Page 30 of Baseball and Shifters

Rachel exhales slowly as she pushes up to her feet, shaking out her arms.

I hop up next to her and give her a slow, knowing smile. “You ready, Firefly?”

“Always,” Rachel says, adjusting her gloves.

Professor Rains claps again. “Rules are simple: Bas, your goal is to make contact. Rachel, yours is to dodge. No shifting, no powers, just pure reflexes. Let’s see how long you can last.”

Rachel barely has time to set her stance before I take a step forward, hands loose and unthreatening. I crowd into her space just a little before stepping back and setting my stance.

“I’ll be nice,” I tease. “Give you a three-second head start.”

Rachel doesn’t need it.

The second I shift my weight, she moves, slipping just out of reach as I swipe for her shoulder. My fingers brush the air where she had been a heartbeat ago.

I can’t help but huff out a laugh. “Alright, okay.”

I try again, faster this time. Once again, my Firefly ducks away at the last moment, twisting out of my reach.

For the third time, I think I have her only at the last second she drops into a low roll and pops up behind me.

The class chuckles at my failure, but I’m undeterred.

“You know, I was supposed to be the one helping you improve, not the other way around,” I call out to her.

She replies with a sexy smirk. “Guess I’m just a natural.”

“Or maybe you just don’t like being caught.”

She falters, just slightly, at the quiet truth in my words. And in that fraction of a second, I see my chance. I move fast. But Rachel is faster, ducking just in time to avoid my outstretched fingers. Instead, I catch the end of her ponytail but let it slip through my fingers as she spins away from me.

Professor Rains lets out a loud, delighted squeal. “Oh, I LOVE this! Keep going!”

I sigh, shaking my head, but take my position again and meet Rachel’s gaze from across the mat. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

“You’re predictable, you know that?” She volleys with a sassy shrug.

She’s so damn sexy when she’s sassy.

My grin only widens. “No, Firefly, I’m persistent.”

She wiggles her gloved fingers at me, a silent challenge. “And I’m still winning.”

“Alright, St. James. You win this round. But next time? You’re mine,” I say with a sigh.

Professor Rains claps her hands and does a little excited jump before calling the next pair up to spar. I stand next to Rachel against the wall as we wait for the end of class. The moment Professor Rains dismisses us, Rachel doesn’t wait. She’s already booking it to the door without a backward glance. Of course, I follow her. She’s not getting away that easily. I catch up to her in the hall and corner her.

“What are you so scared of, Firefly?”

“You. Tigers don’t share. I heard your fight with Lucas.”

“That was before I knew what you were. I didn’t think sharing was an option. I thought it was him or me. Now that I know better, you’ll never have to worry about us fighting over you. I wouldn’t dream of keeping you away from your other mates.”

She looks up at me with wide eyes and I can’t stop myself from tucking her hair behind her ear. I’m not even trying to touch her like I have been for the past two hours. I just need to see her beautiful face without her silky waves in the way. But the second I make contact, I feel the bond snap into place. Our souls merge, and our animals dance together in my mind’s eye. I’ve never even seen her fox form, but I can see it now. She’s gorgeous and so damn happy to join my tiger for a split second, I can’t breathe.

A tiger is now prowling down the side of her neck. My tiger's pride bubbles up inside of me as we take in her very obvious mark, everyone will know she’s mine. I look for my mark and see a beautiful four tailed fox running down my forearm and wrist. Its head lands on the top of my hand between my thumb and index finger. Never in all my life have I considered gettinga tattoo. But never in my life have I seen a mark as beautiful as this, I’m in awe.

When I focus back on my Firefly, I can tell she’s seconds away from bolting like she did with Lucas, but I can’t let her slip away without at least trying.

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