Love and Baseball [Benny Rodriguez X Reader]

Chapter 9: Philip

Kayla was practicing batting for the next game with Kenny when she heard Squints shout.

"Oh no!"

Everyone turned their heads and some of the boys threw their gloves on the ground when they saw Phillip and his gang riding in.

"It's easy when you play with bunch of rejects, a girl, and a fat kid, Rodriguez!" Phillips sassed at the team before smirking at Kayla and looking her up and down.

Benny noticed the interaction and instantly stepped closer to Kayla which didn't go unnoticed by Phillip.

"Shut your mouth, Phillip!" Benny snapped back at him, grabbed Kayla by her waist and pulling her close to him.

"What'd you say, crap face?!" Ham asked angrily. He was not mad about what the boy said to him, but what he said about Kayla.

"I said you shouldn't even be allowed to touch a baseball. Except for Rodriguez, you're all an insult to the game." Phillips answered back with a smudge smile.

"Come on! We'll take you on right here right now!" Ham yelled and the other guys started yelling too.

"We play on a real diamond Porter. These boys ain't good enough to lick the dirt off our cleats!" Phillips remarked.

"Watch it jerk!"

"Shut up idiot!"

"Moron!" Ham snapped back at Phillips while Kayla just sighed at the name calling war.

"Scab eater!" Phillips said back before smirking slightly.

"Fart smeller!" Bertram sniffed the air to mock the boy making the other boys laugh.

"You eat dog crap for breakfast, geek."

"You mix your wheaties with your Mama's toe jam!" Ham shouted back causing everyone to laugh.

"You bob for apples in the toilet and you like it!" Ham didn't like the comment and what he said next will shock everyone.

"YOU PLAY BALL LIKE A GIRL!"

Kayla's face fell when she heard what Ham said, her eyes wide with shock.

"What. . .what did you say?" Phillips asked hoping he heard wrong.

"You heard me." Ham snarled. Phillips then turns to Kayla with a smirk on his face.

"What's this Rodriguez? So bad that you had to get a GIRL on your team?" Philips teased. "I bet she even remembers what happened last year." Philips says smirking at his ex, this caused Kayla to look at Benny with a scared look on her face.

"Back off, Philip." Benny growls while stepping in front of her protectively. But she shakes her head at him and comes out from behind Benny and glares at Philip before saying, "What do you want now, Philip?" She asked, his name coming out of her mouth like venom.

"Oh, nothing, baby." He said, the nickname made Kayla's breath hinch in her throat and she started to breath heavily. "I was just saying that your boyfriend over there was so bad that he needed you on his team. I bet you can't even play, well, because you're a girl."

Benny noticed that Kayla's breathing had picked up and he walked over to her before gently grabbing her waist pulling her into his arms. She buried her face into his chest and felt his arms wrap around her. Scotty and the other boys noticed her change in behavior and stepped closer to her protectively.

"You've crossed the line this time, Philip." Benny growled as he held his girl close while glaring at the older boy.

"Oh, and what are you gonna do about it, Rodriguez?"

Before Benny could say anything Kayla lifted her head up from his chest and pushed out of his arms and walked up to Philip before pulling him by the ear.

"Listen hear, Phillip." She said, her voice firm and unwavering. "I may be a girl, but that doesn't mean I can't play. And I sure as HELL don't need your approval to do so. I knew you were trouble when you and your friends walked in. Now, you and your friends are going to walk out of hear before things get much worse and you'll be in big trouble. Do you hear me?" She hissed before letting go of his ear and glaring at him.

Philip nods his head nervously as he rubs his ear before runy over to his bike and hops on with the rest of his goons following him.

"Tomorrow. Noon. At our field. If we win. . . we get the girl. Let's go!" He orders and they ride off.

"You ok?" Benny asked as he places a hand on her shoulder and looks at her with concern.

"Yeah. I'm alright." She replied with a small smile making the teen smile softly.

Benny then pulls her into a tight hug and Kayla instinctively hugs him back and places her face in the crook of his neck as he rubs gentle circles on her back.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered as he slightly pulled away from the hug and took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I know." She whispered as she looked at him with love and adoration as the rest of the guys come over with smiles on their faces.

"Good job, Kayla! You showed him whose boss." Kenny said walking over to her and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Nice!" Ham praised while giving her a high five.

"That was awesome!" Scotty said as he ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"Yeah, Philips almost peed his pants!" 'Squints said making her smile and high five him.