I miss my morning workout again. Kayla finally fell asleep around five. I didn’t.

   I carefully extricate myself and get out of bed. She needs to sleep. She has a meeting with their lawyer today at his office—I guess it’ll be about her parents’ wills and the house. I’m not sure. Dad will be there. I won’t. I have to be at school for the morning at least. Some of the trainers and players from UNC are meeting me at the field for pre-orientation—whatever that means. I’d much rather be here with Kayla.

   When I get out of the shower, she’s sitting up in bed. Her eyes and nose are puffy and red from crying all night, and her hair is matted with one part sticking out to the side. She looks at me shyly. She’s pretty much the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve seen plenty of girls the morning after, but none like her. She’s just different than anyone else. We haven’t even slept together . . . yet she somehow means more to me already. Eventually, I’ll want to kiss her again. Hell, who wouldn’t? I just don’t want to now—not with all this.

   “Morning,” I say and sit down next to her on the bed. I give her a quick kiss on the temple. She kisses me softly on the cheek. It’s the first time she’s kissed me since the limo ride.

   “Good morning.” She tries to smile.

   “I really have to be at school this morning. If I could get out of it, I totally would—just so you know.”

   “It’s okay, Jake.”

   “My dad’s going to be there with you. If you have any questions or don’t understand something, just ask him, okay? Seriously—I know he can be intimidating, but he’s—”

   “Jake, thank you. I’ll be fine. I really appreciate your dad’s taking time out of his workday for me. All you guys—you’re amazing, you know that?”

   “I know my family’s amazing. But me? I’m kind of a big deal,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

   She swats my shoulder playfully then falls back onto the pillows with a huff, covering her eyes with one arm. “Get out of here, Jake, before I make you crawl back under these covers and snuggle with me.” Her free arm points to the door.

   I make a strangled noise, because I’m certain there’s absolutely nothing else in the world I’d rather be doing.

               By the time I get to school, the hallways are packed. Coach says they’ll just excuse me from class whenever the UNC guys get here. Hopefully, they aren’t far off, because I need to get back home to Kayla.

   “Hey, asshole!” Logan yells as he walks over to me.

   “Mr. Matthews,” a teacher I don’t know reprimands him. “This is a place of learning, not the basketball court.”

   Logan rolls his eyes then says to me, “About time you showed up.” I cock my eyebrow at him. His hands go up in surrender. “Sorry, dude—dick move. So how is she?” he asks as we reach my locker, which is next to Heidi’s. Lucy and Cam are there, too, and Dylan, of course. They stop talking, waiting for my response.

   “She’s not doing too well. I mean, what can you expect, right? She’s just having a hard time with the funeral and stuff. I took her to the batting cages yesterday—girl’s got good form.”

   Heidi rolls her eyes at my comment.

   “She has a meeting with their family lawyer today,” I continue. “I’m going to head back as soon as this UNC shit is done.”

   Logan raises his eyebrows at my attitude, but the truth is it just doesn’t seem all that important right now.

   “The funeral is tomorrow at twelve. The gathering is at our house afterward, so I won’t be at school again.”

   “We won’t be, either, Jake,” Lucy says, holding Cam’s hand.

   “We’ll all be there,” Dylan assures me.

   Logan pats my shoulder a couple of times before the bell rings, and we all separate to go to first period.

   The meeting with the UNC guys was a joke. First, they turned up later than they said they would, and it went longer than I anticipated. The training staff is good, and they all seem pretty excited about my being there next season. Some of them hadn’t actually seen me pitch in person, so I enjoyed their reaction.

   The boys on the team are a different story. I get it. I really do. This is their fourth year on the team for some of those guys, and I get that they’re tight with the other players. Now some cocky freshman is going to join the team and may even replace the current starter. Plus the coaches have built up a lot of hype around me, and they take a special trip to some random high school in the middle of Hicksville just to make me feel more comfortable. I’d hate me too, I think. They weren’t dicks or anything, but they were far from welcoming.

   I was finally able to rush home, knowing I definitely missed going to the meeting. Hopefully, it all went well—at least as well as it can go.

   When I get home, the house is empty. They must still be with the lawyer. I go to my room and climb into bed so I can maybe get a nap in. I want to text her to see if everything is okay, but I realize I don’t even have her number.

   Just as I’m about to fall asleep, I hear music. Her phone is on the nightstand, playing “Hey Mickey.” She must have forgotten it. I try to ignore it because I don’t want to invade her privacy. But it rings again and again . . . I finally roll over to silence the thing and see that it’s James—forty-eight missed calls from him, thirteen from Sam, and twenty-three unread texts.

   The phone rings in my hand again. “Sam” is displayed on the screen. I try to reject it but accidentally press “accept.”

   “Hello? Micky?”

   Shit.

   I put the phone to my ear. “Uh . . . Hi?”

   “Oh!” Sam says, surprised. I hear her exhale. “You must be Jake?” She has a thick drawl like her son.

   “Yes, ma’am.”

   “We heard that the funeral will be held tomorrow. I just want to confirm the details with Micky.”

   I don’t know if Kayla wants them there. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind his parents, but him?

   “I’ll be sure to let her know you rang, ma’am.”

   “Okay, then. Thank you,” she sighs sadly.

   I hang up. I definitely can’t sleep now, so I make my way downstairs. Just as I reach the bottom step, the front door swings open and Kayla bursts through. She ignores me as she runs past me up to my room, slamming the door behind her. Lisa, Mom, and Dad are standing at the front door.

   “Maybe just leave her for a bit, Jake. I think she needs some time alone,” Lisa tells me.