A smirk develops. It starts as a twitch of his lip and settles so deeply that I’m sure if I leaned too close to him, I might fall in.

Damn it.

I shift my weight from foot to foot, knowing I’m about to be called out for my mishap. My cheeks flush before he even gets off the field. There’s time to flee. I could absolutely walk back the way I came or even power walk behind the concession stand, where I might, if I’m lucky, be out of sight.

Before I can choose, his arms are draped over the fence and we’re three feet apart.

My focus immediately goes to his hands. I shiver at the mere thought of how his fingers felt pressed against my back at the last practice.

“Hey,” he says, his voice thick and gooey like warmed-up Nutella.

“Hi.”

Our gazes lock. Together, our lips pull toward the bright sky and into full smiles.

“How have you been?” he asks. “Busy?”

“Me? Always. You?”

“Never.” He stretches his arms over the top of the fence, wincing ever so slightly as he rolls his shoulder around. “Had a lot of time on my hands, actually.”

“Tell me what that’s like.”

I don’t know what shit I’ve stepped in, but I know I have. His eyes grow dark and fill with mischief.

“Well, let’s take last night, for example,” he says.

Oh no.

“I was lying in bed,” he says, grinning. “And I thought I’d check my social media to see if there was anything that I needed to respond to.”

No. No, no, no.

My insides wither like a flower during a freeze, and although I don’t do it intentionally, I find myself a couple of feet farther away from him.

This does not deter him. It only encourages his behavior.

He pulls his arms back over the fence. “Do you know what I found lurking in my notifications?”

“Couldn’t tell ya.”

“Someone by the name of Palmer Clark liked a photo of me from three years ago.” His chest puffs out with an apparent shot to his ego. “Can you believe that?”

“I bet she has a friend named Val that probably used her phone to snoop. I mean, that seems entirely possible to me.”

He hums in agreement. “It is entirely possible, but at almost midnight? Eh.” He rocks his head from side to side. “I don’t know.”

“Well, I couldn’t tell you because . . . I mean, I didn’t even know this happened until now.”

I bite my lip to keep from smiling. His eyes are glued to my mouth as I let my bottom lip pop free.

I’m aware of his attention. I feel the heat of his gaze and the way it flips a switch inside me and makes me feel . . . desired.