Page 7 of Double Play

“No, but I know her, and she isn’t being herself. She’s quieter and more reserved.” I blow out a breath, looking down at my feet. “I’m guilty of it too. She was practically my best friend growing up, and when our parents got married, our whole dynamic changed. It was easy to grow apart when we had states or countries separating us, but now that she’s here, I miss being able to hang out and joke around with her.

“Here she is in a brand-new city with no friends, other than her teammates, and the two people she lives with don’t even ask about her day or how practice has been going. The last thing she needs right now is to feel cut off from the world when she’s making such big changes. Let’s at leasttryto make her feel welcome. She’s a really good girl, Hawk. You can trust her.”

He swallows, nodding, but I can see the trepidation in his eyes. I get it. He’s been abandoned by his dad, his mom didn’t give enough of a shit to get sober for him, and he hasn’t spoken to his brothers since the day they were ripped away from him. He never keeps women around for more than one night, our teammates hardly know a single thing about him, and other than me, he doesn’t trust anyone not to hurt and leave him. But I know if he gave her a chance, Arden would be the kind of friend to him that she was to me before I pushed her away. Someone he can count on and maybe even get him to open up a little.

“Okay,” he says quietly. “You’re right. I’ll try harder.”

SIX

ARDEN

“You’re home late,”Jackson says over the back of the couch as I trudge through the door, my feet screaming at me from the longest practice I’ve ever endured. It wasn’t long time-wise, but Dahlia made the entire team run wind sprints for over thirty minutes. Then, when we were nice and exhausted, she had us do hitting lines against our defense. We’ve only been practicing as a team for two and a half weeks, so I’m still learning my passers’ techniques and my hitters’ strengths and weaknesses to set to them properly. Everyone is different and I have to memorize all of it, including the backup players, in case someone gets injured. It’s a lot of pressure, but I live and breathe for volleyball, and my spot on the Flare can be given to someone else at any time—so I need to give it my all.

“Sorry,” I reply, dropping my duffle bag and kicking my slides off before putting them in the closet. “I stayed after with one of my hitters to make sure we were on the same page.” Zara Ellis is fresh out of college and has surprised us all with her dedication these past couple of weeks, so I have a feeling she’ll be named starting right outside hitter before our first game. I hope she does, because she’s the only one who’s shown me grace while I’m learning what they all need from me. We work well together, and I’d hate to be on the receiving end of one of her hits. She’s an absolute powerhouse. I can’t wait to dominate the court with her, as well as the rest of the girls.

“Don’t be. We just wanted to eat dinner with you.”

“We?” I ask, entering the room to see Hawk sitting on the opposite end of the couch, breaking his connection from the action movie that’s playing on the TV to look at me. I’ve hardly seen him since the first night I got here, and even when I have, it’s only been while passing each other in the hallway or kitchen. I obviously said something wrong and upset him, and he hasn’t forgotten. It’s been uncomfortable, to say the least.

“Yeah,” Jacks says with a smile. “We were going to order from somewhere but wanted to see if maybe you were down to hang out. We have a couple of days off, and I know your practices are always in the afternoon, so how about some roommate bonding time?” I look between the two of them as they stare, shock obviously very evident in my expression because Jackson rolls his eyes, laughing. “I know it’s weird, but we realized today that we haven’t really given you much attention since you got here. And everybody knows how you need it to survive.”

My jaw drops, and I huff an incredulous laugh. “I donotneed it to survive. I’m perfectly fine on my own, thank you very much. The two of you can take your pity attention and shove it up your asses. I don’t want it,” I reply, crossing my arms over my chest. I’m mostly joking. I know they’re busy, and when they’re home, which hasn’t been often, they’re tired. By the time they’re up and around on their days off, I’m already gone to practice or the gym. Our schedules haven’t really matched up, even if we did want to spend time together.

He laughs harder. “Princess, I’m injured, so if you don’t come over here willingly, I’m going to have to make my grumpy friend carry you to the couch. Make a choice.”

I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Yeah, okay.” Like Hawk is going to touch me when he’s barely even looked at me in the last three weeks. “Goodnight.” I turn, heading toward the stairs, but only get about five steps before a strong, thick arm wraps around my waist tightly. Electricity snakes its way throughout my body as a quiet voice speaks into my ear.

“He warned you, Hellcat,” Hawk says, his minty breath puffing against my cheek. The nickname sounds sinful coming from his mouth, and I have to actively stop myself from moaning out loud at the sound. I’m frozen in place, knowing I should pull away, but when he splays his hand over my lower stomach, I do the exact opposite and press myself into him. His muscular chest is warm against my back, and I let out a shaky exhale, closing my eyes and trying to stop the dizziness that’s threatening to pull me under just from being held by him, even though my brain is telling me he’s only doing it because Jacks told him to. But when he drags his nose from my neck to the sensitive spot under my ear, I’m light years away from any semblance of a rational thought.

My knees buckle just as he scoops me up from the ground. I instinctively wrap my arms around his neck, yet I’m unable to make a sound as he carries me bridal style across the room and deposits me next to Jackson on the couch before dropping down on my other side. The scent of their cologne, Hawk’s spicy and Jackson’s sweet, mix with the oxygen that slowly refills my lungs, and the fuzziness in my brain dissipates now that I’m no longer being held so tightly.

What the fuck was that?The last thing I need is to be affected by my stepbrother’s best friend and roommate. This is the second time his hands on me have made me feel something, and I really need to get it together before I embarrass myself. At this point, the simple thought of a friendship with this guy seems impossible. Other than this very moment, he’s been so quiet and closed off—even more so than I remember. So why am I wishing he’d wrap around me again?

“Anyway,” Jackson says, snapping me back to reality. I swallow loudly, looking straight at the TV because if I look at either of them, they’ll know what I’m thinking. So, I stay quiet as he continues. “I need comfort food. Pizza sound okay? There’s a place right down the street that has the best sauce, and they do low-carb crust.”

I nod my head way too fast to look sane, but whatever. It’s better than the alternative, which is sitting there like a rock while he asks me a question. “Mhmm,” I force out.

“You okay?” I snap my head in his direction, and suddenly I can breathe again. I don’t know why, but since I’ve known him, Jackson has always made me feel calm when my anxiety starts to pull me under. Even now, when the most confusing thoughts about Hawk are running rampant in my mind, his presence slows them so I can recenter myself.

“Yes,” I reply, smiling warmly. “It’s been a long day. My brain and body both hurt.”

His expression softens. “Let me order our food, then we can relax. Mushrooms and sausage for you, and supreme for us, right?” he says, pulling up the app to order on his phone. I nod, biting the inside of my cheek to hide my smile, because he still remembers my pizza order. Memories from the past resurface, and I realize exactly how much I miss his friendship. Things got a little weird after our parents got married, but it was probably a culmination of Jackson and Gina moving into a space they had to share with other people, and nerves for the upcoming MLB draft. He spent so much time perfecting his craft that year, that he was hardly around. I had already been offered a partial athletic scholarship from Penn State by the time the wedding rolled around, so I was all about having fun and going out during our senior year. But he spent his free time at the batting cages and updating his highlight reels so scouts would notice him. It paid off in a big way, because now he’s in the big leagues, but I definitely missed him. I still do. I hope that, eventually, we can get back to what we used to be.

He taps the screen a few times before setting the device on the large ottoman in front of the couch and pressing a button on the remote controller next to it. The lights in the room dim to almost nothing and the TV switches to the opening credits of a movie. I relax into the cushions, but before I can get comfortable, Jacks nudges my shoulder.

“Turn,” he orders softly. I look at him, confused, before he puts a finger in the air and motions in a circle, as if to mimic the word. Slowly, I angle myself so my back is to him, but immediately regret it when I realize that it puts me directly facing Hawk. My whole body heats, and I’m sure that if I weren’t wearing a cropped t-shirt, he’d see the visible flush across my chest as he looks at me while I pretend not to notice.

I jump when Jackson’s strong hands slide over my shoulders and he begins massaging the tight muscles. It’s a nice gesture—one that wouldn’t have phased me when we were seventeen. But being touched by him after all this time, paired with the way Hawk hasn’t taken his eyes off me since I turned toward him, is making me squirm in my seat.

“Is this okay?” Jacks asks. “You seem even more tense now. Should I stop?”

I shake my head, blowing out a forced exhale. This is ridiculous—he’s just being his normal self, trying to help because he knows I need it. So what if it happens to put me in Hawk’s line of sight? We all live here, and we should be comfortable like this, right?

“No, don’t stop,” I reply. “My shoulders and neck are really tight.” I turn more, giving him better access to work. The angle causes me to slide my knee onto the couch, brushing it along Hawk’s thigh. I watch the pinky finger of his hand resting on top twitch, grazing the fabric of my leggings before he quickly pulls it away and stands up.

“I’ll go wait for the food,” he mutters, hauling ass toward the door and disappearing from the condo fast enough to make my head spin.

“I don’t think he likes me. Just when I think maybe he does, he shows me the exact opposite. It makes me dizzy,” I say as Jacks smooths his thumbs over the muscles in my shoulders. It feels amazing, and I drop my head forward, enjoying the relief.

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