“Who do you think he’s here for?” our goalie asked.
“Whoever it is, if she changes her mind, I’ll take her spot if she wants to tag me in,” another joked around. I turned, and my steps faltered.
Right there, like some kind of scene out of an 80s movie, stood Jeremy Fletcher wearing a gray U of D Baseball hoodie, leaning against his truck, one leg casually tossed over the other.
“What is he here for—“ Bethany, our goalie, started to ask, her eyes on me. I shot her a playful look.
“Shut up,” I muttered and started to walk towards him, ignoring the catcalls and oohs and aahs from my obnoxious and suddenly reenergized teammates.
“Mi cielo.” He reached and took my bag before his free hand drew me closer to him by the waist.
“Tere,” I corrected, resting my hand on his chest while I tried not to give away just how much his impromptu meetup affected me.
“Teresa,” he said in Spanish, rolling the ‘r’ perfectly. Yeah, I had a feeling my guy, I mean the big guy, spoke fluent Spanish somehow.
“What are you doing here?” I ignored the team of butterflies that started to flap their wings low in my belly.
“Had to let your team see you with your man,” his deep voice rumbled before he leaned forward, kissing the crown of my head then pulling back to look at me with a smile on his face and two very pronounced dimples on either side of his handsome face.
“Your man?” Bethany and Krystal, one of our defenders, both repeated loudly. My eyes shut for a second. I turned to see them standing right behind me.
“Hey!” My voice squeaked. “What’s up?” I asked as if I had guys waiting for me on the regular.
“You and the star baseball catcher?!” Krystall asked. Her eyes bounced between Jeremy and me.
“Hey, ladies, good game,” He complimented. “I watched it online. You blocked some great shots.”
“Thanks,” Beth said. Both girls were clearly charmed by his blue eyes and easy smile. I knew just how easy that was.
“Okay! Right, well, we gotta go,” I blurted, ready to get the girls away from Jeremy.Wait a second, am I jealous?Of them fawning over him or him complimenting them on how well they’d done? Either way, I didn’t like it.I’m not that girl. Ever!
“I don’t blame you.” Krystal’s lips twitched. “But you have a lot of explaining to do at practice tomorrow.” She winked, and I groaned.
“Whatever.” I shook my head and found myself reaching for the big guy’s hand. “Come on, Fletch, time to go home.”
“Ohmygod!” Krystal exclaimed, pure joy oozing out of her, “You call him Fletch!?”
“How cute are you two!” Beth added, waving goodbye with excitement as they headed to their cars in the lot.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I hissed under my breath. My eyes widened when my back hit the truck and his body pinned mine against the cold metal. The heat of his body shielded me like a blanket as I stared up into blue eyes.
“I missed you.” His hand caressed my cheek. “I watched your game.”
“You did?” I asked, slightly breathless. Not sure if I was asking about the game or missing me. “Why?”
“Because you’re mine.” I opened then shut my mouth.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about how he claimed me. Not just in front of the girls but straight to my face in the most honest tone known to man. This felt more than blackmail and bullying. This almost felt… real. And somehow, even though he’d already started to chip away at the cold steel walls I’d built around my heart after my high school boyfriend and I broke up, he took out a huge chunk right then and there.
“Saw how you were favoring your right leg. Something happen to your left ankle?” Concern laced every word.
“How did you—“ I couldn’t get another word out because he leaned forward and picked me up
“Jeremy!” I squealed and heard more aahs from the girls still hanging around watching us. He opened the passenger door and slid me in, leaning over to put my seatbelt on for me. “I could have done that.”
“True. But with me, you don’t have to.” He grinned and leaned close. So close I could see every detail of his beautiful blue eyes and the multitude of different azure shades that made his gaze as captivating as it was. The freckles that dusted the bridge of his nose and his dimples made an appearance.
“Did you ice it?” he asked. I nodded, afraid to answer out loud because I had a feeling it would give away how I was feeling, which I wasn’t sure I was ready to face. “Good. Trainers say to do anything else?”
