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Landon

Kate’s head rests on my shoulder and my arm has officially gone dead. She fell asleep about an hour ago, but I haven’t had the heart to wake her. She looks pretty stinkin’ cute all scrunched up against me.

Damn...I got it bad. I will have to move at some point though. I flip through her Netflix screen, trying to find something interesting. This girl sure does love her romances. Vampire Diaries, The Notebook, Bridgerton, Outlander... She is obsessed with Jamie Fraser. My eyebrows shoot up in interest. Sex/Life ? What’s this shit? I click it on and settle in.

Two episodes later, and a hard-on has me shifting to get more comfortable. Kate stirs a little, and I hold my breath, praying so hard that she doesn’t wake up. She just snuggles in tighter, but I have to carefully lift and move her hand when it falls from my chest to my lower abs, dangerously close to my boner.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Please don’t wake up... I pray as I lay my head back, looking up at the ceiling and willing my dick to chill. This minx is watching quite an interesting show. Seems to have a decent storyline though.

After my situation settles, I see it’s almost one in the morning. I have practice at ten, so I’m gonna have to move. I slip out from under her cheek as slowly as possible and scoop Kate up in my arms before her head can fall too quickly to the couch. Thankfully, she already made her bed, and she’s in comfy clothes, so it’s an easy enough process. I bend to pull back the covers with the hand that’s under her knees and gently lay her down. I pull up her covers and can’t help but trace the dark strand of hair from her eyes.

She’s so beautiful. I’d give anything to kiss her right now.

Before she wakes and catches me looking at her like a creeper, I leave her room with a soft click of the door. Her room is right across the hall from mine.

So close, but so far away...

“Good work team!” Hit the showers!” Coach hollers from the dugout. Mason, our pitcher, who is quickly becoming my best pal, jogs up to me at the plate.

“Beer?”

“Fuck yeah,” I agree as I swipe the lingering sweat from my face that had been trapped under my catcher’s mask. We hit the showers and shoot the shit as we’re all getting dressed to hit the pub down the road from campus. It’s been about three weeks since we started up practices, but I get the sense the majority of the guys aren’t complete tools. A few of them are manwhores, but overall, good guys.

It’s about six-thirty on a Thursday night when we stroll through the pub door, but lots of us are out. The first thing that catches my eye is the neon lights flickering above the jukebox in the far-left corner. I head up to the bar and signal to the bartender for a beer while Mason and a couple of the guys head over to a group of chicks I recognize from classes. Mason’s longtime girlfriend, Sarah, smiles from the right of the group and throws her arms around his neck for an overly affectionate kiss. I notice the half-empty margarita pitcher at their high table. She whispers in his ear; Mason’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline, and he pulls Sarah closer for another kiss. I shake my head into my beer and chuckle, leaning my forearms back onto the bar to take in the rest of the scene.

“Ah, shit man. Who is that?” I hear Trevor from our team say somewhere over to my right. “Target acquired.” I’m rolling my eyes as he swaggers off, intent on finding his new flavor of the week in a large group of girls. A few of them turned their backs toward us before I could see who he was talking about, but the ass on the brunette he’s chatting up is spectacular. Long tan legs...

I take a swig of my Miller Lite as she tips her head back laughing at whatever cheesy line Trevor is throwing out.

Choking on fizz, I spew the contents of the beer all over my new, dark green plaid button up. I know that laugh. I’m moving before I even think about it. Yeah...this ain’t happening.

I stalk up behind Kate, and Trevor notices while she is busy handing him back his phone.

Fuck.

He’s got her number. The look on my face must be something because his playboy grin falters.

“Kate...” I draw out, making my presence known to her and clearly sending Trevor vibes not to fuck with her. “I see you’ve met Trevor.” I grimace down at her. Hell, I don’t want him anywhere near her. Kate turns and frowns up at me like I just pissed in her Cheerios.

Shit. This ought to be fun.

“Landon...” she draws back.

“Hey, Trev,” I look back up at him, knowing he sees he’s lost tonight’s chance at her, “Did Kristy find you yet?”

He scowls at me, then turns a smile on for Kate when he tells her he’ll see her later. She smiles and waves as he shoulder-checks me on his way back to the other guys from our team. She turns abruptly, her hand on her hip.

“Really?” Incredulous venom laces that one word.

“Oh, yeah. You’ll thank me later.” I swig my beer and waltz off toward the jukebox. I have a feeling that I’ll be paying for that later somehow. I pick some AC/DC and throw in a few country rock songs that I know she loves. Hopefully that’ll lighten her mood. I want to see her hips sway a little. It’s been forever since I’ve seen her dance.

She was the captain on the high school dance team, and I enjoyed watching her light up during performances. In fact, my favorite performance was to the current song playing. Kate choreographed a routine to AC/DC’s Back in Black that included lots of hip rolling and swinging, splits and this wild move that made her long hair whip around and across her face while her hips circled. Fuck, she looked like a glorified sex kitten of any man’s dreams in that moment, and that one move starred front and center in my Kate spank bank for weeks. I swallow hard at the memory while eyeing Kate’s throat work while she swallows down the last of her margarita.

Easy boy...

I make my way back through the crowd of bodies swaying, a testament to the alcohol beginning to loosen people up. A pretty blonde I recognize from Chem class flashes me a flirty, encouraging smile that I return with a lift of my beer and a smirk, but I’m here for a beer with the guys. I’m not in the mood to chase a skirt unless it’s Kate’s tonight. I’m gonna have to man up, sooner rather than later, before she lands herself in someone else’s arms again. And let me say, she’s picked a couple doozies over the past few years.

I’ve been there to mop up the messy aftermath and help rebuild her confidence just for her to do it all again. Yup, best friend right here... Sigh... fucking friendzone. If I don’t do or say something soon, I’ll never leave it, and I’ll end up one morning coming face to face with someone from the team pissing in my toilet. Heaven forbid it be Trevor. I growl and finish up my beer as I make it back to Mason just in time for a round of shots.