Page 22 of Saving The Shortstop

She doesn’t move right away. In fact, she stands here, dazed for at least another ten seconds before finally, she blows on the lash, her eyes never leaving mine.

“Done,” she whispers.

“What’d ya wish for, Short?” I mumble, quickly stuffing my hands into my pockets.

“Can’t tell you or it won’t come true,” she says, sounding more unsure of herself than usual before she walks over to a trash can and throws away the small part of the cone that was left. “Are you ready to head back? I have to get to class, and you have to get to practice.”

The way her energy has shifted, and how she’s no longer looking me right in the eyes, tells me I fucked up. I shouldn’t have done the stupid make a wish thing, but my dumb ass couldn’t help myself, and now she’s uncomfortable.

“Yeah,” I utter with a curt nod. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

“I’ll text you later and let you know our next session,” she says, quickly pushing the passenger door open, eager to get away from me. “Great job today. Keep it up.”

I don’t even get a chance to say a word before she’s out the door and darting down the road to The Nest. I don’t bother chasing her to ask what’s wrong because that would just make things worse, and right now, it’s obvious we’re both just ignoring the elephant in the room. It helps that she really thinks I don’t remember kissing her. Because if she knew the truth, that would fuck everything up.

As I watch her in my rearview mirror before she disappears down the street, I replay the moment I fucked things up forever in my mind—just like I have countless times before.

I watched her all night as she flirted with a dude named Anthony who had made a bet with some of the guys on the basketball team that he could get her to blow him by the end of the night. I wasn’t fucking having it though. I didn’t want to make it obvious, and I didn’t want to upset her. So instead of making a scene, I just watched and made sure she never went anywhere alone with him.

When she went down the hallway toward the bathroom, I followed her. I knew I scared her when I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into a dark bedroom, but I didn’t care. I had a few drinks in me, but I was far from drunk. I would never allow myself to get too impaired to keep an eye on her.

Slamming the door behind us, I crowd her against it, glaring down at her because I’m so fucking pissed that I care so much. All night, I had girls coming over to me, and I pushed all of them away because I had to make sure she didn’t do anything dumb. Partly because I care about her, but more because I’m so fucking selfish and don’t want her mouth on another dude.

“What the hell are you doing, D?” She glares up at me, her big green eyes confused and angry.

“Saving your ass from doing something stupid,” I say through gritted teeth. Haven had a way of just trusting people. I guess it was because she didn’t grow up the way I did and didn’t know any better. But fuck, it made me mad to watch.

“Doing something stupid?” she blurts out, her mouth slamming shut for a split second. “I don’t know what the hell you’re even talking about, but I also have to tell you what I do is none of your business.” Her eyes narrow to slits, and she pumps her chest up as if trying to show me how tough she is. “What, did Noah send you? He couldn’t be here because he’s away with my dad and so he sent you to make sure I don’t have fun?” She shakes her head bitterly. “He’s my younger brother, D. He doesn’t get to have a say in what I do.”

She starts to edge past me, but I slam my palms on both sides of her, keeping her there. Everything about her pisses me off. She’s careless and naïve. She sees the good in people, even though not everyone deserves that. She danced and shook her ass all night as I was forced to stand by and watch.

I fucking hate her for it.

“Let. Me. Go.” She looks up at me with pure hatred, but when my neck cranes, and I duck my face closer to hers, her nipples harden under her tight T-shirt. I’m young—sixteen, actually. But I know with everything I am that I love this girl.

“Anthony is a fucking player,” I hiss, my chest heaving in uneven breaths. “And here you are, throwing yourself at him, offering yourself up like a piece of fucking ass.”

Her hand connects with my cheek so fast that I never saw it coming. I had seen her mad plenty of times. She had punched me as a joke, but never once had she slapped me with such fury as she does tonight. I know she thinks I’m just her brother’s best friend, telling her what to do. Inside, I’m losing my mind, watching her throw herself at a dude who only sees her as a prize.

The sting from her palm has my cheek screaming, and for a split second, she almost looks scared when my face grows redder with anger. My eyes fall to her lips, and for a moment, I fight an internal battle with myself to let her go. I’ve wanted to kiss her for as long as I can remember, but I knew this wasn’t the time or place. Especially after I’d just insulted her.

Who was I kidding? There would never be a time or a place for us. I knew that. And yet, my hand lifts from the wall, grips her face, and then my mouth is on hers before either of us has time to realize how fucking stupid it is. She may have frozen for a second, but quickly, she’s kissing me back. Her plump lips taste like heaven, and I don’t want to come up for air. I knew that when I did, I’d have to face what I had done.

Finally pulling back, I’m as fucking breathless as she is. And all it took was one look in her eye to know I had done something that I could never take back.

At least, not unless I pretend to forget it.

A loud knock on the window of my truck scares the shit out of me and pulls me out of the memory. Noah stands there, looking at me like I’m insane.

“Dude, you’ve been sitting out here for, like, five minutes. What the hell are you doing?” he says when I push my door open and climb out. “I saw Haven get out of your truck. What was that about?”

Part of me still wants to lie, but not to Noah. Not only because I trust him and I know he’d never make me feel bad, but also because I don’t want him to think something is going on between me and his sister.

“She’s tutoring me,” I mutter, less than enthusiastic. “Your old man’s idea.”

“Shit, I thought she was done with that for now since she’s so busy,” he says, walking beside me as I head toward the steps. “You’re lucky though. Everyone says she’s the best at it. I’m sure that’s why Dad suggested it.”

“I know,” I say, my voice low. “I’ll go get changed and we’ll head to practice.”