Chapter 18

Chloe Mariano is kissing me.

Holy shit. Chloe is kissing me.

After everything that has happened, I never would have imagined that I would get the chance to kiss her again. To feel her soft, pillow-like lips.

I smile into our kiss and slowly start to break apart our connection. As much as I never want to stop kissing her, I'm reminded that we aren't alone as I hear the guys start to cheer.

Chloe pulls away as I take in her flushed cheeks and swollen lips. Her hands come to her face, and she starts to hide from us.

Reaching up, I gently encircle her wrists and tug her hands away. "Don't hide, Wildflower."

At the mention of the nickname I gave her, her eyes pop to mine. "You've been giving me hints all this time, and I've never wanted to believe it. I thought you just threw that name in to rile me."

"I mean a small part of me wanted a reaction," I say with a shrug, still holding onto her wrists that have now settled in between us. "But not in the way you were thinking."

She shakes her head at my words before I continue. "I've been playing your game. It's my job to read signs, and I've been reading you, Wildflower. You might not have wanted anyone to know about us, but I never forgot about us."

Her face flushes as her lips find mine again.

Clearing his throat, I glance up to glare at Hudson for the interruption. "Not that we aren't all happy you two decided to make out in front of us, but food's getting cold."

Shaking my head, I reluctantly release Chloe's wrists while reaching for a chair. Pulling it out, I gesture for her to sit as the guys make their way over to the table. Niko waltzes over with three yellow, an orange, and a blue bottle of sports drink. Ty carries the wooden salad bowl to the table while Hudson brings over a pile of paper plates and a handful of forks. We're nothing if not classy.

Hands fly as pizza boxes are flung open. Everyone is starving after today's game, which was a massacre in our favor. We needed this win after yesterday's shit show that I caused. Seriously, what the hell was I thinking? Going out the night before and getting completely shit-faced? I know better, and I opened myself up to my dad's awful text messages.

After every bad pitch I gave up, I had a new text waiting from him. Luckily I had the bright idea to delete the entire text thread instead of reading each text; otherwise, I would've ended up chucking my phone against the wall. I might not have been able to throw a fastball yesterday, but after I read the first text from my dad, I had no doubt I'd be able to land a fastball against the wall.

Chloe is the first to reach for the salad bowl. I watch her pile a mountain of the green leaf mixture on her plate before she's reaching for the pizza. She grabs the biggest triangle of pizza in the box. I watch as she brings the slice to her mouth before taking a large bite. I smile at how she's not shy about eating in front of us. You'd be surprised how many girls have an issue with consuming food in the presence of guys. And that's exactly why I like Chloe—a lot actually—because she's not afraid to be herself.

Once she's happy with her plate, I watch as she lolls her head to the side, staring daggers at Ty.

"So, Billings," she starts as an icy tone laces her words. Ty's shocked expression finds hers. "Did you orchestrate this whole night, or did you really want to work on that study guide together?"

Niko chuckles, and I bounce my eyes between all the guys as I take a large bite of pepperoni and pineapple pizza.

Ty reaches up and strokes his face, eyes bouncing from Niko to Hudson. "Well, I mean I definitely wanted to work on our study guide together since midterms are next week, but then the opportunity kind of presented itself."

"And I came up with the idea," Hud adds. "I kind of screwed things up between you two. I'm sorry, by the way, for how I treated you and handled the situation that summer. I feel guilty" He winces at his confession.

Chloe nods her head at his admission and turns back to her plate. Silence falls over the table.

Hesitantly, I reach over and place my hand on her forearm. She startles from the contact, and I'm about to pull away when she looks over at me from under long black lashes and smiles. I rub my thumb across her smooth skin.

Damn, that smile of hers.

I could just get lost in it. She exudes sunshine even though she constantly wants to shy away from the attention. If only she saw herself the way I see her. But now that we are moving forward with fixing our past and righting all my wrongs, I'm going to make sure that Chloe Mariano sees herself the way I do. She's going to be walking around campus with her head held high.

And everyone is going to know she's mine.

Pushing my plate away, I stand and gather my trash as Chloe finishes her food. "Not to rain on your parade, Billings, but I've got my girl back, and I'm not about to share her with you tonight."

Chloe turns, brow quirked as she stares me down. "Your girl back?"

"Yeah, Wildflower. It's long overdue." I give her a wink back and watch her cheeks turn pink. Goddamn, I love making her blush.

I told myself baseball was my only love, and I'm not saying I love Chloe—at least not yet—but there's something about her that calls to me. And as excited as I am to have her wanting me, to have her forgive me, I can't let her become a distraction. Friday is a big reminder of what happens when I let my emotions dictate my decisions. I can't afford to have problems off the field.

Walking around the island, I stand behind Chloe, resting my hands on her shoulders and running my thumbs in soothing motions. She relaxes against my touch, and I can't help but notice how responsive she is to my touch.

I wonder how she would respond if I touched her in different places.

Lifting her head, her eyes find mine, and her lips curl up. "Wanna go watch a movie?"

Nodding my head, I take her hand and lead her out of the room.

"Don't worry, we'll clean the mess," Hudson shouts from behind us.

I practically pull her up the stairs and into my room where she pauses at the doorway. I watch her take in the room, and I'm curious about what she's thinking. Chloe's never been in my room, and while she doesn't know that I've been in hers, I give her the time to snoop through my things.

Stepping further into the room, I make my way over to my bed where I sit and wait for her. Glancing around, I try to see the room through her eyes. I'm not a clean freak, but I'm not the typical douche whose room is absolute chaos.

The walls are painted a pale gray with white trim. A queen-sized bed with a dark gray upholstered headboard sits centered against the wall under a large window. As much as I wanted a king bed, the space would have been tight, and I wanted a room where I felt comfortable spending an extended amount of time…studying.

The beige comforter is pulled up to cover my pillows, while not a perfectly made bed, at least the sheets aren't sitting haphazardly. A warm brown rustic nightstand is placed beside my bed where an empty coffee mug and water bottle sit. Opposite the nightstand is a matching dresser home to a large TV and a few odds and ends items. My brown desk matches the rest of the furniture and sits on the same wall as the door. There's a neat stack of textbooks and notebooks next to my laptop where I left them.

A few scattered articles of dirty laundry are draped near the hamper, and I realize now I'm fitting the typical guy stereotype of getting my clothes near the basket. Across from my desk is the attached bathroom which isn't huge. It's large enough for a single sink vanity, shower stall, and toilet of course.

As she continues her perusal of my room, my palms sweat with anticipation of what's to come. My heart hammers in my chest with nerves as I finally have the girl who has consumed my mind alone in my room. I hope I don't fuck it up this time. I doubt Chloe will give me another chance.

Chloe walks toward my desk and runs her fingers over the smooth surface. She leafs through some of the notebooks I have sitting there, and I smile at how bold she is, before continuing to my dresser. There are a few framed photos on each side of the TV. Chloe grabs the frame holding a photo of me and my sister.

"Leah?"

"Yeah, that's Leah from a couple of years ago."

"She's so pretty." I hear the smile in her voice and a burst of pride runs through me. I adore my sister and being this far from her is always tough. In the summer, I rarely go home and visit. I try to keep the toxicity out of the house, and it comes out in full force when I'm staying at the house, causing extra stress on everyone. "I bet she's glad that you aren't home to ward off the boys."

A groan erupts from my chest. "Don't remind me about my sister dating. She's going to be eighteen next weekend."

She sets the frame back in its place, and I watch her look at the framed photo of me and my buddies from high school before moving on to the other side of the TV. There's a framed photo from our freshman year at a party. All my favorite CTU crew is in it—Hudson, Ty, Brynn, Macy, Chloe, Quinton, Grant Campbell, and Tyler Harris. Niko wasn't in the picture since he hadn't transferred in yet.

I suck in a breath and wait to see if she inspects the photo closer. If she does, then she's going to see that I'm looking at her and not at the camera. I remember that night. It was a night where I was getting quite buzzed while my thoughts kept drifting to her and our summer spent together. We were lining up for the picture when I caught a whiff of her infamous scent.

Wildflowers erupted in my nose, and I was thrown back into the past.

Of hot summer days lying in the shade. I'd skim articles on ESPN while she'd read.

It was simple, but it was perfect.

Thankfully, she doesn't say anything as she turns her body toward me. Her lounge wear hugs her body. It's in her favorite color purple, something that makes me smile because Chloe is nothing if not predictable. She loves light pastel colors, and I can't say I blame her. The shades look perfect against her creamy white skin and honey-blond hair.

Bringing her lip between her teeth, she starts to chew on it. I can feel the nervous energy radiating off her, and I'd love nothing more than to soothe her worry away, but she's like an injured animal. Smooth, slow movements, or else she'll bare her teeth and run.

Fuck it. I can't take it slow with Chloe, not when I finally have her alone in my room. Searching her face for any cues, I watch as a flame ignites in her eyes, sparking that passion between us that runs deep to our roots. My hands cup the side of her face as I bring my lips to hers. Sparks detonate at our contact, and our bodies relax. I take the opportunity to trail my hands down her back, soft and slowly, before I'm rounding the curve of her ass. The ass I can't help but let distract me while she's in the dugout during games. Unable to fight the impulse, I squeeze her cheeks between my fingers.

"I'm not having sex with you," she blurts, turning her face away from mine, which causes me to choke on air because I was not expecting that. "I'm not a virgin anymore, you missed the chance to own that, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to have sex with you."

Hitting my chest, I sit up as I try to catch my breath. Reaching my hand out, I keep it lifted in the air as I wait for her to take it. Her eyes bounce back and forth like it's a weapon and not my hand. She reaches out and takes it as I pull her to sit beside me.

"Shit, Wildflower." I shake my head as I continue to regulate my breathing. "Listen, I'm in this for more than sex. It's never been about that. Our relationship that summer wasn't about sex, and I'm not going to pressure you into anything that you're not ready for. If I could go back and change things, I would, but I can't, and I hope you will forgive me. You, me, us, it's been a long time coming, and now that I have you back, I want you. Your mind, your heart, your body, all of it, but you set the pace. And I'm gonna need the name of the fucker who took your virginity."

‘Alpha-Cody' was making an appearance, and based on the book I read of hers during the ice storm, I'm hoping she doesn't mind it. I mean she had so many lines highlighted from Christian/Tristan, whatever his name was.

"I-I didn't think you wanted to have sex, but I wanted to make sure we were on the same page."

"Now wait a second, I never said I didn't want to have sex. I've been dreaming about that for two years, and after catching you fuck your toy, it's all I've been able to think about." Her face flames as I remind her that I caught her servicing herself. "But that's not what I had in mind for tonight. I've waited this long. I can wait a little longer."

She nods her head as she plays with her hands in her lap.

"But, Wildflower, you can use me." Her eyebrows come together causing cute wrinkles on her forehead. Jesus, did I just say her confused wrinkles were cute? "I'm available anytime you want to get off. I promise I can do it better than your toy. Hell, maybe we can do a combination of the two."

I flash her my devilish smirk and watch as her eyes darken with desire.

Clearing her throat, she shuffles from where she's sitting up the bed, coming to rest with her back against the headboard. I take it we are done talking about that situation.

Grabbing the remote from the nightstand, I gently toss it on her lap. "You pick the movie."

"Any movie?"

"Any movie, Wildflower." I know I'm going to regret my words as soon as she gives me a mischievous grin. But I don't even care if she puts on the cheesiest chick flick, I just want to spend the night with her.

"Close your eyes," she says as she flips through the apps on the TV. I close my eyes and feel my lips curl up.

Rustling comes from beside me as my senses are heightened. Her body moves as the WB theme song fills the speakers. She nestles her side against mine as instrumental music begins.

"Once upon a time," the female narrator begins as Chloe settles her body against me. Without thought, I bring my arm around her and pull her tight to me.

Tilting my head, I open my eyes and find her watching me. Leaning forward, I bring my lips to her forehead. "God, I missed you, Chloe."

She snuggles closer into me. One of her arms is bent between us while the one furthest away rests against my stomach. Slowly, she traces the lines of my abs, and I try not to focus on how good it feels. If I focus on her touch, a third member will be joining us for this very chill, very non-sexual, movie night.

Tonight I'm watching A Cinderella Story with the girl I haven't been able to get off my mind in two years.

I can't help the smile that spreads across my face as I lean down and kiss the top of her head.

This is my year.

This is the team's year.

But maybe it could be our year, too.