CH. 13 -- PETE

I jolt upwards as my alarm goes off, sweat running down my back. A fucking dream. About my catcher.

This is becoming more than a little crush. I'm only half hard when I get out of my bed, pulling on a pair of sweats to make sure Joe doesn't see it. I'll never live that down.

"Joe, did you make break- oh holy shit." I cut myself off when I see Joe sitting on our kitchen counter, making out with Andy.

"Pete, hey!" Joe says, pushing Andy back and hopping down. "We were just.." He trails off, looking to Andy for help, but Andy just shrugs.

"Nah, nah, I don't need an explanation. I think I'm gonna call Nick and have breakfast. We need to talk about some stuff anyways." I walk back to my room and pull on a hoodie, changing out the sweats for a pair of tight jeans since I'm in a more decent situation now. "Please don't fuck in my bed!" I call as I walk out of the door, not bothering to hear their responses.

"Hello?" Nick picks up on the third ring, but it sounds like he was already awake, so that's a good thing.

"Me, you, breakfast, fifteen minutes. It's about Patrick. I'll be at Jim's." I hang up after that, and I know Nick will show up only because I mentioned Patrick.

Sure enough, thirteen minutes later, Nick walks in the door to Jim's Café, sitting down across from me when he spots me. "What's up?" Nick says as soon as he sits down.

Before Patrick showed up, Nick and I were good friends. Now, I'm not so sure. "I like Patrick."

"Tell someone who doesn't already know, babe. My gaydar goes crazy when I see you. You crushing on Patrick too?" Nick crosses his arms and leans back as he awaits my answer.

"Who isn't? I just need to know that you're done with him before I try to make a move." I say, and Nick hesitates for a second before nodding.

"Unfortunately, I am done with Patrick. It's a shame, the boy has a great mouth. And those hips that boy has? They fucking move, let me tell you." Nick looks pleased with himself when I glare at him.

"I plan to find out for myself, Nicholas." That sure takes the smirk off of his face.

"Don't hurt him. He doesn't deserve it. He deserves the world, and if you're not going to give him that, I suggest you back the fuck off." Nick's jaw clenches after he says that, and I roll my eyes.

"Coming from you, that's a load of bullshit. You didn't treat him so fine yourself." I fire back, and Nick swallows.

"I regret that with everything in me. He's fucking great, Pete. Just treat him right." Nick then stands up and walks out the door without another word. I throw down a twenty to pay our drink bill and leave a tip before leaving also.

--

Coach is waiting for the last two players of the team to arrive before he gives his annual speech; Patrick and Spencer. Spencer's been late every time I've attended this dinner, so him being late this year isn't a surprise.

They walk in about five minutes later when I'm in a conversation with Ray about politics, and immediately, my gaze flickers to Patrick. He's wearing exactly what he was in my dream, but damn he somehow makes it look better.

Patrick smiles at me when he catches me looking, to which I smile back before moving my gaze away. I've been staring for far too long already.

Patrick asks Kenny for a piece of gum right as Coach begins speaking, so he whispers a thank you back. Kenny only winks in return.

"Hello, gentlemen. As you all know, we've won our series against Baylor for the first time in five years." Coach pauses for a second for us to get done cheering, a smile on his face. "So tonight, dinner is on me. Order what you'd like, they're giving me a pretty big bonus for beating the Bears. Have fun, guys, we start practice early tomorrow morning."

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Order me a salad with ranch." Patrick says, and I nod, doing what he asked when the waiter comes.

A few seconds after Patrick leaves, Nick follows him down the hall, smirking at me before he disappears. I have an uneasy feeling in my stomach, but it's probably nothing.

Nick returns to the table about five minutes later, chewing a piece of gum. My eyebrows raise at that, but I don't say anything. I don't say anything until Patrick returns, looking more than a little disheveled with a gigantic bruise sticking out from under his collar.

As Patrick looks down at his lap and scratches the back of his neck, I turn and hiss, "What the hell?" at him.

"I honestly don't know. Shit just happened." Patrick says, and I just can't right now. I glare at Patrick and then Nick before throwing my napkin down and storming off to the bathroom.

As I get to the bathroom, the only thing I want to do is punch Nick's stupid face. He fucking knows that I like Patrick. He said he was done with him. But he fucking lied.

Somehow, I regain my composure, knowing that I have to go back out there. I can't just bail out on our team dinner.

As I take my seat again, I turn my attention to Ray and Kenny, starting up a conversation with the two of them. The rest of dinner flies by, and I get out of there as soon as I can, walking back to my dorm with Andy.

"So you looked pretty upset with Nick and Patrick. Care to ellaborate?" He asks as we walk, and I shake my head.

"I'll pass." Is the only answer I will give. Andy sighs.

"Look, I think you're going through some stuff right now that has you questioning who you are. If you need to talk, I went through the same thing when I was, like, fifteen." And that's all Andy says as we reach my dorm.

As we go inside, Andy goes to Joe's room, and I go to my own. I'm left alone with my thoughts for the rest of the night.

bay updates part 1

sorry it's been literally 2729479 years

i hope to update a lot this week to make up for it