Page 36 of Game On

I nod.

“Why are you going to talk to him?”

I shrug. “Because he was nice, for starters.”

“Nice?” he laughs mockingly. “Are you picking out furniture? Or a man?”

“What do you care?”

He reaches out and grabs my hip. I’m so startled I almost shriek. We just stand there staring at one another, our breaths mixing, and the front of my body firing off like fireworks at how close we are. “The last baseball game of our summer season is tonight. It’s in Preston. I want you there.”

Because we’re so close and it’s just too much temptation to be surrounded by Alec and not touch him, I reach out and place my hands just above the cut of his hips. I suck in a breath at the feel of his body under mine. I can’t begin to put a number on how many times I’ve seen the Ballers without shirts on. It’s hot at camp in the summer. It’s only natural for them to do that, but it wasn’t until this last year that it was distracting for me.

His body stiffens. He darts his tongue out over his lips, eyeing me, then slams his mouth shut before saying, “The other recruits will be there, too. Ditch after next period. We’ll be waiting in the parking lot.”

I snatch my hands away from him, my stomach dropping to the floor. Silly me. I thought this had something to do with me and him, and not a Baller-sanctioned hazing thing. I step away from his grasp, and his hands fall away. “Fine. I’ll be there.”

Looking away, I hear Alec swear, then the tension leaves with him as he stalks back into the cafeteria. I almost slump to the floor when I can breathe again. It’s like I just went through an epic battle, or worse, had to stand up in front of the entire school to give a speech. The amount of relief that sweeps through me is monumental.

The bell rings overhead, and Dawn steps out of the cafeteria. She has my bag in her hand, so I walk forward to grab it from her. “Thanks,” I tell her.

“What the hell was that all about?”

“Just a Baller thing,” I say, rolling my eyes. No matter how much I wish it wasn’t, it was obvious it was.

When she looks at me, I realize I don’t think she believes me. But I’m right, right? If every other recruit is going to be at his game, it isn’t as if he’s invited me for a specific reason.

Behind her, Alec and the rest of the Ballers walk out. Alec avoids my gaze, but Ryan locks eyes with me, his stare hooded and speculating, almost accusatory. If there’s anything to accuse me of, I’m not sure what it is. Not that they can’t make shit up about whatever they want though.

I spend the next period remembering Alec’s hands on my hips. When I do, my skin tingles. It’s the same feeling I got when Ryan touched me at camp. The same desires well up inside me until I’m almost squirming in my chair with the amount of heat I’ve built up inside myself just thinking about it.

After class, I walk right out of the school and am surprised when no one stops me. The Ballers are already out there along with a motor coach. Alec, now dressed in a suit, is standing by as the rest of his baseball teammates head onto the bus. He sees me coming and waits. With his hand on the short railing up the steps, he says, “You’ll drive Shawn, Matt, and Hayes.”

“O-okay.”

He gives me a quick once-over and then follows the last guy onto the bus. When I turn, Shawn, Matt, and Hayes are already standing next to my car. Matt and Shawn’s eyebrows are both raised. Hayes, though, is just watching everything with that cool expression of his. Does he ever get mad? Riled up? The only time I see him show emotion is on the court. It’ll be interesting to see him in practice.

We pile into the car as Sloan’s Jeep pulls away, taking with him Ryan, Lake, and a couple girls. Hayes has to put the seat back to fit in the passenger side of the car, which means Matt’s feet have to ride the hump. The Mustang is a sweet car, but it’s also not meant to carry a bunch of people, especially huge guys like Hayes. “You okay?” I ask, once he’s situated.

He nods, then glances over the dash with its technology and sleek buttons. “It’s nice,” he says.

Nice?Starting the car in response, I find Matt and Shawn in the rearview mirror. They’re expressions mirror mine. This hour-long ride is going to be pretty quiet. Hayes isn’t one for talking, and the rest of us won’t want to talk because we’re with him and he’s one of them. We do drive with the top down, which seems to make things a little smoother. Hayes’ deep blue eyes are almost shining as we catch all the scenery between here and Preston.

“So, if RHS wins tonight, they’ll go to the playoffs, right?”

I look back to see Shawn leaning forward in the seat, eyes on Hayes. Hayes just looks slightly toward him and grunts in approval.

I smile at Shawn in the rearview and keep driving. If this isn’t the most awkward drive I’ve ever had, I don’t know what was. Pretty quickly, though, we end up in Preston, and then it’s only a couple minutes until we find the high school and the accompanying baseball field.

“Park here,” Hayes instructs. “Then we’re walking over to the diner across the street.”

I do as he says, parking right next to Sloan’s Jeep, and then we all get out. There’s no one in Sloan’s Jeep, but that doesn’t deter Hayes, he just sets right off for the diner like he knew that’s where they would go. When we walk in, a delicious smell hits me. Hayes walks right up to the booth the guys are sitting in with the two girls and takes the last seat. Shawn, Matt, and I just stand there awkwardly until I sit in the booth next to theirs after getting leers from the two girls. Whatever.

The same waitress who takes care of them takes care of us, but we don’t interact with their table at all. Mostly, they talk about a party that happened on Sunday at Sloan’s house. They relive the fact that they got drunk and went swimming all day. The girls giggle, so I can only imagine what happened after that. At first, I think about Ryan kissing his girl, but then I think about Alec kissing someone else. My cheeks burn at the thought.

When we’re done, the waitress drops off both checks. Ryan suddenly moves in front of our table. He’s got a wicked glint in his eye that makes me wonder how I even crushed on him in the first place. “You guys got ours, right?”

He slaps the bill down and then takes off, the Ballers and the two girls trailing behind him. I stare at their backs, hoping they can feel the dagger-eyes I’m giving them.

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