“She’s mine.” Jason’s hands fisted at his sides. If we went after the same girl, there would be no coming back from that. So be it! Teresa was mine. She was my priority. The most important thing to me over friends, family, the game. Hands down and without a doubt.
“The hell she is.” I couldn’t stop myself from chest-bumping Jason. “Teresa is?—“
“Teresa?” Jay cut me off before he turned to look where my girl and her roommate were. “I don’t want her. That’s not who I was talking about,” he quickly amended.
“What?” I stilled. The two of us looked towards our girls. “Who do you?—“
“Sadie,” Jay shared. My head whipped so fast it almost hurt, my eyes wide with relief as the tension between us started to dissolve.
“Her roommate?” I asked in a quiet whisper.
“Sadie. Not Teresa,” Jason repeated, and the two of us slowly started to relax. We leaned against the brick wall we’d been sitting on.
“What are the fucking chances of that?” I wondered quietly. “Roommates becoming obsessed with other roommates on the same goddamn floor.”
“Hmm,” Jason grunted, taking a slow swig of his beer.
“Something about that fucking building,” I said, standing and stretching my back as I kept an eye on my girl.
“Jer, you good?” Jason asked. No. No, I wasn’t good. I was fucking losing my shit over a girl I was blackmailing into loving me.
“Talk to you later,” I grunted, because it wasn’t like I could fucking tell him everything that was going on. Hell, I couldn’t even tell him half the shit I’d done. He’d never see me the same way again.
Though… we had almost come to fists thinking we liked the same girl.
Who knew if we could come back from the truth?
5TERESA
“Why are we here again?” Sadie asked.Again.
“Because,” I started to answer, but as I caught the big guy walking towards us,mybig guy, the words died on my tongue. Jeremy Fletcher was walking right over to me from the far end of the backyard. It wasn’t conceited of me to think that, either, not with the way his eyes locked with mine like I was his lighthouse and he was a ship lost out at sea.
I swallowed hard, batting away the worry that whatever he was up to with me was genuine. What if all this was a game? Some kind of sick, twisted thing just to get in my pants?He hasn’t kissed you again since that first day when you all but smashed your face into his,the realist in me piped up.
Damn, he was seriously handsome. So much so, I wouldn’t be surprised if I Googled the definition ofmasculineand his face were to pop up. I couldn’t deny it. I liked him. Actions speak louder than words, and if that was the case, Jeremy was a good guy. One of the best I’d ever met. Damn, I more than liked him! Shit! Was I falling in love with a baseball player?
“Hey, Tere, I’m not feeling good…” Sadie started to say, “I think I should?—“
“Teresa,” a deeper voice called, cutting my bestie off. I turned to look at who I already knew it was.
“You,” I mumbled, giving him the best look of disinterest I could muster up. I just wasn’t sure it was believable.
“Who is your friend?” Jeremy asked politely, almost charmingly. I huffed.
“None of your business.” I wasn’t sure why I was giving him so much attitude. Maybe I was still tired from the traveling and late night last night?
“Really?” Jeremy’s brow rose with amusement.What is wrong with him? Is he crazy?Guys typically ran the other direction when I gave them the cold shoulder or even a little bit of attitude.
But not him.
Because Jeremy’s different. He’s not a typical man,The angel on my shoulder whispered.Oh no, babe, Jeremy is all man, the devil on the other side chipped in. Jeremy smiled and reached for my hand, pulling me into his arms, and I hated just how much I genuinely didn’t hate how good it felt to be tucked into his side.
“You don’t think your friend should meet your man?” he asked. My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their socket. He’d said something like this to my teammates last night, but this was different. This was Sadie! Not only did she take everything literally, she was a sucker for a love story. She would see me and him together and make it a whole thing. And this wasn’t that.Right?
“My man?” I whispered. I didn’t need my roommate and best friend of all people to get the wrong idea! My blood pressure rose with irritation that grew.Are you really upset about Sadie not understanding what’s going on between you two, or are you upset at yourself because of how much you like the way that sounds?that damn angel on my shoulder asked.
Jeremy’s head dipped down, and time stopped. His lips brushed against the shell of my ear and he whispered. “Relax, cielito mio.” He wanted me to relax after calling me his little sky?! “You look beautiful, by the way,” he complimented. My body relaxed into his before he pulled away, his gaze bouncing between Sadie and me.
