“Coury.” Liam swung around and stood in front of him. “I can’t ask you to give up your dream.”
“You’re not. I spent the last ten days thinking—while studying, of course—about you. I called my dad, if you can believe it.”
“Really? How’d that go?”
“Surprisingly well.” Coury guided them to a bench. “My whole life I lived in the shadow of my incredibly brilliant sister. Heather’s like you, super smart without rubbing it in your face. But unlike you and Beckett, she’s older than me. I was always following in the wake of her getting straight As, winning awards, being singled out. I couldn’t compete with that, so I found something Iwasbetter at.”
“I’m sure your parents didn’t think less of you because she got better grades.”
“No and yes. My family isn’t as well off as yours. If Heather or I didn’t get scholarships, college might not have happened. And certainly not anything other than a state school. My parents used to tell me that my grades weren’t going to get me to college like Heather. I needed to up my game. That kind of stuff. So I focused on baseball. When they saw the potential, my dad told me if that was my plan, I needed to really push it. There was no maybe. No back-up plan. All in, or not in at all.
“I don’t want to suggest I didn’t want to play. I did, and I do. I love it. But no one ever told me I was good enough at anything else. Until you.”
He reached for Liam’s hand and felt that same jolt when Liam took it.
“You believed in me. When you look at me, I know you see me, not baseball. The last ten days, I’ve missed you so much. I missed how great you make me feel about myself, how you smile at me, how you want to see me succeed.
“I thought about leaving you and it gave me panic attacks, which is crazy because I don’t have you anymore. I mean, well right now we’re not together, but I’m hoping that changes.”
“Coury, I . . . I don’t want to push you away.”
“But?”
“I’m worried you’ll give it up and then regret it years from now.”
“I figured you’d feel that way. When I talked to my dad, I told him I’d met someone who had me rethinking playing ball beyond college. I told him it was you.”
“Oh geez, how’d that go?”
“I think at first he had this ‘oh great, a mini-Beckett’ moment.” He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “Becks and me did some crazy stuff in high school.”
Liam laughed. “You think I didn’t know? Apart from listening to him and wishing it was me you did that with, I had to hear my parents go off on him for the stuff he did. And for the record? They knew it was Beckett leading that goat rodeo.”
“Good to know. Hopefully they won’t be against me dating their brilliant, handsome, amazing son.”
He squeezed Coury’s hand. “Flattery will get you most things, but you still need to explain.”
“Dad asked if I’d have regrets if I didn’t give baseball a try. I told him I didn’t know, but I do know I’ll regret walking away from you. He said I had my answer.”
Liam watched him, his expression serious. Coury had hoped for more excitement, but he understood. He was asking Liam to put his heart on the line for something that felt so abrupt.
“When I spoke to Beckett, he asked me if I was going to be okay bringing you to wherever I was, introducing you, or even calling you first thing after a great game. He knew I couldn’t do that.”
“Beckett asked that? My brother?”
Coury laughed. “He’s not as much of a Neanderthal as you think. That, and he loves you more than anyone. Even me.”
He gave it a few seconds to let Liam digest what he’d said.
“When Coach and the scout talked to me, the first person I thought to tell was you, but I couldn’t. Not being able to share any of what happens with you makes me sad. To chase a dream, I had to give up something real and tangible.
“Dreams are great Liam, but everything has a price. I don’t want that dream if it’s going to cost me you.”
“But Coury, you’ve spent your whole life working for this. I don’t know if I’m okay with you tossing it aside for me.”
“I’m not giving up anything for you, I’m doing it for me. For us. If this is your way of letting me down easy, just say no and I won’t bother you again.”
“No.” Liam shook his head, then put his hand on Coury’s leg. “I mean no, it’s not that.”
