Rounding Third (17 page)

I grab my swimsuit and leave the room to wait for her to join us downstairs.

* * *

T
wenty minutes later
, her thigh is pressed against mine in the cab of my truck. We pull up to the dorm, and Spencer and Ariel hop in the truck bed.

Ella hits Jen in the shoulder next to her. “You go in the bed. My sister can’t.”

I’ve never witnessed her being this bossy. Jen must have pissed her off with this move into the baseball house.

“I don’t want my hair to get all messy,” Jen complains, touching her neatly secured bun.

“What does it matter if it’s the wind or Saucey’s hand?” Ella asks.

Jen draws back, taking offense.

“Listen, my truck, my rules. Ariel needs to be up front.” I lean forward so Jen sees me.

Jen huffs. “You’re only doing that because you want to get in her pants.”

I shrug. I could argue, but in a roundabout way, it’s the truth. Not to mention, it’s my damn truck.

She opens the door and goes around back, and when Ariel refuses to come into the cab, Ella gets up onto her knees, sticks her face through the window, and demands she does it. My eyes eat up her short shorts, leaving my imagination going wild with thoughts of my hands on that ass. Unable to behave myself, I slap it.

“Ouch!” she screeches. She whips around her arm, smacking me in the shoulder.

“Sorry.” I hold up my hands in defense.

“Why did you do that?” she asks.

“Old times’ sake,” I say.

She rolls her eyes, watching Ariel come to the front.

Ariel climbs in with a clear scowl directed at her sister. “This is lame.” She turns to Ella. “Why do you have to act like my mother? Hasn’t anyone told you to relax and have fun?”

She used to be fun before the accident.

“I can’t have anything happen to you. What would Mom say?”

“She’d say that I’m eighteen, and I make my own decisions.”

“Right. If you had heard them last night. They were ready to lock you in a closet,” Ella says.

Ariel’s lips droop.

“I’m sorry,” she says, cowering down to her sister.

Ella grabs ahold of her leg and squeezes. “Don’t be.”

Their code of a conversation confuses me, but it’s obviously a sister moment.

Ariel wraps her arm over Ella’s shoulders, pulling her to herself. Ella rests her head on her shoulder, and Ariel kisses the top of Ella’s head before murmuring something in her ear. Trying to pay attention to the road and eavesdrop on the conversation occurring literally right next to me, I chastise myself for being distracted while driving.

If Ella didn’t look miserable, I could focus, but I swear, I was put on this earth to ensure her happiness, meaning every time she’s down, I need to pick her mood back up. I failed at that once, and I won’t again.

A few minutes later, I’m pulling into the quarry area, parking behind a few trees so as not to be seen. Although it’s a popular spot, technically, there’s no trespassing. Everyone in the back climbs out, and Spencer is soon at the passenger door to retrieve Ariel.

“May I have her now?” Spencer holds his hand out.

“Nope, she’s mine today,” Ella says, holding her sister to her chest.

The two pretend to have a tug-of-war with her, but Spencer wins. Ella pretends to pout but fails miserably.

With Spencer’s arm tucking Ariel close to his body, the two of them follow the guys to the quarry, leaving me and Ella.

“Hey, can we talk later?” she asks.

There’s a hesitation in her voice that I don’t like.

“Sure. You can talk to me anytime.”

She nods, and a small smile crosses her lips. When I go to grab her hand, she sidesteps me, placing her towel in that hand.

“I was only going to secure you while climbing over the rocks. I wasn’t insinuating anything.”

“Oh, I know. It’s just…you know.”

Honestly, I don’t, but I keep my mouth shut.

We clear the dense trees, and our vision opens up into a quarry with refreshing water. Brax throws his inflatable ring over the edge right before following it, screaming the entire way down. A big splash echoes against the rocks, and Oliver, Saucey, and a few girls follow his path.

“Come on, Keaton. I’ll catch you,” I say, preparing myself to jump.

“Ariel and I are taking the stairs.” She swings her arm through the opening of her sister’s arm without Ariel’s consent.

Ariel shoots Spencer with a pair of eyes that say,
Sorry, but she’s my older sister
, and the two descend the slippery concrete steps.

“Should we follow?” Spencer asks.

“Nah. Anal Ella will make sure they’re careful. Come on, little brother. Who will hit the water first?”

I walk up to the edge of the rock, but Spencer places his hand in the air.

“Hold up. I need to talk to you.” He looks behind him and turns back to me.

I stop my feet, walking the distance back to him.

He’s apprehensive.

“What’s up?”

He inches closer. Lowering his voice, he says, “Ella went home yesterday.” His eyes pierce into mine, as though I should know more.

“Yeah, she mentioned it.”

“Did she say anything else?”

“No. Why?”

He glances back again. I’m guessing he’s making sure that the girls have indeed gone down the path.

“Ella talked to Ariel. X announced in front of everyone in the store that you were back at Ridgemont. Took her mom by surprise.” He fiddles with the string on his swimsuit, not able to meet my eyes.

“Yeah?” At this point, I need more information to go on. I’ve never seen Spencer act this way toward me, almost afraid of my reaction.

“I’m not sure of everything that happened, but Ella made a deal with her parents.” His voice trails off.

“Spence?” My impatience grows.

He looks me square in the eyes, sorrow weighing down his face.

“Ella said if they didn’t give Ariel crap for dating me…”

“What?” My voice echoes off the rocks.

“She’d promise to stay away from you.” His eyes immediately cast back down to his feet.

Pure rage warms my veins. A million questions drown me.
How could she toss me aside? She said she’d give us thought.

The kiss didn’t seem forced or uncomfortable—quite the opposite actually. Her nails left scratch marks on my shoulders.

The question arises again. How could she make this promise?

“You know she did it for Ariel. It’s not that she wants to stay away from you,” Spencer says, sticking up for her. “She said she did it because Ariel had been invisible to her parents for the last two years. All of their attention was focused on Ella after the accident, and the town wasn’t the same. She did it because Ariel is happy now, and she wants it to stay that way.”

“Well, I’d like for Ella to be happy, and she would be if she were with me. What am I supposed to do now?” My voice rises the more I’m talking.

Spencer places his hand on my shoulder, hoping to quiet me down.

Voices are floating up from the water below. Brax is egging me on to jump.

“Lynch, don’t pussy out,” he says.

“I don’t have answers for you, but I didn’t know if she was going to tell you or not. Wanted you to know.”

My hands tighten in my hair, and I contemplate my next move. She fucking checkmated me without the game officially starting.

Then, all those girls below us come to mind. In their skimpy bikinis, they’re wet and eager to claim a baseball player.

“All right.” I bring my hands down from my hair, and my body relaxes. “I’m good. She doesn’t want me, so let’s see who does.”

I go back to the starting point to jump off the cliff.

Spencer screams, “Don’t do it!”

But his voice is only background noise when I sink into the cool water, popping back up right next to Kendra, the redhead who blatantly sat in my lap last night, asking me to show her my room. Score.

C
rosby falls into the water
, and instead of coming over to make sure Ariel and I don’t fall on our asses, he hops onto the float with Kendra.

“What’s with that?” Ariel asks, disgust clear in her tone.

“What?” I ask, as though my heart hasn’t fractured.

Since Crosby returned, he hasn’t shown interest in any other girls.

“Don’t act like you don’t see it, El. I really wish you hadn’t made this deal. I can handle Mom and Dad.” Ariel fights my decision like she did earlier when I told her to go ahead and take Spencer home for the parents to meet him.

“Ariel, you’ve sacrificed a lot because of me. If I can give you this happiness without any of the pain, it’s worth it.”

“It’s worth your own heart never feeling whole? El, I know you love him.” We sit on the rock, and we dangle our feet into the water, watching all the college kids be carefree, Crosby included.

“We were young. Who’s to say we’d even make it? Our story is like a tragic love tale. Take Romeo and Juliet. Who’s to say, getting married and having a load of kids wouldn’t have driven the infamous love couple apart?”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

I don’t, but I’m not telling her that.

“Fairy tales are fiction, Ariel, no matter what Mom says.”

“She named us after princesses for a reason.”

“She named us after princesses because, in her mind, we are, not because we’re destined to have our own fairy tales.”

I kick the water with my feet, my eyes sneaking peeks at Crosby pretending he’s going to dunk Kendra. Her squeals of laughter and her claws on his shoulders are aggravating me. Those are the same shoulders I marked two nights ago.

“You and Crosby are a fairy tale.”

“No, we’re a nightmare,” I murmur.

Her wet hand lands on my thigh. “Oh, El.”

I hate that soft tone she gives me when we talk about anything associated with the accident.

“Hey, this is probably the last nice day, so go enjoy yourself. Your boyfriend keeps eyeing me, and he’s starting to look like a creeper.” I point to Spencer, who is floating alone in a raft.

“I love you, El.” She hugs me long and hard and tight.

I swear, her hugs could crack a rib.

“I love you, too. Now, go.”

I gently nudge her to move, and she finally dips into the water, swimming toward Spencer.

He immediately falls into the water himself, holding the raft in one hand. They kiss, and he hoists her up. He leans in, his fingers lazily grazing her stomach, as they laugh and talk about who-knows-what. Envy weighs in my heart.

After seeing a blissful couple, my eyes veer to Crosby, who is now in a raft with Kendra spinning him around in circles. Her cackle of a laugh grates on my nerves, and I tip my chin to the sun, pretending I don’t notice or care. If only she’d choke on a rock.

Bringing my legs out of the water, I wrap my arms around them, pulling them into my chest. I’m strong, and I’ve been without him for two years. Surely, I can continue for the rest of my life—or for as long as Spencer and Ariel date. If their undying affection with one another is a sign, they won’t be ending anytime soon.

Kendra’s squeal echoes in our close proximity. She’s louder than even Brax, and if I have to hear, “Oh, Crosby, you’re so strong,” one more damn time, I’ll be hitchhiking back to campus.

The Tiger’s pitcher, Derek King, floats over with a gentle smile on his face. He’s cute, and he asked me out our freshman year. The year I swore off baseball players. After that, we’d wave or say hello, but we never actually stopped to talk.

“Hey.” His forearms flex as he grips the rock to keep himself from floating away.

My heart doesn’t flip.

“Hi,” I say.

I bring my legs back down and dip my feet into the water. It’s not to cool me down even though Derek is one of the most sought-after players on the team. He has a small fan section at games with a group of girls who refer to themselves as King’s Queens. Those dark eyes and sparkling teeth don’t pull one zing from my body.

“What are you doing over here?”

I catch two girls he was talking to moments ago glaring my way.

“I think they miss you.” I nod my head.

He looks over his shoulder. “Time away makes the heart grow fonder.” He holds his arms out. “Come join me.”

I shouldn’t, but…my eyes look to Crosby, and he doesn’t even glance in my direction. Kendra’s pulling him around the corner from the main area. I’ve never been in what’s called Make-Out Cave because God forbid Liam’s “body ever touched water that wasn’t reeking with chlorine”—his words, not mine.

“Okay,” I say.

Derek allows his body to fall through the hole of the float, and he pops up from the water a minute later, his hand out for me to take.

I situate my ass in the middle of the raft, and he grabs another unoccupied raft that was probably abandoned by another sex-crazed couple like Kendra and Crosby.

A finger taps my forehead. “What’s in your head?” Derek’s leg is swung over mine to enable us to stay linked together as we float on top of the water while the sun soaks into our skin.

“Sorry.” I smile. “Nothing.”

“It wouldn’t be our third baseman, would it?”

We share a look where we both know exactly what I was thinking about, and it was indeed the new third baseman.

“I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head. “No need to apologize. I didn’t ask you to join me for some sex conquest. If I wanted that, I’d be in the cave, having a threesome.”

I cringe.

He chuckles. “Yeah, you’re not really the type.”

A warmth spurs my stomach with his compliment. “No.”

“Your Lynch’s though.” He nods in the direction of where Crosby snuck off from.

My eyes follow his directive, only to find Crosby and Kendra back from wherever they went. Crosby’s back is along the section where the rock sneaks out like a ledge. Kendra’s pressed to him, but his eyes are burning toward me.

Our eyes catch and lock. He’s not happy, and a vein twitches in his neck, showing he’s about a minute from going ballistic.

“Should I be worried that he’s killing me with his eyes?” Derek asks.

I tear my gaze from Crosby’s.

Two can play his game. My only assumption is that Crosby knows about the deal I made with my parents. Damn if Ariel doesn’t have a huge-ass mouth.

“No. He’s innocent. Plus, he’s busy.”

Derek smirks. “I came over because I didn’t like it that he was all up in Kendra’s shit, but I’m thinking there’s more I don’t know.” His hand extends over our designated rafts and grazes along my arm. “I’m more than willing to play the game.”

I freeze. “We have a history.”

His fingertips brush slowly along my arm, but no goose bumps follow.

“Get your hand off her.”

My body tenses, surprised he made it over so fast.

“Why? She can make her own decisions,” Derek baits.

I smile over to Derek.

“Crosby, I thought we were leaving.” Kendra cozies up to his side, her eyes on me the entire time, waiting for me to react.

Crosby’s arm flies up in the air, and Kendra’s hand is thrown off in the process. A small elation floats in my stomach. Sure, now, my body is ready to have a response.

“I’m only leaving with Ella.” Crosby’s eyes stare at me as he picks up Derek’s hand and removes it himself.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I sink under the water and swim away.

Of course, my foot is grabbed a second later, and I’m being pulled toward him. I rise to the surface and splash him in the face. He blinks a few times, and his hands grab my waist, his fingertips dipping right under my waistband. I wiggle and hit, but he holds me strong.

“Go home with her, Crosby. Kiss her, undress her,” I say.

“Stop it, Ella,” he seethes through his teeth. “Don’t make me jealous.”

I stop and tread water in place, making sure the seriousness is shown on my face. “Go home and fuck her.”

His whole body tenses, and the only thing that moves are his eyes on me.

“Ella,” Ariel sighs.

“Crosby, cool down.” Spencer swims up next to him.

We both hold our hands up in the air to our siblings.

“This is between us,” I say.

Crosby nods in agreement.

“You’re coming with me.” He grabs my wrist, but I wiggle and pull until I’m free.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I swim away, and this time, he doesn’t grab my foot. Instead, he swims alongside me, and when I’m about to climb out on the other side of the quarry, he plops up onto the rock, blocking me. I look around for another way out.

“Shit,” I mumble.

“Nowhere to go,” he says, a devilish smile on his face.

I search every inch, but even if I were a professional freehand rock climber, I’d be stuck.

“What do you want from me?”

“How could you do it?”

Bingo. Damn Ariel.

“We’re not talking about it. Just go back to Kendra, and like I said, fuck her. Work me out of your system.”

“Is that what you want?”

Of course not.

“We have no choice.”

“Is that what you want, Cinderella?” His voice lowers. He only refers to me by my nickname when he’s nervous.

“It doesn’t matter, Crosby. Sometimes, people don’t get what they want. We have to deal with it.”

I walk the length of the rock, believing there has to be somewhere to escape him. Then, I remember when I was here my freshman year. Brax dragged me here, demanding I have fun. One of his friends cornered me, and I was able to get out and find my way to the road. Thankfully, that time, Jen had driven, and she left her keys in the car. I catch sight of the man-made stairs. I’d have to swim and gain distance ahead of him though.

“That’s not true. We can have it all.”

We both know he doesn’t truly believe that.

I tilt my head, and his eyes divert to the water. He’s distracted.

I dive in, not coming up for air until my lungs burn for oxygen. The stairs are in my sight, and I’m almost there, but his arms wrap around my waist. He flips me around, pulling me into his wet and hard chest.

I punch his shoulders and kick his shins. “Let me go!”

“Never.” He places his arm under my arms and swims us away from my getaway, like I’m a drowning victim and he’s my lifeguard.

He dips us through an opening in the rock, and we pop back up in a small cove.

“I’m not sure—”

He places his finger over my lips.

“Answer me. Do you want me to move on? Do you want me to take Kendra home and fuck her, claiming her as my own?”

A small amount of bile rises in my throat.

“Answer, Ella. You’re quick to toss our happiness aside for others. This is your choice. I’m not playing any more games. Right here, right now. Do you want me?”

His hands land on my hips, and he pushes me against the wall with his own hips. My breathing staggers, and my heart pounds.

Lie, lie, lie.

“Yes,” escapes my lips, a little breathless, if I’m being truthful.

His lips press to mine, and he rocks into me, his hardness pressing into my stomach. He doesn’t wait for me to open, but instead, he snakes his tongue through the parting of my lips. My legs climb up until they are securely wrapped around his waist. A low growl erupts from the back of his throat, but I swallow his tortured pleasure with my mouth. Our tongues slide, our teeth knock, and our heads each swivel from side to side, uncontrolled and ravishing.

My body’s normal hum with his nearness turns carnal. It burns hot now, wanting him, needing him, demanding him.

Crosby brings my arms up, capturing them above my head, as he closes our kiss, and his lips travel down my jaw and neck. My legs tighten with every swipe of his tongue.

“Relax, baby, we have all the time,” he murmurs close to my ear before his teeth nip.

He thrusts into me. The fabric of my swimsuit is too thin but too thick at the same time.

“More,” I beg.

His lips smile on my skin.

His one free hand reaches behind my neck, untying the string. My top falls down, revealing my breasts.

His eyes feast on them. “I’ve missed these.”

His large hand cups one, and he bends down, encasing it with his mouth. I inhale a sharp breath, and my back arches, pushing into him. I need more, anything, just more.

“More.”

He slides me over, and with his hands molding to my hips, he hoists me up onto a ledge.

My hands press on the rock above my head, but he grabs my two legs, yanking me to the edge of the rock. His fingers graze under each side of my swimsuit, running along my pussy, and my hips fly off the concrete.

He slides the wet fabric over, and his finger moves down, painfully erotic, slowly circling my clit. “You asked for more?” he asks.

“Please,” I plead shamelessly. My hips rotate in circles, and my head tips back.

“Look at me, baby,” he says.

I lift my weak neck to look at him.

He’s gorgeous, and my body zings and tingles from my lips to my toes.

“You want my mouth?” he asks.

I nod.

“Say it.”

“Yes,” I answer.

He smiles. He licks his lips. His head dips down, and his palms press my thighs down. “Wait,” he says.

A moan releases from me when his tongue never reaches my clit.

“Cros,” I implore.

He hooks his fingers on either side of my bathing suit, pulling it down my legs and placing it on the ledge.

“I’ve waited too long to have these legs wrapped around my face again.”

At first, his tongue flicks my clit, and then his tongue slowly lowers, following his finger’s path from moments ago. My hands grip his hair, and my thighs tighten, feeling his stubble on my thighs.

My hand smacks the rock, and my other hand moves to play with my nipple. I need the release he’s been building up in me. Slowly, level by level, he layers my orgasm.

His nose is rubbing along my clit as his tongue explores the rest of me. A roar muffles in me, and his hands grip my ass, stopping on the outside of my thighs, as he practically suffocates himself inside me. His tongue starts moving fast, rolling against my clit.