It’s been nearly three weeks since the Barlow sisters started at Armitage High. The buzz has died down to whispers that carry through the hallways when they pass. Everyone stops to look at them walk into school in the mornings. The girls act like they don’t notice or care, but I sometimes wonder if it grates on their nerves. I know what it’s like to be checked out on a constant basis.

I throw the baseball at Luke. We’re warming up for the preseason friendly game we always play against Brazenwood High. It doesn’t count for anything; it’s just a chance for us to get into the swing of things before the real season kicks in. We usually beat them, so I’m not too worried about the game.

My eyes dart to Maddie as she gathers a ball off the ground and fires it back at her sister.

Damn, she’s one sexy thing.

I can’t seem to keep my eyes off her during baseball practices. Watching her run, catch, bat—whatever she’s doing—it’s a pleasure.

And an annoyance.

I shouldn’t like her. From what I can tell she’s a judgmental know-it-all.

She sits in the front of every class, pays attention, raises her hand to answer questions.

Her answers are always right and really insightful, but that’s not the point.

It almost pisses me off how freaking good she is. But it mostly entices me, which is weird because I never figured myself to be the kind of guy who was into a goody-two-shoes.

And that brings on a whole new level of irritation…because she can’t stand me.

I’m intrigued—unwillingly drawn in—by a girl who never smiles at me, and anytime I go near her she gives me the evil eye. I swear, it’s like she thinks I’m the devil or something.

I don’t know what the hell her problem is, but it makes me want to rile her up even more. I don’t even know why. Maybe it’s because riling her up gets those hot blue eyes landing on me…gives me her attention for a second. Or maybe riling her up is a way of dealing with my own frustration—if she doesn’t like me, fine. I’ll just piss her off, then.

I don’t know.

It probably makes me a total douche bucket, but I can’t seem to stop myself. So I’ve been going out of my way to be friendly to her sister, Chloe—the nice one. She’s sweet and kind, with this girly giggle and sensational smile.

Coach asked me to pitch with her the other day, and I probably went a little over the top giving her pointers and using every excuse I could to touch her arm or put my hands on her hip or back. She’s actually got a really great style, which only needs tweaking, but I figured what the hell, I’m the better pitcher and I may as well use it to my advantage.

I could feel Maddie’s narrowed gaze on me the entire time. It sent this hot thrill racing through me, which is pretty messed up.

I can’t explain it.

And I can’t seem to stop it either.

What kind of jerk flirts with one sister to piss off the other?

Luke thinks it’s funny. He thinks I’m going out of my way to piss off Maddie so she’ll be too mad to play well. I’m going with that story because what the hell else am I supposed to say?

Besides, it makes him feel like I’m fighting for him.

And I am, because he’s my best friend and I owe it to him to make sure he has a great end to his senior year.

I couldn’t sell him on the hooking up with a Barlow thing, so it’s up to me to make these girls too mad or too loved up to play. I’m still not sure what to do about Max, but she doesn’t seem much of a threat right now. Her performances during practice sessions are kind of off. Her field play’s been sloppy, and I’ve pretty much struck her out every time she’s come up to bat.

Her father obviously has an overinflated view of his precious girls. The way he was talking about Max, she sure hasn’t proved him right.

I bet Coach won’t even play her today.

But Maddie and Chloe…they could definitely see themselves on this field. I hope Luke can handle it. I hope the girls can handle it.

I look over my shoulder and spot Maddie near the fence. She’s kneading her mitt with a ball and looking just a touch nervous. I stare at her until she looks my way. As soon as our eyes connect, I wink and smirk, hoping to distract her. It scores me a scathing glare, and I can’t help a soft snicker.

She doesn’t look so nervous anymore.

Her gaze narrows and I slowly spin away from it.

Damn, those eyes are distracting. Her face pops into my head all the time, that heated glare, the way her perfect features look stunning no matter what expression she’s trying to pull.

She’s intelligent, protective of her sisters, independent, strong. There are so many things to like about her.

Which I shouldn’t, because it’s seriously a waste of time. Although I did catch her watching me the other day. It was just after practice. In spite of the winter weather, it’d been a hot one with a bunch of running drills. The girls did their best to keep up and were drenched from the effort. We were all dripping with sweat as we dragged our exhausted butts to the locker room, so I pulled off my shirt and started wiping down as we walked. For a fleeting, maybe even hopeful, second I thought she was checking me out. The moment our eyes connected, she kind of flinched. I gave her my standard smirk and asked if she wanted to do the same. She scoffed like I was disgusting and stormed ahead to the girls’ locker room.

I don’t know why antagonizing her is so much fun, but I get a kick out of Maddie’s attention. Even if it is negative.

“Heads up!” I spin and catch the ball Luke’s lobbed at me, squeezing it between my fingers before hurling it back.

The stands are filling up way more than usual. We hardly ever draw a crowd. I scan the bleachers, my frown only deepening when I spot some unwelcome guests.

Crap, what the hell is Velocity doing here? They never come to games.

I glare at the band, wondering what they’re trying to pull. Cairo is leaning back in his seat, looking all casual, while Roman says something out the side of his mouth. Cairo snickers and runs his fingers through his long hair.

He looks like a freaking girl when he wears it down like that.

Latifa leans around Cairo and responds to Roman’s comment, and they all start laughing.

Shit. It was probably some mocking dig about our team.

Anger fires through me.

This is just a friendly game; why the hell do they even care?

My frown only deepens when the thought strikes me—they’re here to check out the girls.

Double shit!

I catch Luke’s ball and head off the mound as he runs towards me.

“What’s your problem, man?” He spins his cap around and tries to get a read on me.

“You seen the crowd? Even Velocity’s here.”

“Yeah.” He scoffs. “I hate how curious this damn town is. Do they seriously have nothing better to do on a Saturday morning?”

“I guess we should see it as support.”

“Like hell,” Luke mutters. “They want to watch us fall, and laugh while we’re doing it. I don’t want those girls getting off the bench. I hope Coach doesn’t bow to the pressure or anything. We’re starters and we should play the game through. I don’t want them coming on and screwing everything up for us.”

“They’re not that bad.”

Luke’s blue eyes flash like I’m a traitor.

I huff and scratch the back of my neck.

“If they get on the field, I’m throwing the game.”

I scowl at him. “What?”

“Come on, it’s not like it counts for anything. And I don’t want the girls embarrassing us or outshining us. This is our chance to prove to Coach that girls shouldn’t be playing on this team.” His worried frown makes my stomach pitch. I know what he’s feeling. We’re kings at this school. Humiliation doesn’t look good on us.

With a reluctant sigh, I hold out my fist and give him a short nod. “They won’t, man. We’ve got this.”

He lightly taps his fist against mine and we jog over to the dugout for Coach’s pregame pep talk.

* * *

We started the game strong, scoring two runs in the first inning. Winning is going to be a cinch. The Brazenwood Knights have always been the weaker team, and at the end of the third inning, we’re ahead by three.

I wind up and fire a slider at the batter.

“Strike!” the umpire shouts. “You’re out!”

The player walks off slightly dejected while I run for the dugout with a smug smile on my face.

The Knights pass me without a word. I’m tempted to say something cocky but keep my mouth shut. I’ll save my trash talk for the real games where I can get in their heads and do a little psychological damage.

Luke’s the best at that. Being catcher, he’s got the perfect position to sling insults at the batters. I’m sure he’s won us some games by quietly pissing off one batter after another.

I slap his shoulder and take a seat on the bench beside him.

“You got this, man.” I give Kingston a high five as he passes me and walks out to score us another run.

Adjusting his helmet, he steps up and gets ready over home plate. The pitcher hides his face behind the mitt. He’s just stepped up to the mound for the first time in the game. I haven’t seen him before—must be a new recruit.

My eyes narrow as I study his stance, my forehead crinkling as he fires the best freaking four seam fastball I’ve ever seen.

“Strike one!” the umpire shouts.

My stomach jumps into my throat. “Who the hell is that?”

“Doesn’t matter, man. We’re three up. We’ve got this.” Luke tries to reassure me, but the way he’s clenching his teeth is definitely not helping.

Two strikes later and Kingston is shuffling dejectedly back to the bench.

“So freaking fast.” He plunks down beside me and throws his helmet on the ground.

“Faster than me?” I murmur out the side of my mouth.

Kingston nods. “Yeah, man. We’re gonna have to watch out for him this season.”

Luke and I share a look as Zane steps up to the plate.

He strikes out too and before I know it, I’m heading back out to the pitching mound.

“Frost, you sit back. I want to give Maddie a turn.”

“What the hell?” Luke snaps.

I spin and throw Coach an incredulous look. “Have you just seen their pitcher? We’re not in a position to slack off yet, Coach.”

Maddie simmers, shooting me a glare over Coach Keenan’s shoulder before reaching for her facemask.

Grabbing my shoulder, Coach pulls me close enough so he can whisper in my ear. “This is just a friendly. I need to see how these girls handle a game. This is the perfect low-risk situation for me to figure out if I’ll play them this season.”

I have to concede that it makes sense.

“Chloe’s pitching for you later too, so keep your mouth shut and just go with it.”

Clenching my jaw, I spin for the mound, kneading the ball in my mitt as I try to get my anger in check.

It’s just a friendly.

It doesn’t matter.

But I don’t want to be pitching to anyone other than Luke. We’ve been a solid team for the last two years. I don’t want anyone coming in and messing that up!

I glance back at the bench, feeling my friend’s anger and resentment as Maddie walks to home plate. If he’s anything like me, there’ll be a threat of low-lying fear running beneath the surface.

What if Maddie Barlow takes my starting position? I bet a hundred bucks that’s what Luke is thinking.

I slow to a stop as I reach the mound.

Maddie’s good.

Luke knows it.

I know it.

So it’s time for me to play the best friend card.

If I don’t want him losing his starting position this season, then I’m gonna have to make Maddie Barlow look like the world’s worst catcher.