“Hey! I had four shots before I got to the party on Saturday.”

He smirked a private little smirk that made my knees weak.

“Okay, so maybe I can’t handle a six pack, but do you think you could handle this outfit?” I asked, grabbing the hem of my yellow tutu between my fingers.

He cocked a brow, his eyes studying the exposed skin between my tutu and long soccer socks before he pulled his gaze away with a hard expression. It seemed like he was fighting against his urge to look at my body.

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Oh god, what were we doing? I gulped and moved passed him toward the conference room before he could reply. Being alone with him was a bad idea, like playing around water when you can’t swim.

"There's our snitch," Tara declared as I walked into the room with Liam on my heels.

I glanced up at him as I took my seat beside Becca. His jaw was clenched and he'd furrowed his brows as if contemplating something. A moment later, Coach Davis walked in and Liam stepped back against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Ah, ladies, you're looking ridiculous this morning. I'm assuming this is all in good fun, Tara?" she asked with a hard stare.

"Absolutely! Just a little fun way to welcome the rookies," Tara answered. Did 117/890

Coach Davis actually believe her? I mean, none of us looked like we were having any fun at all. The rookie that was dressed up as broomstick couldn’t even sit down.

"All right, let's just make sure that it doesn't interfere with practice or I'll need everyone to change into other workout clothes."

As if to make the situation worse, today was the first day we split up into position ex-ercises, which meant that Becca and Emily were on the other side of the field and I was left with Tara, Sofie, Liam, and a few other upperclassmen. We were quite a motley crew.

"I think out of everyone, we did the best job making you look ridiculous, Kinsley,"

Sofie commented with a wicked smile.

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Liam was setting up cones and hadn't heard her comment so I was left standing there trying to push aside my temper.

"I completely agree. She looks hideous,"

Tara commented.

"All right guys—" I began, taking a step toward the dynamic duo.

"Tara," Liam stated from behind me,

"my first piece of advice for you is to learn how to be in a leadership role without letting it go to your head."

Oh shit, he'd heard her.

"The team thrives off of your leadership, so if you want to keep treating the underclassmen like shit, that’s fine, just be prepared for a long, mediocre season,” he paused and his grey eyes met mine, “… after 119/890

all, having chemistry on a team is much more important than people realize.” Woah. Was I imagining a glint in his eye and the sex swing suddenly hanging from a tree beside the field?

When he turned to go set up more cones, Tara locked her eyes on me and I knew that Liam had just made my life ten thousand times worse. That's what guys don't understand. He thought he nipped the problem in the bud, but in reality he had just poured lighter fluid all over me and handed Tara a lit match. Light er’ up, boys.

A few minutes later, I was waiting for my turn when Liam spoke, "You should let me know if she keeps tormenting you.” I was the last person in line, and the girl in front of me was midway through her drill.

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"I think it might make it worse, but thanks," I nodded, moving to take my turn.

He nodded, keeping his lips pressed together in a thin line, before adding, "And you definitely don't look hideous."

I paused, trying to think of how to respond. The way his dark tone had emphasized the words made it perfectly clear what he meant— what he was trying to tell me without passing any invisible boundaries.

Holy shit. Liam Wilder, the sexiest andmost out-of-my-league man, just told me Iwas not hideous. I’ll take the compliment,thank you very much.

"You're up," he motioned, and before I thought better of it, I turned and gave him a small, private smile.

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…

"Uh oh, looks like you have another package today," Becca called from the front seat.

She'd driven us to get lunch, and Emily had called shotgun before me (the quiet ones are always the deadliest), so I was in the back, texting my mom about practice and telling her about the ridiculous outfits. The outfit that was now burned to ash in our backyard.

I leaned forward expecting to see another brown box, but instead I found Josh sitting at the foot of our small white porch. We ran a few errands after lunch, so I guess that gave Josh enough time to beat us home after his practice ended.

Which meant Liam was out of practice, too. Cue dream sequence of Liam running 122/890

slowly on a beach carrying me in his arms. I love how he’s strong enough to carry me with one arm while using the other arm to feed the seagulls. He’s such an animal lover like that.

"Did you know he was going to be here?"

Emily asked, shifting her gaze back to me.

Oh, right. Josh.

I sighed. "Nope, I actually forgot to text him back yesterday, so I don't know what his plan is."

Becca pulled into the driveway and then she and Emily hurried inside, throwing Josh a quick wave as they passed. Traitors. They abandoned me right when I needed backup the most.

"Kinsley!" Josh smiled, hopping up off the porch and heading toward me.

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"Hi Josh," I muttered, stuffing my hands into the back pockets of my cuffed white shorts.

"How are you? Have practices been really hard?" he asked.

Why was he trying to be the nice guy in this scenario? Couldn't he have just moved on and made it easier for everyone? Every time I saw his face I had to battle the urge to punch him— but if he asked me how my day was and then I punched him, wouldn’t that make me the bitch? How was your day –

punch.

I sighed and answered him as politely as possible. "It's been a lot harder than I expected, but I like most of my teammates. What about you?"

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I knew he wasn't expecting me to answer him so politely. His face broke out into a re-lieved smile.

"It's been killer. I was used to being the best, but these guys on the team are pros through and through. Wilder really surprised me. I thought he was a party boy, but when he gets on the field, it's all business. The team really respects him." It was strange hearing him talk about Liam like that. He had no clue that I'd even met him.

"He's helping out at our practices in the morning," I offered, mainly so I could keep the conversation in neutral territory.

Josh scrunched his brows. "Seriously?

At ULA practices? He must be crazy busy."

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I shrugged and moved passed him to sit on the bottom step of the porch. "I guess he has some free time.”

"Well that's good. I bet the girls love him. You shouldn't let him get to you, though. I've heard he's a serial flirt."

Like a flicking of a light switch, that comment instantly reminded me of why I was sitting outside with Josh in the first place. What the hell was I doing having a pleasant conversation with this guy?

"I'm not so sure you should be handing out advice about that sort of thing. What do you need, Josh?"

He winced. "Yeah, that's true. Seriously, Kinsley, you have to let me explain."

I looked him over, realizing that if he was going to keep popping into my life, and I 126/890

knew he would because there was already a party planned for Saturday night, then I needed to get this conversation over with.