(Complete) Kenzie Lynch grew up around baseball, but her father refuses to let her get involved with any players. Christopher Jett's loves baseball, Coach Lynch and the girl he can't have. After six years, can they learn to be friends and will frie...
Clutch: Good performance under pressure when good performance really matters. May refer to such a situation (being in the clutch) or to a player (a good clutch hitter, or one who "can hit in the clutch").
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Seven years ago...
Nothing felt the same anymore. Jett was leaving the next day. Playing all summer in The Cape League without Ben would suck. Going back to school without Ben would be just as bad.
Ben was a third-round pick. Once he signed, he'd be off to a development league. Maybe Jett should have tried to go with him, but he needed one more year. Coach had told him plenty of times he had the right stuff.
He was staying at the Lynch house and Coach offered to drive him in the morning to report to his team. No one else was home, so he was alone, and the house was too quiet. He had a bad habit of glancing into Kenzie's room when he walked by. It was neat unlike her brothers. Jett preferred neat and organized.
The kitchen door slammed, and he went to see who was home. Kenzie looked at him and sighed.
He put his hands up. "I didn't do anything."
"I know. You don't pull my hair anymore. Why did you?"
He knew his cheeks were red. "Because it fell onto my desk and I wanted to touch it, but Gavin saw me reaching, so I had to be cool."
"Pulling my hair was cool!"
"Yes... no... I'm sorry. Okay?"
"Fine. I've got bigger problems. Kimmy still hasn't told Betsy. She hasn't even seen a doctor. She wants to take care of a baby, but she is so lazy!"
Jett wanted to smile not because anything she said was funny, but because she targeted her complaints at someone else for a change. Her eyes sparked when she was angry and he found her even more beautiful. He liked to make her angry just to see her sparkle.
He heard his voice and had no idea where the words came from. "I can try talking to her."
She smiled. He would walk through fire to see that smile. It wasn't fire, but Kimmy could be fiery too.
Kenzie yelled as he walked across the driveway towards Betsy's house. "She needs to tell Betsy!"
He knocked on the door and waited for Kimmy. Her mother worked everyday, so she would be home alone.
She answered. "Jett, what are you here for? Your girlfriend left."
He laughed. "I don't have a girlfriend."
Kimmy was playing games. How could she know he wanted Kenzie?
"Yeah, because you're stupid. I see the way you undress her with your eyes."
Denial was his defense. "I do not."
Besides his mother raised him better than to treat a girl like Kimmy had described. He couldn't begin to imagine how incredible Kenzie must look. He needed to stick to the purpose of his visit.
She laughed. "You two should just get it over with."
"She hates me!" Pregnancy must do screwy things to the brain.
Kimmy laughed and shook her head. "Why do you think she was so angry with you when you started screwing around?"
It shocked him that Kimmy knew. He started dating his senior year at NHA and gained some experience with girls. "She told me it was because I pulled her hair."
"Maybe, but more likely because you were pulling it out of your pants."
He shook his head trying to understand. According to Kimmy, Kenzie was jealous, because he had been with a few girls — technically all the way with two. Could he believe crazy Kimmy? If he didn't want Kenzie angry, he needed to focus on the reason he agreed to talk to Kim.
"I came over, because we should go to a clinic or something. You need to take care of your baby."
She looked at him like he just told her he was starting in a major league game. "You care about my baby?"
He sighed. "Of course, I care." He realized he meant it not just because Kenzie asked him too. "You're going to need help and me and Kenzie were there from the beginning. The three of us are in this together."
She bit her lip as if she would cry. She reminded him of the sweet girl who used to play baseball in the backyard. Kim chased after Ben, the way Jett wanted to chase Kenzie.
Then she winked. "You know if you're afraid of Kenzie, you can do it with me. What's one more secret?"
Why do girls like to embarrass him? He looked at Kim and thought disease. "So clinic?"
"Nah, I'll tell my mother. She'll never make me get rid of it now."
Kimmy lifted her shirt, and it surprised him to see the round protrusion out of her middle. The baby was real, and he felt a need to protect the little thing.
"Okay, but eat something healthy or drink some milk or something. Will you?"
He sounded lame, as Kimmy laughed. The minute he returned, Kenzie pounced. "What happened? Will she go?"
"She said she'll tell her mother. Do you think she lied?"
"We'll know, because there will be screaming and one will get angry and leave and come over here."
"Does that happen a lot?"
"With Kimmy? Yeah."
He couldn't take his eyes off hers. He wished he could make her smile.
"I told her the three of us are in this baby thing together. If we are supporting her, we need to agree to be friends."
"We're friends."
"I mean real friends. With Ben gone and Kimmy's situation, we need each other."
"I can't replace Ben as your best friend!"
"No, but you can fill in. Don't worry I'll be gone all summer, but when we're back at school."
His plan shocked himself. Start as friends and see what happened.
She nodded and smiled. "I'm not allowed to date ball players, but I can be friends with one."
His heart sank. He could never disappoint Coach. Even her smile couldn't erase his disappointment.
