It probably wouldn’t be so bad if the coach wasn’t making her life miserable, Sebastian thought as he moved to go do the dishes only to frown when Aunt Kasey handed him a plate overflowing with turkey and all the trimmings. With a warm smile, she placed two forks on the plate and slid two bottles of water into his apron pockets before gesturing toward the living room door. “Go,” was all she had to say to get him moving.
He quickly made his way upstairs and walked into Mikey’s bedroom to find her sprawled out on the bed. “I’m not hungry,” she mumbled with a sad little sniffle.
“Good. That means there’s more for me,” Sebastian said with a satisfied sigh that earned him a murderous glare as he sat down on the bed next to her.
“Why are you so mean to me?” Mikey asked as he placed the water bottles on the nightstand.
“Because it’s easy?” he said around a bite of turkey.
“This is true,” Mikey said with a heartfelt sigh and a nod as she reluctantly sat up and grabbed a fork.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” Mikey mumbled sadly as she helped herself to the turkey.
“Want me to beat up your coach?” Sebastian asked, watching as her lips twitched.
“Yes, yes, I would,” she said, nodding as she shifted her attention to the stuffing.
“What’s he done now?” Sebastian asked, turning the plate around to make it easier for her to attack the mashed potatoes.
“He’s punishing me for being slower than everyone else. Apparently, I’m not fast enough to stand around in right field,” she admitted with a helpless shrug as he sat there, thinking it over as he debated something.
Deciding that it couldn’t exactly hurt, he said, “I might be able to help.”
Looking really hopeful, Mikey asked, “Really?”
Nodding, he said, “I have an idea.”
Sighing, Mikey helped herself to a biscuit as she said, “At this point, I’m willing to try anything.”
Chapter 29
“Wait! No, I changed my mind!” Mikey screamed somewhat hysterically, but it couldn’t be helped. She also couldn’t seem to stop screaming, “I changed my mind!”
Unfortunately for her, the horrible boy that dragged her out of bed at six a.m. on a Saturday morning didn’t really seem to care. “Come on, five more,” Sebastian said only to emphasize his demand with another spray of ice-cold water from the hose.
Wondering why he was doing this to her, Mikey forced herself to continue doing pushup/squat/jumping thingies while the horrible boy stood by with the hose, ready to squirt her if she tried to stop. Once she was done, Sebastian nodded approvingly as he tossed the hose aside, making her sag with relief, that is, until he reached for the stack of egg cartons that she’d been wondering about.
“What are those for?” Mikey asked warily only to end up gasping in outrage when he pulled an egg out of the carton and threw it at her.
When she opened her mouth to ask him what the hell was wrong with him, Sebastian reached for another egg as he softly said, “Run.”
“You can’t be serious,” Mikey said only to gasp when an egg hit her shoulder.
Taking his time to select another egg, Sebastian once again said, “Run.”
This time, she decided that it might be for the best if she went for a lovely jog around the neighborhood. Decision made, Mikey turned around and–
“Hey!”
“Run faster,” came the calmly spoken words that had her running toward the street to get away from the horrible boy that she was never talking to again!
*-*-*-*
“Go away! I hate you!” came the angrily muttered words that had Sebastian sighing as he glanced down at his watch.
“We’re running five minutes behind,” he told her, wondering why she was being so damn difficult about this as he double-checked to make sure that the Nerf gun that he’d borrowed from his little brother was fully loaded. He wasn’t sure that he was going to need two hundred rounds, but it couldn’t hurt.