Read Play Safe (Make the Play #1) for Free Online Page A

feeling it. Partly because I helped Mom at the antique store all day yesterday. She had me hauling boxes and lifting crap for hours, so now my arms are sore.
    But that’s not the entire reason. Truth is, I’m used to assisting Mom. I spend many weekends and afternoons at her shop. I have for years. Mom runs Prairie Creek Antiques by herself, and since I’m pretty much the only guy in her life, I’m the go-to person for most of the lifting and stuff. Not that either of us would ever complain about that. She has no desire to be in a relationship after everything she’s been through, and the store is her life. The shop was my grandma’s before it belonged to my mom. It’s the reason we came back to this town years after Mom fled it to escape her past.
    When my grandma died, leaving my mom the shop and her house, I was surprised that she didn’t even hesitate. She was practically packing up our stuff the next day. I may have only been a child, but I knew Mom had left Prairie Creek for a reason. I didn’t fully understand it then, but I do now. Boy, do I get it now .
    But the antique shop and a fully paid for house to raise me in was something Mom couldn’t pass up. And even though things haven’t always been easy for us here, I’m glad we made the move. Prairie Creek is my home. I have a life here, and friends that are as close as family.
    Which brings me to the real reason I’m not feeling baseball today. Emmy.
    I can’t get her out of my head. Not since our kiss. She probably thinks it meant nothing to me, which is my fault since I freaked out when I saw Cal standing there.
    This. Never. Happened.
    Man, what a poor choice of words. There were so many other things I could have said. So many other things I should have said. But nope. I had to go and blurt out the worst possible thing imaginable. The minute those insanely stupid words came out of my mouth, I knew that they’d hurt her feelings. I could see it in the way her eyes widened. But mostly I could see it in the resigned set of her shoulders, in how swiftly she shut me out.  Now she’s ignoring me. Earlier, I passed her in the school hallway, and she quickly turned her head. Wouldn’t even look at me. It’s not how I wanted things to go down with us.
    Kissing her was a mistake, yes, but not because I didn’t want to. Hell, I’ve wanted to for longer than I care to admit.  But Cal’s like a brother to me. And Emmy is his sister . He’s incredibly protective of her, and I know he won’t like it if he finds out what happened between us.
    Cal launches a pitch in my direction. It’s a curveball low and outside . I go to block the ball like I have done a hundred times, but it skips past me. I pop up quickly and scoop it off the ground.
    “Dude, what’s up with you today?” Cal asks, jogging over to me.
    I blow out a breath, wishing I could tell him. Rarely do I keep anything from Cal. He knows everything about me. More than anyone else. It’s not like we’re chicks and share every single thought, but we always share the big stuff. And kissing Emmy sure as hell qualified as “big stuff.”
    “Nothin’,” I say. My gaze flickers over to Josh out on the field and red hot anger sparks. It’s only one fast glance, but Cal catches it. He’s like that. Never misses a beat.
    His eyebrows raise. “Is this about Saturday night?”
    My heart stops. Did Emmy tell him? Hope emerges. If he knows and he’s not pissed maybe this won’t be a huge disaster. Hell, maybe there’s a chance that Emmy and I can actually be together. I allow myself to picture it, and it’s scary how much my heart wants it. I’m not a relationship guy. I like to date, but not commit. I’ve gotten an earful about it from many chicks over the years. There are lots of reasons for my aversion to commitment. Some of them have to do with my dad and all of the family drama I’ve dealt with. But mostly it’s because baseball comes first. It always has. And girls don’t always get