Chapter 13

13

NIKO

I'm screaming and jumping, yelling for King, who just got an amazing out. He turns around and scans the crowd, finding me instantly, a gorgeous smile overtaking his face. A hard elbow hits my stomach, and I wince looking over at Mateo.

"Ow. What was that for?" I inquire, rubbing the ache.

"You're cheering," he deadpans, looking at me.

"Yeah so?"

"You're cheering at a baseball game."

"Yeah, for our roommate. I would cheer for any sport he was playing. Or if it was any other roommate," I lie, knowing I'm only cheering because it's King.

He’s been kicking ass this whole game, and as much as I don't want to admit it, I’ve been so damn interested in what's been going on. It's been a long time since I've sat and watched a baseball game.

King winks at me and we both freeze, neither of us moving. Is he? Is he trying to flirt with me? No, that can't be it.

The umpire blows his whistle, and King turns back around, getting into his stance. The next few innings fly by quickly, the team's score consistently on the upswing. At this point, I don't see how the other team can come back and win. I've also spent most of the game explaining to Mateo what's going on. All of the information about baseball has come up to the front of my brain and I can't stop it from spewing from my mouth. Mateo knows nothing about the sport, so he is taking in every word, listening contently with a smirk playing on his lips.

I don't know what the smirk is for, but it can't be anything good.

King bends down again, and I can't stop myself from staring at his ass. He's wearing those tight white baseball pants and every time he stands up, his ass flexes, calling out to me. Fuck, what I wouldn't give to be up close and personal with that ass. Each time he throws the ball, the muscles in his arms bulge, and I wish I was closer to see the veins throbbing beneath the skin.

The game ends way too quickly, all of the players rushing out onto the mound and congratulating each other. The people in the stands start to slowly file out while Mateo and I hang back, waiting to greet King. Once enough people have left, we make our way to the field, bypassing other players in our search. I find him at the water jug and I stop short, a shiver running through my body.

King is standing still, his bulky arm stretched upright, pouring water over his body. His white uniform is getting dangerously close to see through, and I wish he would take it off. He shakes his head, the water flying everywhere before his gaze lands on me.

"Hey, you made it!" he exclaims, taking another sip of his water before setting it down.

"Of course, we wouldn't miss it." My voice comes out husky, my vision zeroing in on his shirt. I can't see his nipple piercing, but I know it's there from the little bumps peeking through the fabric.

"We?" King looks around, and it's the first time I notice I’m alone and Mateo is nowhere to be found. Looking toward the dugout, I see he's talking to Sam, and I roll my eyes. His eyes were glued to him the entire game; I don't know why I'm surprised he would beeline for him first.

"Mateo and I were sitting together, but I guess he had other people to say hi to."

"Ah, yes, the something that's going on between them that neither of them will admit to," he jokes, stepping closer to me, goosebumps rising on my arms as I step up to him.

"You played a phenomenal game," I say, reaching out and playfully tapping his chest. There's some type of energy flowing between us, like an invisible string pulling us closer to one another.

"Thanks. I'm glad you could come." His voice comes out gruff, and I bite back the whimper that tries to escape. Did his voice get deeper? Or am I imagining things?

"I'm glad I did." Neither of us says anything else, our eyes never leaving one another. I start to say something else when my dad's voice rings out.

"Nikolai? Is that you?"

Jerking away from King, I turn in a circle, finding my dad a few steps away. "Hey, Dad."

"I thought that was you. But then I was like 'there's no way Nikolai is at a game,' and then I saw you again and had to come say hi. What are you doing here?"

"Heh." Rubbing the back of my neck, I smile awkwardly. I haven't been to one of Dad's games in years. Of course he was going to notice I showed up.

"I invited him and Mateo since they're my roommates. Thought it would be cool for us to get to know one another better." King steps up beside me, close enough I can still feel his heat, but far away enough my body misses his.

"I love that. I haven't seen Nikolai in those stands in a long time." Dad's eyes soften toward me, and I know he's reminiscing on past times when I used to religiously attend every game.

"Well, I need to hit the showers. Thank you, Niko, for coming. Catch you later, Coach." King grabs his gear and heads down the tunnel toward the locker room. I watch him go until I remember I'm standing next to my dad.

"Would you want to grab something to eat?"

"Of course. I can wait here while you finish up your game stuff."

"Thanks, Nikolai."

Dad takes off after King into the locker room, and I breathe deeply. What the hell is going on with me?

Placing another book onto the shelf, I smile when I realize I'm almost done. Coming into work today, I was shocked to see the amount of different books that needed to be shelved. The first few weeks of the semester are always the easiest in the library, but once students start getting focused on their studies, the more textbooks they tend to take out.

I'm placing another Intro to Mummification book on the shelf when a shadow falls behind me. I'm usually on my own up here on the third floor, but every so often stragglers will find their way up here.

"Hey Niko!" Kovi's voice flutters through, and I smile, turning around toward him.

"Hey, man. How have you been? Walk with me?"

"Of course."

Kovi is great company. He can shift into a huge tree monster and knows all about the inner workings of the forests. He also has his own trepidations about attending classes with humans. Well, one in particular. But him and his red-headed guy seem to be getting closer as friends, and maybe something more? I don’t know, but at least he doesn’t live with the guy.

We both notice an Intro to Monsterkind book on the ground and he picks it up for me. Only humans take the class, which seems to remind him of my own predicament. "How is it going with your new roommate? You haven't complained about him yet today."

I stop playing with the spine of the book before placing it on the shelf. "Things have been better. We're getting along more now. He might not have been as bad as I originally thought." I shrug, picking up another book off my cart and figuring out where it goes.

"Wow, really? The last time we talked it seemed like you really hated him."

"I never said that."

Kovi snickers, pushing at my shoulder. "You said ‘he's a human and I hate humans.’"

"Yeah," I mumble, avoiding eye contact. I was probably a little hasty with my shit talking, but to be honest, I didn't think we would be friends then.

"Oh, I see," he murmurs, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You see what?"

"Oh, nothing. I have to go help the dean, but I look forward to updates. Bye Niko." He scampers off, and I shake my head. Updates? I don't know what kind of updates he's expecting, but okay.

The rest of my shift goes by quickly as I’m running around the library doing my tasks. Before I know it, I'm walking in the door of our dorm and the sound of laughter is hitting my ears. Slowly walking to the living room, I wonder what I'm going to walk in on, not at all prepared for the sight in front of me.

Clearing my throat, I turn my head sideways. "Are... are you guys playing Twister?"

"Oh, geez. It was his idea." Mateo jerks his head in Sam's direction, and Sam falls down laughing.

"I would say it was King's idea since he was the one that had it packed away in his room."

"Hey, I like to play board games. So, sue me. Do you wanna join?" King says from the floor.

King and Mateo are still all tangled up in their positions and Sam is on the floor, dying of laughter–and it honestly looks like they're having a blast.

"I'm in."

"You are?" King stares at me wide eyed.

"I know how to have fun," I scoff, taking off my leather jacket and tossing it onto the couch. "Okay, start over. I’ll go first." King and Mateo jump off the mat while Sam hands me the spinner. "How did you get roped into this?" I ask Sam, grabbing the piece and spinning it.

"I came over to drop off King's extra mitt. Mateo was walking in at the same time. King invited me to stay, and eagerly let us know he had some board games up in his closet."

"Eagerly, huh?" I snicker, looking at King. There's so much about him I'm still learning. For some reason, I never pictured him as the type of person to sit around playing board games. "What other board games do you have?"

"I have tons. Don't worry, we have time to play them all, I'll make sure of it."

I spin first, placing my hands and feet where they say to go. King goes next, his hand landing dangerously close to my dick. I angle my body, but it's no use, his hand is right next to me.

Mateo and Sam take their turns, and soon we're all a pretzel tangled mess of hands and limbs everywhere. Sam tries to spin again, but isn't able to make the transition and falls, taking Mateo down with him.

"I'm going to get some water. Wanna come with me?" Mateo asks Sam. From the corner of my eye, I see them take off, acting as if they’re the only two in the room.

"How much do you want to bet they aren't coming back anytime soon?" King says, huffing as he stretches to grab the spinner they’d tossed by the couch. His shirt rides up his body, and I bite my lip at the happy trail that disappears behind his waistline.

"Do you think they realize they’re crushing on each other?" I ask, spinning and moving my body into position. The only way for me to get onto my dot is to put my chest up close to his, so I do that, our bodies dangerously close together.

"No. I don't think either of them realize it yet. To them, they're just friends." King makes his next move, his arm reaching over me to land on a dot behind me.

"What a shame," I murmur, the scent of sandalwood hitting my senses. Leaning in, I take another sniff, my eyes rolling into the back of my head. Fuck, he smells so damn good. I bet he tastes just as delectable.

My body stills when the thought flits through my mind. Gazing up, our eyes lock, and electricity flows between us. My hands start to get sweaty, the mat slipping under them. Breathing heavily, I grab hold of his hip as my hand slips and I go tumbling down. His weight lands on top of me, but neither of us move. Hell, I don't even know if either of us are fucking breathing.

His hand slides up, caressing my cheek, and I lean into his touch, closing my eyes. My snakes fall into a trance, letting me have this intimate moment with King. His other hand squeezes my hip and my eyes fly open. Oh, Medusa, he's beautiful. The gold flecks in his brown eyes are so welcome and inviting. He leans his head down, a ghost of a kiss fluttering against my lips, but not yet touching.

"Kingston," I whisper, ready to give in and claim his lips as mine.

"Who's ready for round two?" Mateo and Sam come barging back into the common area, and King jumps off me as though his ass is on fire. He rests on his heels, breathing heavily and staring at me with a confused look on his face that I know is eerily similar to the look on my own.

Clearing my throat, I sit up avoiding looking at King. "Let's play."