Lucky? I’d be sleeping in the same house as the girl of my dreams, yet I couldn’t touch her. Was that luck or torture?
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, loosening my death grip on the table as I did. I caught Levi eyeing me with a smirk and I glared back at him.
Why did it suddenly feel like I was surrounded by vultures? Each and every one of these guys were eyeing Callie like she was a hunk of meat.
Well, all except for Ox. But who the hell knew what was going on in that guy’s head?
I watched Callie talking animatedly to Neil about something that I couldn’t hear but probably had nothing to do with moving. Whatever it was, her eyes were lit up with laugher and her smile was dazzlingly bright.
James was right. I was beyond lucky to have this girl in my life. I was lucky to be her friend. I was lucky to have her on our team. Yet somehow it was hard to feel gratitude right now because there was another all-consuming emotion that drowned out everything else. There was no denying it, no ignoring it. The truth hit me straight in the face.
I’d gone and fallen in love with my best friend’s little sister.
Chapter Seven
Callie
The stadium seats vibrated from all the stomping and cheering going on around me as excitement rippled through the crowd.
“Let’s go, Maddie!” I shouted.
I’m not going to lie, I’d been dreading this day. Much as I put on a happy face for my friends, I’d had a knot in my stomach for days as I watched the other girls prepare for this big event.
A chance of a lifetime.
I gave my head a little shake as I let my gaze roam the crowd looking for the recruiters who were surely here and who were hopefully taking note of Maddie’s killer swing.
All of the girls here deserved to be seen. They’d worked hard this week…we all had.
I took a deep breath and shouted out another cheer for Maddie.
“Callie?” The voice beside me was so quiet I almost didn’t hear her over the crowd. I turned to find a pretty girl with long, straight brown hair blinking at me expectantly as she nibbled on her lower lip nervously.
“Kate?” I guessed. This had to be Maddie’s friend from Fairfield High. Slim and cute, she looked like she wanted to disappear as she hunched her shoulders and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket.
She nodded.
Yup, this girl definitely fit the description Maddie gave me. Shy to the extreme, but apparently quite the badass on the soccer field. I could only hope she’d do us proud on the softball field as well, but Maddie seemed positive that the girl was an all-around athlete and could hold her own in any sport.
“Who’s your friend, Callie?” Levi called from behind me.
Kate and I turned around to see the row behind us staring with interest. Noah and Ox were on the other side of me but the rest of the team had filled in the row behind and Levi was directly behind me.
“This is Kate,” I told the interested group. “Our newest teammate. Kate,” I said with a gesture toward the others. “This is the team.”
Kate gave a little wave and she was bombarded with hellos and introductions from the group behind us, ending with Levi, who was openly sizing her up. “Don’t tell me this is the great soccer phenom in our midst.”
His tone was teasing, but Kate’s cheeks turned beet red and she tucked her chin as if he’d just insulted her. He didn’t seem to notice that his particular brand of joking hadn’t gone over well. “Come on, hotshot, show us your moves,” he called out.
She looked like she wanted to disappear and I shot Levi an exasperated look.
Ox did one better. He reached out one his long arms and smacked Levi upside the head.
“Hey!” Levi winced and rubbed his head. “What was that for?”
No one answered him. Ox just leaned forward and gave Kate a short nod. “Kate,” he growled by way of greeting.
She looked up and gave a matching nod. “Ox.”
And that was that. The Fairfield High participants of our team now knew each other and Kate was accepted into our group as if she belonged there. Avery handed her the shared bucket of popcorn that we’d been passing around, and James and Doug scooted down so she’d have a seat in the middle.
Maddie scored a run after that and all eyes were once more on the field, the cheers around me deafening. The crazy thing was, most of the people sitting around me had either never even met Maddie, or if they had, they didn’t know her very well. Kate and I were her only real friends here, yet our teammates were cheering and screaming and filling this stadium with so much energy it pulsed with life.
This was one of the things I loved most about sports. Being part of a team, rooting for the same team—it brought people together in a way that I loved.
Call me a sap, I know it’s true, but I actually teared up with emotion over it. And yeah, maybe I was just a little emotional still about the fact that I was supposed to be down there pitching and now I was watching from the stands.
But mainly I was touched that Noah and his team had embraced me and my friends. Not only did I need that kind of moral support today of all days, but the fact was, they were giving me a second chance at the chance of a lifetime, and I had no idea how I could repay them.
“You okay?” Noah leaned down to speak softly in my ear and I shivered at the sound of his low voice.
Funny how one little kiss could make me so hyper-aware of him physically. Lord knows I was always aware of his hot body and that handsome face, but before it had been hypothetical. Did that make sense? Maybe not. It was kind of like knowing that the ocean was big from pictures and from looking at it from the shore. But that was nothing compared to the feeling you got when you swam out into the sea. Suddenly you had a totally new perspective on just how vast it was because now you had this whole new fear of being swept away and lost at sea.
So yeah, kissing Noah was my version of taking a swim in the ocean. Now his smiles weren’t just knee-weakening, they made my whole body respond. Now his voice wasn’t just sexy, and his drawl wasn’t just sweet—they made my chest tighten and my skin feel too sensitive.
I was almost afraid to look up at him. Which was stupid. I mean, this was my friend. This was Eric’s best friend. Sure we might have gone through a rough patch recently and maybe he hadn’t quite explained why, but it was still Noah.
Nothing had changed between us.
Except that he kissed you.
Yes. Duly noted. Thank you for the reminder yet again, my lovely one-track mind.
I pulled up my big girl pants and looked up at him. Then I immediately wished I hadn’t. His gaze was too sweet, his eyes too knowing. He looked so understanding it made me want to cry all over again.
I nodded. “I’m fine.”
He nudged my arm with his elbow in a reassuringly friendly way. “You’re not fine, but I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad you’re here too.” That came out a little too emphatic, so I quickly added. “All of you, I mean. It was so cool of the team to come out to support Maddie.”
“And you,” he said, casting a glance around at the group. “They’re here for you more than anybody, I’d imagine.”
I swallowed down that thick lump in my throat and nodded in acknowledgement. It was true, every member of the team had been absurdly sweet to me when they’d trickled in to the seats Neil, Noah, and I had saved for everyone after we’d driven my bags over to their place.
Some, like Avery, had outright told me how much it sucked that I’d been forced to sit out the game. James and Doug had given me sweet, reassuring hugs while Levi made a crack about how he’d egg the coach’s car during the game.
I was pretty sure he was joking.
Even Ox had comforted me. Sort of. He’d clapped a big meaty hand on my shoulder. I think in giant behemoth land that counted as “this sucks, dude.” Or something like that.
But it was Noah who’d stuck by my side, wrapping an arm around me in those m
oments when I really wanted to cry, and whispering words of encouragement while I smiled through it.
“None of this will matter after the coach from Fairfield University watches you play in two weeks and snatches you up for their team,” he said now. “You know that, right?”
I nodded quickly. “I do.”
And I did. He was right. I still had a shot of being seen. Thanks to him and thanks to this team.
“I know how hard this must be,” he said. “Watching from the stands is never easy.”
I nodded, trying to read his eyes. Trying to see past the brilliant blue to the thoughts that lay beneath.
If anyone knew the hardship of watching a game you want to play it was this guy, right? Up until a couple of days ago I would have said that without question.
But now?
I shook my head, trying to shake off the uneasy sensation that there was something else going on here. Something more, or something different. There was something going on with Noah, and I had no idea what it was.
I was being ridiculous. Reading into something that wasn’t there. Of course he understood how difficult it was to watch from the sidelines. No one loved baseball more than this guy. The injury had ended everything for him; I knew all this better than anyone.
The only thing was... I’d never talked to him about it. Not really. Not at all.
After the accident Eric had talked to him, but Noah had been so weird around me. I’d given him space, so sure that he didn’t want to see me because I reminded him of everything he lost.
And I still believed that to be true. But…
“Are you okay?” Noah frowned down at me.
I nodded. I was being silly. But the other night at the pizza place, when someone had asked him about his injury… About having to leave the game…
He’d been lying.
Or…maybe not lying. Lying was too harsh. But he wasn’t being totally honest; he wasn’t being open. There was something he was hiding.
How did I know?
I knew Noah.
He turned back to watch the game now and I found myself staring at his profile. I forced myself to turn my attention back to Maddie and the others. This was their day, they deserved to have all of us watching them.
Besides, the more time that had passed the more I doubted what I’d seen. It had happened so quickly, the flicker of emotions on his face so mysterious and passing so quickly. Maybe I hadn’t seen what I’d thought.
Of course he’d been upset. Who wouldn’t be? His dreams had been crushed and I was a reminder of that.
If that wasn’t the case, then why on earth would he have acted so weirdly around me? I stared at the field but my mind was on anything but softball. I was replaying every interaction he and I had since the injury.
He’d been weird; he’d been distant; he’d been a freaking jerk. And there was no other explanation for his actions.
Was there?
Neil and Noah’s backyard was filled with athletes. Most of them were from the softball clinic’s team, including Maddie and a few others as well who were headed into senior year and weren’t worried about getting in trouble for sneaking out.
The rest of the group were from our newly created tournament team, and the two groups mixed and mingled in the energetic atmosphere that came after a game like today’s.
Maddie stood beside me, with Kate on her other side. She had the sort of giddy glow that came from a successful game. She practically buzzed with excitement and it was impossible not to be happy on her behalf. “I still need to meet my new teammates,” she said, craning her neck to get a better view of James and Doug, who were chatting up some of the girls from the softball clinic.
“Wait a second,” she said, her eyes narrowing on Ox. “Did you seriously get Fitzwilliam Oxford to join this team?”
Kate laughed softly as I stared at her. “Who?”
“Ox,” Kate explained, nodding toward the oversized football player where he stood silently, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he towered over the crowd, his expression a stoic mask.
It dawned on me that of course Maddie would know Ox since they went to the same school but before I could ask her what she thought of him, she thrust her soda water into my hands, a familiar impish look making me laugh. “Maddie, what are you up to?”
But she was already off, rushing toward Ox. “Fitzwilliam Oxford!” I heard her shout as she bounded in his direction. I couldn’t hear what she said after that but his brows lowered and his lips turned down into a frown.
Anyone who wasn’t Maddie would have run away in terror, but from where I stood she seemed to be chattering away, either completely oblivious to his fierce scowl or enjoying it.
“I think she likes to get a reaction out of him,” Kate said beside me. She too had been watching our petite friend talk animatedly to the towering hulk. Kate gave me a little smile. “She considers it a challenge.”
I laughed because it made total sense. Maddie was as outgoing as they came and it hadn’t surprised me that she’d befriended someone so shy as Kate. Not only was Maddie gregarious, she was also generous and kind and sweet and a natural born caretaker. She was always taking in the “strays,” so to speak. She accepted the outcasts, was kind to the mean ones, befriended the shy ones and…I watched her chatting up Ox, the silent giant. Apparently she felt the need to socialize with the anti-social ones as well.
Kate, meanwhile, looked like she’d rather be anywhere than at a party, but our teammates had quickly realized that Kate was shy and they seemed to have made it their mission to make her comfortable. I watched as Neil and Doug flanked her on either side and included her in a conversation about the tournament schedule.
I knew the details so I only half paid attention, and besides, I was having a hard time paying attention to anything other than Noah.
It was hard to keep my eyes off of him, which wasn’t terribly surprising. I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that he was attractive. Every girl here was sneaking a peek at the tall, lean guy with his mysteriously intense eyes and his slow, charming grin.
I’d seen more than one girl from my team grow flustered in the face of that smile, and each and every time I wanted to rip the girl’s hair out, as if it were her fault that Noah was a flirt.
This was exactly why I’d never harbored a crush on my brother’s best friend. This was why I had always known that he was only ever going to be my friend. Because if you weren’t his friend, you were a passing fancy, and I’d always known that wouldn’t be enough for me.
His friends he was loyal to, but girls? He might not have been a cheater but he was a serial monogamist at the best of times and a casual player flitting from girl to girl at his worst.
Either way, neither option worked for me. I always knew the only way to be in Noah’s life for the long term was to be his friend. But he’d changed all the rules when he’d inexplicably turned on me, and then again when he’d kissed me.
It was like he’d made it his mission this past year to mess with my head, and I was sick of it. He might have apologized—for his bad behavior and the kiss—but he still owed me an explanation for why he’d acted the way he had, and we needed to talk about that kiss. For real. Because much as we’d said it was a mistake, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and that pissed me off.
I didn’t want to have a crush on my friend. It would only mess everything up between us. And if he’d never kissed me, I would never have known how good it felt to be kissed. If he’d never been such a jerk in the first place I never would have doubted our friendship and wondered if it wasn’t the kind of safe, easy relationship I’d thought it was.
This was all his fault. He’d messed with my focus, which meant he was messing with my game. Wasn’t this the exact reason I never dated? Wasn’t this why I didn’t kiss random boys?
“You look like you’re going to hurt someone.” Maddie sidled up next to me and snatched back her soda. “Are you all right?”
I nodded. �
��Fine, just…” I glanced back over at Noah, anger and determination finally clearing my head of all the sticky, tangled emotions that had been shadowing everything this week. “Will you excuse me? I need to clear the air.”
“You go, girl,” she called after me, her voice light and teasing, making me smile as I walked away, even though my belly was a riot of butterflies.
Which, again, was stupid. There was nothing to be nervous about. This was just Noah. Noah, who was talking to one of the girls from the softball clinic, making her blush and giggle as he fixed those intense eyes on her.
I hated her. I barely knew the girl but I hated her.
I stopped beside them and drew in a deep breath. My initial anger had faded fast, replaced by jealousy, plain and simple. But this was exactly why I needed to clear the air with Noah. I needed to redefine our friendship because I didn’t want to be jealous. I wanted everything to go back to normal.
An arm looped around my neck brought me back to my senses. Maddie, God love her, had joined me and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “You looked like you might need backup.”
I sighed and let myself lean against her for a moment. “Thanks.”
She took the remaining few steps with me so we were joining Noah and Bridget—Bridget, that was the giggling girl’s name. Though her giggling had faded and her pretty features had drawn together, sympathy written all over her.
“That’s so sad,” she said, her voice syrupy sweet.
“What’s so sad?” Maddie asked. Ever the brazen one, Maddie just went ahead and asked, as though we hadn’t been eavesdropping on a private conversation.
I hadn’t needed to ask. I already knew. There was only one topic that would come up in this crowd that would make this girl so sympathetic. I mean, it wasn’t like Noah would have mentioned his parent’s divorce over sodas and hot dogs, now would he?
He turned to maneuver something on the grill and Bridget filled Maddie in on Noah’s injury, and on the fact that he’d lost his chance at playing college baseball.
The Perfect Catch (Kissing the Enemy Book 1) Page 9