Chapter 17

Ethan 

Putting up a brave face for Riley was difficult. The truth was that he was shattered from being benched during such a serious game. He had already had concerns about baseball with how hard his classes were…He’d already considered applying for an academic scholarship rather than a sports one. Perhaps that had been why he was benched–his mind was drifting away from baseball. He felt alive when he played with Riley, yes, and baseball had always been his whole world, yes, but keeping the grades high for the sports scholarship was taking a significant toll on him. 

He began researching academic scholarships but didn’t tell anyone. He wanted to know what his options were. He felt sad because he was Riley’s other half on the team, but all the long hours at the library and his desk were destroying him on top of rigorous training. It didn’t help that the team won the semi-final, but he had remained benched during the finals. 

“To cool your head,” the c