Foul Ball

I hadn't been sure if the bar with Jayce and his friends really would be a good idea, but we were friends, too, and friends hung out with one another. Friends had fun. Friends celebrated each other's success.

"Can I get a cranberry vodka, please?" I asked, sliding onto the barstool to smile at a young woman who looked like she'd just stepped off the set of A West Side Story. She looked to be no older than her mid-thirties, and long, ebony black hair cascaded down her back.

"Sure you can, sugar," the woman said, reaching across the bar to shake my hand. "I'm Alex. Who are you?" "Macey."

"I haven't seen you here before, have I, Macey?" Alex asked as she put together my drink. She slid it across the counter towards me, and I took a sip, relishing the way the boozy concoction hit my bloodstream like a jackhammer. "No, this is my first time here," I admitted. "I'm not much of a drinker. I'm just here with...." I trailed off, turning on my stool to gaze out at the bargoers around me. I spotted Jayce at once, standing near the pool table with the pool stick. When he caught me staring, he smiled, leaning over the table to poise the stick. He drew it back, ignoring the taunts of his friends, and then shot it forward. A loud crack reverberated through the room, and I watched Jayce slap hands with Dalton and Kurt.

"Jayce Gregory?" Alex asked, finishing my sentence. I tore my eyes away from Jayce and turned back around to smile sheepishly at Alex.

"Yeah. I mean, just as friends, though. We're just friends."

"He's a cutie," Alex said as she filled a frosted mug for someone down the bar. "Of course, this bar is primarily a hangout for jocks, so we get a lot of hotties coming in and hanging out."

"Where do they find the time?" I mused, taking another sip from my drink. "I can't even keep up with school and work at the same time, let alone after-hour bar trips."

"Don't you know?" said Alex, her tone dropping a bit until I had to strain to hear her. "The athletes at ERU basically just skim the surface when it comes to schoolwork. They don't have jobs because it cuts into their practice time, so what else do they have to do? Eat, drink, and be merry, I guess."

"What a life," I said, and Alex nodded in agreement.

"Jayce Gregory isn't a bad guy, though," she continued. "He's one of the good ones. Occasionally, I get to know the jocks at this school, and some of them will surprise you. Last I heard, though, Jayce wasn't dating or even really interested in dating." She smiled, flashing a row of pearly white teeth that stood out against her olive skin. "You must be the special one."

I laughed at this, nearly choking on my vodka. "Special? Funny." I took the napkin Alex offered me, blotting at the spilled drink on my chin and down my shirt. "I'm just a random girl who just so happens to be his tutor. Without a doubt, once he doesn't need me for homework anymore, I'll be out the door in an instant. Isn't that how these things work? I'm all the hype now because I'm useful to him."

"I mean, maybe,” Alex said with a shrug. "But I'm here to tell you that I see students come through here every day, and after some time, you begin to notice things. The small things that sometimes not even the individual themselves notice about themselves or the person they're with. I see it in their expressions, their small smiles, their laughs. I see more than you could possibly imagine."

"Wow." I nodded, impressed. "Have you ever considered becoming a relationship guru?"

Alex laughed, red lips pursed in thoughtfulness. "I'm just saying, I can see it in Jayce," she said. "Even if he can't. Even if you can't. I wouldn't be so sure that he's not invested."

Before I could respond to Alex's statement, a second person joined us, sliding onto the empty barstool next to me. A woman, about my age, with long blond hair and a smile that seemed both friendly and confident. Winning. "You're Macey," the girl said, sticking out her hand. "I'm Candace."

"Oh," I said, trying to recall if we'd met before. I shook her hand. "Hi."

"You don't know me," Candace said quickly, waving to Alex, who went to make her a drink. The girl must have been a regular. "I'm Dalton's girlfriend."

"Oh! Okay, that makes sense." I glanced one more over my shoulder to look at Dalton, who was whispering something to Jayce. Both of them were watching us now, and a small smile played on Jayce's lips. God, I loved that smile. "It's nice to meet you," I said, turning back to Candace. "I wasn't sure who on the team had girlfriends and who didn't. Dalton seems to be Jayce's best friend, so it really is lovely to meet you."

"Same," Candace said with a grin, taking the martini from Alex gratefully. "I've heard so much about you, actually. Jayce has been going on and on about you to the guys since the night he first met you in the library. I just had to see what he was so excited over."

"He's been going on about me? Really?" I laughed awkwardly, taking the last sip of my drink. "Sorry, I'm not that exciting. Just an average girl who works hard and studies hard but doesn't really play hard. I kind of live a lame life." "Don't be silly. I haven't seen Jayce this devoted to a girl in, well...ever."

"Devoted?" I repeated, and Candace nodded, her eyebrows shooting straight up.

"Jayce never really dated," she said. "He always said he was too focused on school and baseball...and that a girlfriend might take that away from him."

"We're not a couple," I said quickly. "We're just friends. So really, I'm not taking him away from anything at all."

Either she hadn't heard me, or she was ignoring me because Candace rattled on like I hadn't spoken at all.

"Until you, anyway," she said. "Dalton says he's already whipped, and I'm inclined to agree."

Before I could refute this with whatever energy I had left, Jayce stepped up behind us, resting his warm hand on my shoulder, and when I turned my head to look at him, he planted a kiss right on my lips, letting them linger for a moment longer than necessary. I was taken aback by this. It had been one thing on the bleachers after the game, in an exciting moment of unbridled desire, but we were in his territory now, with his friends, his team, the people he cared about the most.

"I see you've met Candace," he said, looking pointedly at his friend. "Don't believe a single thing she tells you. She's a gossip."

"It's not gossip if it's true," said Candace, standing up from the stool with her drink in hand. She winked at me and then sidled over to the other side of the room where Jayce's friends were just finishing up a round of pool.

"I take it you didn't win," I said to Jayce, and he laughed, shaking his head. He took the bottle of beer Alex offered him and took a long drink. It was hard to ignore the fact that his hand was still on my arm, just lingering there. "Hey, Macey," Dalton called from where he was standing by the pool table, his voice ricocheting across the room. "Have you ever played pool?"

"Once or twice," I said, allowing Jayce to take my hand and gently tug me over towards the pool table. "My uncle taught me when I was, I don't know, about twelve?"

"So it's been some time," teased Dalton, and I smiled.

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"Show 'em what you've got, sweet girl," Jayce said, lowering his lips to meet mine once more. As if someone had snapped their fingers, suddenly, the rest of the world didn't exist, and I stood tangled in Jayce's arms, body pressing against his in desperation.

This wasn't right. This wasn't how friends did things.

"Hey, you two," Candace called, grabbing a pole stick to bring it around to me. "Get a room." With a silly wink at me, she handed over the cue stick, and I took it, not wanting to break away from Jayce but also knowing that at this point, it was inappropriate of us to be kissing. I was here for him as a friend, and I intended to be just that.

"Should I rack up?" Dalton asked, and I shrugged, examining the pool cue between my hands.

"Go for it."

Once the balls were racked and ready to break, I stepped forward and lowered the cue, bending at the waist to properly line up my shot. I could feel Dalton and the others watching me. So was Jayce, though his eyes kept jumping back and forth between the cue stick and my ass, which I didn't mind. I should have minded, but I didn't.

"Here goes nothing," I mumbled and took the shot.

The balls separated with a mighty crack, and three solid colors shot into each corner. When I straightened back up, pretending to blow on the end of the cue stick like a smoking gun, I found Jayce, Dalton, and everyone else on our side of the room staring at me. Even Kurt's mouth was part way open and dropping to the floor.

"You haven't played since you were twelve?" Dalton asked, tilting his head to the side curiously. I handed the cue to Jayce and shook my head.

"I learned to play when I was twelve."

"Jesus," Kurt muttered, signaling the server for another round. He looked at Jayce. "Why did you go for someone cooler than you, bro?"

"I didn't know she was this cool when I met her," Jayce teased. He stepped up beside me with a small whisper. "Wanna get out of here?" "God, yes," I murmured. Jayce turned and waved at the guys, hand securing my own.

"It was nice to meet everybody," I called, returning the hug that Candace laid on me. "Hopefully, I'll see you around."

After Jayce paid for our drinks and gathered our jackets, helping me into mine, we left the bar, stepping out into the cool, salty air of Colorado. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the coolness against my skin. "What a beautiful night," I whispered as Jayce put his arm around my waist so we could begin to walk.

"It's beautiful because you're with me," he said, and a silly schoolgirl giggle slipped from between my lips before I could stop it.

"I imagine you say that to all your dates," I said with a teasing smile, but Jayce didn't return the good-natured grin. He frowned instead, arm tightening around me. For a moment, we walked together in silence back towards campus, where my car was still parked. I rested my head on Jayce's shoulder, inhaling the subtle, sexy scent of aftershave. I felt so safe in his arms, like nothing in all the world could touch me or harm me just so long as Jayce was around.

"Macey," he said after a moment, pulling me to a stop in the middle of the dark sidewalk. The sky was beautiful, inky black dotted with fiery stars, lighting up our very own romantic stroll.

"Jayce," I said with a grin, but his expression was serious.

"I don't want to be friends," he said, shaking his head.

"Why?" I asked. "We make good friends. In fact, I might say we make excellent friends."

"No," he said. "This isn't how friends act, and I think we both know that. So, I want to make this official."

"Official?"

"Yes, official. Will you be my girlfriend?"

I stared at Jayce, dumbstruck, certain that somehow and some way, I'd misheard him.

"Will I be your what now?"

"My girlfriend," said Jayce. "It's when two people become a couple. One of them is a woman, and one of them is a man. Well, to be fair, couples can also be two men or two women, but you know, I..." Jayce trailed off, looking like he knew he was digging himself into a hole he might not be able to get out of.

"Jayce," I said softly. "We've already determined that maybe being friends is the best thing we can do right now. You're busy, and I'm busy, and I kind of feel like we just lead different lives. Don't you feel that way, too?"

"No," he said, planting his hands on either side of my upper arms. "No, Macey, I don't feel that way. I haven't looked at you as a friend since the moment I met you. And I know that seems scary, and maybe kind of creepy because it's so soon, but I really don't give a shit. If I don't date you, then someone else will, and vice versa. Is that what we want?"

"Well, no, Jayce, but-"

He put out a hand and rested his finger on my lips, shushing me. "This isn't a difficult decision, Macey. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Your girlfriend, huh?" I repeated, unsure if there was any way to get out of this before it came back to bite me in the ass. But even as I thought about it, I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't reject him again. "What would people think, Jayce? The college superstar athlete dating the dorky tutor. It's so cliché, isn't it?" I was trying to lighten the mood, but it probably wasn't working because Jayce snagged me around the waist to pull me towards him.

"Let it be," he said. "Let it be cliché as hell. I don't care." One hand lingered near my ass, and the other was securely on my waist. "Let them all think what they want, do what they want, and say what they want. I don't care, Macey, because I want you. I've wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you, and not a single thing has changed. I'm not content with friendship. I want more, and as long as I know you, I will probably always want more."

Jayce kissed me then, the sweet taste of his lips enveloping mine. A small groan escaped my throat, and I melted into him, weak with an intense desire that consumed me from the inside out. When Jayce pulled away, he was smiling, teasing me, and he brought his hand up to rest his finger on my lips.

"I'm only going to ask one more time," he said quietly, caressing my lips with the tip of his finger. "Will you, Macey Britton, be my girlfriend?"