Rounding Third - Michelle Lynn Page 0,105

his hand out to me, and I jump off the counter.

“Hey, Jake,” Tanner calls out.

Jake shoots him a get-lost look.

“Why don’t you make this girl a drink?” Tanner points to the redhead.

Then, his hand lands on the small of my back, leading me to the makeshift dance floor in the living room. Unfortunately, we don’t make it because my wonderful brother, Brad, is too busy punching some guy in the face. Tanner’s hand grips my forearm, silently asking me to stay put, but he knows that’s a request I won’t fulfill. I rush after them to break it up when I find Taylor crying in the chair next to the brawl.

“What the hell happened?” I ask her, now witnessing Tanner and Brad in the throes of fists.

“That guy came up behind me, and I thought it was Brad.” She grabs my arm, yanking me down to her level.

I roll my eyes. This is the last thing I need tonight.

“I swear, Piper. I should have turned around,” she pleads with me. From the amount of tears she’s shedding, she’s telling the truth, or she’s a damn good liar.

I’m a fairly good judge of character, so I’m opting to believe my intuition. She kisses my ass way too much to not be into only Brad.

“It’s okay, Taylor. I believe you.” I pry my arm from her grip and weave my way through the witnesses to break up this nonsense. The only result will be the two of them being kicked off the swim team.

By the time I reach them, fists are flying, and blood is smeared across the wall. “Stop it, guys!” I scream.

But I receive no response from any of them. From the corner of my eye, I catch two other teammates, Greg and Drew, on their way to protect their swim brothers in the reckoning.

“Guys!” I yell at the top of my lungs, only earning an eye from Tanner, who then gets blindsided by a punch. “Shit.”

“Piper, get the hell out of here,” Tanner screams, taking his one arm and pushing me to the side.

“No!” In defiance, I slam a foot on the hardwood floor. “Do you guys want to not have a spot on the team? What do you think Coach will say about this?” I ramble out questions to get the drunken alpha males to stop and think. Wrong way. I do the next best thing.

Once Tanner’s opponent backs up and glances my way, I jump in between them and into Tanner’s arms. Straddling him, I clench my legs around his waist, and although I’ve thought about this scenario much differently in my head, it’s still a nice place to be—in the arms of the guy I desire.

“What the hell, Piper?” Brad calls over, knocking his guy in the gut.

“Stop fighting, or I’m going to kiss Tanner.”

Brad is the protective twin, and I’m positive this stunt of mine will end the stupid fight. He’s never refrained from vocalizing his objection to Tanner and me dating.

“Keep fighting, Brad,” Tanner jokes.

I twine Tanner’s curls at his neckline around my fingers. Peering over, I notice the opposing guy is just as confused as Brad about the distraction I’m causing.

“I’m going to use tongue.” I keep acting, until I catch Tanner staring at me . My shoulders fall when I notice Tanner’s engaging fix on mine.

“Punch him again, Brad.” Tanner doesn’t stop egging on Brad.

I’m not sure if Tanner wants me to kiss him or if he’s playing along. The hope that he secretly would like more surfaces, and I wish it would drive back down to where it belongs. If the mere blissful thought isn’t true, I’d be crushed.

“I’m inching closer.”

Tanner’s hands squeeze my ass, pulling me into him, and I lean in to his chest. Shit, I’m about to actually do it. My whole body tingles from his hands being on my body, and my blood pumps faster as I lean closer to him. I’m so consumed by Tanner that I lose track of what’s going on outside of our bubble. Brad could be right behind me, and I wouldn’t know it because Tanner has me all to himself right now.

“Give it up, you two.” Brad pushes the guy in front of him, knocking him into the wall. “Stay the fuck away from my girl from this point forward.” He points a finger at the guy.

Taylor runs over. “Your girl?” she questions, practically swooning over his declaration.

“Yeah,” Brad admits with a crooked smile.

Taylor throws herself into his arms.

When he looks our way, he cringes. Then, as though remembering how I manipulated him to stop fighting, he pushes Taylor off of him and stalks over to us. “Put her down, Tanner.”

“What if I don’t want to? Maybe I want a kiss.” Tanner winks at me.

“She’s my sister, Tanner. You guys barely get along. Just put.her.down,” Brad demands again.

Tanner cocks an eyebrow at me. “Nah.”

Brad inhales a deep breath and slowly releases it. “Tan, I really don’t want to fight you.”

“You’d fight me over kissing your sister? Because I hate to tell you this, but I’ve kissed her before.”

I try to wiggle free of his hold because my plan is about to end horribly. Tanner winks at me, and I melt into his hands again.

“What? Piper?”

My head rotates his way, and Brad stares in disbelief at me. I’m not quite sure what Tanner is trying to pull here. Divulging our secret kiss when we were fourteen will only infuriate my brother. But my stomach flips with the fact Tanner remembers those two seconds of bliss that cross my mind all too often.

“Long time ago,” I counter. I wish I could shut my mouth. I’m divulging way too much truth.

“Not that long ago.” Tanner continues to fuel the fire.

I swat his shoulder, squirming to get out of his grip. If only I truly wanted him to release his hold, then maybe my body would fight harder.

“High school, Brad,” I admit.

Tanner shakes his head. I’m sorry to disappoint Tanner with my revelation, but he was the one who didn’t talk about our secret kiss the next day.

“Really, it was last week, Brad.” Tanner chuckles.

Brad’s nostrils flare, his face turning redder by the second.

“He’s joking. Don’t listen to him.” I smack Tanner’s shoulder.

He drops me to the ground. “Or am I?” He shrugs his shoulders to my brother.

Brad tosses a hand in the air between them. “I’m not worried. I know you’d never betray me.” He is confident that Tanner would abide by his wishes.

At his declaration, my stomach plummets with the thought that Brad won’t accept a relationship between Tanner and me. Brad likes the two to remain separate, and I’m not sure I blame him. If it didn’t work out, I could never be around Tanner again.

Tanner turns to me, swinging his arm around my shoulders. “Just take Taylor home. I’ll get Piper home.” He doesn’t mention anything else about our relationship, and he doesn’t toss Brad a false pretense about ever dating me in the future.

“I can trust you?” Brad steps closer.

Although Tanner doesn’t answer, they give each other a one-armed hug.

“You okay, Piper?” Brad asks me.

I nod. “Yeah. I have to find Bea, and then we’ll be right behind you.” I search to find my best friend, who is more than likely in a bedroom right about now.

“Okay, let’s after-party at our place.” Brad hugs Taylor to him.

Tanner and I grin.

“But, Brad,” Taylor whines. Then, she whispers something in Brad’s ear, making his face light up in mischief.

“All right, babe.” He pats her arm, which seems to appease her.

“By that little exchange, I’m thinking that I’m spending the night at Piper’s.” Tanner’s finger motions between the two of them.

Taylor giggles. “Maybe you should.” Her lips pull into a secret smile.

I scrunch my eyebrows to dissipate any beliefs. “You could spend the night. Wendi went back home for the weekend,” I add.

Tanner licks his lips, making a flutter take flight in my stomach. Are we silently agreeing to something here?

“Sounds like a plan.” Tanner’s eyes dive into mine and don’t let up.

“Awesome. Let’s go, baby.” Ignorant Brad leaves with Taylor.

Neither Tanner or I glance over to them.

“Let’s find Bea, get her home, and go to your place.” Tanner smiles.

I can’t help but allow my own happiness to shine as well. I nibble on the inside of my cheek and take a deep breath.

Tanner closes the distance for the umpteenth time tonight, making my heart skip. “Don’t overthink this,” he softly says, his hand gingerly grazing down my arm until my hand is tucked away in his grip.

As he leads me through the crowd in search of Bea, I can’t help but overthink his meaning of what’s about to happen. Does he mean it’s only for one night and I should enjoy it? Or is he telling me my heart is safe within his hands? Regardless, I’m following because I’ve waited too long for him to toe the line my brother has drawn between us.

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