Chapter 17 #2
When a couple is about to get in their car in front of my truck, her eyes light up, and she pushes the door open.
“Oh, fuck …” I murmur. “She’s really about to ask these strangers to record this shit.”
I’m quick to get out of the truck just as she’s approaching the woman.
“So, this is a weird request, but could you record a super short video for me and my friend?”
At first, the woman seems a little caught off guard, but then the man she’s with narrows his eyes before smiling.
“Holy shit, you’re Tripp Talmage’s kid!” He practically gasps.
“I’m a huge fan of your old man, kid. But I hear you’re quite the baseball player.
” He holds his hand out to Harland. “Of course, we’ll record your video, guys. ”
His wife looks from us to her husband before eventually shrugging. “I’m going to warn you, Paul here isn’t the best at using technology, so it better be pretty straight forward.”
“Sure is,” Harley smiles. “He just has to press record.”
“I can do it, Pam,” he utters, looking at the screen before he awkwardly gives us a thumbs up.
“Catch, what the heck have you gotten me into?” I say when she steps toward me.
“Do you know the song ‘What’s Up’?” she whispers. “You know … ‘hey-yay-hey-yay’ …”
“Everyone knows that song,” I utter before my eyes widen. “Oh … you want to do that trend? The one where one of us sings that song and the other one sings the song about the bees or whatever?” I pause. “Which one am I?”
“Uh, definitely the ‘What’s Up’ song, Baseball Boy,” she all but snorts. “Anyway, you know the words?”
I stare at her. “You’re giving me the less badass part.”
She pats my chest. “Because I’m the baddie here, babe.” She winks. “Let’s do this.” She whirls her head toward Paul and Pam. “Okay, you can press start now, and I’ll just crop the video.”
Positioning herself behind me, I gulp when I feel her ass press against my body. And even though having her this close is distracting me from making an absolute idiot of myself, I do what she wants me to. She’s right, too. Our followers are going to love this shit.
It’s hard for both of us to keep a straight face during our parts, and it takes a few extra takes—and probably more of Paul’s time than Pam would like—but eventually, we get it done.
“Thanks again!” Harland beams at them. “You two are the real MVPs tonight.”
I thank them before I turn toward my truck. With each take, Paul asked me about three questions about Tripp, and I’m scared if I hang around here too long, he’ll just go ahead and ask me for my parents’ address on top of it.
I open the door for Harland, and once she’s inside, I shut it and head to the driver’s side. Climbing in, I pull my door shut and glance over at her. She smiles at her phone.
“All right, let me just tell you, people are going to love this.” She taps on the screen. “Let me just fix a few things and then I’ll show you.”
Patiently, I wait, and within five minutes, she holds the phone in front of me and I read the caption Pitchers verses Catchers before I start singing “What’s Up” and the camera moves to her as she sings Nikki Minaj’s part.
She moves with so much sass that it makes my dick twitch in my pants, and I swallow roughly.
Once it’s done, she smacks my shoulder a few times—clearly excited.
“Well, what do you think! Should we post it now?” She practically bounces in her seat. “I’ll post it on mine and add you as a collaborator.” She lifts her brows. “You know, to really seal this whole … we are besties deal.”
“Still can’t believe you got the badass part,” I say, pretending to be annoyed, even though I know damn well she is way more of a baddie than my ass will ever be. “But, fine … post it, Catch. Let’s give people a laugh.”
“Already done.” She giggles, holding the phone out to show me her feed. “It was too good not to share. Even though I’ll be honest, Pam did not seem like a fan.”
“That’s okay, Paul was enough of one for the both of them,” I deadpan. “He asked me what Tripp’s favorite color was.”
“Yeah … that was a little odd.” She covers her mouth, fighting back laughter. “He was obsessed with your stepdad. So, I guess we should be thanking Tripp because if it wasn’t for him, who knows if he would have even agreed to doing it.”
“If it got him out of alone time with Pam, I’m going to go ahead and say he still would have,” I tell her honestly because Paul was a happy guy. Pam? Not so much.
She looks at her phone again. “Already a bunch of likes.” She yawns. “Told you people would love it.”
I’m silent for a moment, wishing that this night wasn’t already over. As pathetic as it sounds, it went by too fast.
“Well, I guess we’ll head back to campus then.” I say the sentence, but it’s more of a question. I don’t really care that I have a five a.m. practice. If she wanted to stay out all night, I’d do it with a fucking smile.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she answers, bobbing her head up and down. “I’m sure we both have early mornings.”
Reluctantly, I shift the truck out of park and pull away from the curb, bummed to have to take her home but thankful that we at least get thirty minutes of driving together.
Thirty-five if I drive like an old grandpa … which I fully intend on doing.
When we get back to the road we both live on, Eagle Way, I park my truck in front of The Tower and kill the engine.
I know our night is about to come to an end, and it sucks, but at least parking here gives me a few extra minutes with her when I walk her home.
I’ve liked having Harley riding shotgun tonight.
Actually, I’ve liked everything about the past few hours.
“Well, thanks for a great date,” she says, smirking. “Though I have to tell you, that pasta was to die for, but I’m not sure if it was worth the amount of money you dropped on yourself for me to bid on you …”
“Well, Catch, that may be true, but also, what other date would give you such a flawless injection? I mean, you’ve got to admit, I totally killed it.”
“That is true,” she agrees. “I guess if it doesn’t work out in baseball, you can always be a phlebotomist.”
I grimace. “Fuck no. That’s like … blood. I would be passed out on the floor after my first patient.”
Laughing lightly, she pushes her door open, making the lights in the cab of my truck come on. We both hop out, and she waves politely.
“Thanks again for dinner,” she says, taking a few steps backward, like I’m really going to let her walk back to The Nest after dark. If anything, me parking by The Tower was a strategic decision to set myself up for a little more time with her.
“Look, Catch,” I say, following her, “you may live like, five houses down, and you may have more muscle than a lot of the dudes I’ve played with, but I’m walking you home.”
Still walking backward, she laughs, shaking her head. “I can literally see The Nest from here, Cane. I think I’ll be okay. No bogeyman out tonight.”
“Even if there were, I’m sure you’d fuck him up,” I say honestly.
When she simply stares at me, narrowing her eyes, I shrug. “Look, entertain me and just let me walk you home, all right? My mom would kick my ass if I didn’t at least walk you to your porch.”
Once I’m beside her, she turns, facing forward. “Wouldn’t have taken you for such a gentleman, Hale,” she murmurs, glancing over at me.
“I’m not always a gentleman, trust me,” I say before I can stop myself.
Images of all the ways I’d show her that flash through my mind …
Stopping on the fantasy of me shoving her down to her knees on this sidewalk and telling her to open those pretty lips.
My cock twitches, and I shift around, thankful for how dark it is out right now.
I’m not supposed to be thinking of her that way, but every single time I take a shower or when I watched her sip from her straw, wrapping her lips around it with her eyes on me, that’s exactly what the fuck is on my mind.
We reach The Nest, and she walks along the pathway, stopping on the first step of the porch before she turns toward me.
“Thank you, Cane,” she whispers, the moonlight dancing in her beautiful, big eyes.
I may not be able to see the color right now, but I already know how green they are because I think I’ve got them memorized.
“Not just for dinner, but also for just …” She pauses, biting her cheek.
“For following the rules. For not flirting—” She breathes out a near-silent laugh. “I mean, aside from the auction night.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I murmur, thinking about how fast she took off out of that conference room and cringing inside. “I’m trying my best, Catch. I really am.”
The fact that she’s thanking me for not flirting means she’s enjoying hanging out with me the way it’s been.
Which is fine, but fucking hell … every minute I’m around her, it gets a little harder to be on my best behavior.
But I promised her I would, so I suppose until I see a shift in her energy toward me and I start to sense she’s feeling some of the things I am, I need to keep being a good boy.
I expect her to nod before taking off up the stairs, but instead, her eyebrows pull together.
“Is it hard for you to have a friend who’s a girl and not to flirt?” she asks, looking up at me in wonder.
“Well, I mean … when it’s someone like you, Harland,” I say, using her full name for a reason I’m not even sure of, “then a little.”
“Me?” she blurts out, rearing her head back. “What do you mean?”
She really has no idea what a catch she is. Even though my nickname for her is because she’s a queen behind the plate, it’s also true that she’s an actual catch too.
One that just doesn’t want to be caught, I guess.
“Come on. Look at you,” I say matter-of-factly. “And not only that, but think about how fucking awesome you are. How strong you are.” I stop. “How insanely talented you are.” I shrug my shoulders. “I’d be insane if I found it easy not to flirt with you.”
That earns me a nervous tucking of the hair, and for some reason, I love that I can get that reaction out of her.
She doesn’t seem to give any guy around campus the time of day, and honestly, I think some dudes are afraid to approach her because she’s such a badass.
But there’s something here between us, even if she’s trying her best to fight it.
“Wow …” she mutters, biting down on her lip.
“Coming from NEU’s infamous Cane Hale? I’m feeling pretty good right now.
” She smiles at me before starting to turn but stops with her body only halfway.
“On that note, I’m going inside before you say anything else that causes my head to swell any bigger, making it so I can’t fit through the door. ”
I know I shouldn’t watch her walk up the stairs, but as her ass sways with every step, I can’t help myself.
“Good night, Hale,” she calls over her shoulder before pulling the door open.
“Night, Catch,” I drawl back.
Once she’s safely inside, I slowly walk home.
Smiling like a damn fool the entire short trek there.
Lately, she’s been on my mind more than any other woman ever has.
It isn’t about the chase either. Because that girl?
She doesn’t want to be chased. Yet here I am, already thinking about our next date.
And even though she tagged me in a picture and a video to prove we were hanging out and then had me repost from my account, I don’t really give a fuck if that sells people on liking me or not. Right now, I just want her to like me.
Fuck everything else.