Will was called away a moment later to do an interview with the school newspaper and I went back to my family. Evan and Noah were discussing some professor that Evan was taking for a class. Apparently Evan had gotten a lousy grade on an essay because the professor didn't agree with his thesis, and Noah was laughing that Evan had the audacity to disagree with the professor.

I glanced back at the field where Will was now engaged in a conversation with Nolan Bellinger by home plate. Nolan gave Will a pat on the back and Will turned away with a smile.

"There's my cue, meet us outside of the stadium in fifteen minutes, Riv?" Evan asked as he hugged our parents goodbye after noticing Will heading into the locker room.

"Uh, why?" I asked.

"Will said that you were coming over to the house, we just need to get changed and shower."

"I mean he didn't mention it, but that sounds good," I shrugged.

The parents headed home but left me a car, leaving Noah to go back to his apartment and continue work on his education project. My dad tossed me the keys to our car before they hitched a ride with the Sanders.

True to their word, the boys were out of the stadium fifteen minutes later. Will's hair was still damp, and they were both dressed in different UH Baseball t-shirts and sweatpants. "Sorry I forgot to ask if you wanted to come over," Will laughed.

"All good, I have to drive my own car though," I said, jangling the keys.

Will threw his own keys at Evan. "You can drive my car back, I'll ride with Riv."

Evan pouted. "What if I wanted to ride with my precious sister?"
"Last I heard from you, I drive 'too slow' and my music is 'plainer than eating cardboard', so I'll just give you the opportunity to drive at your own speed and listen to your own music," I gave him a big sarcastic smile.

Evan laughed and trotted off to Will's car. As soon as Will hit the passenger's seat, I was already asking questions. "So, how do you know Nolan?"

He smirked and looked over at me. "What, do you think he's hot?"

I raised my eyebrows and looked back at the road. "I mean, you have a nice Hawaiian vibe going on that he doesn't."

He started laughing so hard it took him a second to respond. "It's okay, you can say that he's better looking at me. If only you knew how many girls were at that game just to see him, it's crazy. I had girls that I had never seen in my life come up to me today and ask if I could get them together with Nolan. I was a little offended honestly."

I patted his arm sympathetically. "You'll get 'em next time, cowboy. But for real, what were you guys talking about?"

Will sobered up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Pro ball and stuff. He said I could come out and train with him sometime if I wanted. Meet some of the guys he knows. And he said that he heard about my accident and is happy to see me back on the field. He wanted to know if there was any chance that I'd try for the draft."

My gaze shifted from the road over to Will. "What'd you say?"

He clenched his jaw slightly. "Probably not. It's a long way to go from where I'm at now. I couldn't even field that bunt."

"It's your first day. Give it some time. And I'm really glad that you got to play today, it's been quite the comeback," I replied.

He smiled. "I couldn't believe it, and I'm glad that you were here for it. I was nervous when I didn't see you at the beginning. When do you leave again?"

I grimaced. "Sorry about that, and tomorrow morning. But back to you and your game, that was a nice walk off," I said, kissing him on the cheek after I pulled into a parking spot on the road near the baseball house.

"Hey, not so fast," Will complained as he pulled me back in and kissed me on the lips. The front console made it a bit awkward, but he somehow managed to pull me past it and closer to him. I continued to kiss him and pulled my fingers through the damp hair that curled down the back of his neck. He shifted in his seat and ran a hand down my back, pushing back my hair to gently kiss the skin behind my ear and down my neck.

I moved his lips back to mine after a minute before we broke apart, breathing hard. Will grinned, resting his forehead against mine. "As great as that was, we should probably go inside before we get too carried away."

My cheeks flushed. "Yeah, we don't need Evan sending out a search party."

Will laughed and opened the car door for me. He led the way up the front porch where I could already feel the music vibrating through the floorboards. "Welcome to the party," Will said, laughing.

"River, my best friend," my brother said, flinging his arm around me. His other hand suspiciously held a red solo cup, and he somehow already seemed well on his way to intoxicated.

"River's here?" Another voice yelled from further in the house.

Will raised his eyebrows at Evan before calling out to the other people in the house, "I'm here too!"

"You've become a popular name around here," Will said quietly to me. He glanced at the fridge and back at me. "Do you drink on tour? Since eighteen is the legal drinking age most places abroad?"

"On occasion, I like the champagne showers the best though," I winked at him. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a water from the fridge for himself.

Evan shoved Will when went to drink the water, spilling it all over both of them. "Bro, why are you so boring, have some fun," Evan complained.

"I have therapy at eight. I'll babysit you and also avoid making tomorrow more painful than it already is," Will answered, wiping up the water before somebody slipped on it.

"River Lancer, mi hermana, what do you want to drink?" David, one of the seniors from the Dominican Republic, asked as he stumbled slightly into Evan.

I laughed at the pack of drunk baseball boys behind him. "I'll pass tonight, thanks, I have an early flight in the morning."

"Sheesh, they're perfect for each other. I might throw up," David said to the guy next to him.

Will laughed and patted David on the shoulder before gesturing for me to follow him down the hallway. "Ooh, Will," someone else called from the kitchen.

"Shut up," He yelled back, "Sorry about them, they get a little too excited when girls enter the house" he added more quietly.

I laughed. "You'd think that they won the college world series and got drafted all in the same day with this type of energy."

Will shook his head and pointed out his room down the hall. "Well, we did beat UCLA, and that's pretty much the same thing in our book. It's like Tampa Bay beating the Dodgers."

"The Dodgers beat the Rays," I reminded him, sitting on the couch that was stuck between the two twin beds and their matching desks.

"Hey, once in a while they win! I shouldn't have to remind you of Brett Philips," Will argued while setting his hat on the corner of his bed. His mood shifted as he combed his hair back and lay down on his stomach facing me. "So, you leave tomorrow?" He said dully.

"Yeah," I frowned.

"How long until you get back?"

"Couple of months, at least. I have other events in between the normal tour events, so I'm busy the whole time." The tour took up a lot of time on its own, but there were other competitions that my sponsors made me surf in, along with qualifying series comps that would be good practice for me. There wasn't time to let up when you were following up a rookie of the year season, no matter how much I might like to be home.

"That's the rest of the season then, yeah?" Will confirmed, rolling over to stare at the ceiling.

I nodded. He looked miserable looking off into space, but he wasn't going to try and make me feel bad about it. I appreciated it, but was reminded of how when we were friends it was easier to go away for a while, come back, and have everything be the same. Now everything seemed harder.

"So, when do you think you'll retire?" He was attempting to joke, but his dark eyes still looked disappointed. Most of the other boys would have their girlfriends cheering them on from the stands all season and I would be flying around the world. Will would be playing after a life threatening injury with his girlfriend across the world, while the other boys rode the bench and had a girl at every game. Part of me wondered if I was making him miss out on some integral part of the college athlete experience. He deserved a girl in the stands, at the very least.

Will was taking up most of his bed, but I got up from the couch and pushed him over to the wall. His feet were on the wrong side of the bed, so I climbed up next to him and put my head on his chest as a pillow. He wrapped a tan arm behind me casually, but I could hear his heart pounding.

"You nervous?" I asked, picking my head up to look at him.

He gave a crooked grin in response. "I still can't believe I got out of the friend zone, but I'll take every second that I can get with you."

How are you all doing? (I'm actually curious haha would love to know)

My current vibe is that sometimes people vote on the first three chapters of this book and then never return and it makes me sad bc I want everyone to like it and I feel like it gets better, but it's all good. And I'm so thankful for 3k and all you guys reading <3 u are loved