I walked into the lunchroom and sat down with the guys. A few of them must have acquired girlfriends overnight because there were some girls at our table playing touchy-feely under the table with them. I recognized one of the girls as one at the back-to-school party.

Gross.

Franco, the back catcher, opened a ketchup packet for the girl and then smiled at me.

“Hailey, this is Cassidy Nichols. Cassidy, this is Hales.”

I smiled and then took a bite of my celery. “Hi.”

She stretched her hand out to me. “Head cheerleader,” she said proudly with a giggle.

I must’ve given her a ‘look’ because Dane nudged me in the gut, and I groaned before shaking her hand. I couldn’t help it. She was one of the girls making awful comments about Zach at that stupid party.

I forced a smile. “That’s a huge accomplishment.”

She flipped her hair and nodded before starting to eat.

“Really?” Dane said in a whisper.

“What’d I do?”

He laughed. “If you want people to like you at this school, you’re gonna have to be nicer than that.” He leaned closer to me. “Have you heard from you-know-who today?”

“No. And until I know who wrote that crap on my car, I trust no one. I’m not making new friends until I figure these people out. I bet she was a part of the gang who painted my car,” I said quietly. “I should ask Sadie if she knows anything.”

Dane raised an eyebrow at me. “Don’t go accusing anyone ‘til we know for sure. And she would be the person to ask. Sadie gets information about everything. I don’t know how, but she does.”

“Cheerleaders own car paint and a lot of it. It was bubbly handwriting, just like a cheerleader’s. Just saying.” I dipped my celery in some hummus and took a bite.

“The girl who hates stereotypes is being stereotypical? Not cool, Hales.”

I shrugged. “I guess I am.”

I looked at Dane oddly as I finally processed that he was in a long-sleeve shirt. He went to push up the sleeves but stopped when I saw bruises. He pulled the shirt back down. I was about to comment, but Cassidy got my attention.

“So, Hailey, how do you like being a part of a team with these hot guys? I bet you’re like in heaven!” Cassidy said with a huge grin, but it was forced.

She wasn’t a nice person; that was easy to determine.

I swallowed hard when I saw her purse on the table and what looked like window paint sticking out of it a little.

I smirked evilly. “My favorite part is shower time,” I said with a pep to my voice, mocking her.

Dane nudged me again, and I groaned.

“You get to take showers with them?” Oblivious to my mocking, she looked furious. She looked at Franco. “Are you kidding me?”

Franco and the rest of the guys couldn’t stop laughing.

“We all take turns slapping each other on the ass. I even let them get a handful if they kick ass at practice, if you know what I mean,” I said motioning toward my breasts. “It’s quite fun,” I said full of sarcasm. “Oh, by the way, your paint is showing.” I narrowed my eyes at her.

She grabbed her purse and zipped it shut.

“You better watch your fucking back, bitch.” I stood, shoved my chair under the table, grabbed my bag and lunch tray, and walked toward the trash. I threw my food away and left the cafeteria.

“You want some company?” Dane asked as he caught up with me. He had his hands in his pockets as he walked next to me.

“I told you,” I said looking at Dane as I made my way to class. “Those girls are bitches. Trust me on this. Every single one of you could do so much better than them.”

“Yeah, but there aren’t a lot of options around here.” He nudged my shoulder a bit with his hand.

“O-kay, so you’re telling me you and the rest of the guys will settle for that? Please tell me you have higher standards, Dane.”

He looked off for a minute. “I do, but sometimes to not be talked about you have to lower them for a bit.” He looked over at me. “You’re not the only one people gossip about around here. You’re just fresh meat. They’ll go back to the others soon enough.”

“You’re with Gwen, aren’t you? I can tell by the way she’s been with you today something is going on there.” I didn’t trust her at all.

“Yeah. I’m with her right now. She’s the first girlfriend I’ve had since I was a freshman.” He shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I scoffed. “Never mind. Of course, you wouldn’t want to tell me because you know I wouldn’t approve.” I rolled my eyes when he tried to say something. “Let’s just go to class.”

I WAITED FOR Dane by his truck after school. I decided to put the whole Gwen thing aside. It didn’t matter. When he walked over he smiled hesitantly.

“I’m okay,” I said with a small smile.

He let out a relieved breath. “Good. Ready for practice?”

I took a swallow of my energy drink. “Not really.” I pointed to his arm. “Did I accidentally hit you with the ball or something? That looks terrible. I meant to say something at lunch but didn’t get a chance.”

“Nah, I was helping move some boxes to the attic last night and bumped into a bookshelf. The bookshelf won.”

I looked up as Zach’s truck pulled in. He got out and slammed the door hard. He was mumbling under his breath as he grabbed bags out of the back of his truck. Dane went over to help him.

“What’s wrong?” Dane asked.

“Stupid manager is going to be the death of me.”

Dane laughed. “Why’s that?”

We all started walking toward the field.

“She won’t listen, and she keeps being touchy.”

I cleared my throat. I smiled and took a drink of my Monster when they both looked at me.

“I don’t have time to fire her and hire a new one. It’s a damn night—” he stopped talking when he saw Dane’s arm. “What the fuck happened to your arm!”

Dane gave him the same story he gave me, but I could tell Zach wasn’t buying it. We made it to the field and set everything down in the dugout. Zach looked at Dane’s arm closer.

“Zach, not here. Not right now. Please,” Dane said seriously.

I pulled my hair back and put my glove on. Dane handed me a ball. Zach nodded, but his face took on a look I had never seen before. I knew I couldn’t press for answers so I made my way to the pitcher mound and stretched my arm. It was sore as hell, but that was to be expected. I started practice with the guys, but Dane and Zach stayed in the dugout, talking. I couldn’t focus. Something was majorly wrong with Dane from the look on Zach’s face. I threw the ball to Trevor, but none of my throws were worth a shit.

“Hales, what the hell?” Trevor yelled and dropped his bat. “I’ve hit every damn ball!”

Dane and Zach finally came out. Dane made his way to the field, and Zach still looked pissed.

“Sorry,” I said, trying to get my head in the game.

Everyone turned when my dad walked over. Zach looked at my father as he came over.

“What?” he asked in a snap.

“I’ve been watching my daughter struggle, and you haven’t corrected her once!” Dad snapped back.

“Get your ass off my field,” Zach growled.

My eyes widened.

“Your field?” Dad scoffed. “This is the taxpayers of Stockbridge’s field, and if I want to stand out here and watch my daughter practice, then I damn sure will!”

Zach pointed to the bleachers. “You can watch from there. If you’re down here, you’ll do nothing but bitch and complain! Get to the bleachers and watch!” Zach was in full asshole mode and angry on top of that.

Dad looked at me. “You better get it together, Hales.” He walked past Zach and went to the bleachers.

“Sorry, guys. Now let’s get started,” Zach said firmly.

When practice was over, I was so embarrassed. My dad didn’t respect Zach at all and basically took over Zach’s position as coach and yelled at the guys and me the entire practice. We were all definitely off our game today.

I couldn’t concentrate because I was worried about Dane, annoyed by my dad, and trying not to think about some woman touching Zach. This is exactly why Dad never wanted me to get emotionally involved with anyone. He wanted me to care about baseball and baseball only.

Dad walked over to me as I was getting a drink of my water and started yelling at me. The rest of the guys were packing up and clearing out.

“What the hell was wrong with you today?” Dad said, unpacking my stuff as I was packing it up.

“You’re getting your ass out there and getting it right before we go home!” He shoved my glove and ball at me.

“Dad, my arm hurts. Bad.” It was the first time I mentioned it out loud. It was really bothering me.

“Work through the pain!”

Tears filled my eyes. I was tired from no sleep, worried about my friend, and my arm was hurting worse by the second.

“Are those tears?” Dad snapped. “Hailey Naomi Grayson, on the field now!”

I kept my head down and went onto the mound. Dad stood at home plate with a glove. Dane and Zach were taking their time getting everything together. I knew what they were doing. They were concerned, but I didn’t need them to be.

“Curveball!” Dad demanded.

I put a brave face on and clenched my jaw as I threw it to him.

DAD AND I stayed at the field for hours. By the time we got home, I could barely move my arm. When we got inside, Mom smiled, but it faded when she saw my dad’s face.

“Uh-oh. Hales have a bad practice?”

Dad started complaining about how shitty I did so I went up to my room. I was in too much pain to eat. Instead, I turned on some music and got in an Epsom salt bath, hoping it’d soothe my arm. My phone dinged so I dried my hand on a towel.

Zach: Are you okay?

Me: Just embarrassed. How’s Dane?

Zach: Well, let’s just say if I’m not at practice tomorrow I’m in jail.

Me: What!

I almost dropped my phone in the water. I caught it and dried off the water that splashed on it.

Zach: I’m heading to Dane’s house.

Me: Why!

I immediately called him.

“Hey,” he answered.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m going to go kick Dane’s father’s ass,” he growled.

“Wait. Why?”

I got out of the bathtub and dried off.

“I want him to feel how it feels,” his tone was furious. “You should call Dane. I need to go.” His voice had started shaking. “And rest that arm. I could tell you were in pain.”

“Zach, you’re scaring me. Whatever you’re about to do—” he hung up on me.

I quickly got dressed and grabbed my keys.

“Dad, Mom?” I stood by their bedroom door.

“Yeah?” Mom said sleepily as she opened the door. She looked at me. “Honey, where are you going?”

Tears filled my eyes. “Something is wrong with Dane. I need to go check on him. And before you ask for the millionth time, no, I’m not into him. He’s my friend.”

Dad walked over and yawned. “Hales, you aren’t going out. It’s late.”

“Something is majorly wrong!”

“Go to bed, Hailey.” Dad gave me his warning look and shut their bedroom door.

I growled in frustration. I waited until I knew they were asleep and snuck out of the house. I drove to Zach and Elliot’s and saw Dane’s truck there. I got out and called Dane.

“Can you let me in?” I asked when he answered.

“What? You’re here?”

We both hung up when he opened the front door.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I went inside. “Where is Zach?”

“Hales, everything is—”

“Don’t! Don’t lie to me!”

“Shhhh, you’ll wake up Millie.” He took my hand and led me outside on the deck.

He motioned for me to sit, but I didn’t. I was too damn anxious to sit.

“Hailey, my dad is abusive. It’s why I stay here a lot.”

I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt Dane. He was the nicest guy I had ever met.

“Why?” I asked as I looked at him. “Why haven’t you told me?”

Dane ran his fingers through his messy hair. “I’ve been asking myself that since I was four. He’s an angry drunk, and I get to be his punching bag. And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to worry you about it.”

I didn’t know what to say so I just wrapped him up in a hug. “Never keep anything from me like this, Dane. Ever.” I squeezed him tighter.

“I won’t.”

“Where’s Zach?” I asked as we pulled apart.

“He went to handle it.” Dane looked down at his hands. “He was already pissed off. Then he saw my back, and he got angrier.”

“What do you mean by he went to handle it?”

“He went to go beat the shit out of my dad.” Dane looked embarrassed. “Can you do me a favor?” I could see his cheeks turning red. “I need someone to look at my back. Zach cleaned it up, but I need someone to look at it again. I don’t want Elliot to know, and it will just make Zach angry again when he gets here.”

I nodded and helped him out of his shirt. He turned to let me look at his back: it was covered in thin, red welts. Some were bleeding through bandages. My mouth got dry, and tears filled my eyes.

“This is horrible,” I breathed out. My hands started shaking. “Who all knows about this?”

“Elliot and Zach. No one else knows. I-I don’t want them to know.”

I nodded and looked at him as he turned around to face me. He wiped my tears. I laughed a little.

“You shouldn’t be wiping my tears, Dane. I’m not the one who needs comforting.”

“I’ll be okay. It’s not the first time this has happened. Well, it’s the first with the whip in a long time but not the first time I’ve been beat up by him. So now you know why I didn’t want you meeting my parents or coming over.”

I gently moved him until his back was to me again. “It’s bleeding bad still. Want me to help clean it up and put new bandages on?”

He nodded. “There should be a kit in the downstairs bathroom, under the sink. I’ll call and check on Zach while you get it.” I headed inside quickly, went to the bathroom, grabbed the kit, and headed back outside. When I came out Dane was pinching the bridge of his nose, and the tough act he had been trying to put on was gone. He looked so broken in that moment before he realized I was there.

I started working on his back. “Talk to me, Dane.”

“Zach’s driving around until he calms down, then he’ll be home.” He stiffened when I touched a sore whip mark. “And I don’t know what to say. Nothing I say will change anything.”

“No, but having someone to vent to may help with the emotional side of it. I won’t force you to, but if you ever need to yell about it or cry, I’m your girl.” I pulled off a bandage and cleaned the wound before putting on a new one.

He nodded. “Thanks, Hales.”

I heard a truck pulling into the front driveway just as I was finishing up. I helped Dane get his shirt back on and then quickly gathered up the supplies to bring back inside. I came back out onto the deck; Zach’s eyes widened when he saw me. I could see that his fists were busted up, but besides that, he looked okay.

Dane looked down at his feet. “Zach, I told you not to.”

Zach shrugged. “How’s your back?” His voice was strained.

“Hales cleaned it up again and put new bandages on it. I’m going to take some Advil and go to bed.” Dane gave me a little hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He nodded toward Zach then went inside.

Zach looked at me. “How’s your shoulder?”

I looked at Zach. “I should go.”

“Not before I look at your shoulder.” He kissed my forehead.

“You need to clean your hands. My shoulder is fine, Zach.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Humor me. I need to calm down and talking to you and checking on you will help.” He motioned for me to follow him inside.

We went into the bathroom, and he shut the door behind us. He washed his hands and then leaned against the counter, waiting for me to show him my shoulder.

“I think you just want me out of my shirt,” I teased.

He gave me an actual smile. “Possibly.”

“Damn, baby. It’s swollen bad.” The smile that had shown up briefly left just as swiftly.

“I’m fine.”

He touched my shoulder gently. “Let me put some Icy Hot on it and rub it in. I don’t need the pitcher throwing her arm out before the season begins. Elliot would kill me.”

“I was fine until my dad made me stay late.”

He got some Icy Hot out of the drawer and started rubbing it in. I closed my eyes because it hurt.

“Sorry he just took over practice like that.”

“I normally would handle it, but as angry as I already was, I had to let it go. For now. I’m sorry it hurts, but I have to do this.”

“I’ll be fine.”

When he finished putting it on, I put my shirt back on. “I should go before my dad notices I left.”

He nodded. “Be safe.” He kissed my lips softly. “And so you don’t think I’m showing you favoritism, I massaged Trevor’s shoulder last year.” He winked at me.

I laughed. “Good to know.”

When I got home I couldn’t sleep. I kept staring at my phone, hoping I’d hear from Dane but never did. I was so angry for him and hurt.

Two nights in a row with no sleep, this was gonna suck.