Alley-Oops I Think I'm Falling in Love (With the Wrong Guy)

[24] Old Habits Die Hard

She peered up at me with an emotion I couldn't read — I thought I saw fear in those big green eyes, enough so that I paused. But whatever it was, vanished so fast, that I felt dumb for even thinking it. She was a nervous ninny at baseline, but she wasn't afraid of anything.

She flicked her eyebrows at me, like I were the odd one. Then she side-stepped me and headed out back.

I considered following her outside. My guard was up and it made me uneasy not being able to keep an eye on her. Not that I cared, I just felt responsible for her.

Yeesh. She was dead weight. The sooner I cut her loose, the better.

"What the hell dude?" Taylor shouted, diverting my attention. "I thought you said you weren't coming?"

He jostled my shoulders so violently it rattled my skull. Grinning, I elbowed him off and spun around. Preston and his friend, Aziz, were there too. I greeted them both.

"For real though, why all the secrets?" Taylor asked with a laugh. He snatched two cups from a passerby, winked at her to soothe her outrage, then passed one to me. "Anything we should know about?"

I eyed the cup longingly, but waved it off. The last thing I needed was for Aria to come flying out of no where to karate chop that cup out of my hand. Taylor eyed me suspiciously when I refused the cup.

I lifted up my baseball hat and scratched the back of my head, casting my eyes about the room and the deck that overlooked the backyard. "Remember that thing I told you about?"

Taylor's eyes narrowed, but there was not an ounce of recognition there.

I exhaled and dropped my hands, "... Remember? Aria DeLang is my baby sitter, until Coach trusts me again..."

Understanding dawned on Taylor's face and he nodded. "Oh yeah..."

"Damn that sucks, man. She's weird AF." Aziz blurted with a grimace.

My muscles tensed.

I blinked at him for a long moment, caught off guard by the irrational flare of anger that sparked inside my chest.

Aria was weird AF. So why did that bother me?

"Nah, Aria's the homie, A-Z. She's hilarious." Preston said, folding his arms, and shaking his head knowingly. "You just have to understand her sense of humor."

The irritation pooling in my chest grew. I didn't know Preston and Aria were cool like that.

Since when?

"Sometimes I think she's kind of hot, you ever get those vibes? Like she's a banger we've all been sleeping on?" Taylor asked, his face contorted in thought as he pictured her.

Aziz snorted in disgust.

Preston rolled his lips into his mouth and bobbled his head in consideration. They looked at me for my opinion.

Easy.

No.

Except...

The image of her pressed between me and the wall rammed through my thoughts like a bull in a china shop.

I'd never thought of Aria as... well, anything but grating as hell. Until today, when her body was close enough that her breath misted on my collar bones, when I couldn't help but notice the appetizing shape of her lips, the tiny flecks of gold in those fiery green eyes, and the heat between us. It was scathing, raw, wild... intoxicating.

Hot damn.

I cleared my throat. What the hell...

"Can't say I have." I said hoarsely. I dropped my eyes, lest any residual heat still linger in my gaze.

Taylor scrunched his nose. "More for me then." They all laughed. "How far do you think she'd go?  Second base? Third? Girls like her are hard to read. They're either prudes or freaks, no in-between."

I bit down on the inside of my cheek, oddly uncomfortable with the question. We did this all the time, why was this time any different?

Preston hit Taylor in the chest with the back of his hand, "Aria is my friend. You wanna hit it? That's cool, do you, bro, but I don't want to hear about it."

"Respect." Taylor inclined his head, then winked at me. No doubt implying that we'd continue this conversation later.

My stomach turned. Must've been something in the alcohol.

"Who knew Roscoe Tate still liked to party with us plebeians. I guess you can remember where you come from when it's convenient, ay?" A low voice drawled.

Taylor's jovial expression fell and Preston clenched his jaw.

I didn't need eyes on the back of my head to know who spoke. I curled my hands into fists.

So much for staying out of trouble.