It Was Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

never found you sexier.”
    “Disgusting, right? I sweat like an ape.”
    She stepped closer, her voice still low. “No, I'm serious. Your chest and stomach, all slick with sweat. Your hair pushed back. Your skin all warm.” She took a deep, ragged breath. “You don't even know.”
    I leaned down and kissed her, teasing her lips with the tip of my tongue. “I'll remember that. For another time.”
    She grunted. “Mmhmm.”
    “I need to shower,” I whispered. “Wanna join me?”
    “You wish,” she whispered back. “And so do I.” She took her hand, placed it on my chest and let it slide right down to my waist. “The things I would do...”
    “Sweat,” I said, grinning. “I had no idea.”
    She looked at me, licking her lips like she wanted to put me on a plate and eat me. “You really don't.” She took another deep breath. “Go shower. Before I get us in big trouble.”
    I did as I was told and jumped into an ice cold shower, the stinging needles of water gradually bringing my body temperature back to normal. I toweled off, put on a pair of dry shorts and a clean T-shirt and wandered out to the living room. Abby was sitting at the dining table with her parents. The way they'd gone quiet as soon as I'd come into the room made me think they were talking about me.
    Or maybe I was just paranoid.
    “You survived?” Mr. Sellers asked as I slid into the seat across from him.
    I grabbed the carton of orange juice and filled my glass. “Barely.”
    “Brave man, working out in the heat.”
    “It wasn't that bad,” I said. “I didn't go that hard.”
    “Why anyone would run unless they are being chased is beyond me,” Abby's mother said.
    I laughed and swallowed down the orange juice.
    Abby passed me the plate of bagels but she seemed different than before my shower. Quiet. Nervous. I smiled at her, trying to get a response, but she looked away.
    And then I realized all of them were quiet.
    I wasn't being paranoid.
    Mr. and Mrs. Sellers were looking at Abby, waiting on her.
    I just wasn't sure for what.
    So I waited, too. I coated my bagel with cream cheese and stayed quiet.
    Abby finally let out a long, loud sigh. “Alright. So don't get pissed at me.”
    I looked at her parents, then at her. “I'm assuming you're talking to me?”
    She frowned, then nodded. “Yes. I'm talking to you.”
    I shoved one half of the bagel in my mouth, chewed and swallowed. “Okay. Why shouldn't I be pissed at you?”
    “That isn't a promise.”
    “You're right. It's not. Why shouldn't I be pissed at you?”
    She looked at both of her parents. Her mother looked a little nervous but her father appeared more amused than anything.
    Abby started to say something, then she stood and left the room.
    I looked at her parents. “I don't get it.”
    Her dad held up a finger, indicating I should wait.
    Abby returned.
    With a baseball glove, a baseball bat and a duffel bag that appeared to be full.
    She set them on her chair. “These are for you.”
    I stared at them. “For me? I've got stuff.”
    “Not with you,” she said. “I think you should go to the tryout today. So when my mom and I went to the store, we also stopped at the sporting goods place.” She gestured at the bag. “There are cleats and socks and batting gloves in there. And a Padres hat. I figured you needed a hat, too.”
    “And pants,” her mother said. “She bought you those white baseball pants, too.”
    “Oh,” was all I could manage.
    “I think you should, too, West,” her dad chimed in. “There's no harm in it. But something good could come from it. You never know.”
    I nodded slowly, trying to steady my breathing.
    “I know you said you'd think about it,” Abby said, her hands gripping the back of the chair. “But you don't have time to think about it. It's today. And if you don't want to, that's fine. I can take all this back. But I just...if you wanted to do it, I wanted you to be able to.”
    It was like I could feel the fuse attached to