Rounding Third

by Michelle Lynn

  My stomach bubbles with hope from her words. I knew I always like Ariel. Even when she was the persistent little sister that never left El and I alone.

  She backs away, and instead of going to her sister’s side, she cozies up to Spencer.

  His eyes finally focus on me. “We’re dating,” he divulges.

  I shoot him an accepting smile. “That’s great,” I say.

  Ella twists around, still not pleased with the new revelation. “I need to talk to you, Ariel. Now.” She turns on her heels and stomps down the hallway.

  Ariel glances to Spencer, me, and back to Spencer.

  “Go,” he urges her. “I’ll catch up.”

  She gives him a big hug and kisses his cheek. “Love you,” she whispers.

  And those words throw me back. My gut twists at the thought that this is something more than puppy love. The question of whether the Keaton’s will even let Ariel date my little brother is now overpowering my happiness for him. What if they don’t accept him?

  I was all on board with this being simple and innocent. But love? That’s a new level.

  “Come in.” Spencer waves me into his room, finding a T-shirt to put over his head.

  “Love?” I question, shutting the door. That word is serious. Heartbreakingly serious.

  “Yeah, I love her.”

  His lips smile wide, and I’m not sure anything could smack it off his face.

  “How long have you known her?” I sit on his desk chair, not wanting to take my chances on the couch.

  “We’ve been together since our senior year in high school.”

  “How? We lived in Colorado,” I ask a question that I can’t imagine he has an answer to.

  “We kept in touch after we left Beltline. Texts, emails. Last year, we decided to give us a chance. We Skyped.” He shrugs, tossing his shirt over his head.

  “You guys planned to come to Ridgemont together?” I can’t stop the hurt in my tone. He knows there wasn’t a day when Ella didn’t cross my mind. Hell, a minute. A sense of betrayal washes over me.

  “At first, all we did was discuss you and Ella, how you were doing, but then we decided we couldn’t discuss you two, so you were both a moot subject. So, I didn’t know much until we arrived, and she told me that Ella was dating someone else. I’m sorry.” He sits down on his couch, putting on his socks. “If I’d known, I would have told you.”

  “Don’t sweat it.” I toss off his apology because Spencer deserves the opportunity to live his own life and not worry about mine.

  Ella and her boyfriend are my problem. My only concern with him dating Ariel is if she’ll break his heart. The fact that I’m not sure if her family will accept him scares me, but that’s between them and him. So, I dismiss that dilemma to re-visit the familiar one.

  “Listen, I have something to talk to you about.”

  “You aren’t going to lecture me about Ariel?” he questions, slipping on his shoes.

  “No. It’s your life. Live it how you want.”

  “Man, thanks. I was waiting for a lecture.”

  “I’m pretty sure Ella will lecture Ariel enough for both me and her. But back to what I have to talk to you about.”

  If he doesn’t want me to do the interview for the newspaper, I might not be a Ridgemont student for much longer. I won’t put my brother in the situation of being a part of the rumor mill. I won’t allow people to whisper behind his back. Not here, not ever.

  “What’s up?”

  “There’s a newspaper article.”

  His lips dip down, and he sits up a little straighter, granting me his full attention.

  Chapter Six

  Ella

  I drag Ariel by her hand out of the residence hall, like how our mom used to when we misbehaved at a store.

  When we reach a corner that grants us privacy, I stop, swiveling her around to face me. “What are you doing with Spencer Lynch?”

  A smile plays on her lips, as though she’s remembering his hands venturing over her body.

  Ugh.

  “I love him,” she declares with a raised chin.

  Panic chills my bones. “You can’t.”

  She draws back, the smile from moments ago disappearing, replaced with a frown similar to when she found out Santa Claus wasn’t real.

  “Why not? Because you love Crosby? Well, you aren’t even with him. You’re with Liam,” she sasses back, reminding me of how I reacted to my parents when they demanded Crosby and I break up.

  A revelation dawns on me. I’m turning into a mother figure with Ariel, and we’ve always had a sister bond. An internal debate resides inside my head—she needs protecting versus she’s in love. The remembrance of when I knew I loved Crosby surfaces, and the fight within me from moments ago diminishes.

  “You really love him?” I question.

  She nods, nibbling on her lip. “I do.” She’s barely able to keep her lips straight, the edges teasing into a smile.

  “For how long?” I ask, wiggling my ass to get comfortable on the ledge of the cement wall.

  She cozies up to me, linking her arm through mine and placing her head on my shoulder. “Oh, El, he’s great. We stayed in contact after the Lynch’s moved to Colorado, and over the years, I’ve fallen in love with him. He treats me like the princess Mom wanted us to be. And, oh my gosh, in bed—”

  I place my hand up in the air, stopping her. “I don’t need or want those details.”

  She squeezes my arm in her hold. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  If I wanted to be truthful with my sister, I’d say I was jealous because the love I hold for his brother is just as strong as it was two years ago. That, if he’s anything like the Lynch brother I know, she had no option other than to fall in love with him. They are easy to love, easy to fall deeply and madly in love with.

  “You’re okay with us?” Her voice is lower and more hesitant than it was moments ago.

  “Yeah. I mean, you’re an adult. You can do what you want.”

  “And I want Spencer. Over and over—”

  “Ariel,” I sigh.

  I want Crosby over and over.

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. Thanks for being cool about it,” she says.

  I nod, hiding my jealousy that she’s gotten what she wants without all the drama. Taking my arm out of hers, I swing it over her shoulders and pull her toward me.

  “Yeah, you must have caught me on a good day.” I kiss the top of her head.

  The relationship between my sister and me has grown a lot over the years. My senior year of high school, I couldn’t stand her. She’d steal my clothes, and we’d fight over the bathroom, but she was the one who was there for me after the accident. She was the one who’d console me after I woke up in a cold sweat. Hell, she slept with me until I went to college.

  “Tell me about Crosby,” she says, sitting back up and straddling the cement wall to face me.

  I shrug. “The school paper wants to do an article about him. They want me and Brax to do interviews, too. How he overcame the tragedy.”

  Her face pales. “Has he? Overcome it?”

  She asks the question I’ve questioned while lying awake for the last three nights.

  “No. I don’t see much difference from how he was two years ago, but he’s agreed to do the article if Spencer and you agree. That’s progress.”

  She nods. “Why do you want our approval?”

  I shouldn’t have expected any less than her worrying about me.

  “Because it will affect both of you if people know our relationship.”

  “I don’t care about that. If it helps Crosby, you have my agreement to whatever. But what about you, El. Can you handle trudging all this up?”

  “For him, I will.”

  As soon as the newspaper called me, I made the decision to talk only if Crosby needed me to, and from the conversation in the weight room, he does.

  “You still love him?” she asks.

  I pick at a weed that has
forced its way through the crack of the cement. To me, the weed resembles the love between Crosby and me. The weed might have been buried by the weight of the cement, but it continued until it reached the sun.

  “I have Liam,” I counter.

  She laughs. “Oh, sis. You know you guys getting together is inevitable, right?”

  Do I? Yeah, but we can’t move on if one or both of us doesn’t let go. I suppose, but there’s still the question if we can find ourselves without healing from the past.

  “Yeah,” I mumble. If Crosby continues to pursue me, I’ll fold, happily. “He needs to sort out his issues first because I won’t allow my heart to break again. We have to go all the way the second time around. Otherwise, I’m not sure I’ll survive.”

  She wraps her arms around my shoulders, almost making me lose my balance, but she grips me harder to stop my body from teeter-tottering.

  “You’re so level headed. Do you know that? I mean, if it were me and he were Spencer, I’d have already screwed him. But you? You place that arm out and stop him in his tracks.”

  If she only knew how hard that was, how many times I’d wavered on that line…

  I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult. There has been more than one time when I wished I could be carefree, like my sister, but that Ella who took risks and thought later, died in the car.

  “Are you okay with the newspaper article? I mean, I don’t know if people will even read it or put together the fact that you’re my sister, but I wanted to talk to you about it.”

  She nods. “I’m fine with it, especially if you think it will help Crosby.”

  I push myself off the ledge of the wall, my feet landing on the sidewalk with a thump. “Thanks, sis.”

  Her feet fall to the ground. “You’re welcome. I’m nice like that,” she jokes.

  Then, we start our way back to her building.

  We enter Musselman Hall, and Spencer and Crosby are in the commons area. Spencer is on the couch with an ice pack over his eyes. A table of girls in the corner are whispering, with their lust filled eyes fixed on the boys.

  One breaks away from the pack and starts her way toward Crosby, her eyes focused on the back of his head.

  Ariel runs toward Spencer, straddling him. He leans his head back and groans in pain.

  “What happened?” she asks.

  “I hit him,” Crosby deadpans.

  Ariel’s eyes light up like an inferno.

  Crosby’s eyes lock with mine, and my heart leaps.

  “You what? Why?” I ask.

  The freshman girl’s hand touches his arm. He sidesteps, his head jolting to the side to see who’s touching him. He’s quick to remove her hand and lets it drop to her side.

  “Hi,” she coos.

  I widen my eyes waiting to see how he’ll deal with this situation. It’s payback for making me handle Caden all on my own.

  “Hi,” he returns the greeting, stepping back more.

  “I’m Viv.” She places her hand on his forearm again, and he removes it, again.

  “Get off, Viv. He belongs to my sister!” Ariel screams, glaring at the redheaded girl.

  Viv glances to me and then to Crosby. “True?”

  He shrugs. “You’ll have to ask her.” He raises those eyebrows in question, testing me.

  “Not true. Go ahead, Viv. He’s all yours.”

  His lips dip down, and he shakes his head, but there’s amusement laced in his face.

  Then, he looks to Viv. “Sorry, I might not belong to her, but she belongs to me. She just hasn’t accepted it yet. I’ll wait though.”

  “Impatiently,” Spencer adds.

  Ariel laughs, her hand caressing his cheek, before she kisses him.

  “My brother’s got me on that one. I’m not very patient when I’m waiting for something I’m craving. You know, like a caramel sundae with a cherry on top.”

  He winks to me, and my heart jolts, demanding to be released and placed safely in his hands.

  The redhead glances back to me and nods. “Lucky girl.”

  She slithers back the way she came, and I break the distance and head over to him.

  “She said you’re lucky,” he repeats.

  I roll my eyes. “Whatever. Why did you hit him?” I change the subject.

  “In your honor.”

  “What?” Ariel’s hand reaches for the ice pack.

  “You looked devastated, and I had to do something for you.”

  “So, you hit your own brother?”

  “Yep.” He leans in close. “For you,” he whispers.

  “I got that part.”

  Ariel takes off the ice pack, and my one eye winces as I wait to see his puffy red eye lined with blue. Nothing. His matching caramel eyes are still intact, glowing with that same devilish glint as his brother’s.

  I smack Crosby’s rock-hard stomach. “You jerk.”

  The two of them rumble with laughter, and Spencer pulls Ariel into his body before quickly getting her on her back.

  Crosby’s laugh is short-lived when he spots his brother’s hand venturing to a place we’d rather not witness.

  “Let’s go.” He nods his head toward the door.

  “Please,” I say. I turn around when their lips never part.

  “See you two around,” Crosby says.

  Neither one of them answers—unless a moan constitutes as a response.

  We walk out of Musselman Hall and into the dark of night. A cool breeze rushes goose bumps up my arms, and I instinctively wrap my arms around my middle for warmth.

  “Here.” Crosby shrugs out of his sweatshirt and hands it to me.

  The act conjures up an image of his high school jacket. How it hung in my closet more than his. Oh how I yearn for the easiness of our lives then.

  “Thanks.” I slide my arms in and zip up the front, instantly warming me.

  Continuing down the lit path, we venture toward his truck in the parking lot. Our conversation slows, but there’s a sense of comfort in the silence. He’s a gentleman, as always, opening my door and shutting it, and then he climbs into his own side.

  “Who would have thought?” he asks after we’ve pulled out onto the street that serves as the main artery in and out of campus.

  “Yeah.” I stop before I say that they remind me of us. “They’re cute together.”

  “Yeah.” His voice is shallow.

  I wish I could slide up to him and say, Not as cute as us.

  My stomach twists. We’ll never be that couple again.

  My hand stretches over the console, and I link my fingers with his on the steering wheel. He accepts my offer, eyeing me from the corner of his vision.

  “What are you doing?” he asks.

  “I don’t know. Seeing them made me miss something.”

  “Us?” His body stiffens, and his fingers go limp as he waits for my answer.

  “Yeah.”

  He silences and doesn’t ask any more questions.

  I wish things with Liam were like how they were with Crosby. Maybe then I wouldn’t be this unsatisfied in our relationship and ache for Crosby the way I do.

  A few minutes later, Crosby parks his truck in front of my apartment complex. Jen’s light is glowing through her curtains, and I glance at the clock. It’s Thursday night at ten o’clock, so she’s probably glamorizing herself up for the bars. A second later, my neighbors walk out of their apartment, sauntering down the cement path in their short skirts and skimpy shirts. Neither is in a relationship, and they’re currently not looking for more than a night. Usually, Jen accompanies them on nights I don’t go.

  As they pass, they glance over and wave. Approaching the truck is Gretchen, the taller and slimmer blonde of the two—although you can barely tell the difference between a size two and size four. I slide my hand from Crosby’s. He huffs, bringing it to the steering wheel where he tightens his grip until his knuckles turn white.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just—”

  “It’s fin
e,” he murmurs.

  He shows no hint of understanding that Gretchen doesn’t know who he is. All she knows is that I have a boyfriend.

  I roll down the window. “Hey, Gretchen,” I greet her.

  Lily follows her over.

  “Are you going out tonight?” Gretchen’s question is directed toward me, but her eyes are devouring Crosby like she’s a hawk and he’s the roadkill splattered across the road.

  “I don’t think so,” I answer.

  But she doesn’t catch my answer. Her mouth hangs open as her eyes admire Crosby.

  “I’m sorry. What? Who’s your friend?” She shakes her head, making her blonde strands wave back and forth.

  “Gretchen and Lily, this is Crosby. Crosby, these are my neighbors.” I do my due diligence and introduce them secretly hoping they don’t proposition him to go out with them tonight.

  “Hey.” Gretchen’s voice is laced with seduction.

  I’d never been one of those girls who could have a guy drooling at my foot with one word and a little twirl of my hair. Gretchen and Lily constantly brag about how they never pay for a drink, whereas I stash a twenty in my pocket.

  “What’s up?” Crosby tosses his head, and then his eyes study the dashboard while his fingernail digs into the stitching of the steering wheel.

  “Where’s Liam?” Lily interrupts the silence.

  Anyone can figure out why she’s asking. An exasperated, long sigh leaves Crosby’s throat.

  “I’m not sure,” I answer truthfully. Last I knew, he messaged me at lunch to say he’d be at the lab for a few hours.

  “But you guys are still together?” Lily pries.

  Is this some interrogation she learned from her criminal justice classes?

  “Yeah,” I murmur.

  Another sigh rumbles out of Crosby.

  “Well, if you and Crosby want to come out, we’ll be at Mind-Numbing.” Gretchen flashes her winning smile to Crosby. “Nice to meet you.” She tilts her head and gives him a soft smile.

  “Yeah, you too,” Crosby says.

  From the controls on his side, he rolls up the window before they’ve truly stepped away.

  “I’d better go up,” I say.

  “What’s up with the Barbie twins? Are they your friends?”