Eric’s nostrils flared as he clenched his fists at his side. “Since that best friend decided to make a move on my kid sister.”
I heard Noah’s sigh beside us but he didn’t try to defend himself. “I wanted to tell you, Eric. I didn’t want you to think—”
Eric whipped around to face him, and now I was the one being ignored. “What?” Eric snapped. “You didn’t want me to think…what?” He stalked toward Noah, his face flushing red with anger. “I told you to stay away from her. I told you I didn’t want you to ask her out. And now…now she’s shacking up with you?”
I gasped so loudly that both guys acknowledged my existence again. Eric had only just turned to face me when I reached his side and shoved him as hard as I could. “How dare you?” I spat at him. “How dare you make it sound like we’re doing something wrong here?” I almost launched into a defense of Noah, explaining to Eric that we’d agreed to take it slow and that he was still on the couch, but I stopped myself in time.
It wasn’t his business. That was the whole point.
“You told him to stay away from me?” Even I could hear the hurt in my voice, but I couldn’t help it. The pieces were clicking into place and I was hurt.
Eric’s anger seemed to fade along with his aggressive stance. “Callie, I was only trying to protect you.”
“From what?” I snapped. “A guy who likes me? Were you trying to protect me from being loved by the kindest, strongest, most supportive guy I know?”
Eric’s eyes widened and I couldn’t bring myself to look at Noah. Not now.
“Callie,” Eric’s voice sounded plaintive. So at odds with his normal assertive, confident self. “He’s a player.”
I drew in a deep breath, hating the silence that followed that statement. Hating that Noah wasn’t even trying to defend himself. “Maybe he was,” I said with a shrug. After all, I’d been there. I’d seen the way he went through girls, hooking up with someone new every week. But he’d changed, and I seemed to be the only one who saw that.
“Maybe he was a player,” I said. “Just like I was a kid you needed to protect.” I arched my brows. “Notice how I’m using the past tense there, big bro?”
He pressed his lips together in annoyance, his brows drawing down.
“I don’t need you to protect me anymore, and if you can’t see that Noah changed since you both left for college than you are even more blind than I thought.”
I finally snuck a glance in Noah’s direction and the warmth in his eyes nearly melted me to the bone. If I didn’t pull it together I might do something stupid like swoon or something.
I forced myself to focus on the fact that he’d gone to Eric first, that he’d let whatever Eric had said convince him to steer clear of me. To push me away.
That did it. Swoon-threat officially over. I frowned at Noah and then turned my glare to Eric. “You two are friends. Got it?”
Noah nodded, and then Eric. They both looked grudging and I was reminded of the stubborn little boys they once were. The ones who hadn’t spoken for a week after the great treehouse ownership debacle in fifth grade.
I sighed, dropping my arms and lowering my voice so I wasn’t shouting at them. “I don’t want to be what stands between you but I’m also not going to let my brother dictate who I date.”
Eric didn’t agree but he didn’t argue either.
I jabbed a finger in Noah’s direction. “And from here on out, if you go to anyone but me about our relationship, you are in the doghouse. Got it?”
Noah’s lips were twitching with amusement but he kept his expression grim as he gave a short nod. “Yes, ma’am,” he murmured.
Eric made a sputtering noise and Noah and I both spun to face him in disbelief. Was he…was he laughing?
And apparently it was contagious because suddenly Noah dropped his head into his hands and let out a muffled snort.
“Unbelievable,” I muttered. I turned toward the house, only half feigning irritation at being laughed at.
“It’s just…” Eric wheezed behind me as he doubled over laughing. “I’ve never seen you yell before.”
I sighed as I headed toward the house. They might’ve been laughing at me, but at least they were laughing. Together.
As a longtime moderator for those two, I knew very well that was half the battle.
Chapter Twelve
Noah
Eric was a stubborn fool, but I loved the guy.
Plus, how could I fault him for wanting to protect Callie? I wanted nothing more than to keep her safe and for a while there I’d believed he was right that keeping her away from me was the way to do that.
Hell, maybe it was. Maybe we’d both end up heartbroken in the long run. But for now…for now, I needed her and she seemed to want to be with me.
So when we were alone, I told Eric the truth. “I will do everything in my power to make her happy.”
Eric looked at me, sighed wearily, and then turned around, giving me his back. I sort of thought maybe that was my answer right there. Was I forgiven? No. Definitely not.
Disappointment rattled through me. I mean, if I could go back and do things differently, would I? Yeah, maybe. But I wouldn’t take back the fact that I was with Callie now.
I wouldn’t change that for anything. Not even Eric’s friendship.
“Look, man, I never meant to hurt you. And I don’t want to hurt Callie.” I love her. I couldn’t say those words to Eric, even though they were true. Callie deserved to hear them first and they weren’t the kind of words to throw out just to win an argument. “I know you might not believe that—”
“I believe it,” Eric said, turning around slowly to face me. Some of his anger had faded and he looked resigned. “I never thought you’d intentionally hurt her, Noah. I know you care about her.”
I nodded. That was putting it mildly, but sure.
Eric shrugged. “But whether you’ve meant to or not, you’ve hurt people in the past. You might not have seen the heartbroken girls you walked away from but I was the nice friend whose shoulder they cried on.”
I stared at him dumbfounded. “Who cried on your shoulder?”
Eric let out a little huff of amusement, or maybe it was disbelief. “Almost all of them, dude.”
“But…” I ran a hand through my hair. “I was always honest with those girls. They knew I wasn’t looking for a commitment. I was focused on baseball and—”
“And I think a good portion of them took that to be a challenge,” Eric said. He was talking slowly like I was mentally deficient.
Maybe I wasn’t mentally slow, but it was rapidly becoming clear that perhaps I hadn’t been the most astute person ever when it came to emotions.
Thank God I hadn’t developed a crush on Callie back in high school. That was all I could think at the moment because guilt slashed through me over the girls I’d unwittingly hurt. I’d never meant to hurt anyone but…that meant next to nothing at a time like this.
“So yeah,” Eric said slowly. “Maybe I overreacted a bit when you told me you had feelings for Callie, but I didn’t want her to be hurt, whether it was intentional or not.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I get that. But—” I was about to launch into another impassioned speech about how I would do anything for her. How I’d never felt this way about anyone before and I knew deep down in my gut that I would never feel this way again.
But Eric stopped me. “Maybe Callie was right.”
I felt my lips twitching up into a grin that matched his rueful smile. “Which part?”
Eric rolled his eyes. “Maybe you’ve changed this year.” It was a grudging admission at best. “Maybe.”
I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “How about I prove it to you?”
Eric arched his brows. “And how are you going to do that?”
I took a deep breath. “Give me a chance to make your sister happy. If I hurt her in any way…you have my permission to beat the crap out of me.”
Eric shook his head but h
e let out a rueful laugh. “It’s a deal. But to be fair, I would have beat the crap out of you with or without your permission.”
We both turned to walk toward the house. “And I would have dated your sister with or without your permission.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Eric said drily, but I was happy to hear that the anger had gone from his tone. We weren’t exactly back to normal yet, but we were on our way.
“Should we go tell Cal that we kissed and made up?” I teased.
Eric let out another huff of amusement. “We’d better or she might come out here and tear us a new one again.”
We both started laughing all over again at that. You’ve got to know…I think I’ve seen Callie truly angry once, maybe twice before, and both of those incidents involved her Barbies.
We may or may not have beheaded them for the sake of a Halloween prank.
I admit nothing.
Anyway, seeing her lose it like that was pretty epic. And watching her stick up for me?
Well, let’s just say I would never forget that feeling—the feeling that the greatest girl I knew expected the best of me. And I would do everything in my power to live up to her expectations.
“You’d better apologize,” Eric said, amusement tingeing his voice. “Or you’ll end up in the doghouse.”
We both cracked up over that. I mean, doghouse? Who said that in this day and age? Only Callie. I gave his shoulder a shove, making him stumble on the way to the front door. “And you’d better apologize too,” I said. “I’m not going to have my star pitcher be unfocused because her overbearing brother made her upset.”
We had nothing to fear. Callie was on fire during the first game of the tournament. And the second, and the third.
The girl was incredible.
Eric whistled beside me as we watched her strike out the third hitter for the other team.
“Think they’ll take notice?” He sounded nervous and I couldn’t blame him.
I was terrified.
I was pretty sure Eric and I had taken on all of Callie’s anxiety because she was calm and in control out there on the mound. She looked like she belonged there.
“They’d be blind if they don’t,” I said. Still, I snuck a peek behind us, hoping to catch sight of the recruiter or the coach for Fairfield in the stands. I don’t really know what I was hoping to see, it wasn’t like they would be flashing a big thumbs up if they wanted to recruit her. And besides, I didn’t even know what the recruiter looked like.
But still, I looked. Judging by Callie’s current Zen-ness and my current state of frantic, it was rapidly becoming clear that I was the neurotic one here.
Luckily my team made it all look effortless. Maybe Callie had a point. They’d worked out their kinks during practice the day before and today they were playing like they’d always been a team. Kate had made some serious progress with her hitting and even James managed to run a few bases even though he was the slowest of the team.
Callie ran toward the dugout alongside her teammates and it was with the utmost restraint that I kept from pulling her into my arms and kissing her right there in front of the family and friends who’d come out to show support, not to mention the coach and recruiter.
“How am I doing, coach?” she asked, her eyes lit with excitement. She knew she was knocking it out of the park. She was in the zone and everyone with eyes could see it.
“You’re making me proud out there, Cooper,” I said.
She gave me a saucy little wink before punching my shoulder like we were just the best of buds.
“Callie, you’re up,” Maddie called.
Callie ran over to get ready to hit and Eric leaned over. “I might not love you two together but I’m glad she’s happy.”
I grinned like an idiot as I watched Callie get into position, totally in her element. She snuck one glance in our direction and I gave her the same wink she’d given me as Eric shouted out her name.
She was happy. And so was I. Who would have thought I could be this happy six months ago when everything had changed? But now…well now it had all changed again. And for the better. I might not have the game, but I had the girl. And as for direction?
Well, maybe Callie was right. Maybe I kind of had a knack for this whole coaching thing. And I’ve got to admit, when they won the final game of the tournament two days later, the adrenaline rush was just as strong as if I’d been the one scoring the last run and sliding into home plate. The rush was better than any I’d felt when I was one player on a team. Now I was the coach and felt pride in every single member of this team. I’d watched them grow. I’d helped them improve, and I’d help them overcome obstacles and enhance their best assets.
And it felt freakin’ amazing.
We all went out for pizza at Cazmo’s to celebrate the final win, cementing our status as the best in the charity event, and quite possibly the world—but you know, maybe that’s just me being biased. Callie glowed with excitement as she leaned over, nudging my shoulder with hers. “Great game, coach.”
I slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer so she was practically on my lap. We didn’t have to worry about Eric’s groans, he’d left for home already since I’d offered to give Callie a ride the next day after she celebrated with the team.
She leaned over to kiss my cheeks and I grinned. We didn’t have to worry about being teased by the rest of the team because our secret was out and it was already old news.
The biggest gossips on our team, James and Doug, now had bets going on who was going to hook up next, and their suggestions were ridiculous. I mean outgoing, bubbly Maddie and the silent beast Ox? Or even crazier—shy, sweet Kate and that smug jerk, Levi?
Doubtful. Highly doubtful.
But then again, if you’d told me two years ago that I’d go and fall in love with my best friend’s little sister, I would have thought you’d lost your mind. But here I was, madly in love and not caring who knew it.
Although, there was one person who really ought to know, and there was no reason to wait any longer. “Am I still giving you a ride home tomorrow?”
Callie nodded and her smile slipped just the tiniest bit as she sighed. “I wish I didn’t have to leave.”
I gave her a soft kiss. “Me too, Cal. Me too.”
“But I’ll see you on weekends, right?” she asked.
I grinned as I leaned down so our foreheads were touching, our noses brushing and her lips so temptingly close I almost forgot what we were talking about.
Right—us. The future. The great mystery of it all. All we knew so far was that the Fairfield coach and the recruiter had been impressed. They both wanted to talk but no offers had been made yet. And me? Well, I was starting to get an idea of what I wanted to do next, but I had a lot of research to do when school started up.
But that didn’t mean we couldn’t be together as we figured it all out. “I’ll be home every weekend I can get away,” I promised.
She smiled. “And I’ll be here every weekend that you can’t.”
I sealed the deal with a kiss. “There’s one more thing,” I said.
I’d said it so seriously that her smile fell and her eyes widened. “What is it?”
I leaned forward to whisper straight into her ear. This team really was the worst group of gossips. “I love you, Callie Cooper.”
Her sigh whispered over my cheek as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled back just far enough to meet my gaze. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “I love you too, Noah.”
“Aww,” Neil cooed loudly from his seat opposite us. “The lovebirds made it official.”
The team burst into applause which had Callie blushing and trying to duck her head. But audience or no audience, I tilted her chin up so I could kiss my girl.
This might have been our last game together, but this was only the beginning.
Epilogue
Callie
The Fairfield University softball field’s stands were filled with a loud, chee
ring audience.
“Let’s go, Callie!”
I grinned as I kicked at the dirt on the mound, mentally preparing for the next pitch. There was the voice I’d been hoping to hear. I knew he would be here. Noah always came to my games, but he’d had to sprint over from practice. As the new assistant coach for Fairfield High’s baseball team he had duties other than being my number one fan.
Although he said frequently and loudly that being my cheerleader was still his favorite gig.
My grin widened as I heard his familiar voice shouting encouragement.
He was an awfully good cheerleader, on the field and off. I wasn’t sure how I would have made it through freshman year without him.
I mean, I would have, but I didn’t like to think about it.
I’m not going to give him credit for the fact that I struck out the next batter after I’d heard him cheer. I’d been having an awesome game before he showed up, but his presence definitely helped. It always helped.
After the game he was waiting for me with a Powerade and a rose, a weird tradition that had started the first time he’d surprised me at an away game last year when I was still playing for my high school.
When I came out of the locker room now I heard one of my teammates sigh at the sight of him. He wore that easy smile and his eyes were wrinkled up with pride and happiness on my behalf.
No one could call him Coach Grim right now.
Well, Levi probably would but as he lived to annoy Noah, it was to be expected.
“Hey, babe,” he said, his arms coming around me to hold me tight. His lips were right next to my ear as he whispered, “Great game.”
“Thanks.” I pulled back slightly. “How’d your practice go?”
His lips quirked up in a super cute rueful smile. “That freshman kid I was telling you about finally got a hit today so that’s something.”
I matched his grin. He was being modest. For Noah, that was everything. After his stint coaching our charity team, Noah had come to realize that he had a gift. Not just for coaching but for working with people. Teaching them. He loved nothing more than helping kids like this freshman find their confidence and hone their skills.
The Perfect Catch (Kissing the Enemy Book 1) Page 15