Foul Ball

It was difficult to focus for the rest of the day. It didn't seem to matter what class it was that I was attending; I couldn't stop thinking about Jayce for long enough to wrap my head around the material. I floated through the rest of the day, feeling for the first time in my life like some love-struck teenage girl with her very first boyfriend. Hell, I hadn't even been that girl in high school. I'd kept my head down, done my work, and passed my classes; that's all I'd really had time for. But things were different now. I wanted to be with Jayce; I wanted to be the silly love-struck girl. I deserved to be. Finally.

Despite the fact that we were now dating, Jayce still had to take tutoring classes from me, so after my last class of the day, we met in the library, just like we did the very first night we met.

"Hello, beautiful," said Jayce, sliding into the empty chair across from me. "Fancy some company?"

"I'm actually waiting for someone, but thanks," I said, pretending to brush him off and focus on my textbook.

"Oh yeah?" said Jayce. "Are you waiting for a male friend?"

"Something like that."

"Well, color me jealous." Grinning, Jayce leaned forward until his elbows were resting on the table, then he flashed a sexy smile at me. "I'm here because I wanted to have you all to myself, but I'm willing to fight for you." Grinning like an oaf, I giggled and pushed the notebook I carried with notes in it across the table. "Okay, macho man. It's time to work." "Work? What is that?"

"Focus," I said, making a feeble attempt to keep my eyes from fawning over Jayce and everything he was. From the baseball cap he wore on his head to the smirking smile he'd perfected so wonderfully, to the way the muscles in his arms flexed when he moved and the way his rugged but yet still soft hands somehow made me shiver with pleasure even before he'd touched me...

"I am focused," he said softly, but his eyes were on me, watching me from across the round table, eyes scoping me out, reading me like an open book. "Are you focused?"

I closed my eyes and looked down at the textbook laid out in front of me on the table. I cleared my throat, feeling the hot flush rise to my skin, but it was too late. I couldn't even be in the same physical space as Jayce without fantasizing over the way his body felt against mine...

"Jayce," I said impatiently. "Stop distracting me."

"I'm not doing anything. I'm just looking at you."

"Okay, well, stop doing that."

"Why?" he asked. "Is it turning you on?"

With a heavy sigh, I slammed the textbook shut and shook my head, leaning back in the seat to fold my arms over my chest. "I might have to find you a new tutor," I told him. "Someone who won't be so swayed by your charms." "You're not swayed," said Jayce, and I laughed humorlessly.

"Of course I am."

"Fine." He closed his own textbook and folded his hands on top of the table, still looking at me. "We don't have to do this right now. How about we do something else? Something fun." "Like what?"

"I don't know. We could take a drive into the city."

"Denver?"

"Yeah."

"And do what?"

"Do we have to do anything at all?" he asked, leaning forward over the table to lower his voice. "Just...spend time together, yeah?"

I pretended to mull this over, thoughtful. "I suppose we could do that," I said with a shrug. "But what about something else? Like...like maybe Garden of the Gods?"

"You live in Colorado, and you've never been to Garden of the Gods?" Jayce furrowed his brow and pretended to shake his head in disappointment. "And to think I ever thought I knew you." "Surprise," I said sheepishly. "Ever since I've moved here, I wanted to go, but I guess the opportunity never came about."

"Or the company," Jayce added, and I giggled.

"Or the company."

I watched Jayce shove his closed textbook back into his pack and stand up, offering his hand for me to do the same.

"Is this a good idea?" I asked, and Jayce laughed, ignoring the annoyed looks that came at us from across the library. "This is a great idea," he promised. "Just relax for a while, Mace, and let's go for a drive."