Throwing Love #4 (Throwing Love #4) Read online

  TROWING LOVE #4

  By Nella Tyler

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 Nella Tyler

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  Chapter One

  I quickly headed back to my apartment, my driving a clear indication of my mood for the day. I was still furious at Bennett for lying to me and I couldn't imagine why he had. After everything we had been through, why couldn't he just be honest with me? I had gone through situations in the past with guys who would rather lie to me than just be honest. It was a frustrating place to be in because after awhile, you wondered if you could believe anything that came out of your boyfriend’s mouth. I didn't want to be in another situation like that, I would much rather find a man who knew that honestly was a key ingredient to having a healthy relationship.

  I knew deep down that Bennett wasn't a bad guy and that maybe it did have a lot to do with pride like Connie said, but at the end of the day, I would not settle for a man that lied to me. So he would need to get his act together or things just weren't going to work out between us. All I could think about was getting back to my apartment as soon as possible. I didn't know what my father’s agenda was during his visit, but I assumed he would be trying to touch base with me sooner rather than later and the last thing I wanted was for him to suspect that I was with Bennett during his little visit.

  I arrived back to my apartment without issue. I had expected my father to call me by now, but apparently getting in touch with me was not one of his priorities on his trip. It was pretty odd, considering my father and I always tried to get together to have dinner while he was in town. He didn't make very frequent trips, so it was nice to see him when he did.

  My father wasn't at the apartment when I arrived, and I was relieved to find that he hadn't sought me out there. I didn't think that he would show up at my school looking for me since he had no idea what time my classes were, so I would have to wait for that phone call.

  I didn't want to return to school only to have to explain to him where I had been. I would rather him find me at my home instead of anywhere else, it was just easier that way. It was those kinds of awkward conversations that were made difficult with a father/daughter bond. My father, for the most part, was good about staying out of my business, but who knows what he was up to during this visit.

  Most importantly, I didn't want him to ask about Bennett or whether or not I was still involved with him. He was already angry enough with Bennett. I was sure that at that point he knew we were still together. He could have easily heard it through the sporting grapevine; it certainly wouldn't be hard to figure out. But explaining things to him would be difficult since I hadn't exactly told him that I had continued the relationship after our first few dates. I hadn't really talked to my father at all in regards to Bennett, so I wasn't really sure what he did know about our relationship – if anything. I would rather leave it at that until it was necessary to have a conversation with him about us.

  I decided to make myself breakfast and a cup of coffee to get my day started. I loved coffee, as it was what got me through the day, especially a day as stressful as this one. I had expected to get a text message from Bennett at some point, but as the day progressed, I still hadn't heard from him. Considering his lie, the fact that I still hadn't heard from him caused me no small amount of irritation and ruined the rest of the day for me. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Did he not realize that holding onto things like that was going to be our undoing? It was a mystery to me how bad some men could be at communication. It was actually pretty frightening.

  I needed to rally in my best friend to get some advice.

  Connie ended up coming over after her classes were done for the day; she really didn't have a choice after I had sent her ten frantic text messages begging her to come over. I could always count on her to give me a different perspective on a situation, so I knew one way or another, she would lead me in the right direction when it came to Bennett. He had won her over the last time we had hung out, but there was a good chance that he would lose her support after our conversation. She had a far lesser tolerance for bullshit in relationships than I did. She was usually the one that bailed on a boyfriend first because she had exceedingly high standards. Not that I didn't, but in this particular situation, I was wondering if I was waiting too long to end something that just wasn't right to begin with. But that was what Connie was for, to hopefully shed some light on a very dark situation.

  She came in carrying a bottle of wine and that alone put a smile on my face. “Okay, let’s hear it. What did he do now?” She was smiling when she said it, which sort of helped.

  I laughed. “Oh wait until you hear this one.” I was really laughing to avoid exploding out in rage, but laughter was supposed to be the best medicine, after all.

  I grabbed some wine glasses as Connie settled on the couch. I joined her and watched as she poured us both some wine. “If we have to, we can order pizza soon, too. I'm starving.”

  “Sounds good to me, the meatier the better,” I said.

  “So, what's up? What happened to the happy couple? Because I thought you guys had finally arrived in bliss town.”

  “You would think it could last more than a week, but I'm starting to wonder if that is possible,” I groaned. “Well, my dad's in town.”

  “What? What does that have to do with Bennett?”

  “Oh, you have no idea. The saddest part is that I had no idea he was in town. He still hasn't called me to tell me, so I don't know what's going on with him at all. He never comes to town without calling me. The only reason I knew that he was here was because he showed up to Bennett's place this morning while I was there.”

  Connie's eyes grew wide. “Oh no.”

  “Oh yes. Thankfully, he has no idea I was there, but I thought it was pretty crazy that he went there in the first place. The truth is, Connie, I haven't been completely honest with you lately about my relationship with Bennett.”

  Connie suddenly looked sad and I felt bad all over again for not being open with her about what was going on in my life. I should have been upfront with her from the beginning, and then maybe I wouldn't be in the mess that I am now. She could have advised me on what the best course of action would be. I knew Bennett was doing something wrong, and the fact that I didn't want to tell Connie about it should have been proof enough for me.

  I quickly explained to her what had been going on for the past few weeks in regards to Bennett and his missed practices. She shook her head repeatedly as I told her that Bennett had missed so many practices just to spend time with me. Seeing the look on her face and listening to myself say the words out loud made me feel that much more stupid. Of course, it had been a crazy situation and I should have put an end to it long before my father showed up at Bennett's house. Instead, I had been selfish and took advantage of the fact that Bennett wanted to spend so much time with me.

  “Oh God, Emmi, how could you let that go on for so long? I don't know much about baseball, but even I think he was crazy to miss practices. He shouldn't have even missed one, never mind four – that’s madness. What was he thinking?”

  “I know. I know. I told him exactly that, but he wasn't listening to me. Regardless of the fact that
I know baseball, the guy rarely listens to me. He thinks he knows what is best, and I thought he had a handle on it. Then it got to the point where I just gave up and spending time with him was wonderful. I took advantage of the fact that he is so talented, and I thought that he would be okay. But even I know that's a foolish way of thinking, the most talented major league players never miss practices unless they have a really good reason. I'm an idiot.”

  Connie laughed, “You're not an idiot. You were happy; you can't blame yourself for that. Besides, Bennett is a big boy, he should have known better. Did he really expect a manager to snap him up with that behavior? It's just ridiculous for him to have done something like that.”

  “Well, that's what brings me to today.”

  “Seriously? It's connected? That can't be good.”

  “Nope. So Bennett and I are finishing up some serious sexy time when there's a knock on the door.”

  Connie is smiling as I tell her the story. “It's not just regular knocking, either. Someone is practically trying to punch down the door. So Bennett goes to answer it, and here is the weird thing, he tells me to stay put.”

  Connie frowned. “Why?”

  I shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe he had a feeling about who it was at the door and didn't want me involved. Anyways, I stay in his bedroom while he goes out. But I cracked open the door just a little so that I could hear what was going on.”

  “Good girl,” Connie says while laughing.

  “So, Bennett opens the door and in walks my dad with Bennett’s coach following right behind him.”

  “Oh my God, no! What was your dad doing there in the first place?”

  “Well, I guess my dad's in town to watch Bennett's game. Maybe he's seriously considering signing him up now. Either way, I don't know because I haven't talked to him yet.” I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. “I guess my dad randomly went to Bennett's practice yesterday to watch him and found out he wasn't there. What made matters worse is he went to talk to his coach and found out that he had missed the past four practices. He was steaming mad when he showed up at Bennett's place today. He practically yelled at Bennett the whole time about his priorities and telling him his talent meant nothing.”

  Connie roared with laughter. “Oh my God, you must have wanted to die. How did Bennett take it?”

  “Pretty well, considering, but what's he going to do? He has his idol standing before him telling him that he's a moron. He can't exactly argue the point. Anyways, Bennett gave him some BS excuse about why he missed and said it would never happen again.”

  “Wow. That's intense.”

  “Yeah, the best part was when my dad was leaving, he told Bennett not to worry about girls. That there were plenty in the big leagues when he got there.”

  Connie's mouth dropped open before she started laughing again. “He didn't? Oh your dad is a keeper, for sure. He says the most priceless things.”

  “Tell me about it. Wait until he finds out I have been the 'girl' this whole time. I almost wanted to walk out there and shame him on the spot, but I was afraid of getting hit with crossfire.”

  “Oh, what are you going to do?”

  “I have no idea but that's the least of my worries,” I said with a laugh.

  “There's more?”

  “Oh, I haven’t even got to the bad news yet. So, my dad leaves and Bennett comes back in the room. He has no idea I've been listening the entire time. I ask him what my father wanted, and he says that my dad was just checking in with him and wanted to see how he was doing.”

  “What? He didn't tell you about the outburst? Did he assume you were deaf or something?”

  I smiled. “No, he just gave me some BS reasons for my father being there and left out the whole argument. He basically lied to me about why my father was there. I gave him every opportunity I could to be honest with me and he just kept lying.”

  “What the hell? I can't believe he would do that.”

  “Neither can I.”

  Connie took a sip of her wine, taking it all in. “Maybe we are drawing the wrong conclusions about the whole thing.”

  “What are you talking about, Connie?”

  “Maybe you shouldn't be too hard on him.”

  My mouth fell open. “How can I not be? He lied to me. I'm a little surprised that you would say that.”

  “I know. I'm just full of surprises.”

  “Seriously, what are you thinking?” I took a large gulp of wine, finishing off my glass. Connie refilled it for me, which I was eternally grateful for.

  “Work with me here. By the sounds of it, he was just trying to help you.”

  “Come again? Where are you getting this from?”

  “Look, I'm trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and maybe you should, too. Let’s not forget the fact that he is crazy about you and has no history of being a douchebag.”

  “Okay, let’s hear it.”

  “Emma, it's obvious that Bennett needs to rearrange his priorities, I think he got that wake-up call this morning. Can we agree on that?” I nodded. “Okay, so he needs to get his head on straight and focus on what he needs to do to get back on track. Maybe being embarrassed was bad enough for him and he doesn't want to burden you with it all. Maybe he just wants to fix all this crap and have you be none the wiser to his fuck-ups.”

  “Wow, nicely said.”

  “What you also seem to forget was that he has to deal with your father. Imagine how embarrassed he would have been to have to explain to you that your father just came over to rip him a new one? That wouldn't have been easy for anyone to do. Men have a lot of pride; they don't want to be embarrassed in front of their girlfriend – especially by their girl’s father.”

  I hadn't thought about it that way. Connie certainly had shed a new light on things. I would have to take what she said into consideration.

  “I guess you are right. I never really thought about it that way.”

  “Just wait it out and see what happens. You can always bail later on if you want to.”

  I laughed. “I guess so. You want to go to the game?”

  “Sure, let's go.”

  We finished out wine and started to get ready to go.

  Chapter Two

  The game was thrilling; I loved baseball, and I was even more excited that Connie had decided to come with me. She wasn't a fan of the game in general, so I was really impressed that she had decided to come along. The crowd was going wild as usual and there was a good vibe. It was easy to feed into the energy and get yourself in a great mood after a bad day. That was what I loved about live sports – the energy in the crowds was amazing. We got ourselves a beer and some nachos and settled into our seats. From where we were sitting, I could practically see the sweat glistening on Bennett's brow. The team was winning, as usual. Bennett was holding the team together with his pitching, and Connie and I were cheering them on. I cheered as if there was nothing bad going on between Bennett and me. I just wanted him to do well and win, prove my father wrong. Show him that he could do just about anything that he wanted to do.

  Bennett was pitching a nearly perfect game and my throat was becoming hoarse with all the screaming I was doing. The other team wasn't even coming close to making a big win. I knew that Bennett would win, and he would probably be celebrating all night.

  We were finishing our third beers when the last run came in; Bennett's team won by a landslide.

  I stood up to clap, beaming with pride. I couldn't have been happier for Bennett; he did so well, despite his missed practices.

  Not only was I proud of his game and talent, but also I was proud to be his girlfriend. He had done amazing that night and I was his girl. It made me smile that much broader. He was so professional when he was out on the field. It didn't matter that he had made some mistakes, he always put his all in when he was playing a game and in the end, I think that was what was most important. I had been to hundreds of games throughout my life and I had seen many great players come and go,
but I knew that Bennett was something special. I had no doubt in my mind that Bennett was on his way to the major leagues.

  Chapter Three

  Connie and I headed down to the field to talk with Bennett. I was still jazzed about Bennett's win and couldn't wait to congratulate him about it. I didn't want things to be weird between us anymore, I just wanted tonight to be great. I was happy for him because he deserved a great career in baseball. I walked up to him when he was amongst his teammates and he saw me approaching.

  “Hey, babe, how are you?” He was smiling at me.

  I smiled back at him. I ran to him and hugged him hard. I went to him and kissed his mouth. He tasted amazing and it made me think about the last night we were together. Maybe we could have a reunion tonight. It would be a great way to celebrate his win.

  He smiled, but there was something off about his smile. It made me feel weird, and I had a hard time reading him. He was certainly affectionate with me, but something was a little off with him. He was holding my hand as we talked, and it was still warm from his pitching. I looked up at him and his gaze wavered. He didn't seem to be his normal self and I wondered if he was still worried about what had happened earlier that morning. He shouldn't be, he played a great game and if my father was watching, he would have been very pleased. Speaking of my father, why hadn't I heard from him? Had he intended on coming to town just for Bennett and didn't bother to contact me at all? That was just as weird, but maybe he had been too busy to get together with me. I wish he would have called, though. I could have talked to him and maybe grabbed a coffee with him. But I wasn't going to worry about my father just then.

  “That was a great game, Bennett. I don't see too many of them, but it's obviously this is where you should be. I really liked it, so congratulations.” Connie was beaming at him.

  “Thanks, Connie.” He walked over and hugged her.