Staring at my phone, the voicemail notification taunts me.

I know I should listen to it but at the same time, I don't want to. Listening to it means I have to acknowledge what it means. Doing that means I have to do something about it.

"I bring gummy worms." Chloe offers, plopping down on my couch. "What's that?"

"Nothing." I snatch my phone from the cushion. Raising a brow, she holds the candy back. Rude. "Fine. It's a voicemail."

"From who?" She asks, opening the bag.

"The Alabama Baseball recruiter."

"Why did he call?" She picks through the bag.

"Actually, I called him first. This is him returning it." I admit, pulling at my hoodie.

"Then listen to it." She orders, eating one. "These are really good."

Chewing on my lip, I press play.

"Hi, Sage, this is Frank Stevens calling you back. Don't worry about it being too late. We'd love to have you come down for a visit as soon as this upcoming weekend. Give me a call back."

"That... wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." I admit, sitting back.

"I'd say that went rather well."

"What do I do now?" I freakout. Do I call him immediately? Do I wait? I don't want to sound desperate or rude. I should wait for Scarlett to get home. She doesn't need to be bothered with this stuff right now.

An injured Ashton is more than enough on her plate. He gets moody.

"You go if you want to." She says.

"I do?" I guess I do.

"Yes, Gigantor." She laughs.

"I-I guess I just haven't let myself think that far ahead. I was expecting rejection." I admit.

"No one's going to reject you." She assures me.

"You don't know that." I mutter and she sits up.

"We're not doing this." She orders. "Hand me your phone."

"What?" I wonder and she feels around my pockets. I'm getting mixed signals here. Pulling her hand back, she types in my password. "What are you doing?"

"Making a list." She states, opening my notes app. "Tell me the schools you like."

I blink in disbelief. "You want to help me pick a college?"

"Yes."

"Even though it's reminding you we won't be together?" I clarify. This entire activity is basically a big reminder our relationship will be over depending on where I pick to go.

"That doesn't matter." She kisses me. "Now give me names before I start guessing."

Wow. This is new.

Fifteen minutes later, I have a list of 12 schools. Some I like more than others, but they're all here. "This is it."

"Good job." She offers the bag of candy before helping herself. "Now you can have some."

"I think I want this one." I lean in, taking the gummy worm from between her lips.

"I don't share." She snips, biting it in half.

"With me you do." I grin, shoving a handful into my mouth.

"Sometimes I wonder why." She offers dryly.

Gasping, I pull her into my chest. "I don't appreciate your attitude, Chlo-bear."

"Tough." She tries to stand her ground but I kiss her. Sighing, she finally melts into me. "I missed you."

"I missed you more." I admit. Leaving Chloe always sucks.

Getting comfortable, I throw on The Office. Chloe's never finished a TV series and as someone who enjoys pop culture way too much, I had to fix that. No better place than to start with the classics.

Halfway through our third episode, she pauses the TV. "Manny invited me to her wedding."

"That's awesome." I offer, hitting play.

She pauses it again. "I'm not going."

"What?" I demand, sitting up. "Why?"

"She only invited me because we're dating." She turns to look up at me.

"And?"

"And that feels rude." She shrugs. "I shouldn't go."

"Chloe, Beautiful, it would be rude for you to leave me alone all night." I counter.

"You'd survive." She rolls her eyes.

"Why survive when I could live it up with you on the dance floor." I raise a brow. "I'm a very good dancer."

"Oh, I'm sure." She mocks.

"You've never complained about my moves before." I argue, cupping her chin.

"Somethings should be saved for behind closed doors." She says as I kiss her cheek.

"Good thing we'll have a hotel room." I mumble, kissing her. "Please come. It'll be fun."

"Okay." She nods, a grin spreading across her lips as we continue to kiss.

Leaning over her, I gently pin her down. "Twins won't be home for another forty minutes."

Her eyes flash hungrily. "Bedroom, now."

"I'd much rather stay here." I pull her shirt off.

Laughing she returns the favor. "I really did miss you."

"Did you miss me, or did you miss this?"

"Mmm, I don't know." She teases and I kiss her neck, moving down to the soft skin of her chest. She gaps, arching her body. "Definitely you."

Continuing my journey, I try to undo her jeans. "Why can't you wear leggings?"

"These are my favorite."

"They're practically painted onto your body." I grunt, basically ripping them off of her. With one last tug, I land on the carpet. Sitting up, I throw them across the room. "Bingo."

"So sexy." She observes dryly and I flip her off.

"I'll show you sexy." I am a master of sexy. This charm doesn't go to waste. Kissing the smirk right off her face, I'm amused by how needy she is. There's plenty of time to stretch this out. Her hands wrap around my head, pulling me even closer.

Reaching a hand down, I graze her underwear.  "Sage." She begs.

Moving down, I'm about to end her suffering when the sound of something falling catches our attention. Followed by a scream.

"What the fuck?" Avery covers her eyes.

"Get out!" I shout, trying to cover Chloe up.

"Why are you on the couch?" She demands.

"Why are you in my house?" I counter, trying to grab my shirt.

"I need my laptop." She runs upstairs, as red as her lipstick. "Why is everyone but me having sex?"

Putting on a shirt, a rip fills the room. "Uh, oh."

"That was mine." Chloe hits me and I offer her mine.

"Sorry. I had other things on my mind." I offer apologetically and none of them involved shirts.

Footsteps sound on the stairs before Avery reappears. "I'm out. We shouldn't have to worry about this shit when Ashton isn't home."

The door slams shut and I shrug, turning back to Chloe. "Where were we?"

"We're home!" The front door opens and I groan.

Fuck. My. Life.

*****

"Scar, hurry up!" I call from the kitchen.

It's almost 5. We're supposed to be in Tuscaloosa at 8 to get dinner with Ashton. Plus we have to check into our hotel and make sure we know where we're going tomorrow. We have to go to bed somewhat early because we have to get up early enough to eat and get there.

"I'm coming." Scarlett walks in, rummaging through her bag. "Kids!"

They run into the room and she places a list on the counter top. "Behave. No dangerous stunts. No pizza. Do your homework. Chloe is in charge."

"Not fair." Silver mutters as Scar hugs him.

"Life isn't fair and you tried to burn my house down not even a week ago." In our defense, they should make the cardboard under frozen pizza more noticeable. It would make life much easier. She kisses his head before doing the same to Sterling. Squatting down, she hugs Saffron. "I love you all."

Letting her hover for a couple extra seconds I turn to Chloe. "You sure you want to do this?"

"A weekend here sounds like the perfect vacation." She assures me.

"You know I won't be here?" I clarify.

"Even better." She pulls me down for a kiss. "Have fun."

"I'll try." Hopefully this is a good weekend. "Scar, now."

I have a man to see.

*****

The next morning, I'm blinking the sleep out of my eyes. Giggles and hushed whispers fill the room and I throw a pillow at the bed next to mine.  Why did I agree to share a hotel room with the lovely couple? "Can you literally not keep it in your pants?"

Ashton throws a pillow back at me. "I was planning on waiting until you were in the shower."

Fighting the urge to throw up, I leave my warm bed and run for the bathroom. "You're nasty."

After scrubbing my face with the hopes of cleansing my mind and sitting in the shower 'til the water runs cold, I brave walking back into the room.

Thankfully, everyone is dressed.

An hour later, we're on campus and I'm completely at ease. No jitters. No anxiety. I already know I love this campus and some of the people here.

"Sage, nice to finally meet you." A man joins us in front of the athletic building. "Frank Stevens."

"Hi." I shake his hand. "This is my sister, Scarlett, and my best friend–"

"Mister McClain needs no introduction." He assures me, bypassing Scarlett to shake his hand. "I wasn't aware you would be joining us."

"I'm not." Ashton states bluntly, shifting on his crutches.

"Are you sure?" Scarlett turns to him and the smallest bit of nerves settle in my stomach. I thought he was staying with us. I wanted his opinion.

"You don't need me hobbling behind you." He smirks, leaning down to peck her cheek. "Besides, this is Sage's day."

Appreciating what he's attempting to do, I hold back the lengthy list of protests I have. This is my day.

"Well then, let's get started." Frank claps his hands together.

It takes two hours for a complete tour. We see the weight room, the indoor facilities, the locker room, the nutrition center and so many other, out of this world things. All I can manage is two words. Holy shit.

Not even focusing on the places, the equipment I'll use is state of the art. Trainers, clothes, gloves. It's a baseball player's dream come true.

Just when I think it can't get better, it does.

"Right on time." Steve stops in the weight room where we find a few guys. "James, a second."

Jogging over, James hugs Scarlett and daps me up. "I'll save the speech for how much I love this place. Sage has heard it about twenty times already."

"It gets better each time I hear it." I assure him. By now, I think I have it memorized.

"Then I'll keep it short." He grins. "This team is the best I've ever been a part of. I wake up every day ready to play and go to sleep knowing I get to do it all again the next day."

"And you've never been happier." Scarlett points out and I smile wide. Good, she's happy.

"Well then, let's step into my office." Steve offers. heading down the hall to a room.

Making ourselves comfortable, he grabs a ball from his desk and tosses it from hand to hand. "Look, kid, we want you. We've looked over the roster and there's a spot left just for you."

"Amazing." I blink in disbelief. This is perfect.

"Any questions?"

"None." This is it. All I have to do is say the words and I'll know exactly where I'll be this fall.

Here.

"Actually, I have a few." Scarlett clears her throat, opening a notebook from her purse. "How many pitchers do you currently have on the roster, not including seniors?"

"Ten."

"How many pitchers will be joining your team this fall not including my brother?" She continues, making notes.

"Six." That gets my attention.

"So in total, 16 pitchers?" She raises a brow.

"Yeah." He shifts.

"What is your approach to arm health?"

"We have a program designed to work with pitchers."

"Is it flexible to adjust with the specific player?"

"No, but it's proven to give good results." He shoots back.

The questions continue and his answers do nothing to calm the new wave of nausea settling over me. It gets to a point that I want to beg her to stop ruining this. None of the answers are good.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, she stops. "I think that's all. We'll get back to you with his decision."

Completely stunned, he gets the door for us and I storm out.

"Sage, will you please stop." She calls out, running after me through the parking lot.

"What, you don't have any more questions?" I snap.

"I'm sorry I was looking out for you. We need to know these things." She argues.

"No, you need to know. I could be so happy here." I throw my hands out. "This school has everything. An amazing social life. A good team. It's three hours from home and I have Ashton. What more could I ask for?"

"A starting position on a team that isn't already over staffed with pitching. A spot on a great team, something you deserve to be a part of." She counters.

"Why are you asking these questions now?" I demand. "Where was your stupid fucking list a year ago when I was at Vanderbilt?" She closes her mouth. "That's what I thought. Do you know how hard it's going to be to find a team with the perfect spot for me? Impossible because it's January of my senior year."

Rosters are full. I'm screwed. Is this team perfect, no. At least they want me.

"I'm trying to help."

"No, you're not!" Helping would be supporting this.

"I didn't have this list at Vandy because I was selfish. I wanted you with me even more than you wanted to go to school with me. Everything seemed great so I didn't push and I should've."

"Yeah, look at what that got me." I offer real sarcastically. "So much for doing your guardian duties."

"That's why I'm trying to do it now." She stomps her foot. "Jesus, Sage, I'm trying."

"Try harder." I spin on my heel and make it fifty feet before the guilt sets in.

Jesus Christ, I'm an ass.

She silently walks beside me, hurt written all over her features and I hug her. "I didn't mean that."

"I know." She whispers, wrapping her arms around me. "Can we please talk without all the yelling?"

"Absolutely."

She leads me to a small coffee shop and orders a large coffee with an extra shot and I do the same. Some things Ashton just doesn't need to know about. Once seated, she pulls out her notebook and holds it open for me to see.

"List the pros." She starts.

"Location. People. Facilities."

"Cons."

"They're average." She was right about that. "Too many people to fight for a spot." No point in fighting a lost war, even if I'd be the best one. "Too many flaws in their program that I can't overlook." I'd have to go back through it with Ashton, but I feel like there should be more.

And I would've known none of that if it wasn't for Scarlett's questions.

"Those are some pretty strong cons." She points out and I nod in agreement.

"But it feels so... right." I try to argue. With who, I'm not sure.

"That's okay. We don't have to make a decision right now." She assures me with a hand squeeze.  "What's our next school?"

Scrolling through my phone, I read the list Chloe and I made the other day. The names all blur together until I land on one I have starred. "What about Clemson?"

"Sounds great." She writes it down. "Do you want to make the call or should I?"

*****

Hours later, I'm playing Smash Bros with Ashton.

"So, how was it today?" He asks, sticking his tongue out to focus.

"Scarlett already gave you a full run down." I scoff, hitting my controller.

"I know, but I want to hear it from you." He shrugs.

"Wouldn't have to hear it if you went with us." I counter.

"That's not fair." He hits me with a crutch. "You're so clingy. Now answer."

Sighing, I pause the game. "Life would be so easy here. There are some issues we need to focus on, but overall, I still like it." I understand Scarlett's right, but it's still my choice and I still like it here.

"Easy doesn't always mean it's right." He says and I swallow my spit.

"So I'm learning."

"When's your next visit?"

"Not until after Manny's wedding." No sense in trying to swing going out of town again the week before a big event. We need a break.  "How are you holding up?"

"Fine if you ignore the fact we should've won that game." He snips.

"You'll have another shot next year." I remind him.

"But this year was my shot. This year was my year." His eyes burn with a rage I haven't seen in so long. "Everyone knew it was and I blew it."

"Next year will be better." I know so.

It takes a second but he nods. "You're right."

"But seriously, how are you?" I push, focused on him.

"I'm fine." He waves me off. "I'm annoyed I can't go for a run or bend down without hurting but I'm getting there."

"It must be hard getting pampered." I mock.

"Scarlett is smothering me, isn't she?" He laughs.

"100 percent." I nod. "I'm surprised she isn't glued to your side."

"I get phone calls every hour and texts in class to make sure I'm okay. It's the most she's ever called me in our relationship." He whines but I see the smile on his face.

"Do I make you smile like that?" I demand.

"Only when we're in different states." He flips me off and I hit him.

"You'd be nothing without my love."

"Sage, babe, don't get dramatic." He cups my cheek before slapping me. "I need to kick your ass."

*****

Hi, LiH is slowly but surely getting there. Where, not sure yet, but we're getting there.

Happy Thursday, I thought it was Friday!