Full Count (9 page)

“Hi, I’m here for my first shift.
I’m really not sure where I’m supposed to go.” The bored looking student that
was clicking away on the computer, manning the help desk paused to quickly
flick his eyes at me and then moved his attention back to the computer. “Name?”

“Paige Brinton.” I covered my mouth
when a yawn escaped which actually granted me a grin from Mr. Personality. “Not
used to the late nights, huh? You’ll need to get used to it quick, they don’t
condone falling asleep between the book shelves around here.” He looked down at
a note that was tacked to the corner of his computer screen and tapped on it
with his finger.

“Here we go. The person training you
is on the fourth floor, just look for someone pushing around a metal cart.” His
attention once again went back to the computer screen, so I figured I was
dismissed. Hopefully I could find whoever was training me and figure out how
the heck I was supposed to keep myself awake for the next five hours.

I found the bank of elevators and
hit the number four, stepping out as soon as the doors opened. This floor was
quieter than the first, actually completely quiet. From where I was standing, I
couldn’t see one other soul. I dropped my bag on an empty table and went off in
search for this mysterious cart pusher that was supposed to be training me.

I started walking up and down the
aisles that were filled to the max with shelves of books. I heard the shuffle
of books and finally found my trainer, arms raised above his head wedging a
book in between a row. It caused the hem of his shirt to rise, showing off just
a hint of his flat stomach.

I had to do everything I had in me
to contain my tongue from slipping out and licking my lips. Dylan Turner was
one of the most glorious sights I had ever seen, his brown hair all a mess and
those eyes so intense with concentration. I knew without a doubt, I would be
able to keep myself awake if he was training me.

Dylan

I started my late shift at the
library, being told that I would be training someone tonight. Great, I inwardly
cringed when Miss Ryan had informed me of this. I enjoyed the late night shifts
that I usually ended up with. It was so quiet around here at this time of night
and it gave me time to think, to clear my head when I needed it.

So when I turned around to grab
another book that needed to be re-shelved and found Paiges eyes boring into my
back, my night got a whole lot better. “Hey Sparky, need help with some
research?” I wiggled my eyebrows up and down at her, and a small smile curved
her lips upwards.

Things had gotten a little weird
between the two of us since the dinner last week. We didn’t see each other
outside of class and normally we kept up a steady stream of conversation, but
lately things seemed a bit strained. I was hoping that maybe she would realize
how strong her feelings for me were and dump that loser, but it didn’t appear
that way. He still showed up every day after class and Paige seemed unusually
quiet around me.

“Actually, I’m here for my first
night of work. I’m assuming you’re the one supposed to be training me?” My eyes
widened when her words sunk in. This is who I was supposed to be training?
Suddenly I forgot how pissed I was at the thought of having to train someone.

“Yup, you got that right. I’m here
to show you what working at the library is all about, of course this time of
night tends to be as boring as shit, but I think we can have some fun.” A faint
pink blush touched her cheeks and it made me wonder exactly what kind of fun
she was picturing that we could have together.

“Well…good,” she stammered out,
“because it looks like I got stuck with a lot of night shifts, so if you have
any tips on how to keep myself busy, that would be awesome.”

This was seriously fate or
something, messing with my life, but in a good way. “I think I can keep you
entertained then, since I work almost every night shift too. Looks like we’re
going to get to know each other a whole lot better.”

I went through the boring tasks
with her, like where to put her stuff when she came in, how to punch in on the
time clock, and the whole job description. The basic training went quickly
though and I hopped up onto one of the empty tables for the first of many
breaks.

I patted the empty spot next to me
and held out my hand so she could climb up too. “So how long have you worked
here?” she asked, inching her body slightly away from me. Yeah, like that was
gonna work.

“Since freshman year, it works out
good when baseball season starts and I can still bring in some extra cash.
Susanne insists that my rent is only a hundred bucks a month at the house, but
I know she’s just trying to help me out.”

“Yeah, she seems like a pretty
great lady. She reminds me a lot of my mom.” She stared off like she was lost
deep in thought, swinging her legs out in front of her that were dangling down
from the table. “Do you ever wonder about your mom?”

I shrugged my shoulders to play off
her question, but Paige always seemed to ask the kind of questions I really
didn’t want to answer. “Nah, she’s the one who left me behind in the hospital and
never looked back, obviously I wasn’t good enough for her then and it’s
probably the same way now.”

Her blue eyes clouded up as she
patted me on the knee and frowned. “Don’t ever think that Dylan, ever. She had
issues that you were never the cause of and it’s her loss really. I mean look
at what you’ve done with your life, you made it here on a full baseball
scholarship and Chris is always talking about how you’ll make it to the big
leagues someday. You should be proud of yourself. I’m sure they’ll make a
Lifetime movie about you or something after you’ve made it big.”

I let out a laugh as I jumped down,
checking the clock to see that our break was over. “Thanks Sparky, that means a
lot, though I’m not too sure about my life being made into a lame Lifetime
movie. It would totally be a blockbuster hit when it landed in theaters.”

“Har, har, there’s that ego I was
looking for,” she teasingly replied, trailing behind me as I punched the button
to go down a floor.

“Promise me one thing though?” I
stepped aside to make room for her, wedging the cart in between our bodies in
the small elevator. I inhaled deeply as her flowery scent filled the small
space.

“Well, I don’t know, I guess it
kind of depends,” she replied, fluttering her thick eyelashes at me. I liked
this teasing side of Paige, it seemed like I hadn’t seen it in awhile.

“If I do make it to the big leagues
someday, promise you’ll wear one of my jerseys?”

“Hmm,” she tapped a finger to her
puffy lips like she was thinking it over. “I don’t know Rookie, I usually only
wear jerseys for my favorite players, and while I have heard in fact that you’re
definitely a player-I’m not sure if you’re my favorite yet.”

“Well I guess I’ll just need to
work on that then, won’t I?” This time her blush was full blown as my face
inched closer to hers across the cart. Her eyes widened as my lips moved in and
I swear she moved closer, it was like there was a magnet pulling us together.

The ding of the elevator pulled us
out of our daze though and she quickly pulled back, flattening herself against
the wall and not making any kind of eye contact with me whatsoever. Great.

                                                   
************************

“Dy-la-nn,” Sara whined out,
pulling on my wrist to lift me up from the couch where I had stationed myself
with a beer. That chick was getting on my nerves more and more every day and I
wasn’t sure why I was still keeping her around. If Paige wouldn’t have me,
maybe it was time to start things back up with Mia again.

“What Sara?” I huffed out, taking a
sip of the warm beer in my hand, quickly draining my third cup of the night and
it was still pretty early.

Chris had decided on throwing a
party since we hadn’t had one all year and our place was the perfect one to
have it at. The house that the three of us shared was fairly new and was
situated on a big piece of land not too far from campus. The one good thing
about it was the neighbors were so far away that they probably didn’t hear a
thing.

“Come dance with me!” Her green
eyes were glossed over and I could tell she already had even more to drink than
I had. She was definitely a lightweight and when she started to get super drunk,
she turned into a super bitch.

“In a little bit,” I yelled out
over the growing noise and she stalked off with a flip of her long red hair, crossing
her arms over her big fake boobs. I’d always loved those things but lately I
preferred a much smaller set. A set that was currently walking in.

I jumped off the couch as soon as
Paige walked in, arm in arm with Kitty. I let out a low whistle as I approached
and that blush that I loved, instantly appeared. Kitty rolled her eyes,
whispering something in Paige’s ear and quickly turned in the direction of the
kitchen where all of the alcohol was located.

“Damn Sparky, you look sexy as
fuck,” I whispered into her ear, my fingers playing up and down her bare arm,
waiting for those goosebumps to cover her skin that I knew would pop up any
second. Yup, bingo.

“Um, thanks,” she replied, licking
her lips and tucking back a loose curl that had escaped from the high ponytail
she had. It showed off her bare neck and shoulders nicely and the black dress
that she had on was hugging every one of her curves deliciously.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” My eyes
flicked behind her, but the douchebag wasn’t in sight. I think my night just
got a whole lot better.

“Not here,” she replied, shifting
nervously on the spiked black heels she was wearing that still only brought the
top of her head level with my chest. “He had some group study thing or
something. Where’s your girlfriend?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged and
waved my hands around. “I’m sure she’s out back or something. Let’s get you
something to drink.” She followed behind me closely as I pushed my way through
the thick crowd. Kitty still had the kitchen occupied and quickly handed Paige
a cup that was filled to the top.

I watched Paige as she sniffed the
drink and her nose scrunched up. “What in the hell is that?”

“Oh don’t worry Paigey, just drink
it down real quick and you won’t even taste it.” Kitty reached over to clink her
cup with Paige’s and they both tipped their heads back to drain the cups. If
Paige kept drinking like that, there was no way I was letting her out of my
sight tonight. Not with all of these horny guys around and her looking like
that. Even though I was one of those horny guys.

Kitty refilled their cups and
handed another to Paige. “Come on, let’s dance.” I watched as Kitty dragged
Paige behind her, back into the wide family room that was set up as a makeshift
dance floor. I could see the two of them from here and I leaned down to fill my
cup up with more beer.

I moved closer into the family
room, standing right on the edge so I could watch Paige. Of course, the two of
them drew the eyes of almost every guy there as they worked their hips to the
music. Kitty was a good- looking girl, but Paige was just…I wasn’t even sure
about what word to use to describe her. She definitely wasn’t as confident as
Kitty when it came to dancing, but that wall seemed to break down pretty easily
as her cup kept getting refilled.

“Hey,” Sara stumbled up next to me
and I caught her around the waist before she landed head first onto the floor.
“Wanna head back to your room?” she purred out, slurring the words. I gave her
a quick shake of my head and she literally stomped her foot on the ground.

 “Fine, I don’t know what’s gotten
into you, but I’m leaving. Katie’s going to take me back to my place. If you
care,” she added on, trying to make me feel guilty or something I guess. But I
didn’t. “You know what,” I pulled on her wrist to stop her from going any further.
“I actually don’t care.” Her mouth dropped open and her green eyes narrowed.
“What did you just say to me?”

“I said, I don’t care,” I repeated,
“and as of right now we’re through. You got me?”

“Yeah, I got you, Dylan Turner. You
were such a waste of my time. I thought you loved me and then you go and treat
me like this? You don’t love anyone but yourself. You are such an asshole,” she
screeched out, turning on her heel and stumbling her way to the front door.
Loved? Was this girl delusional or what? “An asshole,” she screamed before
slamming the door a few times to get her point across.

The people crowded into the house
seemed to lower a few decibels, staring after the crazy redhead that had
disappeared. Jeez, maybe I should have gotten rid of her a lot sooner. Why did
I seem to attract all of the crazy ones?

I turned around, searching the
floor with my eyes for Paige to see her reaction, but her and Kitty had both
disappeared. Before I could go off on my search for her, I felt a hand on my
shoulder and I turned expecting to see Sara, returning for more.

“Yo, dude. What in the hell did you
do to Sara?” Chris slung an arm around my shoulder, leaning against me and I’m
pretty sure he was drunk off of his ass. “Not much buddy,” I replied, guiding
him to the nearest empty chair. “I just broke up with her; she was a little
pissed off.”

“A little?” He snorted and beer
came spraying out of his mouth. “Good thing you have a piece of shit car or I’d
tell you to watch out. She looked like she was on the warpath, literally
looking like the devil.”

“I think I can handle whatever
crazy she comes up with,” I patted him on the shoulder and crouched down next
to him. “Do you need anything? I’m kind of looking for someone…” I trailed off
when I caught sandy brown curls stepping through the back patio door and
started to walk that way.