The Pitcher's Act

26

COLBY

I walk back into my apartment with the largest grin anyone has ever seen on my face. My roommates looked concerned.

"You're smiling like that but you still came home alone. What's that about?" Bryce asks as he eyes me curiously from the couch, drinking a beer.

"I gotta finish a presentation then I'm going back."

He shakes his head, "Pussy first, school second."

Jayden laughs from the other couch, "This is why you'll be forever single, Bryce."

"I'm pretty sure I could get a girlfriend any time I wanted, but I don't want to. Why would I want to be tied down to one chick?"

"You only say school second cause you're taking over your dad's company when you graduate. You're just here for women and baseball," Jayden says.

He holds a hand over his heart in awe, "You know me so well, Jay. Tell me you two didn't come to college for the women. You two obviously found girls you snatched up the moment you met."

"Technically, Jonesy didn't snatch up his girl until three years later."

"Not all of us meet our soulmate the day they stepped foot on this campus. I would have never even looked Olivia's way freshman yeah. That was when I was still in my denial stage that I was into brunettes."

"That must have been why you became her number one hater when your two worlds crashed years ago. Because she was a blonde and you didn't like blondes," Bryce teases.

I roll my eyes, "Whatever. I'm going to do my work."

I begin to walk back to my room when I hear Bryce's voice again. "Oh shit, Jonesy, by the way-"

It was too late. I already found his surprise waiting for me in my room. "Faith."

I was stunned. Here she was, sitting on my bed, in hardly any clothes, waiting on me to come home.

I'm going to fucking kill Bryce.

"Hello."

"What are you doing here?"

She stands, "I needed to talk to you."

"Okay..." I draw out, waiting for her to talk. I grab my computer, beginning to power it up to finish my work. "Can it be quick? I'm kinda rushing."

My eyes flicker to the window to Olivia's room. She's not in there.

Faith sees my stare, "that's what I wanted to talk about." She points to her room. "Why her?"

"Why her, what?"

"You're giving her everything you would never give me. I don't understand. I begged you for anything and I got nothing."

I choke out a laugh. It wasn't funny, but this is just gold. She's kind of got me on spotlight, and I need to think quick. "Faith, maybe if I didn't hear stories about you with other men all the fucking time I would have taken you more serious."

She scoffs, "I took you serious for so long. I took it until someone else offered me more. I was allowed to see other people because you would never make a label."

I was beginning to get frustrated. "Look I didn't meet Olivia and just change every feeling I had about dating. I never wanted one, but then I actually got to know her, and she made me want things I've never had."

"Why wouldn't you ever get to know me?" She cries.

You never gave me the feeling she gives me. "All you wanted to talk about was baseball. I've never even heard the word baseball come out of her mouth." Until tonight, but that was my fault. "She is just different." She's not you.