Chapter 12

12

KING

"Dude you're dragging ass today, what's going on with you?" Sam's face comes into view above the weight bar and I flinch, knowing I haven't been paying attention. Lifting the bar up high, Sam grabs it and sets it on the rack, giving me a break.

"Sorry, I stayed up late with my roommates and didn't get enough sleep." I grab my towel off the rack, wiping my face and then the bench. I walk over to the treadmill and hop on, deciding I can't hurt myself if I'm only walking.

"Mateo?" he asks, coming up and taking the treadmill beside me.

"Yeah, him and Niko. We went and got some drinks, then ended up playing some games until way too late."

"Next time, invite me, man. I would love to hang out with you all."

"Sure." I know he truly just wants to hang out with Mateo, but I'll wait until he's ready to tell me more about that. It's not my place to pry. "I actually invited Mateo and Niko to our scrimmage tomorrow, so you'll probably be able to find them in the stands."

"Oh, hell yeah. I love when our buddies come and watch us. It gives me a chance to show off." Most people don't care about showing off to their friends, but once again, I'm not going to call him out. "So, I've been wondering, how weird is it to be living with the coach's son? I mean, that has got to be weird, right?"

"We don't really chat about baseball much, or about the fact his dad is my coach. I mean we've discussed it here and there, and of course we had to talk about it since Coach asked him to tutor me, but other than that he's a normal roommate."

"Still so weird." He shakes his head, blowing out a breath.

"Eh, sometimes."

Trent walks into the weight room, a clipboard in his hand. "Hey guys, Coach wanted me to come in here and see if anyone wanted to sign up. They're setting up a fundraiser type game to raise money to get the locker rooms updated. It's pretty badass, because if we want, we'll get to play in shifted form, which hell yes, me playing with all of my legs? Can you imagine how much better I'll play?"

Holy shit. That sounds like it'll be fun. Watching my monster teammates play in their shifted forms? Sign me up.

"I'll do it," I raise my hand, pressing the stop button to slow the treadmill.

"Thanks, King. Anyone else?"

One by one, each of the players in the weight room walk over to Trent and sign up. I love the idea of letting them play in their shifted bodies, since for the actual games they have to be in their human form because of some stupid rule. I know Coach is trying to get the rule lifted, so I guess this is an alternative while he works on that. Trent heads out to the field to ask the other players there while Sam and I find our way to the locker room, done with working out for the day.

"You wanna head out and get something to drink? Maybe Mummy Mocha?"

"The coffee shop in the library?" Sams asks, undressing in front of me with no shame.

"Yeah, let's shower and head there."

We head for the showers, both of us taking our own stalls. I’m in and out of the water quickly, dressed and sitting on the bench before Sam slowly saunters back to our lockers.

"Took you long enough,” I joke, pulling out my phone. I smile when I see a text from my mom. I quickly text her back, letting her know I’ll call her later, and focus my attention back on Sam. "You ready?"

"Let's go."

Stepping into the library, I head straight for Mummy Mocha, already knowing what I'm going to get.

"What's good here?" Sam asks as we stand at the counter, scanning the menu intently.

"I like the Sarcophacappuccino, but the Mummified Iced Caramel is good, too, if you're looking for something cold." I take in the guy who's at the register who’s reading items off the menu. He’s a handsome guy with ochre skin and a blue and gold apron. "By the way, I'm Seth, but really you can't go wrong with any of our drinks.”

We order our drinks and watch as Seth makes them swiftly. He eyes Sam the entire time, but my friend is too preoccupied by his phone to notice. I wonder what has all his attention. We grab our drinks and sit at an open table, both of us playing games on our phones.

The screech of the chair next to me being pulled out draws my attention away from my phone. Niko plops down into the chair and grins at me.

"We aren't having a tutoring session today. Surprised to find you in the library," he says, looking between me and Sam.

"Wanted some coffee after lifting weights, and Sam agreed to come with me."

"Hi, Sam." Niko waves, and Sam offers him a smile and a hello. "I was on my way to work and saw you both sitting at the table, so I figured I would say hi. So, hi."

"Hi." I chuckle. Coby reaches out to me, and I pet his head giving him a soft "hello" as well.

“How was practice?” Niko asks, looking at me and Sam.

“It was fine. Your dad is a tough coach, but I love him.” Sam says, laughing hard.

“Ah, yes. Dad has always been tough when it comes to baseball. He wanted me to play for the longest time, but I was never good at it. Ended up hating it, but luckily my younger brother likes it, so Dad laid off me.”

“Oh, wow. I didn’t realize that was why you hated it so much,” I say, staring at Niko while he stares back. I’m learning so much more about him, and I’m really beginning to understand who he is.

"Yeah, it’s all good now. Dad and I have a great relationship. But… I have to head to work now. I'll see you both later. Have a good day."

Niko takes off into the crowd, my eyes tracking every movement. Today, he's wearing ripped black jeans with his leather jacket and beanie. He always looks so good, but for some reason he looks extra delicious today. Niko disappears up the stairs, and I turn my head to see Sam stifling his laugh.

"What?" I bristle, wondering why he's laughing at me.

"Oh, nothing. So, Niko is going to the scrimmage tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah..." I trail off, waiting for him to continue. He doesn't. "What about it?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Sam smothers a laugh behind his cup, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"You're being weird." I don't know what's gotten into him. Taking another sip of my drink, I glance back at the stairs where Niko disappeared. I wonder if he has time to talk while he's on the clock. Nah, I should probably let him work. "I'm gonna head home. I'll see you at the scrimmage tomorrow."

"See you later."

We're halfway through the game, and I've been kicking ass the whole time. Sam and I have been on fire. I’ve been giving him the best plays, and he's been striking out players left and right. The ones that have been able to get a hit off him are easily tagged out by the rest of our team, who have also been playing perfectly. We're a well-oiled machine, and you would think we've been playing together for years, and not the short few weeks we've been together.

From my position, it's hard to see who's out in the crowd, so I can only hope Niko and Mateo are sitting somewhere cheering me on. I know they both were planning to come, because before I left, I ran into them with Mateo decked out in Creelin U gear. Niko said he would rather be caught dead than wear our team attire, but I was appreciative that Mateo decided to dress up.

Coach calls for a time out and all of us rush up to the mound, gasping for air.

"All right, we're at the halfway point, and you guys have been kicking ass!" The snakes on his head go wild, and I chuckle, loving they're as excited as he is. "I need you guys to keep it up. This may be only a scrimmage, but it's going to set up the rest of our season. We want to start it off with a win. Got it?"

A chorus of "yes coach" and "got it" rounds the mound while we put our hands in the middle. We cheer loudly before Coach yells at us to take our positions. Running back to home plate, I take a second to scan the crowd, stopping short when I see Niko and Mateo seated behind home plate. Oh, fucking hell, they've been right behind me the whole time.

Mateo yells and waves, and I swear I can see Niko roll his eyes. I wave, butterflies fluttering in my stomach when Niko waves back. Crouching down behind the plate, I amp up my playing. I'm showing no mercy anymore. The next player steps up and I recognize him as the one who got a homerun the last time he was up.

Nope, not letting that happen again.

I signal for Sam to give him a curve ball, one right after the next until the batter strikes out and walks away with his tail between his legs. We're not as lucky with the next player, and I deflate as he makes it to second base. I start to give myself a pep talk, hitting my gloves a few times. I know we can win.

Their next player steps up to the bat, a leftie swinger, and I give Sam the signal. He tosses the ball at record speed, and it connects with an ear-splitting crack . I watch as the batter starts running to the base. Ripping my mask off my head, I seek out the ball and follow where it's going. The guy that was originally on second base starts heading my way when I see that Trent has the ball. His arm winds up and it soars through the air in my direction. I stretch my glove out in front of me, open and waiting for the ball to land in it. I bend down and wait, smiling when my hand pushes back from the weight of the ball hitting it roughly. My body twists to the side as I take in the player that's sliding down on the dirt. Swiping my hand down, I tag him, holding my breath until the umpire yells, "Out!"

I whoop and yell, my eyes directly meeting Niko’s. My heart soars when I see he's standing up, jumping up and down and cheering me on. Dragging my hands through my hair, I toss him a wink before realizing what I’d just done.

Oh, my god.

I was showing off for Niko.