Page 36 of Rounding Third

“Well, you’re making me sad and angry.” I shrug. I’d never do that to her or Covey, but I’m so pissed off right now.

I can guarantee, if I were home, I’d be in my gym. I’d be punching my bag and probably keep going until my knuckles were raw and bleeding. Even then, I’d continue until I broke my hand or collapsed from exhaustion. Owen would not be happy.

“C’mon, let’s go in. They should be seated by now.”

We climb out of my SUV and meet at the hood. I place my hand on her lower back and lead her towards the restaurant just like that guy did to Liliana.

“I'm sorry. You know I’d never rat you out to Cord. I'm just pissed,” I murmur as we step through the door.

“I know. You’re a good guy, Smithy. If you weren’t so obsessed with Liliana and I wasn’t interested in someone else, I’d probably be trying to date you.”

“Really?” I ask as my brows climb up to my hairline. I never got those vibes from her. We’ve always been friends, but we’ve never flirted or showed any sort of interest in each other.

“Why not? You’ve got the best abs in the league.” She smirks.

“Did Macy tell you to say that?”

“No, but she does send out a best of the best list. I saw you were listed as having the best abs.”

A waitress leads us to our table and I keep my attention on Liliana as we’re seated. Her back is to me and as much as I wish I could see her, it’s probably better that she can't.

I'm not exactly sure how Liliana’s going to respond to me being here. She could be pissed I'm trying to ruin her date or she might be happy I'm finally making a move. I don’t know and I'm not sure I care, either way, she’s coming home with me tonight, not him.

We order drinks and give Liliana a few minutes to talk to her date before Cici finally stands.

“I'm pretending I'm going to the bathroom. When I come out, I’ll act like I'm shocked to see Liliana here. Let me chit chat with her and I’ll see what I can find out. Ok?”

I breathe a sigh of relief. Cici’s been more helpful than I expected her to be. She’s helped keep me calm and collected when I wanted to bolt into Liliana’s apartment. She’s kept me from barging into the restaurant and ruining everything. Now, she’s come up with a game plan I never would’ve thought of.

I’ll have to do something more than go to the charity event with her as a thank you.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Be like every guy our age. Go on your phone and ignore the world around you. But don’t text her.” She points a finger in my face. “You’re so desperate it’s almost comical.”

“You’re so sweet. How are you still single?” I arch a brow.

“If you keep throwing insults around, I’ll make sure you stay single too,” she singsongs.

I watch her walk away and chuckle when she sways her hips a little more. She’s definitely Owen’s daughter. She has his confidence and this power I’ve only ever seen in people with thelast name Powell. It’s like they’re raised to know the world is theirs to take.

As soon as Cici disappears, I turn my attention to my phone and clench my jaw hard when I hear Liliana’s sweet laughter. It’s taking everything in me to stay in my seat and not march over to her. I wouldn’t say a word, I’d just throw her over my shoulder and march out of this place. Cici would be left behind to entertain the guy and keep him away from us.

I get lost in scrolling through Liliana’s photos on social media. There are so many photos of us together and we look good. We look like a couple in every sense of the word. I just need to make that our reality.

I glance up when Cici calls my name and pretend to be confused. She waves me over and as I walk, my gaze collides with Liliana’s and a slow smirk spreads across my lips.

The smile she has aimed at me is the biggest one I’ve ever seen. My heart beats a little faster knowing she’s not pissed I'm ruining her date. Hell, maybe she was hoping I’d stop it.

But why go on the date if she wanted me to stop it all along?

“Hey, Sweets. I didn’t know you’d be here.” I lean down and press a soft kiss to her cheek, letting my lips linger a little longer than necessary.

“Of course you didn’t,” she murmurs with amusement in her voice.

I was right. She totally saw us sitting outside of her apartment. But once again, she’s not upset. She almost seems happy I'm stalking her. I think we need to have a talk tonight and make sure she knows it’s unacceptable for anyone to stalk her other than me.

“You look stunning, Lils,” I whisper in her ear, grinning when she shivers at the contact.

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