5. Teresa
“Why are we here again?” Sadie asked. Again.
“Because,” I started to answer, but as I caught the big guy walking towards us, my big guy, the words died on my tongue.
Jeremy Fletcher was walking right over to me from the far end of the backyard.
It wasn’t conceited of me to think that, either, not with the way his eyes locked with mine like I was his lighthouse and he was a ship lost out at sea.
I swallowed hard, batting away the worry that whatever he was up to with me was genuine. What if all this was a game? Some kind of sick, twisted thing just to get in my pants? He hasn’t kissed you again since that first day when you all but smashed your face into his, the realist in me piped up.
Damn, he was seriously handsome. So much so, I wouldn’t be surprised if I Googled the definition of masculine and his face were to pop up.
I couldn’t deny it. I liked him. Actions speak louder than words, and if that was the case, Jeremy was a good guy.
One of the best I’d ever met. Damn, I more than liked him!
Shit! Was I falling in love with a baseball player?
“Hey, Tere, I’m not feeling good…” Sadie started to say, “I think I should—“
“Teresa,” a deeper voice called, cutting my bestie off. I turned to look at who I already knew it was.
“You,” I mumbled, giving him the best look of disinterest I could muster up. I just wasn’t sure it was believable.
“Who is your friend?” Jeremy asked politely, almost charmingly. I huffed.
“None of your business.” I wasn’t sure why I was giving him so much attitude. Maybe I was still tired from the traveling and late night last night?
“Really?” Jeremy’s brow rose with amusement. What is wrong with him? Is he crazy? Guys typically ran the other direction when I gave them the cold shoulder or even a little bit of attitude.
But not him.
Because Jeremy’s different. He’s not a typical man, The angel on my shoulder whispered.
Oh no, babe, Jeremy is all man, the devil on the other side chipped in.
Jeremy smiled and reached for my hand, pulling me into his arms, and I hated just how much I genuinely didn’t hate how good it felt to be tucked into his side.
“You don’t think your friend should meet your man?
” he asked. My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their socket.
He’d said something like this to my teammates last night, but this was different.
This was Sadie! Not only did she take everything literally, she was a sucker for a love story.
She would see me and him together and make it a whole thing. And this wasn’t that. Right?
“My man?” I whispered. I didn’t need my roommate and best friend of all people to get the wrong idea!
My blood pressure rose with irritation that grew.
Are you really upset about Sadie not understanding what’s going on between you two, or are you upset at yourself because of how much you like the way that sounds? that damn angel on my shoulder asked.
Jeremy’s head dipped down, and time stopped.
His lips brushed against the shell of my ear and he whispered.
“Relax, cielito mio.” He wanted me to relax after calling me his little sky?
! “You look beautiful, by the way,” he complimented.
My body relaxed into his before he pulled away, his gaze bouncing between Sadie and me.
“That’s not nice, Teresa,” he said with a smirk. And I knew what he wanted me to do.
“Sadie, meet Jeremy.” I smiled tightly as I introduced them. “He’s my…”
“Man?” Sadie guessed, and when I peeked up at Jeremy, his huge smile was, with his dimples on full display, if I was honest, disarming. He seemed like a peacock about to puff out his chest with pride. I sighed.
“Sure, he’s my something, all right,” I sarcastically agreed. “Huge pain in my—“ I couldn’t finish my sentence because he gave me a challenging look. “Anyhow, Jeremy, this is my roommate and best friend, Sadie.”
“Nice to meet you, Sadie.” Jeremy extended a hand towards her, and just as she was about to shake it, a seriously pissed-off guy who looked seriously familiar growled behind her.
“It’s you,” my roommate whispered with awe in her voice I hardly ever heard. The guy behind her, a baseball player, too, if I remembered correctly, locked eyes with her, and suddenly, all the hardness in his gaze softened.
“It’s me.” He winked, and Jeremy cleared his throat.
“It was very nice to meet you, Sadie.” His voice softened. “Hope you don’t mind if I steal Teresa for a little while?”
“Tere,” I corrected because I was stubborn.
“Tere,” he finally said, and my belly went all warm and mushy. Shit, this wasn’t good. I melted into him, and when I turned to look at Sadie, her brows had shot up to her hairline. “She and I are going to head inside. Wanna show my girl off. I think you can understand that.”
“Right,” Sadie mumbled before shooting me a look that told me I had a lot to explain. Shit, where would I even start?
“But it’s okay with you?” Jeremy added, his tone completely genuine, taking both of us by surprise. “I just mean, are you going to be okay?” I opened my mouth to tell him I would rather not leave her alone when the other baseball player, I was pretty sure his name was Jason, spoke up.
“She’s perfectly safe,” the shortstop said confidently, and there was something about the way Sadie looked at him that hinted she wanted to hang out with him. Which was weird since Sadie avoided jocks almost as much as I did.
I’ll be right back, I mouthed before Jeremy turned us and led us back into the huge frat house.
“She’s safe with Jason,” the big guy shared, and he looked like he was
“You know him?” I asked as we moved through a crowd of people.
“He’s my roommate and best friend.”
“Oh… Wait, are you setting him up with my roommate?” Was this his attempt at getting me alone?
“Actually, no,” he said as he stopped in the kitchen. “I didn’t know he was interested in her until a couple minutes ago.”
“Interested? Really?” Hmm, interesting development. Did Sadie know she had an admirer?
“Drink?” he offered. I shouldn’t. I had a mile-long list of reasons why it wasn’t okay to not just drink, but drink around him.
I opened and shut my mouth, licking my bottom lip.
“I shouldn’t.”
“Why?” he asked, pulling out two icy water bottles from one of the coolers. He wiped them down with a kitchen towel before handing one to me and popping one open for himself.
“I’m in season,” I answered easily, though it wasn’t the complete truth.
“And?” he asked, as if knowing exactly what I was thinking.
It was bad enough that my head spun and my hormones were out of control anytime I was around him.
The need to climb him like a tree was overwhelming.
I didn’t need alcohol to mess with my head and drop any of whatever was left of my inhibitions.
“This isn’t the kind of a place a girl can safely enjoy a drink,” I added. He stilled. I watched in slow motion as horror was plastered all over his handsome face.
“You think… I would—”
”No.” I shook my head, completely sincere. “I just…” I paused to get my thoughts together. “Around you, I need to keep as much of a clear head as possible,” I blurted out without overthinking.
He stilled and his beautiful blue gaze darkened, something sinfully predatory in his stare that should have scared me, but if anything, it drew me closer.
Literally. It was like my feet had a mind of their own.
My hand rested on the center of his chest the moment I was close enough to touch him.
I guess I was incapable of keeping my hands to myself whenever he was around.
“You need to be clearheaded around me?” His brow rose with suspicion, but it was his eyes that told he got that I was a little weak in the knees around him. I nodded because I didn’t trust myself to speak. “Glad I’m not the only one, cielo.”
“Tere,” I whispered just as my phone pinged. “Shit,” I muttered and felt Jeremy’s heat at my back.
“What is it?”
“Sadie’s going home with your friend.”
“Roommate,” he corrected. I looked over my shoulder. My lips parted with how close he was. All I had to do was lean in a few inches for our lips to touch. No! Stop thinking about kissing him! Your best friend might need you!
“Is a he a good guy?” I asked.
“One of the best,” he answered immediately.
“She’s safe with him? She didn’t really drink but—“
“She’s safe, Teresa. I promise. I wouldn’t have left her out in the backyard with him if I weren’t a hundred percent certain.” I must have given him a look because he sighed and kept sharing. “He’s into her.” My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets. He likes her? Go Sadie!
“Wait, how do you know?” I asked, brows bunched. He stared at me for a millisecond before rocking the hell out of my world with his honesty.
“Because about a minute after you walked out there, I was about to punch the guy who has been my best friend for the last year when I thought for a split second he was into you.”
“What?” I hadn’t been expecting that at all.
“It…” He shook his head. “I found out about a minute before I headed to get you. Misunderstanding. We both were looking in your direction. My eyes on you and his on—“
“Sadie,” I finished softly, putting it together. “And you were about to punch your best friend and teammate because you thought…”
“He was interested in you?” he filled in the blank and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Oh…” I licked my lips. Yeah, something is definitely going on between us. I felt his gaze drop to my mouth. It was heated and so fucking sexy, all I wanted to do was jump and climb him like a damn tree until he kissed me breathless.