shoulder, offering him my hand to pull him up. “Yeah man, he did. He asked me about it when we were at the field house the other day. I told him you would love nothing more.”
Kessler swipes at his eyes and clears his throat. “Shit, I thought Lucy was supposed to be the hormonal one.” He gives me a pointed look. “Don’t tell her about this.”
“Tell me about what?”
We whip around and see Lucy and Amelia standing at the open sliding door with matching amused looks on their faces.
“Nothing,” we say at the same time.
Lucy cocks an eyebrow at us. “Mmmhmm. So, what’s with the wet eyes, Kessler Davis,” she says motioning to his face.
“Allergies?”
“In November?”
Amelia stifles a laugh watching their exchange. She looks relaxed, leaning her head against the frame and peering out at the expanse of the property. Her eyes land on mine and her look is one I haven’t seen on her before. Like she’s seeing me differently.
Bruno’s barking and Hudson’s laughter breaks the moment as they come running back to the group. Dad comes out of thewood shop just as Mom reaches the space between Lucy and Amelia.
“Hope you guys are hungry because dinner is ready.”
Laughter and chatter fill the space as we file into the house. I’m the last one in, standing behind Amelia in line. “Did you get to talk to Lucy?’
She peeks at me over her shoulder, pulling one side of her lip into her mouth as she nods her head.
“Did she give you what you needed for your book?”
She nods again. “And I have her number in case I have any more questions.” She turns to me, the commotion of the room fading away. She places a hand on my chest, playing with the button of my flannel. When she looks up at me, my heart beats faster. “She definitely gave me something to think about.”
“Is that good or bad?”
