Rounding Third - Michelle Lynn Page 0,62

the game officially starting.

Then, all those girls below us come to mind. In their skimpy bikinis, they’re wet and eager to claim a baseball player.

“All right.” I bring my hands down from my hair, and my body relaxes. “I’m good. She doesn’t want me, so let’s see who does.”

I go back to the starting point to jump off the cliff.

Spencer screams, “Don’t do it!”

But his voice is only background noise when I sink into the cool water, popping back up right next to Kendra, the redhead who blatantly sat in my lap last night, asking me to show her my room. Score.

Chapter Fifteen

Ella

Crosby falls into the water, and instead of coming over to make sure Ariel and I don’t fall on our asses, he hops onto the float with Kendra.

“What’s with that?” Ariel asks, disgust clear in her tone.

“What?” I ask, as though my heart hasn’t fractured.

Since Crosby returned, he hasn’t shown interest in any other girls.

“Don’t act like you don’t see it, El. I really wish you hadn’t made this deal. I can handle Mom and Dad.” Ariel fights my decision like she did earlier when I told her to go ahead and take Spencer home for the parents to meet him.

“Ariel, you’ve sacrificed a lot because of me. If I can give you this happiness without any of the pain, it’s worth it.”

“It’s worth your own heart never feeling whole? El, I know you love him.” We sit on the rock, and we dangle our feet into the water, watching all the college kids be carefree, Crosby included.

“We were young. Who’s to say we’d even make it? Our story is like a tragic love tale. Take Romeo and Juliet. Who’s to say, getting married and having a load of kids wouldn’t have driven the infamous love couple apart?”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

I don’t, but I’m not telling her that.

“Fairy tales are fiction, Ariel, no matter what Mom says.”

“She named us after princesses for a reason.”

“She named us after princesses because, in her mind, we are, not because we’re destined to have our own fairy tales.”

I kick the water with my feet, my eyes sneaking peeks at Crosby pretending he’s going to dunk Kendra. Her squeals of laughter and her claws on his shoulders are aggravating me. Those are the same shoulders I marked two nights ago.

“You and Crosby are a fairy tale.”

“No, we’re a nightmare,” I murmur.

Her wet hand lands on my thigh. “Oh, El.”

I hate that soft tone she gives me when we talk about anything associated with the accident.

“Hey, this is probably the last nice day, so go enjoy yourself. Your boyfriend keeps eyeing me, and he’s starting to look like a creeper.” I point to Spencer, who is floating alone in a raft.

“I love you, El.” She hugs me long and hard and tight.

I swear, her hugs could crack a rib.

“I love you, too. Now, go.”

I gently nudge her to move, and she finally dips into the water, swimming toward Spencer.

He immediately falls into the water himself, holding the raft in one hand. They kiss, and he hoists her up. He leans in, his fingers lazily grazing her stomach, as they laugh and talk about who-knows-what. Envy weighs in my heart.

After seeing a blissful couple, my eyes veer to Crosby, who is now in a raft with Kendra spinning him around in circles. Her cackle of a laugh grates on my nerves, and I tip my chin to the sun, pretending I don’t notice or care. If only she’d choke on a rock.

Bringing my legs out of the water, I wrap my arms around them, pulling them into my chest. I’m strong, and I’ve been without him for two years. Surely, I can continue for the rest of my life—or for as long as Spencer and Ariel date. If their undying affection with one another is a sign, they won’t be ending anytime soon.

Kendra’s squeal echoes in our close proximity. She’s louder than even Brax, and if I have to hear, “Oh, Crosby, you’re so strong,” one more damn time, I’ll be hitchhiking back to campus.

The Tiger’s pitcher, Derek King, floats over with a gentle smile on his face. He’s cute, and he asked me out our freshman year. The year I swore off baseball players. After that, we’d wave or say hello, but we never actually stopped to talk.

“Hey.” His forearms flex as he grips the rock to keep himself from floating away.

My heart doesn’t flip.

“Hi,” I say.

I bring my legs back