Read Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1) Online
Authors: Bri Izzo
“I passed out as soon as the movie ended. I was too
lazy to move,” I tell him. We move to the table with everyone else where Baylee
is still talking about how scared she is of the movie. Benny keeps playfully
responding to her as if they have all these inside jokes from watching it and
no one else was there. I look at Alex to see if he
’
s
picking up on the same flirtatious vibe as me, but his head is down focusing on
his food. After nudging him ever so slightly, I turn my head and bulge my eyes
out for him to pay attention to Baylee and Benny.
“The villain in the movie was death; how stupid,” Benny
laughs, flashing his bright smile in the clear direction of Baylee.
“That
’
s terrifying! They dodged
the plane crash yet all end up dying anyways in the weirdest ways,” she
exclaims.
“I
’
m never watching another
scary movie with you, Bay-
bee,
” he smirks. And then he
winks at her. He fucking winks at her in front of me and Alex and everyone as
if it
’
s just totally normal for an almost-sixteen year old
to be hitting on a twelve year old with a gross pet name.
Alex twists his neck and glares at me, and for the
first time in a while it isn
’
t because he
’
s mad at
me
. “Did you just see that?” he whispers to me
as Baylee, Benny, Sam, and Tiffany keep the conversation at the table going.
“Yes. That
’
s why I hit you,” I
tell him. On the other side of me, Buzz taps my leg, which makes me jump
slightly in surprise. “What?” I ask her quietly.
“You two saw that, right?” she asks me, looking at
me for a second and then her brother for backup. Obviously she missed Alex
asking me the same thing a second ago. She was probably so shocked that it
delayed her response.
“Yeah, unfortunately,” I mumble. Alex and Buzz are
giving me the exact same look. It
’
s almost creepy because
it makes me see their resemblance that has grown away after hanging out with
them so much. But I
’
m pretty sure it
’
s
the same face I made last night when I saw Benny wrap his arms around Baylee,
which means one thing: Alex, Buzz, and I are finally all on the same team
again.
After almost throwing up at the breakfast table watching Benny
and Baylee go at it like nobody else is noticing them, Skyler and I attempt to
clean the inside and outside of his Jeep. We give up after an hour and then run
down to the lake to set up the Swarrocket Olympics that will include kayaking,
jet-skiing, swimming, and running.
“So, you realize you put Benny and Bay on the same
team today, right?” I sneer at Skyler as we carry a kayak out of the shed.
Everyone else is still inside changing into their swimsuits and putting on
sunscreen.
“That was before they started this shit,” he snaps.
He
’
s just as unhappy about seeing them flirt with each
other as Alex and me, maybe even more, which is weird.
“What are we gonna do about it?” I wonder, thinking
that he probably has a plan stirring in his head like always.
“We can
’
t split them up now,” Skyler
shakes his head as we drop the kayak on the edge of the grass before the water
line. “We just have to catch them and make sure they know we see them.”
“That
’
s very passive of you,” I
note, brushing the dirt from the kayak off my hands and into the water before
walking back towards the shed to grab another kayak. My eyes are on my dirty
hands, so I barely see in time that Skyler hasn
’
t moved
his feet. Towering over me, he devours me with his eyes like I
’
m
a giant bowl of mac and
fucking
cheese sitting in front of him. I
probably have the same look on my face with his abs perfectly showcased below
his pecs and bulging arms. His smolder isn
’
t helping my
cause either. “What?” I shakily ask. He can
’
t kiss me
right now… someone will definitely see us.
“Do you want the focus on them or us?” he questions
me in a passionate tone. He
’
s going to make me melt right
there, just steps from the cool lake water. My breath catches for a moment, so
I can
’
t respond. “It
’
s okay,
sweetheart. You take my breath away, too.”
Ahhh.
I just can’
t handle
him looking at me that way or calling me sweetheart or being shirtless and
starting to sweat. Before I even know what I
’
m doing, I
run the opposite direction from him onto the dock and dive off the end of it to
swim out into the lake. I want to stay underwater for as long as possible, but
my heart is racing, and I already can
’
t breathe. It isn
’
t long before I poke my head out. Luckily I swam far enough
that I
’
m on the other side of our water trampoline and
Skyler can
’
t see me. I grab onto a handle on the side of
it as I take deep breaths.
“You better not wear yourself out so bad that we lose
today!” I hear Skyler yell from the dock.
“I have to pitch on Monday; I can
’
t
kayak,” I tell Skyler, Rex, and Savannah as we huddle to decide our game plan
for the Olympics.
“We can
’
t change the rules for
you, princess,” Skyler snarks. “Everyone has to do everything.”
His little sister next to him giggles at the
ridiculous nickname; she
’
s totally fangirling.
“I
’
ll be sure to tell my coach
that it
’
s your fault then,” I object.
“You
’
ll be fine. Fucking relax,”
he sighs. Even through his reflective sunglasses where I see my clear
reflection I feel his playful glare.
“Bianca, you go first in kayaking and then last in
swimming. You can rest in between,” Rex decides, glancing over at the huddle
with Benny and Baylee.
“Stop looking at them. They
’
re a
distraction,” I demand of him. “Wait until they do something, then get mad.”
“Do what?” Savannah naively asks. Unfortunately this
isn
’
t the time or place to explain their disturbing
relationship. Maybe in two years at Benny
’
s court hearing
would be more appropriate.
“I have to watch them to see if they
’
re
going to do something, genius,” he snaps, rolling his eyes.
“Both of you, stop!” Skyler exclaims. This makes
Benny and Baylee glance over at us, but I know Sky is just talking to me and
Rex.
“
See? Proof,
” Rex points out
that they
’
re not innocent and they know it.
“Okay, I agree. But we still need to focus on
our
game plan if we want to beat them,” I lower the tension
in my voice.
“The jet-skis only ride two. You and Skyler are a
good pair, so you guys can go first. Then me and Savannah will go,” Rex directs
us.
You and Skyler are a good pair.
I peek to see Skyler
’
s
reaction, but all he does is lick his lips. There isn
’
t
even a slight hint at them turning upward or his eyebrows moving. I question
why he isn
’
t more surprised than me considering he is the
one pushing this on Rex so much when he isn
’
t even close
to budging on his stance.
We easily beat Benny, Baylee, Tiffany, and Sam in
each event that takes place, and it feels good to be a team with my two boys
again. Just when I think we
’
re going to be bored all
afternoon, Skyler suggests we play Capture the Flag as the final event. Playing
only in the lake makes the game more interesting, but in reality we
’
re just sweating from running around all day and want to be in
the water. Rex hides a bandana near the edge of the lake on a tree branch, and
we split off into our Plan A: every man for themselves to try to find the other
team
’
s flag - not very strategic if you ask me. Swimming
on the surface is easily heard and gives us away, so I dive below and swim
towards the water trampoline. Smoothly I pop my head up when the trampoline is
directly above me so essentially I
’
m inside of it.
And apparently Skyler has the same idea.
“What are you doing?” I mouth to him so no one can
hear me.
“Waiting to save your ass when you mess this up,” he
whispers angrily. I
’
m appalled he would say such a thing;
if anything his little sister will mess it up.
“In case you forgot, I
’
m pretty
good at being invisible and sneaking around,” I banter, rolling my eyes at him.
“B, I
’
m fucking kidding,” he
tells me, his sigh echoing under the trampoline. He quietly swims over to the
opposite side to tread water next to me.
“What are you doing now?” I whine. And I feel a hand
caress my side. “Sky,” I say nervously.
“What?” he replies obliviously. If he
’
s
not touching me, then who
’
s hand is this?
I swat it
away and watch Skyler
’
s eyes grow in concern. “What was
that?”
“
I don’
t know; something touched
me. I thought it was you,” I explain. It
’
s too dark to see
anything in the water, so for all I know a piece of seaweed grazed my skin.
“You
’
d know if I touched you,
sweetheart,” he states, allowing no emotion to shine through. He likes to let
his words do all the work while his face remains stern. This time though I know
it
’
s him who grabs around my waist because all of our
bodies are touching. His wet lips intrigue me into leaning closer but then I
pull back once I realize what I
’
m doing. And he follows
me.
“Sky,” I acknowledge timidly. I love that he's
holding me, but we're in the middle of a game with our siblings who are not
fond of us being together. If one of them finds us like this, we'll screw up
the whole weekend after we finally have Rex back on our team.
“
Buzz,
” he teases by mirroring
me.
“We can
’
t,” I tell him for the
second time this weekend, even though I really want him to kiss me again. His
eyes say he wants to, too, but he knows we aren't truly alone.
“
Then don
’
t
fucking tease me like that,” he demands quietly. There's a hint of humor in his
statement, but it's mostly serious, which tugs at my heart.
“I
’
m sorry. I wasn
’
t
thinking,” I confess.
“Sometimes thinking can be a bad thing,” Skyler
informs me. When he holds my head with one hand and pulls me closer to him, the
only thing I'm thinking about is
how are we not drowning right now?
I'm
only holding onto him and he has one hand on the back of my head. But I
honestly don't care. His lips are on mine again, fighting for another moment of
isolation from the outside world. Even though in my head I know it's wrong, God
it feels so right to be kissing him. After a few minutes I hear some noise from
outside the trampoline that sounds like someone is nearby, so I pull our lips
apart abruptly. When Skyler is unprepared for it and instinctively leans in for
another kiss, I swoon so hard for him and lightly brush my lips against his.
The moment is completely ruined when we hear splashing and yelling coming from
our siblings who are probably actually playing the game of Capture the Flag. “Us
against them, who wins?” Skyler asks me in a slur. It's nice to see he's the
one flustered for once.
“Us, every time,” I answer smoothly.
“Let
’
s do this,” Skyler bursts
out, sinking into the water and swimming out from underneath the trampoline. I
go out the other side so as not to be seen and notice the other team
’
s bandana tied onto the rope holding one of the jet-skis to the
dock. Everyone is paying attention to Rex and Benny fighting in the water, so
as quickly as I can, I unknot the cloth and clench it in my fist as I swim
completely underwater back towards my team
’
s side. My eyes
are closed as I swim because the lake water would hurt my eyes. With an
extended arm I hit someone
’
s leg; all I hope is that it's
someone on my team. I pop up to breathe and see Skyler directly next to me. “Did
you get it?”
“Get what?” I tease, trying to let the boys
’
fight play out like it really matters in the game.
“You know,”
Skyler glares at me.
“Yeah, I got some,” I reply quietly, trying to keep a
straight face. I fail miserably, but to mask it I yell, “I got it! We won!” as
I hold the bandana above my head. Everyone
’
s attention
turns towards me as I beam with pride in ending the game victoriously. But the
eyes I feel on me the most are Skyler
’
s out of my
peripheral.
“Where the hell were you this entire time?” Rex
questions me as he releases his hold on Benny. He's looking in my direction but
more specifically at Skyler who is hiding behind his sunglasses he must
’
ve found after we split from under the trampoline.
“Under the trampoline listening to you idiots fight,”
I admit with a fake laugh.
“Skyler was under the trampoline,” Rex states firmly
as if I don't know.
“We were working on a game plan,” I try defending us.
Shit. Shut up, Bianca.
“The game plan was every man for himself, not you two
against everyone else,” he complains, shaking his head. “I lied before. You two
aren
’
t a good team.”
“
But we won,
” I whisper to
Skyler, but he glares at me before swimming away to catch up with Rex who is
already climbing the stairs to go back inside.
That's the last time the three of us are together
without awkward silences or nasty glares for the rest of the summer. Savannah
rides back to Hinsdale with Skyler while Rex and I sit on opposite sides of my
mom
’
s van staring out our respective windows in the worst
silence imaginable: my mom talking the entire ride. Skyler is pissed that I
ruined our trifecta after he tried fixing it, and Rex is upset that me and
Skyler formed our own team. He still has no idea we kissed at all. When we get
home Rex and I don't speak for a week, and when we eventually do it's because
we're at a family party and have no one else besides each other and Baylee. I
hide out in my room most nights if I don't have a softball game and forgo
watching the boys
’
baseball games, which is more of a
punishment for me than them. I don't nicely answer Skyler
’
s
text messages after he sends me one that crushes me the day before Independence
Day, when we're supposed to go all go back up to the cabin.
Skyler Swanson:
I
’
m
bringing a girl this weekend.
Needless to say I don't go to the cabin with everyone
else. For real. There's no way in hell anyone can persuade me to go when Skyler
is bringing a girl. At least he warned me in enough time to bail. Because of
him pulling this shit, I can't care any less about missing the annual July 4th
Sandlot Night Game. For all I know, they won't even have it this year. No way
will Leah and whatever Wendy bimbo Skyler is bringing play baseball. How dare
he fucking tease me by being all cuddly and shit the last time we were at the
cabin and then bring someone else the next time! I know we
’
re
fighting, but come on! I let my anger cover up the hurt I
’
m
actually feeling because I don't know what else to do. I thought that I was
finally going to get to be with my lifelong crush, but he made sure it wouldn't
happen. I convince my mom to let Tiffany and me stay at the house while
everyone else resumes plans as normal. She doesn
’
t care;
she just doesn't want me to burn the house down. I ask Rex
’
s
girlfriend, Leah, to provide us with some alcohol, but all she brings us is
Mike
’
s Hard Lemonade. Then I remember that a guy named
Chase in the boys
’
class has an older sister that he once
told me always bought him alcohol. He's on the baseball team but is just an acquaintance
of Rex and for good reason: Rex doesn't drink and Chase does.