Worth the Risk

Chapter Eight. Connor.

So far, I'd enjoyed being home with my mother and sister and my brother Brett. Mitch, well, he could stay or go; I didn't interact with him much, not for his lack of trying, though.

I only had a couple days left here and today, Brett, Patrick, Mitch, and I were going to a Blue Jays game, just like old times. Well, almost like old times. Today would definitely be different, but I needed it, needed this time.

I was sitting on the couch with Patrick and Brett waiting for Mitch to arrive for our outing, but like always, he was late.

"We should've just had him meet us there," I grumbled, peeved that he was wasting our time.

"He'll be here," Patrick reassured me.

"It wouldn't hurt my feelings if he didn't show up," I admitted honestly.

"You've got to let it go, man," Brett said with a sigh. "Whatever it is that he did to piss you off, you've got to let it go. It's not healthy."

I shook my head and laughed humorlessly. "Won't happen, B."

They both sighed beside me as we watched the TV mindlessly until the front door flew open half an hour later.

"Now the party train can get rolling," Mitch's obnoxious voice rang out.

I rolled my eyes as Patrick turned the TV off and he and Brett stood up. I followed suit and stopped in my tracks when I saw who was standing next to Mitch.

"What the hell is she doing here?" I ground out.

"I invited her," Mitch said with a shrug, a smirk on his lips. I wanted to punch it off of his face.

"There's no way," I whispered to Patrick, who was standing right beside me, turning away from the adultering pair.

"Come on," Patrick said.

"You're okay with this?" I snapped.

"No. But I want to get to this game before it's over. So I'm leaving. Come if you want. If not, then I'll see you later."

I huffed in frustration and followed Patrick and Brett out of the house, Mitch and Cora behind me.

Even though I wanted to call them out on their cheating ways, I kept my eyes forward and my mouth shut the whole way to the ballpark.

Because Mitch had made us late, and the reason why was obvious, parking was harder to come by and we'd had to park several blocks away.

The humidity had me huffing and puffing by the time we reached the entrance. 

The air in St. Paul was a lot fresher than here, something I'd become accustomed to over the last several years with the team.

"Out of shape, are we?" Mitch sneered.

I rolled my eyes at him, not giving him the satisfaction of acknowledging his jab at me.

Brett put a hand on my shoulder reassuringly as we walked to the section our seats were in.

We'd missed batting practice and most of the pre-game activities. The stadium, while not full, was more crowded than I remembered it being in the past. Our row, 5 up from the field, was already full and of course our seats were in the middle, so we'd had to climb over people to get to them.

I hadn't thought of seating arrangements very well because I somehow ended up next to Cora. I tried getting Brett to switch with me, but he was already engrossed in conversation with Patrick and the guy in front of him about the Jays' season.

I huffed and leaned back in my seat, doing everything I could think of to avoid the person sitting on my left.

I wished I could say that I got to enjoy the game, but I'd be lying.