Rounding Third

by Michelle Lynn

  “The people above us flooded our apartment. The landlord wants us out for two weeks to fix the plumbing,” she says to the curtains. “Jen thought it would be a good idea to move in here. For obvious reasons. You know that her vagina and Saucey’s dick can’t seem to be apart from one another.”

  I chuckle, and she turns around, her hands behind her back that is pressed to the wall.

  “Crosby, we can’t.” She shakes her head, figuring there’s no way this situation will work.

  “You take my bed. I’ll take the couch.”

  “I can’t let you.”

  “You can.” I nod, but her shoulders slump.

  “Thank you,” she says.

  And those two words are enough for me.

  “No problem.”

  “I don’t understand. She only cares about herself. You’d think she’d have used her Dean’s List brain.” She puts her finger to her cheek. “Oh, that would leave Ella with Crosby and all their drama. That’s probably not a good idea.” Her hand falls. “No. All she cares about is, Ella and Crosby should fuck, so it’s okay. We’ll force them together.”

  I chuckle again, watching her in her classic fully animated self. This is the Ella I fell in love with.

  “Well, if you want to fuck me, you know I’m open to the idea.”

  She shakes her head, but the smile emerging speaks volumes. Remembrance of my hands up her shirt the other night surfaces, and I shift slightly to taper down my arousal.

  “It won’t be out of the way to take you home after our date,” I say.

  Her eyes cast down to her clothes. Her stiff back says there’s more to her trip than she’s telling me, but I’m not going to pry—mostly because I don’t want what’s in that town to affect us here. All there is for me in Beltline are a bunch of torches waiting to ignite me.

  From the bathroom door, Brax runs into the room with only a Speedo on, and Ella gasps.

  “What’s up, kiddos? We’re going down to the quarry.” He nods his head toward the door.

  I look at Ella.

  “Have fun,” she says, continuing to refold all her clothes.

  “Oh, Cinderella, come on. As the prince of Ridgemont, I demand your presence. Plus, your ugly stepsisters were kicked out of the house this morning,” Brax says.

  I laugh where Ella doesn’t.

  “I’ll stick around here.”

  Brax stretches his arms up in the air. “Boring. Come on. You can even invite that mermaid sister of yours, Ariel.”

  “Go cover yourself up,” I say.

  Instead, he does a circular grind with his hips, and Ella puts her finger in her throat, pretending to throw up.

  “Come on,” he whines. “Like old times. Oliver has grabbed every last raft in this town, and two have your names on them.” He uses two fingers to point at us.

  I nod for him to leave the room with the hopes that I can convince her more on my own.

  He takes the hint.

  “Five minutes, downstairs, in Crosby’s truck.”

  My hands fly up from the fact that he volunteered me to drive.

  Once he’s out of the room, I change seats to the edge of the bed, closing in on her.

  “You need the stress relief,” I say.

  She shakes her head. “Don’t bait me.”

  “How about, you’re too chicken to jump off a cliff?”

  “Yep, I am. You’re not going to win this one.”

  “What if I kidnap you for the day?”

  “I’d like to see you try.” She continues to fold each piece of clothing Jen obviously threw carelessly into her suitcase.

  She’s too busy to see me come behind her and scoop her up into my arms. Her fists sting my skin, but I swing her over my shoulder, digging in her suitcase for a swimsuit. Thankfully, Jen is flighty and thought she’d actually need one because I get lucky when I search a pouch and pull out a nice purple bikini.

  “This is wrong!” she screams.

  “You need to have a little bit of fun,” I say to her. I dodge her kicking feet to make sure they don’t hit my goods.

  “I have fun.”

  I let her slide down the length of my body, my hands gliding over her legs and hips until her feet land on the ground.

  “No, you don’t.” I shake my head. “Please.” I go with the puppy-dog act.

  Her body relaxes. “Fine. For one hour.” She holds up her finger in front of my face. “Now, get out, so I can change.”

  “Okay. One hour,” I lie. Once I get her out of this house, we won’t be coming back for a while. “I’m calling Spence.”

  I grab my swimsuit and leave the room to wait for her to join us downstairs.

  Twenty minutes later, her thigh is pressed against mine in the cab of my truck. We pull up to the dorm, and Spencer and Ariel hop in the truck bed.

  Ella hits Jen in the shoulder next to her. “You go in the bed. My sister can’t.”

  I’ve never witnessed her being this bossy. Jen must have pissed her off with this move into the baseball house.

  “I don’t want my hair to get all messy,” Jen complains, touching her neatly secured bun.

  “What does it matter if it’s the wind or Saucey’s hand?” Ella asks.

  Jen draws back, taking offense.

  “Listen, my truck, my rules. Ariel needs to be up front.” I lean forward so Jen sees me.

  Jen huffs. “You’re only doing that because you want to get in her pants.”

  I shrug. I could argue, but in a roundabout way, it’s the truth. Not to mention, it’s my damn truck.

  She opens the door and goes around back, and when Ariel refuses to come into the cab, Ella gets up onto her knees, sticks her face through the window, and demands she does it. My eyes eat up her short shorts, leaving my imagination going wild with thoughts of my hands on that ass. Unable to behave myself, I slap it.

  “Ouch!” she screeches. She whips around her arm, smacking me in the shoulder.

  “Sorry.” I hold up my hands in defense.

  “Why did you do that?” she asks.

  “Old times’ sake,” I say.

  She rolls her eyes, watching Ariel come to the front.

  Ariel climbs in with a clear scowl directed at her sister. “This is lame.” She turns to Ella. “Why do you have to act like my mother? Hasn’t anyone told you to relax and have fun?”

  She used to be fun before the accident.

  “I can’t have anything happen to you. What would Mom say?”

  “She’d say that I’m eighteen, and I make my own decisions.”

  “Right. If you had heard them last night. They were ready to lock you in a closet,” Ella says.

  Ariel’s lips droop.

  “I’m sorry,” she says, cowering down to her sister.

  Ella grabs ahold of her leg and squeezes. “Don’t be.”

  Their code of a conversation confuses me, but it’s obviously a sister moment.

  Ariel wraps her arm over Ella’s shoulders, pulling her to herself. Ella rests her head on her shoulder, and Ariel kisses the top of Ella’s head before murmuring something in her ear. Trying to pay attention to the road and eavesdrop on the conversation occurring literally right next to me, I chastise myself for being distracted while driving.

  If Ella didn’t look miserable, I could focus, but I swear, I was put on this earth to ensure her happiness, meaning every time she’s down, I need to pick her mood back up. I failed at that once, and I won’t again.

  A few minutes later, I’m pulling into the quarry area, parking behind a few trees so as not to be seen. Although it’s a popular spot, technically, there’s no trespassing. Everyone in the back climbs out, and Spencer is soon at the passenger door to retrieve Ariel.

  “May I have her now?” Spencer holds his hand out.

  “Nope, she’s mine today,” Ella says, holding her sister to her chest.

  The two pretend to have a tug-of-war with her, but Spencer wins. Ella pretends to pout but fails miserably.
/>   With Spencer’s arm tucking Ariel close to his body, the two of them follow the guys to the quarry, leaving me and Ella.

  “Hey, can we talk later?” she asks.

  There’s a hesitation in her voice that I don’t like.

  “Sure. You can talk to me anytime.”

  She nods, and a small smile crosses her lips. When I go to grab her hand, she sidesteps me, placing her towel in that hand.

  “I was only going to secure you while climbing over the rocks. I wasn’t insinuating anything.”

  “Oh, I know. It’s just…you know.”

  Honestly, I don’t, but I keep my mouth shut.

  We clear the dense trees, and our vision opens up into a quarry with refreshing water. Brax throws his inflatable ring over the edge right before following it, screaming the entire way down. A big splash echoes against the rocks, and Oliver, Saucey, and a few girls follow his path.

  “Come on, Keaton. I’ll catch you,” I say, preparing myself to jump.

  “Ariel and I are taking the stairs.” She swings her arm through the opening of her sister’s arm without Ariel’s consent.

  Ariel shoots Spencer with a pair of eyes that say, Sorry, but she’s my older sister, and the two descend the slippery concrete steps.

  “Should we follow?” Spencer asks.

  “Nah. Anal Ella will make sure they’re careful. Come on, little brother. Who will hit the water first?”

  I walk up to the edge of the rock, but Spencer places his hand in the air.

  “Hold up. I need to talk to you.” He looks behind him and turns back to me.

  I stop my feet, walking the distance back to him.

  He’s apprehensive.

  “What’s up?”

  He inches closer. Lowering his voice, he says, “Ella went home yesterday.” His eyes pierce into mine, as though I should know more.

  “Yeah, she mentioned it.”

  “Did she say anything else?”

  “No. Why?”

  He glances back again. I’m guessing he’s making sure that the girls have indeed gone down the path.

  “Ella talked to Ariel. X announced in front of everyone in the store that you were back at Ridgemont. Took her mom by surprise.” He fiddles with the string on his swimsuit, not able to meet my eyes.

  “Yeah?” At this point, I need more information to go on. I’ve never seen Spencer act this way toward me, almost afraid of my reaction.

  “I’m not sure of everything that happened, but Ella made a deal with her parents.” His voice trails off.

  “Spence?” My impatience grows.

  He looks me square in the eyes, sorrow weighing down his face.

  “Ella said if they didn’t give Ariel crap for dating me…”

  “What?” My voice echoes off the rocks.

  “She’d promise to stay away from you.” His eyes immediately cast back down to his feet.

  Pure rage warms my veins. A million questions drown me. How could she toss me aside? She said she’d give us thought.

  The kiss didn’t seem forced or uncomfortable—quite the opposite actually. Her nails left scratch marks on my shoulders.

  The question arises again. How could she make this promise?

  “You know she did it for Ariel. It’s not that she wants to stay away from you,” Spencer says, sticking up for her. “She said she did it because Ariel had been invisible to her parents for the last two years. All of their attention was focused on Ella after the accident, and the town wasn’t the same. She did it because Ariel is happy now, and she wants it to stay that way.”

  “Well, I’d like for Ella to be happy, and she would be if she were with me. What am I supposed to do now?” My voice rises the more I’m talking.

  Spencer places his hand on my shoulder, hoping to quiet me down.

  Voices are floating up from the water below. Brax is egging me on to jump.

  “Lynch, don’t pussy out,” he says.

  “I don’t have answers for you, but I didn’t know if she was going to tell you or not. Wanted you to know.”

  My hands tighten in my hair, and I contemplate my next move. She fucking checkmated me without the game officially starting.

  Then, all those girls below us come to mind. In their skimpy bikinis, they’re wet and eager to claim a baseball player.

  “All right.” I bring my hands down from my hair, and my body relaxes. “I’m good. She doesn’t want me, so let’s see who does.”

  I go back to the starting point to jump off the cliff.

  Spencer screams, “Don’t do it!”

  But his voice is only background noise when I sink into the cool water, popping back up right next to Kendra, the redhead who blatantly sat in my lap last night, asking me to show her my room. Score.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ella

  Crosby falls into the water, and instead of coming over to make sure Ariel and I don’t fall on our asses, he hops onto the float with Kendra.

  “What’s with that?” Ariel asks, disgust clear in her tone.

  “What?” I ask, as though my heart hasn’t fractured.

  Since Crosby returned, he hasn’t shown interest in any other girls.

  “Don’t act like you don’t see it, El. I really wish you hadn’t made this deal. I can handle Mom and Dad.” Ariel fights my decision like she did earlier when I told her to go ahead and take Spencer home for the parents to meet him.

  “Ariel, you’ve sacrificed a lot because of me. If I can give you this happiness without any of the pain, it’s worth it.”

  “It’s worth your own heart never feeling whole? El, I know you love him.” We sit on the rock, and we dangle our feet into the water, watching all the college kids be carefree, Crosby included.

  “We were young. Who’s to say we’d even make it? Our story is like a tragic love tale. Take Romeo and Juliet. Who’s to say, getting married and having a load of kids wouldn’t have driven the infamous love couple apart?”

  “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

  I don’t, but I’m not telling her that.

  “Fairy tales are fiction, Ariel, no matter what Mom says.”

  “She named us after princesses for a reason.”

  “She named us after princesses because, in her mind, we are, not because we’re destined to have our own fairy tales.”

  I kick the water with my feet, my eyes sneaking peeks at Crosby pretending he’s going to dunk Kendra. Her squeals of laughter and her claws on his shoulders are aggravating me. Those are the same shoulders I marked two nights ago.

  “You and Crosby are a fairy tale.”

  “No, we’re a nightmare,” I murmur.

  Her wet hand lands on my thigh. “Oh, El.”

  I hate that soft tone she gives me when we talk about anything associated with the accident.

  “Hey, this is probably the last nice day, so go enjoy yourself. Your boyfriend keeps eyeing me, and he’s starting to look like a creeper.” I point to Spencer, who is floating alone in a raft.

  “I love you, El.” She hugs me long and hard and tight.

  I swear, her hugs could crack a rib.

  “I love you, too. Now, go.”

  I gently nudge her to move, and she finally dips into the water, swimming toward Spencer.

  He immediately falls into the water himself, holding the raft in one hand. They kiss, and he hoists her up. He leans in, his fingers lazily grazing her stomach, as they laugh and talk about who-knows-what. Envy weighs in my heart.

  After seeing a blissful couple, my eyes veer to Crosby, who is now in a raft with Kendra spinning him around in circles. Her cackle of a laugh grates on my nerves, and I tip my chin to the sun, pretending I don’t notice or care. If only she’d choke on a rock.

  Bringing my legs out of the water, I wrap my arms around them, pulling them into my chest. I’m strong, and I’ve been without him for two years. Surely, I can continue for the rest of my life—or for as long as Spencer and Ariel date. If their undyin
g affection with one another is a sign, they won’t be ending anytime soon.

  Kendra’s squeal echoes in our close proximity. She’s louder than even Brax, and if I have to hear, “Oh, Crosby, you’re so strong,” one more damn time, I’ll be hitchhiking back to campus.

  The Tiger’s pitcher, Derek King, floats over with a gentle smile on his face. He’s cute, and he asked me out our freshman year. The year I swore off baseball players. After that, we’d wave or say hello, but we never actually stopped to talk.

  “Hey.” His forearms flex as he grips the rock to keep himself from floating away.

  My heart doesn’t flip.

  “Hi,” I say.

  I bring my legs back down and dip my feet into the water. It’s not to cool me down even though Derek is one of the most sought-after players on the team. He has a small fan section at games with a group of girls who refer to themselves as King’s Queens. Those dark eyes and sparkling teeth don’t pull one zing from my body.

  “What are you doing over here?”

  I catch two girls he was talking to moments ago glaring my way.

  “I think they miss you.” I nod my head.

  He looks over his shoulder. “Time away makes the heart grow fonder.” He holds his arms out. “Come join me.”

  I shouldn’t, but…my eyes look to Crosby, and he doesn’t even glance in my direction. Kendra’s pulling him around the corner from the main area. I’ve never been in what’s called Make-Out Cave because God forbid Liam’s “body ever touched water that wasn’t reeking with chlorine”—his words, not mine.

  “Okay,” I say.

  Derek allows his body to fall through the hole of the float, and he pops up from the water a minute later, his hand out for me to take.

  I situate my ass in the middle of the raft, and he grabs another unoccupied raft that was probably abandoned by another sex-crazed couple like Kendra and Crosby.

  A finger taps my forehead. “What’s in your head?” Derek’s leg is swung over mine to enable us to stay linked together as we float on top of the water while the sun soaks into our skin.

  “Sorry.” I smile. “Nothing.”

  “It wouldn’t be our third baseman, would it?”

  We share a look where we both know exactly what I was thinking about, and it was indeed the new third baseman.