Please Don't Cross Me, I Asked Nicely

The entire time I toured Nick and Mel around the lounge, Joe would stop at almost every game or attraction, especially the basketball game and the baseball batting cage. I didn't know how we ended up there, but we did.

Joe grinned brightly, his eyes widening with excitement.

“Nick, you should try the batting cage”, he teased with a slight shove to Nick.

Nick rolled his eyes.

“No, Joe. I don't think so”, he replied in a somewhat serious tone.

“Why not, Nick? Scared?” Joe said in a competitive way.

Nick turned to Joe so fast that I had to inhale a sharp breath. He must have struck a nerve in Nick because I'd never seen him serious about anything.

“I'm not scared, Joe”, Nick answered.

Joe scoffed, opening the empty batting cage door, grabbing a spare bat from the rack.

“Prove it”, he said in a serious tone.

“Fine”, Nick grumbled, taking the bat from his brother, quickly handing the guitar to me.

“Watch this”, Joe whispered to Mel and I.

Mel and I watched as Joe went to the machine, Nick already ready to hit the first ball.

Joe set the machine, then cowered behind it.

I wrinkled my brow in confusion.

The first ball came out and Nick swung, hitting it. It hit the back of the cage near Joe. The second ball was hit, too, as did the next five.

“Damn. Nick's pretty good, huh?' Mel whispered to me.

I nodded in return. Nick's face was serious, as though he was solely focused on hitting the balls.

By the time he swung for the 20th time, Joe jumped up, turning off the machine.

“Shit. It's almost 6. We have about ten minutes to get back to Kevin”, he mumbled, helping Nick put the bat away, nearly running out of the cage.

Nick rotated his shoulders trying to stretch some more. He walked over to me just as Mel walked away, following Joe.

“So, how was that?” he asked after clearing his throat, scratching the back of his neck a little.

“You were great! You'd make a great baseball player here!” I gushed.

A smile crept onto Nick's lips.

“Really? I mean, I'm OK, but not that good”, he said sheepishly.

“Please”, I began, placing a hand on my hip, “you were fantastic and you know it.”

Nick's smile widened.

“Thanks, I guess”, he replied.

“No problem”, I said, realizing how close we were standing toward each other.

“Um, here's your guitar”, I said, pulling it off of my back and handing it to him.

“Oh, right”, he replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Rose! Nick! Come on!” Mel called.

I heard Nick sigh quietly.

“Coming!” I called back. I took a few steps forward past Nick, realizing again that he wasn't following me.

“Comin'?” I asked.

“Yeah”, he replied.

With that, we ran after Mel and Joe.