Page 16 of Love & Baseball

Good grief. Get me out of here.

What was it with these girls? They were obnoxious!

That’s when I saw Brielle, standing in the middle of a circle of about nine different people, including her brother Reece. She had the appearance of a kitten being surrounded by overexcited pet owners all battling for her attention. She was scared. I could see it on her face.

And she was trying not to cry.

Crap.

I could withstand anything but tears from a girl. Genuine tears, that is, and these looked totally genuine. They made her green eyes sparkle with a shimmer that made me actually feel bad for her.

I rethought my irritation, especially after making it past the last three annoying girls. I didn’t need that to deal with, along with everything else that came with starting at a new high school in my junior year. Not to mention, she was Reece Walters’s little sister, and he’d been cool when I met him. I didn’t want to make him mad and dump Brielle before I dated her.

Plus, she was crying. Almost. Enough. There were tears.Tears.

Crap.

The poor girl needed saving.

My arm practically flung itself over her shoulder without my permission, and then I dropped some lame question and all but confirmed it.

I was dating Brielle Walters.

And I didn’t even like One Direction.

“Shortstop?” she whispered under her breath as we walked away.

I hadn’t removed my arm from her shoulder. I’m not sure I could have if I wanted to. It was like it had a mind of its own and thought it belonged there. That was dumb. I waited until we rounded a corner and then dropped it.

“Shortstop?” Brielle whispered again, but I didn’t miss the frantic swiping at her eyes.

“Hold up,” I muttered. I looked around. Students were ducking into their last classes for the day. I didn’t want to be late to mine, but somehow this seemed more important.

Without thinking, I palmed open the door to the janitor’s closet that was conveniently right there and somehow unlocked. I nudged Brielle inside and then kicked the door shut with my foot.

Oh great.

It was dark as night in here and I could feel her breath on my face.

I spun around and fumbled for a light switch. My hands hit the long pole of a broom, then a mop, and they dominoed their way to the floor, clattering in the darkness.

A click sounded, like a chain being pulled, and light flooded the closet from a lone bulb in the ceiling. Brielle was lowering her hand and then returning her arms to a protective embrace of herself. She stared up at me with those green eyes and a look that begged me to explain myself.

Me?

Explainmyself?

Heck no.

“What is going on?” I asked. No, I must have demanded because her eyes got all watery again and she ducked her head. I wasn’t going to apologize. No. I’d already played along with the charade against my own better judgment, and now I was hiding in a janitor’s closet with her. Becausethatwouldn’t raise questions if someone found us!

“Brielle?” I knew my voice was a bit sharp, but I needed that stubborn, mouthy version of her from study hall. Not this kicked-to-the-curb stray kitten version that made me want to play hero and give her a home all at the same time.

She looked back at me.

“Listen, I don’t know where that video came from, but I’d sure like an explanation, and you seem the logical person to give me one.”

“Ididn’t make the video!”