“Hell, yeah, Cal!” Aaron held up a hand, but she waved him off.
“It gets better, I think.” She gave us a small smile. “I guess I never connected the dots until now, but you are all going to be seeing much more of me.” I gave her a look that pretty much said,so the fuck what. That was the best thing ever. “I’m paired with Nicole for the year.”
Aaron stood up to hug her. She laughed and pushed him away. “That’s huge, Cal. Nicole is scary as hell but one of the most respected trainers on campus. She used to help in the majors but settled here because of her kid. If she allowed this, it’s the best fucking compliment anyone could receive.”
Aaron stole all the words I wanted to say and it pissed me off. She smiled, her face turning a little red, and shrugged. “It doesn’t seem real. This shouldn’t happen my first year here but it did.”
“You get to hang around a bunch of assholes then. Are you prepared for that?” Aaron asked her with a shit-eating grin I wanted to smack off his face for no reason other than he made Callie smile.
“I’ve been doing that my whole life. Yeah, I’m prepared. Baseball is my favorite sport in the world and I cannot think of anything else I’d rather do.” She held out her phone, her smile charming the hell out of me. “My dad is flipping his shit. He sent a picture of him and my mom with thumbs up. They are nerds.”
“They have every reason to be proud. I don’t think I’ve known anyone else to get this.” I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks, Zade.” Her smile was different from the one she gave Aaron. That pleased me more than it should have.
“We need to celebrate, Cal,” Aaron interrupted us and she nodded.
“Obviously. I’m fucking awesome.” She spoke in a weird tone and gave me a side glance. “I tried to channel my inner ego, but it sounded off.”
“You are fucking awesome but maybe tone it down. Between Aaron and myself, we don’t need any more egos in here.”
“Speak for yourself, Z.” Aaron stood. “I need to bounce, but, Cal, we’ll celebrate soon. Congrats again.”
“Bye, Aaron.” She waved at him and I pulled her chair closer to mine. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I wanted to close the space between us.” Her bare thighs touched mine and her breath hitched.Good.
“Mmm. Well, I’m glad I got to see you, but explain why you’re here.”
“I was hungry?”
“That was a questionable excuse and we both know it. I don’t like being lied to.” Her dimple disappeared, a frown replacing her smile.
“Aaron texted me something weird. Even for him. About a catfight or some such? Then said, get here. I had no idea what the hell he meant, but I think I figured it out when I walked in.” I ran my finger over her ear and loved how she shivered enough for me to see.
“Sounds like an Aaron thing for sure. I’m curious though—what do you think you figured out?”
“This is dangerous territory, because if I’m wrong, I am a total tool. My guess was that girls were giving you shit about me or something like that. They glared at you when I sat down.”
“Pretty close.” The girls were trying to hide behind their phones, looking everywhere but right at us. “You’re probably making it worse. I’m going to have a target on my head now.”
“Shit. I didn’t think about that. I’m sorry.”
“You had nice intentions. But I’m sure Aaron will tell you I can hold my own.” A fire came into her eyes that I’d grown to know meant she was passionate.
“Is there more to the story?” I asked, still touching her. I hadn’t broken the contact and I had zero problems with that.
She sighed audibly. “It was nothing. Don’t worry about it, okay?”
“Callie. No lies or secrets. I’d really like to know why your smile was a little off when I sat down.”
“You noticed?”
“I notice almost everything about you. Like how your breathing is a little faster when I touch you, or how you have a different smile reserved for me. I fucking like it.”
“Well, shit.” She cleared her throat. “Now, I feel foolish as hell.”
“What. Happened.”
