Page 23 of Saving The Shortstop

“Yeah, hurry the hell up. You wasted too much time sitting out in your truck like a weirdo, and now we’ll have to rush.”

“Yes, boss,” I grumble before heading upstairs to my room.

I feel guilty even looking him in the face right now. While he was making sure I got my head out of my ass in time to get ready for practice, I was thinking about his sister.

Maybe I need to spend time with another girl. That way, when Haven is around me, I won’t be so on edge.

Yeah, that could work.

Maybe.

Who the fuck am I kidding? That’s a shit idea. But I might just try it anyway.

HAVEN

Even though I darted out of Dallas’s truck as quickly as my freaking body would allow, once I got out of his sight and in front of The Nest, I realized I wasn’t ready to go inside yet. I have one of those faces—the kind that can’t hide shit from anyone because it’s so obvious what I’m thinking, even when I try not to let it show.

Sometimes, it gets me in trouble.

Harley, Isla, and Gigi are all home. And when I notice a white car out front, I know Lilly is here too, and she has a weird way of making people talk about their feelings, which isn’t something I care to do right now. Lilly is a new friend and a track star. She’s only a freshman, but for reasons I’m unsure of, she gets to live in the athletic house instead of the dorms. So long story short, I’m not going in and facing all of them. Instead of that, I’m choosing to clean out my car, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past five to ten minutes in hopes I can stop thinking about Dallas’s stupid fingertips brushing my face when he got that eyelash.

Even just thinking about it has my heart skipping a beat.

I love spending time with him. He’s familiar and comforting in some odd way. Yet, when he’s around, my brain turns to literal mush. I go from being the strong, badass woman who is a leader on the field to a girl who can’t speak because he’s telling me to make a wish on a stupid eyelash.

I look at my car, realizing it’s no cleaner than when I first started. My brain is going a million miles an hour and I hate it.

They say you don’t ever get over your first love. Is that still the case if they obviously don’t love you back?

God, I hope not.

“I like your hair like that,” a deep voice drawls behind me, and I flinch so hard I almost smash my head off the roof of my car before I step back and turn to face him.

My stomach churns when I see Tabor standing five feet away, and I can’t help but wonder how long he’s been watching me.

“What are you doing here?” I say, keeping as far away from him as possible by pushing my back to my car.

His head cocks to the side slightly, and he flinches with agitation. “What? I can’t even come see you now?”’ He takes a step closer, and my heart pounds. “Too busy with Dallas these days?”

I know that I’m being dramatic. I was hooking up with the guy for weeks—I’d know if he was … dangerous. But there’s just something in his eyes. Something I noticed when we met at the coffee shop. It doesn’t seem quite right to me, but I can’t explain it.

I don’t owe him any explanation, and truthfully, the longer I’m here, the more creeped out I am. My eyes dart to the porch, and quickly, I walk between him and my car to make it to the bottom step.

“You’re really going to just walk away?” he barks out, his voice too close for comfort, and by the time I make it to the top step, he’s grabbing my hand to stop me.

“Just talk to me, damnit!” he yells out, and when I try to pull my hand away, he tightens his grip.

“Let go of me!” I scream, the blood pumping through my veins turning to ice when he only pulls harder, forcing me to turn to face him. I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to.

I’m a rugged girl. I’m strong—I have to be to play as hard as I do on the field. But Tabor is a defensive player on one of the country’s best college football teams.

He’s stronger. Even though I hate admitting it.

The sound of the front door swinging open hits my ears, and before I know it, Isla, Harley, and Gigi are rushing to both sides of me, making him quickly drop his hand from mine.

“Get out of here!” Harley roars. “I just saw her pulling her hand away and you didn’t let go!”

Gigi puts her arm around me, directing me toward the house, but Isla isn’t done yet.