Bat Boy (Easton U Pirates 1)

“I’ll bet you five bucks they’ll hook up by the end of the semester.”

I sipped more of my beer. “Not the end of the night?”

“It takes Jaz a minute to work up to jackasses she thinks are hot.”

I chuckled as I watched Maclain smile, which didn’t happen that often. It softened his features. I wondered just what in the hell was going on in that big jughead of his and why he was being such a shit lately. Not that he wasn’t one before, but now it was high-octane level.

Girard was in a lawn chair, making out with his girlfriend, and when I looked around the yard, a few of the other players were teamed up as well, so to speak.

“Hey, where can I find a bathroom?” Kellan lifted his cup as if to indicate that it was the beer filling his bladder. I motioned for him to follow me inside.

“We only have the one bathroom in the upstairs hall.” I climbed to the second floor with him on my heels, then pointed to the open entryway.

“Thanks,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“No problem.” I walked across to my room and breathed out, trying to rein in my racing pulse over a stupid crush I couldn’t go public with. Not only because I wasn’t nearly ready for something like that, but also because the idea of never being able to do that where he was concerned crushed me.

Regardless, I had a kickass family, awesome friends, and a scholarship to play a sport I loved. I had nothing to complain about. Everything else would sort itself out, even if it did seem overwhelming right now.

Everyone’s on their own timeline.

“What’s with the bat?” Kellan asked from the doorway, startling me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, um, it was my great-grandfather’s.” I moved toward the wall rack and lifted the bat from the display. “My dad gave it to me since he’s never been much of a sports guy.”

He stepped inside and smoothed his fingers over the wooden handle. “Looks like it’s a Derby Made? Pretty damned cool.”

I smirked. “Bet you can also guess the year.”

“The 1930s?”

“Leave it to you to get it right.” My hands were all clammy, so I placed the bat in its proper location before I dropped it and made some more nicks on the surface.

“So, hey,” Kellan said, setting his bag on the floor. He looked behind him to the door, then pushed it closed with his foot so as to not be overheard. My pulse kicked up as I wondered what he was about to tell me. “I got you a real birthday present, by the way.”

“What? Seriously? You didn’t have to—” My words trailed off when I spotted the gift he’d removed from his bag. It was a teddy bear in striped baseball gear, holding a mitt.

When he held it out to me, I swallowed roughly, still reeling from the idea that he’d gotten me a gift. A perfect gift.

“I figured you needed a teddy bear all your own.”

“This mean you’ve retired?” I plucked it from his fingers and squeezed it, noting the soft fur.

“Not quite.” He winked. “He’s my stand-in.”

There was an elongated moment where we stood grinning at each other, and I had the urge to kiss him on that perfectly pouty mouth and show him my appreciation.

“I can’t believe you got me a teddy bear.” I walked to my bed, sank down on the comforter, and propped the bear in the center of my pillow. “Thank you.”

Kellan mumbled a welcome as he walked around my room, checking stuff out. He lifted a picture frame of the team and one of my family, then read the titles from the spines of books on my shelf—all baseball related—and I felt on display. I bit my lip as I watched him, never feeling this nervous previously about having someone in my room.

Then he walked toward me to check the placement of the bear on my pillow, and smiled. Thankfully, my bed was actually made, the pile of clean clothing on the floor put away; the only evidence of my earlier messiness was the towel across the end of the bed from my morning shower.

“Well, now that I gave you the real present, we should probably get back to the party.”

I didn’t know what made me do it, but just as he turned toward the door, I reached for his wrist, and his full-body shiver at my touch surprised the crap out of me.

“Kel,” I said in a rough voice, drawing him toward me. But it was as if he couldn’t look at me right then, so he stumbled backward and sank down on my lap. Fuck.

I wrapped an arm around his midsection to steady him. “Okay?”

“Yeah, I’m… It’s just… It’s so freaking hard to resist you, Donovan.”