#also those who are keen of mind will know Benjamin Kyle from The Gathering | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eightmakar · 5 years

Text

Rule Breaker | One | S.M.

A Baseball!Shawn AU x Original Character

Teaser

Word Count: 4048

Warnings: some cursing, sexual jokes, a fuckboi

Author’s Note: Hello friends! This is a new adventure for me I hope you all enjoy, please send me an ask to be added to the tag list or if you have any baseball related questions! Moodboard by @heavenly---holland, lots of editing and plot help by my personal hypeman @the-claire-bitch-project

Tessa sat in the dugout, staring at her clipboard. The first practice of the season for the Whitecaps had her swamped with things to do: doing an inventory of her medical supplies, helping her mom organize the concession stand in preparation for the first game, making sure all the players had their physicals turned into her, and so much more. She sighed, looking at the list of tasks before penciling in small numbers next to each one so she could make sure she did them in the most efficient order she could.

“Tess!” her dad called from across the field, standing outside the fence. “You ready for papers?”

“Yeah, just a sec!” she called back. She switched clipboards to her list of players on the team, glancing down at the names as she walked across the infield and exited the field. A few names she recognized; most she didn’t. She smiled as she remembered her favorite freshman from last year, Benjamin Berry from Texas, was coming back for a second year with Brewster. She grimaced as she read “Kyle Young, Ole Miss.” Her least favorite person from the team last year. Kyle constantly hit on her last season despite her many firm responses “I don’t date my dad’s players, and even if I did I wouldn’t date you.”

Tessa jogged to the table her dad had set up for her. There was already a line of guys behind it, ready to give her their medical information. She pulled the chair out and sat down, grabbing the pen her dad left on the table.

She smiled up at the first guy. “Hey, I’m Tessa,” she said cheerily. “Name?”

“Noah Bolton,” he replied, shifting on his feet.

Tessa crossed his name off her list and took the manila folder he handed her. “Thank you, Noah,” she said. “Just go over towards the field and Coach Hale will take it from there!”

Noah smiled softly, nodded, then followed her directions towards the field.

The next few boys came up to her uneventfully, until of course, Kyle decided to make a fuss.

“Hi, Tessa,” he purred, placing his folder down on the table in front of her and leaning on it.

She sighed. “Hello, Kyle.”

“You have a good year? You miss me?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yes, I had a great year, 4.0 again,” she said. She crossed his name off the list and tried to take the folder from under his hand.

“Is that also a ‘yes, I missed you Kyle?’ I didn’t hear an answer.”

“No, it wasn’t. I didn’t miss you, I was busy. And I still don’t date my dad’s players. Especially not the ones who harass me about it.” Tessa didn’t care how rude she came off to Kyle; her answer would never change. She didn’t date her dad’s players. And she would never date Kyle. Not in a million years.

“It just takes persistence, Tess,” he said.

“Don’t call me that,” she retorted, clenching her jaw.

“Why not? Your dad calls you that.” Kyle leaned down further, squatting down, putting his elbow on the folder, and putting his chin in his hand.

“Because you don’t deserve to call me that.”

“Oh, c’mon, Tess, we can work this out, baby,” Kyle purred.

“Kyle, I said no. Give me your papers and go to Coach.” Tessa grabbed the edge of the folder and yanked it as hard as she could. She successfully pulled the folder from underneath him, causing his elbow to get yanked out from under his head. His chin hit the table and Tessa smirked as he cried out.

“You’ll regret that later, Tessa,” he snarled, rubbing his jaw as he picked up his bag and his pride. He stalked away to Coach Hale.

Tessa quickly grabbed her phone and sent a text to her parents.

Tess: Kyle’s a problem again. Made me super uncomfortable. Please do something.

Dad: got it.

Tessa sighed and put her phone back on the table.

“Hi,” she said without looking at the next boy in line. “Name?”

“Uh, Shawn. Shawn Mendes.”

Tessa crossed his name off the list then looked up at him. Her eyes widened and she froze, feeling a blush creep over her face.

He was the most beautiful human being she’d ever seen.

He was tall and lean, with a sharp jawline and rosy cheeks that starkly contrasted his pale skin. He towered over her, but he wasn’t intimidating. He had kind, green eyes that seemed to glow in the sunlight. He was biting his lip as he held out his folder in his right hand, which was intricately decorated with a bird tattoo over his thumb. He had another tattoo on the same arm, in the shape of a guitar made out of trees. He made eye contact with her, waiting while she took him in.

“Is, uh, is, uh, everything--” she coughed, clearing her throat, “is it all in here?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” he said softly, shifting his weight on his feet and scooting his backpack up on his shoulder.

“Uh, good,” Tessa said. She quickly took the folder and mentally kicked herself. What was that question? She didn’t ask anyone that.

“Probably not my place to say this, but that guy before me seemed like a real dick and if you want me to kick his ass I’d be happy to,” Shawn offered with a soft half smile.

Tessa laughed low in her throat, but it sounded like a donkey and a turkey had a child and someone was strangling it. Her face felt even hotter. She was so embarrassed that she made a fool out of herself in front of him on the first day of the season.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she choked out.

“You know where to find me,” he said. He grinned at her, showing her his perfectly straight and perfectly white teeth that made her want to punch him in the face.

She took a deep breath and righted her thoughts before she greeted the next player in line, but she couldn’t get Shawn’s stupid, perfect face out of her mind.

“Alright,” Coach Hale announced, “Everyone over here, please.”

The Whitecaps players all jogged over to home plate to gather around their coach. Tessa stood next to her dad, holding her clipboard tightly to her chest. Shawn stood next to Benjamin, crossing his arms and making his biceps look enormous. Tessa chewed on the inside of her bottom lip, trying desperately not to stare at Shawn and think about those biceps wrapped around her. Or digging her nails into them. Or kissing them while they walked around in Boston.

She shook her head to dissipate the thoughts that very clearly violated her policy on her dad’s players.

“As you all know, I’m Coach Hale,” her dad called. “Our pitching coach this season is Coach Chuck Jones from UCLA.” Coach Jones waved at the players as Coach Hale continued. “Our hitting coach is Coach Jake Henderson from Alabama. Our two assistant coaches this season are Coach Jack Christopher from Auburn and Coach Nick Byers from Washington. We also have my daughter, Tessa, here with us this season as our Head Athletic Trainer.”

Tessa stepped forward and waved as the boys clapped for her. She panned over the group, seeing Kyle smirk at her on one side and Shawn smile at her on the other. She smiled back at Shawn before stepping back behind the coaches.

“We’re very excited about this season and we hope you all are too,” Coach Hale said. “Our goal here at the Brewster Whitecaps is not just to keep you guys in shape, but to expand upon your strengths you’ve already developed. We aim to send you back to your home programs better than you arrived here. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, stepping forward. Tessa rolled her eyes and sighed. “Can you tell Tessa to loosen up?”

Tessa stepped forward, but her dad put an arm out to stop her. “Young, quit harassing my daughter. If she told you no, she meant it. Cut it out or you’re out.” He glared at him.

Kyle put his hands up and stepped back into the group.

“Alright, we’re going to split up into positions and run a few drills. Pitchers, you’ll go with Jones to talk rotations. Outfielders, you’re with Byers. Infielders, you’re with Christopher. Henderson will be pulling you in small groups for hitting drills. I’ll be bouncing between everyone. I already have notes from your coaches, along with videos of you all playing, but I won’t make anything decisions on the lineup until I see you play in person. Tessa also has a big say in who starts where.” Her dad looked proudly at her.

He was absolutely right. Tessa had a keen sense of batting lineups; she was excellent at arranging the guys to capitalize on their strengths. She’d never liked the press box with her mom, so since she could walk she had her own helmet and stayed in the dugout with her dad. Growing up, the guys always called her Coach, too, just like they did for her dad.

“Any questions?” Coach Hale asked. “No? Good. Break off with your coaches.”

The team dispersed and Tessa had to consciously keep her jaw shut watching Shawn run. Most of his height was in his legs, but damn they were nice. And his ass. God, she needed to not break, after all these years, she couldn’t break now.

She was surprised when Shawn jogged over with Coach Christopher. With his height, she expected him to be an outfielder. As they started running their drill, Shawn went to first.

“What do you think?” her dad asked.

“Um, wh-what?” she stammered, taken aback.

“Who?”

“What do you mean?” Tessa acted like her dad didn’t know her better than she knew herself.

“Who’re you staring at, Tess? I’ve never seen you this off before.”

Tessa bit her lip. She was a horrible liar, and her dad knew it.

“The Mendes kid,” she confessed softly. “He’s just . . . wow.”

Coach nodded slowly, staring at Shawn with her. “I’ll keep an eye on him for you. His coaches from Toronto say he’s great, his height is a real advantage at first. He’s a power hitter, believe it or not. He led their team in home runs and triples last season.”

“Really?” Shawn didn’t look like he had that much power in him.

“Oh yeah, he had 25 homers and 16 triples. 20 doubles, too.”

Tessa gaped at her dad. “Seriously?”

He nodded again. “I’m thinking clean-up for him.”

“I agree, but . . .”

“But what, Tess? Whatcha thinking?”

“In the Majors, a lot of managers are putting their power hitters in the two spot. They get more reps that way. So just keep that in mind, Coach.”

He laughed. “I will, Coach.” Her dad walked away, over to the infielders.

Tessa quickly walked to the dugout. She grabbed her backpack of supplies and her helmet, along with her notebook and her roster. She plopped down in the grass in front of the dugout fence, placing her helmet on her head. Tessa spread her supplies out in front of her, separating each group of supplies into piles. She opened her notebook and tallied up each pile. She sent a text to her mom to let her know which supplies needed replenishing.

Once her tallying was done, Tessa settled in to take notes on the new players. Naturally, her eyes fell on Shawn first.

She looked at his statistics listed on the roster. 6-foot 3-inches, 195 pounds. Number 8 on the team. First baseman. Batted a .346 in his season at Toronto with a huge slugging percent of .750. He had 75 RBIs, so he did well in pressure situations with men on base. She definitely thought he’d be a cleanup hitter, not in the two spot, unless their lead-off man was good at getting on base. Tessa made a note in her notebook.

The infielders took a break after a while. Shawn jogged over to the dugout, grabbing his bottle of Gatorade and then coming to sit next to her in the grass.

“You taking notes on us, Coach?” he teased.

She showed him her notebook. “Actually, yeah. I help my dad make the lineup.”

“Oh shit,” Shawn said. “He was serious about that?” He leaned over to look at her notes.

“Yeah,” she said, scooting closer to him. “See, here’s what I have about you. You had 75 RBIs in your school season, so you produce in pressure situations with men on. That’s good for the clean-up hitter. You also had a lot of extra base hits, so again, you’re good in the run production department. You’re not good at stealing bases, though, your stolen base percentage sucked ass.”

Shawn laughed. “You get that from my stats?”

Tessa nodded. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Kyle jogged over to the two of them.

“I thought you didn’t date your dad’s players,” he asked.

“I didn’t realize I couldn’t speak to my dad’s players without dating them,” she retorted. Shawn smiled at the grass. “He also asked what I was doing, so I was being polite and showing him.”

“What are you doing?” Kyle sassed.

“Don’t pretend like you’re interested.”

“I’m interested in you showing me some other things.”

Tessa bolted up. She was as tall as Kyle, about 5-foot 8-inches, and she glared at him face-to-face. “You heard my dad,” she growled.

Shawn stood up, ready to defend Tessa at a moment’s notice. But she didn’t need it.

“He can’t stop me from getting what I want,” he said with a shrug.

Tessa was fuming. She’d made herself very clear. She shouldn’t have to keep fighting him off. It was bullshit that he thought he was entitled to her attention. She wanted so bad to show him how much she hated this, but Shawn intervened.

“Hey, man, fuck off,” Shawn said, putting himself between Tessa and Kyle. “She said no, get over it.”

“You would defend her,” Kyle spat. “She’s not gonna date you either, asshole, she doesn’t date any of us. It’s her rule.”

“So?” Shawn said. “I can’t be polite and want to be friends?”

“Sure,” Kyle sneered. “That’s all you want.”

“Young!” Coach Hale called. Tessa had never been so relieved to hear her dad’s voice. “Back off!”

Kyle glared at Shawn and Tessa before jogging to Coach Hale. Tessa’s balled fists were finally able to relax as she sat back down against the fence.

“You okay?” Shawn asked, squatting back down next to her.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said curtly. She didn’t realize how close he was to her then; if she had, she would’ve calmed down much faster. “Thanks for sticking up for me.”

Shawn smiled. “Don’t thank me,” he said. “It’s bullshit that he thinks it’s okay to ask you all the time when you’ve clearly said no. Some guys can’t get that through their tiny brains.”

Tessa laughed, hoping Shawn wasn’t one of those guys.

“Mendes is a pretty good guy, huh?” Coach Hale asked Tessa on their ride home.

“He seems like it,” Tessa agreed. “He stood up for me today and told Kyle to fuck off.”

“Damn. Didn’t expect that from the Canadian kid.”

Tessa laughed. “Me either. He was impressed by my notes.”

It was Coach’s turn to laugh. “Even I’m impressed by those notes, Tess. You’re the best coach we have out there.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “Sure, Dad, because I’m definitely a university baseball coach.”

“You could be if you wanted to.”

“Dad . . .”

“Tess, I’m serious. You know I am.”

Tessa smiled, because she did know. She knew her dad would love for her to be the first female head coach of a university baseball program.

“But like I said, I actually talked with Mendes for a bit, too. He’s really calm, like strangely calm. But overall, I really liked him. If he’s the one you wanna break your rule for . . .”

“Dad,” Tessa protested.

“Tess,” her dad teased. “If you wanna date Mendes, go for it. I’ll be your wingman. I’m fully supportive of this, honey.”

Tessa laughed. “I know, dad. I know.”

Tessa loved batting practice. To her, there was nothing like the sound of the bat smacking the ball out into the outfield. She could always tell what kind of hit had been made based on the sound the bat and ball made.

She sat cross-legged in her spot in front of the first-base fence, watching the Whitecaps take batting practice with her notebook splayed out in her lap. She gnawed on her lip while she watched, taking notes on her guys.

Benjamin: swings down and under the ball. Needs to even out swing.

Kyle: Swings too early & too hard. Easy to make chase. Needs to sit back and wait.

Noah: Swings too late & too hard. Second-guesses himself. Confidence.

She looked up from her notes as Shawn stepped into the cage. Her breath caught for a moment, not expecting to see him up next. She licked her lips as he set his feet, standing fairly tall with his legs barely bent. He looked over his shoulder at Coach Henderson, methodically moving his bat like the ticking hand of a clock. Coach Henderson gently tossed him a ball which Shawn sent sailing into deep left field with a thwack.

Tessa watched as Shawn knocked pitch after pitch into the deep outfield, many of which went soaring over the outfield wall. She counted the number he hit in a row, trying to find something to critique about his swing.

She caught a small hiccup in his swing. Really, in his feet. She thought she saw him shuffle a little extra after he planted his feet, so she stood up to get a closer look.

Henderson chucked another ball at Shawn and he swung at it, making solid contact. Tessa watched him plant his front foot too close to his back foot, then scoot it forward as he swung. It was awkward, this extra sliding motion, and she was sure she could help him fix it.

She padded over to her dad to inform him of what she saw.

“What’s up, Coach?” Tessa’s dad asked.

Shawn was leaving the batting cage, but Tessa stopped him. “Hang on, Mendes, take like two more, please!”

Coach Henderson looked at Coach Hale, who nodded to confirm Tessa’s request.

“Watch his front foot,” Tessa said, low in her voice.

Henderson tossed another ball at Shawn, who smacked it straight down center field, but did his weird front foot shuffle, which almost caused him to be late to the ball.

Coach Hale nodded again. “I see it,” he said to his daughter. “Good spot, Tess. It’s taking some of his momentum to the ground and not to the ball.”

Tessa smiled. “Exactly.”

“Good catch,” he said again. “You tell Mendes, I’ll tell Henderson.”

“Me? Why do I need to tell him?”

Her dad just winked before walking over to Coach Henderson. Tessa rolled her eyes before walking back towards the dugout, where Shawn was putting up his bat.

“Hey, Mendes,” she called.

“Hey, Coach, whatcha got for me?” Shawn asked, turning around. He pulled his helmet off his head and ran his fingers through his dark, damp curls.

Tessa fought back the urge to kiss his stupid rosy cheeks. “Um, so, I noticed you do this weird foot thing when you hit,” she began.

“Oh shit,” he said, “what is it?”

“It’s, uh, kinda hard to explain, but it’s easier to show you. Can I see your bat?”

Shawn obliged, handing Tessa his bat. She put her notebook down to take it.

“Okay,” she started, holding the bat in its proper position. “You pick up your foot just like you’re supposed to, but then you place it too close to your back foot. It’s bad for your balance, first of all, but then you scoot it up towards the pitcher as you follow through. I’m worried you’ll hurt yourself.”

Shawn looked thoughtfully at her. “Can you take a video of me doing it next BP?” he asked. “I’m kinda confused, but I’ll do my best to work on it.”

“Oh! Yeah!” Tessa’s face felt hot. Why didn’t she think of that?

“Thanks, Coach,” Shawn said with a half smile.

Tessa giggled, making the noise that prissy high school girls did when their crush may have looked in their general direction. It was slightly better than the donkey-turkey noise from the day before, but only slightly. Why the fuck could she not act normal around him?

“Anything else, Tessa?” he asked expectantly.

Tessa wanted to ask him a million things. What kind of bird was his tattoo? Why did he have a guitar tattoo? How did he get that adorable scar on his cheek? Did he think she was weird? Would he want to get dinner with her sometime? What was his family like? What was his Zodiac sign?

The million questions she had jumbled all together in her brain, causing her to mumbled a smattering of words to Shawn.

“Um, I, uh, I, tattoo, it’s really, um, cool, dinner?”

Tessa wanted to smack herself. She’d never been like this around her dad’s players or boys in general. What was it about Shawn that made her so nervous?

Shawn raised his eyebrows and blinked. “Pardon?” he asked politely.

“Fuck,” she muttered. Then, louder, she said, “Sorry. Would you, uh, like to have, um, dinner maybe? I know you . . . um . . . eat…”

Shawn smiled. “Yeah, I do eat,” he chuckled. “I’d love to have dinner.”

“Oh, great!” Tessa said excitedly. She began to walk off, back towards her dad. She caught herself halfway out of the dugout, then turned around and went back to Shawn, shaking her head. “I forgot to tell you when and where.”

Shawn was still smiling. “What did you have in mind?”

“Oh, fuck.” Her eyes went wide. She didn’t think she’d get this far. “Um, I, uh, have a house, like with my parents, of course, I’m in college and don’t, like, have my own house, but like, um, I could c-cook something for you tonight?”

“I’d love that,” Shawn said enthusiastically. “Pick me up at 6?”

Tessa’s eyes shone. “Y-yeah! I’ll, uh, I’ll get your number from the roster.”

“Or I could just give it to you here,” he offered, referring to her iPhone that was in her hand as they spoke.

“Oh,” she squeaked. “Yeah. Uh. Yeah. That’s, uh, that works.” She bit her lip, unlocked her phone, and handed it to Shawn. Smiling, he selected the “Contacts” app and put his number in.

Tessa’s heart raced as he handed her phone back to her. “Just shoot me a text!” He said. Tessa nodded, then awkwardly waved as Shawn jogged back to practice.

She looked down at her phone in disbelief. She saw his name and number illuminated on her screen and smiled.

“Whatcha smiling at, Coach?”

Tessa’s head shot up and she hid her phone. Her dad stood next to her, grinning from ear to ear. He’d seen every bit of what had just occurred.

Tessa blushed furiously. “Got any good date meal ideas for me?”

Coach Hale chuckled. “How much time do we have?”

“I’m picking him up at six.”

Tessa’s dad nodded slowly, thinking about his options. “What does he eat?”

Tess froze. “Um, I’m not sure, Dad, probably food?”

He laughed. “No shit, Tess. We’ll go to the store on our way home, how’s that?”

“What do baseball players even eat off the diamond?” Tessa asked with wide eyes.

“Tess, I just asked you that!” Coach laughed.

“Oh, God, Dad, what did I do?” Tessa panicked.

“It’s fine, Tess, I’ve got your back, alright? What about burgers and brats? We can grill out together maybe?”

Tessa thought for a moment. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah! Perfect!”

Her dad chuckled “I’ve gotcha, Tessa, don’t worry.”

Tessa hugged her dad, squeezing him tightly. “Thanks, Dad,” she said into his chest. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Coach Hale hugged his daughter back, kissing the top of her head. “I take care of my assistant coaches, don’t you remember?”

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