Page 26 of Vexing the Viper

"We aren't having a tutoring session today. Surprised to find you in the library," he says, looking between me and Sam.

"Wanted some coffee after lifting weights, and Sam agreed to come with me."

"Hi, Sam." Niko waves, and Sam offers him a smile and a hello. "I was on my way to work and saw you both sitting at the table, so I figured I would say hi. So, hi."

"Hi." I chuckle. Coby reaches out to me, and I pet his head giving him a soft "hello" as well.

“How was practice?” Niko asks, looking at me and Sam.

“It was fine. Your dad is a tough coach, but I love him.” Sam says, laughing hard.

“Ah, yes. Dad has always been tough when it comes to baseball. He wanted me to play for the longest time, but I was never good at it. Ended up hating it, but luckily my younger brother likes it, so Dad laid off me.”

“Oh, wow. I didn’t realize that was why you hated it so much,” I say, staring at Niko while he stares back. I’m learning so much more about him, and I’m really beginning to understand who he is.

"Yeah, it’s all good now. Dad and I have a great relationship. But… I have to head to work now. I'll see you both later. Have a good day."

Niko takes off into the crowd, my eyes tracking every movement. Today, he's wearing ripped black jeans with his leather jacket and beanie. He always looks so good, but for some reason he looks extra delicious today. Niko disappears up the stairs, and I turn my head to see Sam stifling his laugh.

"What?" I bristle, wondering why he's laughing at me.

"Oh, nothing. So, Niko is going to the scrimmage tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah..." I trail off, waiting for him to continue. He doesn't. "What about it?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Sam smothers a laugh behind his cup, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"You're being weird." I don't know what's gotten into him. Taking another sip of my drink, I glance back at the stairs whereNiko disappeared. I wonder if he has time to talk while he's on the clock. Nah, I should probably let him work. "I'm gonna head home. I'll see you at the scrimmage tomorrow."

"See you later."

We're halfwaythrough the game, and I've been kicking ass the whole time. Sam and I have been on fire. I’ve been giving him the best plays, and he's been striking out players left and right. The ones that have been able to get a hit off him are easily tagged out by the rest of our team, who have also been playing perfectly. We're a well-oiled machine, and you would think we've been playing together for years, and not the short few weeks we've been together.

From my position, it's hard to see who's out in the crowd, so I can only hope Niko and Mateo are sitting somewhere cheering me on. I know they both were planning to come, because before I left, I ran into them with Mateo decked out in Creelin U gear. Niko said he would rather be caught dead than wear our team attire, but I was appreciative that Mateo decided to dress up.

Coach calls for a time out and all of us rush up to the mound, gasping for air.

"All right, we're at the halfway point, and you guys have been kicking ass!" The snakes on his head go wild, and I chuckle, loving they're as excited as he is. "I need you guys to keep it up. This may be only a scrimmage, but it's going to set up the rest of our season. We want to start it off with a win. Got it?"

A chorus of "yes coach" and "got it" rounds the mound while we put our hands in the middle. We cheer loudly before Coach yells at us to take our positions. Running back to home plate, I take a second to scan the crowd, stopping short when I see Nikoand Mateo seated behind home plate. Oh, fucking hell, they've been right behind me the whole time.

Mateo yells and waves, and I swear I can see Niko roll his eyes. I wave, butterflies fluttering in my stomach when Niko waves back. Crouching down behind the plate, I amp up my playing. I'm showing no mercy anymore. The next player steps up and I recognize him as the one who got a homerun the last time he was up.

Nope, not letting that happen again.

I signal for Sam to give him a curve ball, one right after the next until the batter strikes out and walks away with his tail between his legs. We're not as lucky with the next player, and I deflate as he makes it to second base. I start to give myself a pep talk, hitting my gloves a few times. I know we can win.

Their next player steps up to the bat, a leftie swinger, and I give Sam the signal. He tosses the ball at record speed, and it connects with an ear-splittingcrack. I watch as the batter starts running to the base. Ripping my mask off my head, I seek out the ball and follow where it's going. The guy that was originally on second base starts heading my way when I see that Trent has the ball. His arm winds up and it soars through the air in my direction. I stretch my glove out in front of me, open and waiting for the ball to land in it. I bend down and wait, smiling when my hand pushes back from the weight of the ball hitting it roughly. My body twists to the side as I take in the player that's sliding down on the dirt. Swiping my hand down, I tag him, holding my breath until the umpire yells, "Out!"

I whoop and yell, my eyes directly meeting Niko’s. My heart soars when I see he's standing up, jumping up and down and cheering me on. Dragging my hands through my hair, I toss him a wink before realizing what I’d just done.

Oh, my god.

I was showing off for Niko.

13

NIKO

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