Page 51 of Please Don’t Go (The Midnight Strike #1)

DANIEL

What started as a dull pinch in my chest has now evolved to prickly flares. With every exhale, my chest bursts with a sharp pain.

“Do you think if we beg enough, they’ll give us a tour of the locker room?” Adrian bounces on his heels, eyes trained on the MCU baseball players as they bump fists with the opposing team now that the game has ended.

I laugh. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

“You wanna bet?”

“Bet what?”

“If they agree, you do my chores for a month.”

“Okay, and you’ll do mine if they don’t.”

“Deal.” We shake hands and release them when the players giddily start running to the dugout.

“Hey!” Adrian grips the railing, leaning over to get a better view of them.

A tremor shoots through my body, making my hand shake as I attempt to button my jersey.

“I can’t believe they agreed,” I whisper in disbelief.

My heart squeezes and I swear I feel my lungs collapse. My back breaks out into a sweat and white dots dance in my vision.

I’m not breathing. Breathe, Daniel. Fucking breathe.

“Imagine, this will be our lockers one day.” Adrian stares at one of the messy lockers in awe.

Picking up my hat from the top cubby of my locker, I drag my drenched, trembling fingers through my hair before I put it on. Wiping my palms down my pants, I grip the safety pin and breathe in and out, slow and steady.

Closing my eyes, I attempt to collect myself, but moments with Adrian play in my head. His smile, his laughs, his dimples. The bridge of my nose burns, the emptiness in my chest far too intense for nothing to be residing in it.

No, something is there.

No, someone is in there.

“So that’s how you use the dishwasher.” Josie pushes the start button and stands back, folding her arms against her chest. “Did you understand, or do you need me to write it down for you?”

I attempt to keep a straight face, but my lips deceive me and lift. “You know, I’m not sure if I got it. You might need to show me again.”

She pins me with an impatient stare, but her mouth is just as traitorous because it curls into a small smile. “I don’t have the time or energy. Look up a video. Please tell me you’re capable of using YouTube?”

Snarky, I love it.

I manage to suck some semblance of air into my lungs and greedily they absorb oxygen.

“You’re going to have to hold the cord just like this.” I show her how to hold the earbuds cord to the portable CD player. “Or the music will sound scratchy.”

“Daniel…” She presses her lips together, amused eyes locked on my fingers twisting the cord.

“Don’t you dare laugh.”

Her chin quivers.

“Josie, don’t.”

Her nose twitches.

“Josefine.”

She rubs her nose, but I still hear the snicker she attempts to stifle. It’s soft, muffled, but then it snowballs out of her mouth and she’s laughing.

“Your CD player privileges have been revoked.” I try to keep a serious face but she’s laughing and smiling. She sounds so pretty, so free, so her, I bask in the sound of it, forgetting for a moment what we were talking about.

“Don’t be like that, Garcia,” she says patronizingly, taking the apparatus from my hand and inserting the disc.

Everything stops spinning, my chest doesn’t hurt, and the white dots disappear instantly as if they were never there.

I breathe in and out and my world steadies. Memories of last night with Josie play in my head. When my phone lights up with a message, and I see who it’s from, I feel so grounded, the tremors stop.

Josie: Please don’t embarrass me out there. I’m not going to waste two and a half hours sitting on the couch to watch you lose

I laugh, catching weird looks from my teammates, but I ignore them, my fingers quickly moving on the screen.

Me: Keep your eyes on me and ONLY me

Josie: I don’t know. If you play like shit, I might look elsewhere

Me: Not after yesterday, I know you won’t

The three dots appear and disappear, my lips stretching wide as the seconds tick by and the dots come and go until I get a reply.

Josie: Me coming changes nothing

Me: Sure, baby, sure

Me: I’m more than happy to show you again

The dots come and go, no doubt because I called her baby. I shouldn’t have but I remember how flushed she got yesterday after I did. How she looked shy and that’s so unlike her.

I really want to see that side of her again.

Me: It’s okay. Take your time to think of something to say. Squeeze your thighs. I know you’ll be thinking of me while you do

I grab my belt, adjusting myself. Fuck, why did I say that?

The dots all together stop but a second later I get a message.

Josie: Put the brightness down

My brows pinch in confusion but I instantly do.

Josie: Attachment: 1 Image.

Josie: Hold the picture down

My heart thunders in my chest, gaze drifting side to side before I hold the Live picture down. My mouth and throat goes dry, my eyes shoot wide, and my dick throbs.

She sent a picture of her waist down. She’s wearing what looks like tiny cotton shorts. I don’t know if she rolled them up, but the seam is wedged between her pussy lips, outlining them. She slips her hand between her thighs, pressing her palm down before she clenches her thighs.

Josie: More like you’ll be thinking of me

Josie: Go get ‘em, Cap!

I can hear the snark, dry sarcasm in her voice and see the heat in her eyes. I shake my head, wiping a palm over my face to cover my grin.

“What’s got you smiling so big?” Angel asks, standing next to me once he’s finished getting ready.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” I answer.

“Damn, Sparky.” Ryan, our second baseman, slaps my shoulder and ruffles my sweaty hair. “What the hell are you on and can I get some?”

We just finished our game, winning 12-4. While I got three home runs and three RBI, I can’t take all the credit. Everyone did their part and got the job done.

“What are you trying to say? I’m Sparky for a reason, aren’t I?”

“You were a fucking bolt out there,” Lincoln, our right field, chimes in, making a loud whoosh sound. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you run that fast. And those dives? They were smooth as fuck.”

“Forget fast, you were being a cocky little shit out there. Smirking and shit.” Angel laughs as he undresses himself. “I don’t ever think I’ve seen you celebrate like that. And why were you pointing at your eyes like that?”

I was sending a message to Josie, eyes on me .

“Someone’s getting tested,” Kai singsongs like a child.

The entire locker room breaks out in a chorus of “oooooo’s” and “yeah, he is.”

I know they will. I played differently today; my teammates noticed and so did the coaches. Throughout the game, I was asked questions and getting funny looks from them.

I can’t explain it; I felt wired, and I guess in a way…I was high, not on drugs but on Josie. She just makes me feel alive and on top of the world. It’s like she injected herself in my veins and all I feel is euphoria rushing through my body.

“So you live with Josie now?” Bryson’s nonchalant question disrupts my thoughts.

The guilty expression on Gray’s face gives him away. “Sorry.”

I shrug, not bothered. He was going to find out and I genuinely don’t care that he knows.

“Good game, Bry,” I say instead.

I know behind his indifference, he’s mad. I can hear the indignation underneath his tone, feel the anger exude hot from his skin despite him being across the room.

He bitterly laughs, untucking his jersey from his pants. “If you want any tips, want to know what gets her off, what she likes, I’m more than happy to tell you. But she’s pretty easy so…”

I inhale a sharp breath, gliding my tongue across the top of my teeth. I fist my hands at my side and Angel notices because he puts his hand on my shoulder, shaking his head.

“It’s not worth it. Just let him be.”

I loosen my fist, exhaling.

He’s not worth it, I chant in my head as I grab my stuff to shower, but when I walk past him, he snickers.

“No hard feelings. I fucked your ex, you’re fucking mine. We’re even now.”

I keep walking but stop at his next words.

“Don’t be like that, Danny. Seriously, if you need pointers, I don’t mind sharing them with you.” He smiles at me, supercilious. “But like I said, Josie’s so fucking easy, she’ll like anything you?—”

My vision tunnels and I black out. I don’t remember dropping my stuff or pushing Bryson into the locker until two people are behind me, trying to pull me off him because somehow, we landed on the floor.

I don’t know who it is and I don’t care.

I’m on top of Bryson, ramming my fist into his face.

I think he tries to hit me and if he does, I don’t feel it.

“You don’t talk about Josie!” I pummel his face and anywhere I can get my fists. “Run your fucking mouth again! I fucking dare you! Fucking do?—”

“Daniel, that’s enough!” Coach D shouts, hauling me back. There’s another hand on me, but I don’t turn around to see who it is. “Daniel, stop!”

I’m forcefully dragged back. Bryson stays on the ground, blood pouring from his face.

My vision only clears when I’m dragged out of the locker room. Coach D and Coach Lewis let go of me, both pinning me with disappointed and angered looks.

“I’m not going to apologize.” I clench my jaw, fisting and unfisting my bloody hands.

“What the hell is the matter with you!” Coach D barks, voice booming down the halls, and shoves my shoulder hard. Anyone who’s around quickly disperses. “He’s your teammate; you’re the captain! You should know better!”

“He started it.” I breathe out harshly, dragging my fingers through my hair.

“I don’t give a damn who started it. He’s your goddamn teammate! Is this still about the girl from last year? She’s not?—”

“No,” I clip. “It has nothing to do with her.”

“Then?” He crosses his arms against his chest, impatiently tapping his foot, eyes narrowed into murderous slits. “Then what the fuck is it about? What made you so mad, you’d be willing to get suspended, huh?”

I grind my teeth, my jaw aching from how heavy they scrape against each other. “Josefine. I don’t need to explain myself anymore. He was already warned not to run his mouth. He knew and still did it anyway. I won’t apologize when he already knew what would happen.”

Coach D runs his palm down his face, then pinches the bridge of his nose, grunting. “You better not have broken anything.” He points at me threateningly. “This is so unlike you.”

“Yeah, well, shit happens.” I shrug unremorsefully. “He shouldn’t have called her easy…called her anything. I wasn’t bluffing last time and I won’t now or ever.”

A string of Italian cuss words leave his lips in a mutter. “Adam, take him with you. I need to make sure you didn’t break anything.”

“Am I suspended?” I ask.

“No, we need to test you. You played fucking phenomenal today. I hope to God you didn’t break anything or I’ll beat the shit out of you.” He rubs his eyes. “You just couldn’t wait until you were off the goddamn campus. Dammit, Daniel.”

If I did, consequences be damned.