The Perfect Catch (Kissing the Enemy Book 1)

by Maggie Dallen

  “Last summer I wanted to kiss you,” I admitted.

  She arched her brows and then my honesty was rewarded with a brilliant smile. “You did?”

  I nodded, keeping my expression serious. “But it was clear you didn’t see me that way and I didn’t want to say anything and risk our friendship.” I shrugged. “I knew that I was leaving for school. I knew that baseball was all I could focus on.”

  “And then the injury,” she said.

  I nodded. “And then I hurt my shoulder before I even got a chance to play a game, and everything changed. When I came home for break…”

  She drew her brows down in a frown at the mention of my bad behavior over break. “Yeah,” she said. “What was that about? If you knew you had feelings for me…”

  I toyed with my coffee mug as I thought of a way to speak the truth, just…not all of it. “My situation had changed,” I said. “But yours hadn’t.”

  What do you have to offer her, Noah? She’ll be here when you go back to school. She should be focusing on softball and her grades, not some college guy who’s hooking up with sorority girls the moment she’s out of sight.

  I rubbed at my temple with my free hand as a memory of that fight came back to me. Eric hadn’t exactly called me a washed-up ballplayer but that was the gist of it. But he’d been pissed. We’d both said things we hadn’t meant. He’d apologized, we’d moved on…but the words still stuck in my memory.

  Your baseball career’s over so now you have nothing better to do than seduce my sister? What kind of friend are you?

  Of course I hadn’t wanted to seduce her. I’d wanted to ask Callie on a date, but Eric knew me too well and for too long. He’d seen what dating meant to me—going out a few times, making out in my truck, and then being dumped for the next girl to spark my interest.

  But that was before. That was before I knew that there was more to life than baseball and making out, before I knew that I could feel something stronger, before I’d realized that there might be a chance with someone like Callie.

  Still, Eric hadn’t wanted to hear about how this was different. He’d thought I just wanted Callie because she was the one girl in our Podunk town who I hadn’t charmed or dated or even flirted with.

  She’s just a challenge to you, Eric had said. You’ll tire of her before New Year’s.

  He’d been wrong. I could never tire of Callie. But he’d had years’ worth of experience to draw from and I only had my word.

  He’d never cared about my player status before, but then again, I’d never tried to date his sister before.

  I couldn’t blame the guy. Not even now when I was so blissfully happy with Callie and more in love than I ever knew I could be. He’d just been angry and overprotective. But it had been enough to get me thinking. Enough to make me see that he did have a point about what she deserved. And let’s face it, at that particular moment I didn’t have a lot to offer. I was restless and futureless and still a grumpy pain in the butt to anyone who dared speak to me about baseball.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “You’ve already apologized,” she said.

  “I know, but now you know the whole truth. I liked you but I didn’t feel like I deserved you, and I didn’t know how to handle the temptation of being close without being able to act on it.”

  “You could have kissed me,” she said, her lips curving up in a smile that gave new meaning to the term temptation.

  “You would have punched me,” I said.

  She pretended to consider. “A swift kick maybe. Punching’s not really my style.”

  We both laughed at the truth of it. She hadn’t seen me like that back then, not even six months ago. Maybe a kiss would have opened her eyes, but maybe not.

  So maybe, just maybe, Eric did me a favor when he told me off for wanting to ask her out. She wasn’t ready to hear it and maybe I wasn’t in the right place to be asking. I’d still been reeling from my injury and in no position to think straight.

  I watched her with a smile as she dug back into her cereal. Okay, maybe I still wasn’t in my right mind now. I was way too far gone. I knew she was right; I couldn’t latch on to her dreams and make them my own because that wouldn’t be fair to either of us.

  I had to figure out my own path, separate from Callie’s. But watching her now, feeling this swell of emotions every time I looked in her direction, I knew. It would be way too easy to let Callie become the center of my life.

  And honestly there was already a big part of me that truly believed it might not be the worst thing in the world to make Callie’s happiness my next dream. Making sure she was happy, that her career was on track…I was hard-pressed to think of a more noble life goal.

  But reason told me that wasn’t healthy. Not for her, and not for me. She didn’t need that kind of pressure and at some point I’d have to figure out what got me out of bed these days…aside from Callie.

  But first? I took a long sip of my coffee, willing it to give me strength.

  Well, first I had to make things right with her brother.

  Chapter Eleven

  Callie

  Maddie’s voice was filled with amusement as she sidled up beside me. “Well, well, well. Look who found love on the softball field.”

  My head shot up. How did she know? I hadn’t talked to anyone since we’d arrived and Noah and I had been sure to keep our distance to make sure no one knew that Coach Grim was canoodling with his star pitcher.

  And yes, I’d just used the term canoodling.

  Also, I couldn’t stop thinking of him as Coach Grim when he was glowering like he was right now, all stern and commanding by the dugout. He looked crazy fierce.

  And hot.

  The guy wore intense well. Almost as well as he pulled off that lazy grin or the almost-Southern drawl.

  I sighed. Oh hell, maybe I just loved everything about the guy. But I hadn’t realized I’d been so obvious that Maddie could see it from a mile away.

  Maddie leaned in toward me. “Someone needs to tell them to get a room.”

  And that’s when I saw it. Neil and Avery were making out like their lives depended on it in the dugout.

  No wonder Noah looked so put out. His team members were getting it on during practice. My jaw dropped and I gasped, ignoring Maddie’s laugh of delight at my obvious shock. “I know, right? I mean, what happened between yesterday and today to get them over their weird holdups?”

  I almost raised my hand. Um, yeah. I would happily take credit for that. Avery had been so clearly in love with Neil and he had been so stupidly oblivious.

  Kind of exactly like me and Noah.

  “Maybe someone helped them along,” I said. There might have been just the slightest note of smugness in my voice and Maddie’s gaze turned questioning.

  “What aren’t you telling me, Cooper?”

  I grinned. It wasn’t like I wanted to hold out on one of my closest friends, but now was not the time. We were halfway through our last practice and my life was on the line.

  You know, not to be melodramatic or anything.

  But really, my future was now. It was here. And it was ready to have its butt kicked.

  With that mindset you’d think our last practice would have been a success, right?

  Wrong.

  It was…not good. Some might even say it was terrible. No one was focused. I’d bet money that James and Doug were hungover from whatever party they’d been talking about this morning because they were both sadly sluggish. Neil and Avery were…distracted? Yeah sure, we’ll go with distracted. They couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other.

  And I got it. I did. Why? Because I was having a difficult time not staring at my new boyfriend.

  Have I mentioned how hot he was when he was all stern and coach-like? It was definitely a turn-on. Perversely enough, the worse practice went, the angrier he got, which meant he got even more intense, which meant I could not look away, and then our gazes would meet and…

&nb
sp; Big sigh. It was a sick cycle of tragedy and desire over here.

  Maddie and Kate were on point but even Ox and Levi didn’t seem to be giving it their all. Though honestly it was hard to tell if they were just affected by the overall tone of suckiness that pervaded our final practice.

  Unlike Maddie, softball—or baseball, rather—was not the sport they typically played during the season. They were just athletes looking for a way to play and stay in shape, or maybe they were just in it for the good cause.

  Anyway, the long and short of it was…we sucked. Not exactly the rousing ending to our practice sessions and an ominous start to the actual tournament.

  While anyone else in our position would be reminding themselves that this was not the end of the world—it was only a charity game, it didn’t count for anything—we did not have that luxury.

  No, more like I did not have that luxury. But I knew without a doubt that Noah cared just as much about my success out on that field as I did. Just like I would support whatever new dreams he chose to pursue. Because the amazing thing about Noah was that he would figure out a passion—something that made him come alive—and when he did he would go after it with everything he had. He would be driven and focused and sexy as hell.

  Well, that last one was a given, I guess.

  But I knew how he was when he wanted something, and now I knew why he’d been so weird around me over Christmas break and when I’d first arrived.

  He’d wanted me. And his first impulse would have been to go after me. To woo me and convince me and not stop trying until he’d gotten what he’d wanted.

  My pulse raced at the thought. It might make him sound all alpha and barbaric, but it wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t force anyone to do anything they didn’t want to do. But let me tell you right here and now, being the focus of that intensity, being the one person who was able to get past those walls and into that fierce, loyal, protective, driven heart of his?

  I was the luckiest girl I knew.

  Focusing on that helped me get past the maudlin doubts that were creeping over me as my teammates and I collected the gear in total silence. Even Noah had stopped shouting at us, as if even he knew it was useless to beat a dead horse.

  We’d sucked and we knew it.

  We all felt like pathetic losers. Yelling wouldn’t help anything.

  Noah’s truck was finally out of the shop and when I climbed into the passenger seat and slouched down with my eyes shut, Noah didn’t say a word.

  We went most of the way in silence, me replaying the awfulness that was practice, and Noah…well, I wasn’t sure where his mind had gone but when I cracked one eye open I saw him glowering at the road as he drove.

  Oh no. I struggled to sit upright, both eyes wide open now. “You’re blaming yourself.”

  He aimed that scowl at me and I flinched, even though I knew I wasn’t the subject of his anger.

  “Who else should I blame?” he asked, his voice gruff.

  And that was when I saw it. Just how much he cared about this team and its success. Not just because of me—though I knew he was just as invested in my success as I was. No, this went deeper. He cared because he’d poured his heart and soul into this team, even if it was “just” a charity league and even if it didn’t count toward something bigger, like a professional career.

  “Everyone has bad days,” I said. “And this team has been killing it overall. I’d say they were allowed one off day.” I forced a grin I didn’t quite feel in an effort to cheer him up. “And it’s better that we had our bad day today, right?”

  His lips quirked up slightly as he shot me a sidelong look. “Wait a second. I’m supposed to be cheering you up? What’s going on here?”

  I smiled, and this time it felt far more genuine. It was impossible to look into those beautiful blue eyes of his and watch that slow smile spread over his features and not get just a little bit giddy.

  I reached out and squeezed his hand. He flipped his hand over so he could link his fingers through mine and he held on tight.

  “I just…” I started and stopped as I tried to find the right words. “I’ve seen how hard you worked with this team,” I said. “And I wanted you to know how much I appreciated it.”

  His brows shot up but he didn’t say anything.

  I shifted so I was facing him better. “I know you didn’t just take an interest because of me, but I’m the one who’ll benefit the most if they play well…hopefully.”

  I shook off my doubts. Time was up and we were either ready or we weren’t. The coach from Fairfield and the other recruiter would either be impressed by my skills on the field or they wouldn’t.

  Worry never helped anything, only practice and training did. A certain hottie in the driver’s seat taught me that. I took a deep breath and spit it out. “You’re quite the impressive coach, Noah. I guess that’s all I wanted to say.”

  We’d pulled into his driveway and he shifted to face me. “Thanks, Callie, but it’s hard to feel great about my coaching after watching today’s disaster.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “It was like some slapstick comedy, except…not even a little bit funny.”

  I couldn’t help it. I let out a little snort of amusement at that and his gaze shot to mine. He narrowed his eyes in mock anger but his eyes twinkled with laughter. “What are you laughing about, hotshot?” And then he reached out and tickled my sides so I doubled over laughing.

  Before I could recover he tugged me toward him on the bench seat so I was snug in his arms right beside him. He leaned down and nuzzled my neck, finding that sensitive spot just below my ear that he now knew made me shiver.

  I shoved at his shoulders, even though my breathing was growing ragged and I wanted nothing more than to wash away all thoughts of this disastrous practice with his kisses. “I’m serious,” I said.

  “Uh huh.” He leaned in to continue his assault, making me laugh breathlessly as I fought for air.

  “You are an amazing coach.” I blocked out the sensations of his lips and his hands and focused on telling him what he needed to hear. “You noticed and encouraged each player’s best assets and you worked patiently with each one of us on areas that needed improvement.”

  I felt his smile against my neck even though he was pretending to ignore me.

  I slapped his shoulder. “I’m serious, Noah. You should be really proud of yourself. You earned the respect of every player, and you brought us all together and made us into an honest-to-God team in two weeks. That’s…that’s…”

  I lost track of what I was saying as his lips trailed over my jawline.

  “That’s impressive,” I finally managed on a sigh.

  He kissed me.

  And then I totally forgot what I was talking about.

  I lost all sense of time as his arms tightened around me, holding me close as he explored my mouth, like we had all the time in the world.

  And we did. Or at least…I hoped we did.

  He deepened the kiss and I gratefully let all thoughts of the future, and college, and softball scholarships fade into nothing.

  I would have happily ignored the outside world indefinitely if our impromptu makeout session hadn’t been brought to an abrupt halt by the harsh sound of rapping knuckles on the passenger side window.

  I turned around and gasped just as Noah shifted to look past me. His string of curses drowned out my gasp.

  “Eric?” I said, untangling myself from Noah’s embrace so I could open the passenger side door. He was frowning at us but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  I opened the door and…big mistake.

  Eric hadn’t been saying hello, he’d been shouting obscenities.

  At Noah.

  Noah, who was now climbing out of his side and coming around the front of the truck to confront a red-faced Eric. I barely recognized my brother and I stared from where I sat, perched on the edge of the passenger seat for far too long as I tried to make sense of what was going on in front of me. Snippets of Eric�
�s shouting and Noah’s calmer, weirdly guilt-ridden defenses came to me and one thing was clear. This was not the first time they’d talked about me.

  About us.

  “I told you to stay away…” Eric shouted.

  “I didn’t want you to find out like this.” Noah had his hands up in surrender.

  Curses flew out of Eric’s mouth along with spit. Who the hell was this guy? I seriously didn’t recognize my brother, and I sure as hell didn’t recognize Noah. He looked so guilty. Like he’d done something wrong, like…like he regretted kissing me.

  No, that couldn’t be right.

  After what felt like an eternity of watching these two fight, I pieced together what must have happened before this. Because this was so clearly not the first time they were discussing me or us or this thing between us.

  As that sunk in my anger rose up to meet it.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  My brother and Noah froze at the sound of my raised voice. They stopped their shouting and turned to stare at me as I jumped down from the truck. Once on the ground, I planted my hands on my hips and glared. “Does someone want to explain what exactly I’m missing here?”

  There was silence.

  And then they both started talking at once.

  “Cal, I can explain,” Noah started.

  “What are you doing with this guy, Callie?” Eric demanded.

  I blinked at my brother. I’d start with him. “This guy?” I repeated, my voice beyond incredulous. “This guy? This is Noah, Eric. He’s not some guy. He’s your best friend. He’s my friend, and my…” I swallowed, my tirade interrupted by the realization that I’d nearly called him my boyfriend.

  It had felt normal. It had felt right. I glanced over at Noah. But I sure as hell didn’t want to define our relationship for the first time while yelling at my brother.

  Eric’s glare never wavered from me, and when he spoke it was to me. It was almost as though Noah didn’t exist. “He’s a player, Cal. He’ll use you and toss you aside just like every other girl he’s ever dated.”

  I widened my eyes and drew in a deep breath at the malice in his voice. I shook my head. “Since when do you think so badly of your best friend?”