Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 30

Julian

The shock on Isla's face when I tell her that we are going to be playing baseball is priceless. Her eyes widen in shock at what I just shared, and her mouth drops open. But even with all the shock of the sudden news, she still says yes. She bops her head once, and with the shock still evident on her face, she says, "Sure."

I laugh as I grab her hand and make a beeline to where the rest of my cousins were waiting for us. Isla stands next to me in confusion, and I say, "I have enough cousins for baseball, but with the youngest one being three, well, we cannot play with him."

From the corner of my eye, I see where my youngest cousin, crosses his arms over his chest and runs toward his mom. Cecilia picks him up, and she says, "You boys are cruel for excluding my baby."

"He is too young to play baseball," I shout back, a smile on my face. "Get him to play in the ball pit or something."

"If he is too young, then you guys should choose another game." Cecelia throws back, and I snort at the amusement. We have been playing baseball ever since I could hold the heavy ball; there was no way we were stopping now for a three-year-old.

"Mom, get out of here!" Leo shouts, which prompts the following brothers to audibly agree with him. Celiclia tsks at us in disappointment before placing a hand behind the kids head and turning over to the kitchen. "I'll leave you, mean boys, alone."

I laugh as she walks into the kitchen, the door closing after her, and I look over at the boys who were ready to play. Giving a large smile, I say, "Okay. I'm so ready for this game."

"Great!" Harry says, and the boys gather up to choose different positions. While I make my way to the excitement of the game beginning, there is a small hand wrapping around my arm. I look down to find Isla holding me back and whispering, "I don't know how to play."

"I know," I say back to her, but as I move to walk, she yanks on my arm. I chuckle out of shock as I say, "What's wrong?"

She gives me a look with sass written all over it
as she tilts her head to the side and says, "Oh, just that you're dragging me to play a game that I don't even know anything about."

"It'll be chill," I tell her.

"It'll be chill," she mocks with an offensive deepening of her voice. I give her a sharp look, but she only sighs as she says, "Julian, you're always down to do anything but this—I cannot do this."

I grab her hand, pulling on it as I say, "Yes, you can. You're spontaneous, and what's more spontaneous than playing a game you've never even played?"

She deflates next to me, her eyes dropping and her lips turning more into pouts. She looks cute. I realize before it hits me that we are just friends, and catching myself saying things of that sort was going to only hurt later on. She turns her lips upward into a smile then, just a tiny bit, and says, "As long as you promise to teach me, run me through the game, and no laughing at me when I fall on my ass from running too hard. I'll play."

"I promise I won't do any of those things," I say, my eyebrow widening at the last bit there. It was a little too descriptive, which made me want to snort, but with the way she was looking at me, she'd probably kill me, so I have to refrain from saying anything. "Now, do you want to play?"

"Fine," she says with a roll of her eyes, going to put her hair in a ponytail with the band she always keeps on her wrist. I watch as the ponytail bounces off her shoulder, the waves falling perfectly. She then says, "Okay, I'm ready to get my game on."