The Perfect Catch (Kissing the Enemy Book 1)

by Maggie Dallen

  “Excuse me?”

  Avery grinned over at me. “You wouldn’t want her to catch you drooling, now would you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I let out a huff of exasperation because of course I knew what she was talking about. I just hated the fact that it was so obvious…

  To everyone but Callie.

  “If you’ve got a thing for our star pitcher, why don’t you just ask her out?”

  I almost denied it, but then what was the point? Clearly I’d been doing a terrible job of hiding my emotions. In my defense, I’d held out hope that by working together like this, being on the same team, we might find our way back to our old friendship.

  It wasn’t like me to be so optimistic, but I’d had no other choice than to hope.

  “Does everyone know?” I asked.

  “Only everyone with eyes.” She nudged me gently with her elbow. “Look, coach, if you like her, do something about it. While it was amusing for a while, the team’s starting to get tired of the old will-they-won’t-they routine.”

  Her voice had been teasing and I let out a snort of amusement.

  “I wouldn’t put it past one of them to say something to her about it if you don’t,” she added.

  I groaned because I wouldn’t put it past them either. Every single person on that team now thought of Callie as a friend. One they’d look out for, even if that meant clueing her in to the fact that her coach was secretly crushing on her.

  On the upside, this was just another sign of how well the team had come together this past week. Thanks in large part to Callie and her friend Maddie, the team had bonded in a big way. They talked before and after practice, and they had inside jokes…

  Apparently some that were at my and Callie’s expense.

  I’d thought I was doing a pretty good job of hiding my discomfort around Callie. But the problem was, the tension between us was no longer coming solely from me. Ever since our talk this past weekend she’d been acting weird.

  During practice it was all fine and good, I was her coach and she was my star pitcher. We still worked together seamlessly, like we always had. It was only once practice let out that the tension between us reared its ugly head.

  I dealt with it by making sure I was never alone with her, which may or may not have been a coward’s way out. But it was the only way I could ensure that I wouldn’t do something stupid… Again.

  It hadn’t taken long for me to realize that she was doing the same thing. She was keeping her distance from me. It cut like a knife every time I saw her keeping me at arm’s length. I know, I know—that made me the ultimate hypocrite. I could keep my distance, but she wasn’t allowed to claim her space?

  It wasn’t like she was mean to me. And honestly, I might not have even known that she was avoiding me if we hadn’t been living together. But there was no missing the fact that she left the room whenever I entered or found a reason to be out with Maddie when I was off work.

  The only time we saw one another was during practice and the occasional meal, but even then it was only when Neil was there as a buffer.

  And now Avery was standing there waiting for some sort of explanation. But what could I say? Whatever was going on between me and Callie, it was complicated. And awkward beyond belief.

  “It’s not like that between us,” I said, but I couldn’t bring myself to meet Avery’s eyes. I never had been much of a liar. “We’re just...friends.”

  She arched a brow in disbelief and I realized that even the term ‘friends’ sounded oddly optimistic right now. The way we’d been acting with one another was not at all like friends. I cleared my throat and tried again. “We’re just teammates.”

  Avery let out a bark of laughter before patting my arm. “Yeah, okay. Whatever you say.”

  I started to protest again but she interrupted. “You two might talk about how you’re just friends, but if you really believe that, the only one you’re fooling is yourself.” She shook her head and slung her bag over her shoulder. “The way you look at her…” Avery shook her head with a little laugh. “The way she looks at you…”

  I didn’t want to listen to this. I didn’t want to be intrigued. But despite all that I found myself blurting out the question. “The way she looks at me?”

  If there was any doubt in Avery’s mind before, I’d just confirmed it now. Avery grinned. “Trust me. Callie might be a little more subtle with her longing looks, but between the two of you there are enough sparks shooting back and forth to start a forest fire.”

  My mouth fell open but I had no idea what to say to that. My heart was thumping loudly to a weird salsa beat at the thought that Avery might be right. Was Callie longing for me the same way that I was jonesing for her?

  I flashed back on the way her gaze had been locked on my lips. On the tension between us when we were alone in my bedroom, on the way she’d kissed me back.

  If she felt it too, this pull, this connection…

  What? What would I do? Nothing. The answer was nothing.

  I took a deep breath and swallowed down the hope that flickered to life inside me. I tried to breathe through the burning need that pounded in my veins. It wouldn’t change anything, it wouldn’t make a difference. She would always be Eric’s little sister, and I would never be good enough for Callie Cooper.

  As if she could read my mind, Avery sighed. “Take it from an expert, coach. Whatever this is between you and Callie? It’s not a one-sided infatuation.” Her smile fell and the look in her eyes grew unbelievably sad. “You’re one of the lucky ones. Your best friend loves you back. Don’t let that go to waste.”

  I watched her walk away toward Neil, who was waiting to give her a ride. Then I watched as Neil—charming, outgoing, completely blind Neil threw a casual arm around her shoulders and led her toward his parked car, bumping hips with her to knock her off balance.

  My roommate was so blind to what was going on right in front of his face.

  Callie’s laugh had me turning to face her. She and Maddie were laughing at something Levi said as Ox glowered beside them. Kate hovered nearby, tucking her hair behind her ear with a nervous smile at whatever our sulky soccer-playing outfielder had just said.

  But it was Callie who felt my gaze. She was the only one to look over as if she could feel my eyes on them.

  On her.

  She’d already been smiling when she looked in my direction but her grin turned slightly rueful, almost like she was acknowledging the awkwardness between us.

  And maybe it was time we did just that.

  I couldn’t seem to look away, and she didn’t either. I was entranced, and I wished more than anything that I could read what was going on in her mind. Could Avery be right?

  And even if she was…did it matter? Would it change anything?

  I swear to God Eric was psychic. How else would he know that was the exact moment to call me. Seeing his name on my phone was the reminder I needed of the promise I’d made to stay away from Callie.

  I answered on the second ring—guilt making me turn away from her as though Eric might know I was leering at his sister.

  “Hey man,” I said. It had been ages since we’d talked. Neither of us were big phone talkers, but we hadn’t even exchanged texts in too long. Probably months. There was no denying whose fault that was.

  I’d messed up everything by admitting that I had feelings for his sister.

  “Hey.” His tone sounded guarded. “I talked to Callie the other day.”

  So…we were getting right to the heart of the matter then. I held back a sigh. “Dude, it’s not what you think.”

  He was quiet. “And what is it that I think?”

  I rubbed at my eyes, distantly aware of the sounds of car doors slamming, of my team calling out their goodbyes as they went their respective ways.

  “I’m not going to hurt her.”

  “I know that,” Eric said with a sigh. “Look, man, I never thought you would intentionally hurt my little
sister. I know you care about Callie.”

  I stared down at the dirt. I couldn’t believe we were even having this conversation again. But then, how had I expected Eric to react when he found out Callie was staying with me for two weeks with no supervision other than Neil?

  “I promised you before,” I said. “I’ll keep my distance.”

  Eric’s silence lasted so long, I started to think he wasn’t going to respond at all. When he did, he cleared his throat loudly. “I’m, uh—I’m sorry for the way that conversation went down. I know I was harsh, but you kind of took me by surprise, you know?”

  I swallowed and kicked at a rock in the dirt. I was sorry for the way that conversation went too, but that didn’t mean he’d been wrong. “I get it,” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. “Your sister deserves better than someone like me.”

  We both knew what that meant. Someone who couldn’t commit. Someone whose idea of a long-term relationship was hooking up with a girl once or twice before moving on to someone else.

  Starting over at college I’d gotten used to being surrounded by new people—people who didn’t know all about me and my past. They didn’t know that I’d loudly and frequently sworn off long-term relationships after my parents’ miserable divorce. They didn’t know that I’d prided myself on being able to charm any girl into hooking up with me but had rules in place that made sure we never got too close.

  Eric used to laugh about my “term limits,” as he called them, when it came to hooking up. It’d been a funny joke when we were talking about any other girl but his sister. But he was definitely not laughing when he threw my terrible romantic past in my face as he spelled out why, exactly, I would never be good enough for Callie.

  And he’d been right.

  “I was too harsh, and I know it,” Eric said again. “It’s just…she’s my sister, man.”

  “I know,” I said. I struggled to say something more eloquent, but all I could muster was another, “I know.”

  “You’re my best friend, and I know you’ve got a good heart in there somewhere.” Eric’s voice had a hint of his normal amusement as he said that, and I grinned down at the ground.

  “Somewhere way deep down,” I added, grinning despite myself as we fell back into normal joking territory.

  “Exactly.” He sighed heavily into the phone. “Maybe one day you’ll change, I don’t know. But I just…” He cleared his throat. “I just don’t want to see Callie get hurt. You know as well as I do how innocent she is, how sweet and trusting.”

  I took a deep breath. He was right. I knew he was right. But… “What if I have changed?”

  Eric was quiet. “Have you?” he asked.

  I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I thought so. I hoped so. I’d like to think I could be the kind of guy Callie deserved. But was I willing to bet Callie’s happiness on that?

  It was Callie’s voice I heard in my head, as clear and distinct as though she were standing right beside me. I think you changed. How could you not…?

  Maybe she was right. Maybe I had. But was I willing to risk our friendship on that?

  More importantly, did we even have a friendship left to ruin?

  God, I hoped so.

  “Just…” Eric sighed. “Just don’t hurt her.”

  “I won’t,” I said. It was another promise. Another vow. To him as well as to myself. I had no idea how I would handle things with Callie. I had no clue what would come of this electric tension between us that seemed to grow with each passing second we were in one another’s orbit.

  But I did know that I meant what I said.

  I would do anything to keep from hurting Callie.

  Chapter Nine

  Callie

  It was my idea to have pizza delivered to Neil and Noah’s for the entire team after practice. Yet, here I sat all alone on the couch because I was too distracted by thoughts of what I would say to Noah when I got him alone. Oh, I didn’t want to talk-talk. We’d had enough frustrating one-sided conversations to last me a lifetime. I was tired of trying to get him to open up to me, and I didn’t know what I’d hoped he’d say if he did.

  No, I needed to talk to him, but this time I just had to tell him I was planning on moving out. I was officially done trying to get him to open up to me and I was so over tip-toeing around this place trying to steer clear of another awkward encounter.

  So I’d talked to Maddie and she kindly offered up her house again, and this time I took her up on it. I just had to tell Noah that I was moving out. And I’d planned to do that tonight.

  Instead, I’d ordered pizza. Was it because I was oh-so generous? Not really. More like, I was a coward. I had been ever since that last talk when I’d been overcome with the need to kiss him.

  Yes, need. That had been no casual curiosity at work, it had seemed like a necessity. That feeling hadn’t gone away, no matter how much I tried to avoid temptation by ensuring we were never alone.

  It didn’t matter. No matter where we were or even if I was alone, there was a little part of me that was begging to kiss him.

  I needed oxygen, I needed food, I needed water…and now I needed Noah’s kisses. It was that simple.

  But he didn’t see me like that, and it was rapidly becoming clear that I could either encourage this weird, unwanted infatuation, or I could move past it. I didn’t know how but I had to try. Why? Because even more than I wanted him to kiss me again, I wanted his friendship back.

  I missed him. I missed him like crazy, which was crazy because he was right here. I was around him constantly but I’d never felt further away.

  Like right now. I knew he was on the other side of the room, talking to Neil and Avery about the first game coming up. I couldn’t seem to stop tracking him, like one kiss and suddenly I’d developed Noah radar.

  “Not hungry?” Levi plopped down onto the seat beside me, his plate overflowing with greasy pizza.

  I shook my head, my gaze never wavering from Noah. When I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders I shot Levi a questioning look.

  He just grinned, shifting closer so his thigh touched mine.

  “What are you doing?” I wasn’t nervous. I mean, this was Levi. I liked the guy, but there was nothing serious about him. He wore a perma-smirk and was pretty much always being sarcastic or teasing people in some way.

  Judging by the way his eyes danced with amusement at some inside joke, I’d have to guess this was one of those times.

  “Just saying hello to my favorite pitcher,” he said before taking another bite.

  He somehow managed to smirk while eating, which was mildly impressive, actually.

  I wriggled a bit to my left to try and break free from his awkward embrace. “There’s a whole couch here, Levi, why are you trying to sit in my lap?”

  He let out a choked laugh as he chewed, but finally he answered. “Because I love annoying the crap out of Coach Grim over there.”

  My neck swiveled so quickly I got whiplash, but sure enough, Noah was watching us with narrowed eyes. That just made me try to wriggle free even more. I shrugged off his arm. “Cut it out.”

  Levi grinned at me, totally unapologetic. “Relax, Cooper. I’m not seriously hitting on you.”

  Oddly enough, I did relax a bit at that. I mean, I knew he wasn’t seriously coming on to me, but the normal way he was talking put me at ease. This was Levi, my new buddy and a surprisingly decent hitter. “Okay, so then what’s with this?” I shrugged once more to emphasize the heavy weight of his arm.

  His smirk grew. “Coach Grim—”

  “Stop calling him that,” I said. Yeah, I might’ve been a little annoyed with Noah and his mysterious ways lately but he was still our coach. More than that, he was doing an awesome job of coaching, and that deserved some respect.

  “He’s so serious,” Levi complained.

  He wasn’t. But only his close friends knew that.

  And every girl he’d ever hit on.

  Once he laid on the flirtation and charm,
no girl ever complained about how serious he was.

  “He’s just intense about the game,” I said to Levi. “He’s always been like that. Hyper-focused. It’s what made him such an amazing player.”

  Levi’s brows hitched up a bit. “And why he’s killing it as a coach, I’d imagine.”

  The fact that he was agreeing with me made me relax that much more.

  Levi’s smile turned less smirky and more genuine. “Look, I respect the hell out of the guy as an athlete—it’s not easy getting on a college team.”

  That was an understatement, but I kept my mouth shut.

  “And I’m seriously in awe of the way he’s kicked this ragtag team into shape.” Levi leaned forward a bit so his face was uncomfortably close to mine. “But it’s still hilarious to make him jealous.”

  The words made me jerk back. “He doesn’t get—” I started, but Levi was already nodding.

  “He does.” Levi laughed. “Ask any of the guys on the team. Most of them are afraid to look in your direction at the risk of incurring his wrath.”

  He grinned at my shock and I clamped my mouth shut.

  “Seriously, that guy could win any staring contest. And if looks could kill…” Levi shrugged, the arm that was around my shoulders tugged on me and I jerked toward him slightly. “Let’s just say every guy on this team would be dead twenty times over.”

  I could barely breathe I was so stunned by his words. I mean, yes, he’d been acting oddly lately. But…was he acting jealous?

  Levi was so close it probably looked like we were having an intimate conversation, but his gaze wasn’t focused on me as he seemed to think over what he’d said. “Except maybe for Ox. I’m not really sure he’s human and he doesn’t seem to notice that pretty girls exist, let alone that they’re on our team. He’d probably be spared the wrath of Coach Grim.”

  “Stop calling him that,” I said again automatically. My voice held no heat, though, because I was too busy trying to process what he’d said. Everything in me wanted to look over at Noah and see if Levi was right.

  But then logic reared its ugly head and disappointment squashed that burgeoning hope that maybe, just maybe, Noah was jealous because he liked me.