The Perfect Catch (Kissing the Enemy Book 1) Read online

  It seemed Coach Robertson helped to run the intramural round-robin charity event that took place in about two weeks’ time. She’d be there in an official capacity and watching every game.

  It was the same event in which Noah was a coach. A coach in need of more female players.

  Coach Robertson helped with fundraising and organizing, but it seemed she also attended because she was always on the lookout for fresh talent.

  Those were Coach Everly’s words, not mine. Everly seemed convinced that if I could get on a team, I’d have my chance of being seen by Coach Robertson. She’d even given me a little wink before I left, telling me that if I could get myself onto a team, she’d make sure Robertson got wind that there was an up-and-coming pitching star in her midst.

  I’d grinned for real for the first time all day.

  “A star, huh?” I said, laughing as Everly nudged my arm on her way out of the office.

  “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  Too late. Despite the horrible start to the day, I was excited beyond belief to have a new goal. A new dream. I could still be seen by the coach for the team of my dreams. All I had to do was get Noah on board.

  Maddie sat next to me in the bleachers and watched me as I watched Noah. I was just waiting for a moment that he’d be alone, but I should have known that wouldn’t be easy. When you put a hottie like Noah in the midst of a group full of young women with eyes…well, he hadn’t been lacking for companionship, let’s just put it that way. He’d been surrounded by my teammates or fellow chaperones from the moment we all arrived in the stadium.

  “Are you sure he’ll say yes?” Maddie’s tone was nervous, and I couldn’t blame her. She was worried on my behalf, and rightfully so. The only times she’d seen Noah he’d been acting like a jerk.

  But she didn’t know him, not like I did. He’d do anything for me, especially to help my dreams come true.

  I might just have to remind him of that.

  I needed a moment alone with him, or at least, as alone as we could get in a crowded stadium. But what I really needed was one of the girls who flanked him to leave her seat so I could have a word.

  His gaze met mine over the row of heads between us and he gave me a smile that made my knees weak.

  Thank God I was sitting down. Now that reaction I couldn’t chalk up to being a side effect of that kiss. No, it had been years now that his smile had a physical effect on me. I’d never read much into it. It wasn’t exactly a secret that he was sexy and charming and hot as hell and—

  I swallowed and glanced away from those intense blue eyes. Yeah, that line of thinking was not helping the butterflies in my belly.

  When the blonde on his right got up to join her friends across the aisle, I seized my chance. “Save my seat,” I said, flashing Maddie a confident grin I didn’t totally feel. I bounded up the stairs toward him, reminding myself as I went that I had nothing to be nervous about.

  It was just Noah.

  Telling myself that didn’t help, especially not now when there’d been so much weirdness between us. But he smiled at me when he saw me coming, so that had to be a good sign, right?

  The pretty redhead sitting on his left was still there when I slid down into the seat next to him, but I didn’t have time to wait until he was totally alone. That opportunity might never come.

  “How’d it go?” he asked.

  I met his smile because I couldn’t not. It was a force of habit. But my big grin made my next words sound false. “Um…not good?”

  He stared at me for a moment. “Judging by your smile, I hope there’s more to the story…”

  The redhead beside him leaned forward to smile at me; she didn’t seem to realize that this was a private conversation. “So,” she said, eyeing me from head to toe. “You must be the kid who got caught.”

  The kid who got caught. Was that what I was being called these days?

  The girl wore a big friendly grin and her eyes were gleaming with amusement when she added, “You do know that you’re the first, right?”

  I shrugged, her easy smile making me want to laugh along with her. “What can I say? I’m a trailblazer.”

  She tipped her head back with an infectious laugh. “I like this girl,” she said to Noah.

  I liked her too, despite the fact that she was probably Noah’s latest girlfriend.

  No, I quickly amended. I liked her because she was most likely Noah’s girlfriend. Because not despite—there was a big difference.

  “I’m going to go get a soda,” she said, looking between me and Noah with unabashed interest. “Do you guys want anything?”

  We both shook our heads and as I watched her walk away, I realized that perhaps she had realized that this was supposed to be a private conversation after all.

  Noah looked at me and I tried not to notice how beautiful his eyes were. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on? What did Everly say?”

  I cleared my throat and folded my hands in my lap, in a move that was supremely awkward. God, what was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I just act normally around him these days?

  Because he kissed you.

  There was the voice that refused to be ignored. The one that was obsessed with that freakin’ kiss.

  Yes, fine. So it was a kiss. A first kiss. An amazing kiss. Get over it already.

  “Callie,” he said again, a question in his voice. “What did she say?”

  “I need to join your team.” The words just kind of slipped out. Oh crap, that wasn’t at all what I’d intended to say. I’d had a whole speech planned.

  He arched his brows. “Excuse me?”

  “Your softball team,” I said. And then in one long, rushed breath I told him everything Everly had told me, about Coach Robertson, about my chance to be seen, about how I needed his help.

  By the way he grimaced at the end of my speech, you’d think I was asking him for a kidney and not a spot on some team he coached for a charity event.

  “Come on,” I said. “This is my best chance to be seen by the Fairfield coach. Besides, you and I both know that you need female players. Your friends told us last night, remember?”

  I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed and then mashed his lips together in discomfort. He looked to his left, where the redhead had just been, and then back to me.

  He looked like he was searching for someone to save him.

  The more he hesitated, the more annoyed I got. “You need female players,” I repeated. “And you’re always saying how I’m one of the best—”

  “You are, Cal.”

  “So? What’s the problem?” I met his gaze with a glare. “What’s the holdup, Mason?”

  He shifted his gaze so he wasn’t quite meeting my eyes. Seriously, what was his problem? We could basically solve both of our problems with one fell swoop. It was a win-win.

  Unless…unless something had changed on his end. But even so, he could do me this one favor. I asked him point blank. “How many female players do you currently have?”

  “One,” he muttered. By the way his gaze flickered to the empty seat beside him I had my answer of who that ‘one’ was. The redhead was also his lone girl on the team.

  “Is she your girlfriend?” Yet again, words tumbled out of my mouth without the courtesy of going through a filter.

  His head snapped up and his gaze met mine.

  I swallowed at the unreadable expression. Maybe it was none of my business but I wanted to know. And we were friends, right? Theoretically, at least?

  “My girlfriend,” he repeated. His flat tone held a world of disbelief. “She’s on my team. She’s my friend.” He made it sound like the idea was ludicrous—as if he wasn’t a serial dater. As if he wasn’t forever juggling five different girls at any given moment.

  Please. Give me a break. He might’ve been Eric’s best friend, but I’d hung out with him too. I’d gone to the same school so I knew the girls he hooked up with. I’d sit in the stands and listen to them cheer.
I’d listen when they cried when he inevitably dumped them to move on to the next. Maybe if I didn’t know him so well I would have believed him that he would never date a friend or teammate.

  And maybe some of that shared history was written on my face because he stopped trying to convince me that the thought was inconceivable.

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” he said.

  “Fine.” I shrugged and said a little prayer that he didn’t see the flicker of relief that went through me.

  It was ridiculous. I had no reason to be relieved, just like I’d had no reason to be jealous.

  He shifted slightly and I swore I could feel the intensity levels in him rise.

  “You thought I had a girlfriend?” His tongue darted out to wet his lips and his gaze was inscrutable as he shifted to face me, his eyes narrowing with some undefinable emotion. “If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t have—” He cut himself off, thrusting a hand through his short hair as he shook his head. “You know what? Forget it.”

  But of course, I couldn’t forget it. I had to know what he was going to say. My mind was already whirling through the possibilities.

  “If you had a girlfriend…what?” I prompted.

  He looked away.

  “You wouldn’t have kissed me?” I said. “Is that what you meant?”

  He flinched a bit but looked straight ahead rather than answering.

  Oh, my God. Was that what the kiss was all about? Was he just between girlfriends? Were those lips so used to being kissed all the time they couldn’t go a full day without getting some action?

  A filler. A stand-in. That’s what I’d been. It all seemed so clear now. I’d been a makeshift kisser.

  He cast me a sidelong look. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Before I could blurt out my humiliating and demoralizing theory about being a stand-in pair of lips, he let out a huff of annoyance. “Of course I wouldn’t have kissed you if I had a girlfriend.” He looked forward again so I couldn’t see his eyes. “I know I don’t exactly have a stellar record when it comes to relationships, but I’ve never cheated on anyone.”

  Some of my craziness faded at the sight of him looking all grumpy and put out because I’d think him capable of cheating. A pang in my chest made me spill the truth. “I wasn’t looking at you like that because I thought you were a cheater, I was just thinking that maybe you kissed me because I was a filler or something.”

  That had his head whipping around, his face turning toward me with eyes unspeakably wide. “A what?”

  I shifted under his stare. Oh God, why had I brought up that kiss in the first place? “A filler? A stand-in?” I offered hesitantly. “You know, like a makeshift kisser.”

  “A makeshift…” He shook his head as if to clear it and a low laugh escaped. “You think I kissed you because…what? I’m just so addicted to kissing women, I’d kiss whoever happened to be handy?”

  I cringed because that’s exactly what I’d thought, but hearing him say it aloud made me feel just a little bit guilty.

  And more than a little bit idiotic.

  “I don’t know,” I said defensively. “I don’t go around kissing random guys so I don’t know how things work in your world.”

  He nodded, his gaze growing far more serious and I got the impression that he’d read far more into that comment than intended. “You’re right,” he said, and his tone was too serious just like his eyes. “And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse you.”

  Confuse me. Somehow that made me feel like I was twelve instead of seventeen. Like I was making way too much out of a simple kiss. I shifted in my seat because…I probably was. It didn’t mean anything, and I knew that, so why had I even brought it up in the first place?

  But it was out there now, and at least we were talking. Or rather, at least he was talking. “Look, Callie. I’ve been meaning to apologize for that—”

  “You already did.” And oddly enough, I didn’t want to hear it again. I was all for talking, but apologizing for that kiss was not exactly what I wanted to hear.

  “Yeah, but I should explain,” he said. His voice was gentle and he had that big brotherly air about him. The kind that said he was being patient with me, and treating me like a child. “Between the shock of the car crash and the relief that you were okay…” He shrugged. “I guess my emotions just got the best of me.”

  I swallowed a lump of something bittersweet. He’d been overcome by emotions. I clung to that thought, even though I knew he didn’t mean it like that. He didn’t mean romantic emotions, just…emotions. Someone he cared about was safe and sound after a frightening out-of-control moment. It was understandable.

  Besides, I should be relieved that it hadn’t meant anything more.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”

  I felt like it was my turn. Was I now supposed to explain why, exactly, I’d kissed him back? I rubbed my sweaty palms against my shorts. Yeah, that was so not happening.

  “So,” I said in a decidedly chipper voice that came out way too loud. “We’re agreed. It was a mistake.”

  He nodded and I looked away. It was a mistake. He’d said it. I’d said it. So why was there now a piece of lead sitting in my gut and why did my chest feel like it was sinking?

  I tried to think of something else to say, something that would put us back on even footing, but my head was buzzing and I couldn’t concentrate on anything but that kiss.

  I spotted his redheaded friend heading back our way down the aisle and it clicked. His team. My chance. The whole reason I’d come up to sit with him in the first place. I turned to face him. “Well, now that we’ve got that cleared up, let’s talk softball.”

  His gaze was wary. “The game isn’t for another two weeks.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Don’t you have to be getting back home?”

  I shook my head. “My parents will understand. Well…” I tilted my head from side to side. “They might not understand the whole sneaking out thing, but they’ll be fine with me doing what I need to do to get a scholarship.” I crossed my fingers. “Hopefully.”

  He scratched at his forehead and I could see him thinking through every obstacle. I helped him out a bit, jumping to what I knew would be the next question. “My boss at the supermarket won’t care. He’s got more help than he can handle over the summer, and besides, he loves me. I know he’ll hold my job for me.”

  He still didn’t look convinced. “You can’t stay in the dorms once the clinic ends.” His gaze met mine and I could have sworn I felt a bolt of blue lightning.

  That was so not even possible but his eyes seemed freakin’ electric with intensity.

  Once again I feel my brain go blank. What were we talking about again?

  “I can stay with you.”

  His eyes widened.

  Oh. Oh dear. I’d kind of just blurted that out there, hadn’t I? I’d officially crossed the line from pushy to presumptuous. This was another speech I’d planned out, and now I’d gone and ruined it.

  The thing was, I’d talked to Maddie, and while she’d offered to let me crash at her place, I knew her family’s place was super small and two weeks was a long time to impose on people who barely knew me.

  But Noah…he knew me. We’d practically lived together in the same house growing up, and I knew from his mom that he lived in a big house that surely had a couch or two.

  I folded my hands in prayer and held them up in front of my chest beseechingly. “Pretty please? You won’t even know I’m there.”

  He let out a long exhale and I couldn’t exactly tell if it was shock or amusement or something else entirely. He dropped his head into one hand and rubbed his temples. “Your parents—”

  “Would totally not care,” I said. “They love you like you’re my brother.”

  “Speaking of,” he started.

  “Eric wouldn’t care either,” I added quickly. “Why would he?”

  “Right,” he muttered so low I almost
didn’t hear. “Why would he?”

  Um, wasn’t that what I’d just said? “So you’re on board then?” I nudged his elbow. “Roomie?”

  Yeah, okay, maybe I’d pushed a little hard there but no one got anywhere without asking for what they wanted. Know who taught me that? Noah. He of all people should get it. He more than anyone in the world should know that there was nothing I would not do to make this happen.

  “There’s one problem,” he said.

  I met his gaze unflinchingly. “Tell me the problem and I’ll fix it.”

  His lips twitched up in the corners at my terrible mafia gangster impression. I found myself rooting for a full-on grin. Since when had he become so stingy with those suckers…and more importantly, was he only smile-stingy with me or was he just a grump with everyone these days?

  When the redhead plopped down beside him I got my answer. He immediately and casually gave her the kind of slow, easy smile I’d been missing so much.

  So…just me then.

  That’s what I’d thought.

  “What did I miss?” she asked.

  I think we all knew she wasn’t referring to the game down on the field.

  Noah leaned back in his seat with a sigh. “Callie here wants to join our team for the charity event.”

  The girl’s eyes widened with unabashed glee. “That’s fantastic news! If she’s half as good as you claim she is, we’ll be wiping the floor with those suckers.” She held her hand over her heart, mischief dancing in her eyes. “All in the name of charity, of course.”

  “Of course,” I said, because she’d been looking at me, not Noah. I couldn’t help but cast a quick glance his way in surprise. “Did you really tell her about me?”

  “Are you kidding, Callie?” the girl said, like we were old friends. “We’ve heard all about you.”

  I looked from her to Noah and back again, noting with interest the way Noah was fidgeting in his seat. “Avery,” he growled in a warning tone to the redhead.

  I couldn’t help myself. It was just so rare to see Noah squirm. Leaning past him as if he wasn’t there, I addressed Avery. “If he’s talked about me so much, maybe you can help explain why he was such a jerk to me when I first arrived.”