I woke up to my alarm and a text from my mom. Zach mumbled in his sleep then rolled over onto his stomach. He draped his arm on my stomach.

Mom: Sweetie, we miss you. Take all the time you need. Your dad is getting counseling. He realizes he was in the wrong and how he was handling things wasn’t normal. Please don’t shut us out completely.

I smiled at Zach and set my phone down. “Zach,” I whispered and tried to get up, but he held me tighter. His right eye was sporting a horrible, black bruise. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at me.

“Coach Elliot did some serious damage.” I kissed right beside his eye. “He’s probably going to yell at me for staying here when I go to practice.”

“He wouldn’t dare,” Zach growled a little.

“I don’t know. We broke his stupid rules. Oh, and he tried to get me to tell him if we had sex or not. His word was ‘corrupted’ actually. I didn’t tell him.”

“He can say whatever the hell he wants to me, but he’s not doing that to you,” he said angrily.

“Whoa, calm down. I can handle him.”

Zach ran his hand over his hair and moved his head in my lap.

I sat up and ran my fingers through his hair. “If what you do to me is corrupting me, then just keep on.” I gave him a bright smile.

He smiled up at me. “I think I can do that.”

I sighed. “I guess we should get ready for the day.”

He jumped up and wrapped his arms around me. “You going to take a shower?” He asked and kissed my neck.

“Yeah, why?”

“I was thinking about how I could corrupt you again.”

I burst into laughter. “Well come on then.”

He smiled brightly before following me into the bathroom.

SCHOOL WASN’T NEARLY as bad as it had been. I was hoping the day would just get better, but all hope was lost when I saw Coach Elliot’s face at practice. I made it there before anyone else and planned it that way.

“I never apologized for stripping in front of you when I had that meltdown with my dad.” I was hoping to make him laugh, but I didn’t.

“I was more concerned about your shoulder. How does it feel?”

“Not as swollen.” I wasn’t telling him about the steroid shot. “I plan on using my left hand.”

He nodded and grabbed a ball. “Get warmed up.” He looked past me. “Brink’s here.”

“Where’d you go last night, kiddo?” Brink asked as he came over dressed in a suit.

“With my no-good brother,” Coach mumbled before walking off.

Brink shook his head. “Give him time. He’ll come around.”

“You’re not dressed for practice.” I didn’t want to talk about Zach and me.

“Yeah. You don’t think I can play in my suit?” He teased.

“Can you play at all?” I smirked a little.

He loosened his tie. “Well, let’s see.”

He took off his jacket and grabbed a glove. His tie hung loosely. He waited for me to throw the ball and when I did, missed it completely.

I laughed. “Try again. I’ll go easy on ya.”

He rolled his eyes. “I know that look.” He pointed to my face. “It’s the same look Zach gave me when he was trying to teach me.”

I smiled and watched as the rest of the guys show up.

Dane ran over, picked me up, and spun me around. “You’re back!”

I laughed. “I only missed one practice!”

“One too many!” Trevor said as he took me from Dane and hugged me tight.

All the guys huddled around me as high fives and hugs were passed around. Coach Elliot blew his whistle.

“Okay. Let’s get to work, and don’t forget: my house, Saturday for team-bonding time.”

Trevor looked around. “Coach, where’s Zach?”

Coach Elliot didn’t answer. He blew his whistle again, and we began.

Brink was utterly useless when it came to baseball. He tried and tried and tried, but he sucked. I looked over at Dane as practice came to an end.

“Zach has to come back,” Dane said quietly so Coach Elliot wouldn’t hear.

“Well I fucked that up.” And I was going to put my damn foot down about it. I stomped over to Coach. “This practice was bullshit!” I yelled. I looked at Brink. “No offense.”

“None taken,” he said with a smile. He looked at Elliot. “Dude, I suck at baseball. You know this. I mean, while you and Zach played sports, I went to college.”

“What do you expect me to do about it?” Coach asked as he started packing up.

“Let Zach help,” I said.

“That would be a no.”

“You’re being a dick!” I yelled.

All the guys had been talking to one another, but now it was super quiet.

Coach Elliot looked at me. “I can’t trust him,” he said softly. “I trusted him with my team, and he took advantage.”

“He did not! You act like he had everything to do with this, and I had no fault in it! I’m not some wimpy little girl that just falls at the hands of some hot guy! I have a fucking head on my shoulders!”

“What’s going on?” Gabe asked, and Coach shushed him.

Coach grabbed the bags from Brink. “Yes, I can tell by how you’re handling this situation that you have a head on your shoulders,” he said sarcastically. “Before him, you had goals and a plan. Now what, Hales? Because that guy is going nowhere fast!” He snapped then walked away from all of us.

What the hell did that even mean? I still had goals. I chased after him, completely bawling at this point. I walked in front of him so he had to stop.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Before him? I have goals, and that hasn’t changed! The only thing that has changed is that I finally realized that my dad is an abusive asshole when it comes to baseball and that you’re a jerk!”

He started to walk around me, but I blocked him.

“But here I am! I’m back and on my terms! Your brother is amazing, and if you can’t see that, then you’re the one with the problem, not him!”

Dane came over and moved me away from Elliot. “Come on, you need to calm down.”

“Elliot, go home and calm down before you regret what—” Brink stopped talking as Coach got in his car door and drove off.

I was shaking I was so mad.

“Why don’t you head to the house? Get cleaned up, and I’ll come hang out with you,” Dane said, trying to cheer me up.

“I don’t want to be anywhere near Coach right now. I’ll be with Zach. Be sure to tell him I’m letting his hot brother fuck my brains out, and we’re doing drugs too.” I opened my trunk, threw my stuff in, and slammed it shut.

Brink looked so uncomfortable.

“Hales.” Dane stood in front of my door. “Calm down before you get behind the wheel.”

Brink looked at me. “Hales, he will come around eventually. He just needs to—” Brink stopped talking when his phone dinged. He cursed. “Umm, Dane I need your help with Zach.”

“What now?” Dane asked.

He handed Dane his phone.

“Oh shit.” He handed Brink’s phone back to him. “Hales, I’m not letting you drive right now. Just come with us.”

I got in the truck with Brink and Dane. Brink drove until we got to the restaurant. Quinn was waiting for us at the back door.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I got out.

“Elliot’s having a rather heated, one-sided discussion with Zach. They’re in Zach’s office.” Quinn looked nervously at Brink. “I don’t think Hales and Dane should be here.”

Brink cocked an eyebrow at her. “Dane can calm him down, and Hales is in the middle of all this.”

I walked past all of them. When I neared the office, Elliot came out. He didn’t say a word to any of us as he left the restaurant. Zach was sitting in his chair with his head in his hands. I went in and shut the door behind me. I locked it so everyone would leave us alone.

“Zach?”

He slowly looked up at me. “Hey. How was practice?” He asked, trying to give me a smile.

I came around and sat down in his lap. I hugged him tightly. “I’m so sorry.” Tears started to fall.

He hugged me tightly for a moment then had me stand up. He stood and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry too, Hales.” He wiped my tears. “We can’t—” He stopped talking as his voice shook. “I can’t do this anymore.” He picked up his keys and took a key off his keychain. “I know you don’t want to go home, so the cabin is yours.” His voice was shaking more than before.

“Wait.” My heart stopped beating for a second. “What?” I took a step back and refused to take the key. “Are you ending things with me?” My heart started pounding. I felt instantly sick.

“Yes.” He sat back down. He avoided looking at me.

“Zach.”

He shook his head. “No, Hales, this is what’s best for you.”

“How do you know that!”

“Look around, Hales! I run a damn pizza place. I’m going nowhere, where you... You have an amazing future ahead of you. I’m a dead end.” He stood and walked past me to the door. His hands shook as he unlocked the door.

I shook my head as tears poured. “I don’t see you as a dead end.”

“But I am. Just ask anyone in this town.” He looked at me. “The cabin is yours.” He opened the door and walked out, leaving me alone in the office.

I went to chase after him, but Dane stopped me. “I heard everything. Hales, don’t. Once Zach’s mind is made up, that’s it. You’re just going to make it worse.”

I tried to fight against him, but he hugged me so tight I couldn’t move. I crumbled against him as I bawled against his shoulder.

“He’s not thinking straight, Dane! Let me go talk to him, please!” I’d get on my knees and beg if I had to. This was insane! Things couldn’t be over just like that. “Please, Dane! Let me go!”

Dane shook his head. “It won’t do any good. Not while Zach thinks he’s nothing, and you deserve better. In his head, he’s doing what’s best for you.”

“But he’s not, and I have to go tell him!”

“Do you think after his brother just told him he was shit, he’s going to listen to anyone right now? He won’t. He’s confused, hurting, and feeling worthless. He needs time to think.”

I fought against him again, but he just took it as he held me close. I gave up when I realized I wasn’t going to win this.

“Will you take me to get my car? I’ll just go home.”

“No. Home is the last place you need to go right now. You’ll just fight with your parents. I’m sorry, Hales. I really am.”

I didn’t argue. I couldn’t. I felt like my whole world had just exploded.

Dane drove me to the cabin. We walked in, and he looked at me. “Want me to stay with you?” I nodded. I sat down on the couch and put my head in my heads. My head was throbbing.

“Hailey, it’s going to be okay.” Dane sat next to me. He rubbed my back slowly. “Elliot is right in some ways, but he’s wrong in a lot too. The fact that Zach is serious about a girl and she’s eighteen does look kind of bad. But just focus on you, okay? Don’t let this slow you down. We have a big, important season. We’re seniors.”

“He’s not a screw up, Dane. He’s running a pizza place for his friend. He hates the pizza place. He’s doing it because he must care a whole hell of a lot for Quinn. That shows me that he is a good person. Success isn’t some big degree and a six-figure salary. Success is how you treat people.” I groaned. “I sound like a Hallmark card, but it’s true.”

He kept rubbing my back. “He’s a great person with a reputation that haunts him every day.”

I sat up straight and looked at Dane with swollen eyes. I ran my fingers through my hair that had fallen out of my ponytail. Thunder crashed, and lightning filled the cabin, making both of us jump.

“I’m going to take a shower.” I stood. “There’s another bathroom if you need one too. “

After our showers, we crawled into bed, and Dane put his arm around me while we watched a movie. I could smell Zach’s cologne on the sheets, and it made my heart ache so badly. My whole body was tense.

“Hales, try to rest,” Dane said with a yawn.

I nodded and barely made it halfway through the movie before falling asleep.