It Was Me by Anna Cruise Page A

pretty sure, based on the texts and phone calls that kept coming in—and that I kept refusing to answer—that I had a future playing ball. Professional ball. But I wasn't sure it was an opportunity I was willing to take.
    Because of Abby.
    My phone vibrated. It was Abby, texting me back.
    I'm at the pool.
    I walked back to the bedroom, peeling the polo shirt off as I walked. I swung the door shut and stripped out of my shorts, reaching for my swim trunks. I had one foot in when the door flew open.
    Annika grinned and covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh. Sorry.”
    I turned so my ass was facing her. “Jesus, Annika. Knock much?” I pulled the trunks up and tied the drawstring.
    “Not like I haven't seen it before.” She paused, then smiled seductively. “Or tasted it.”
    My temper flared and I spun around and marched toward her. Everything I was feeling—about school, about baseball, about Abby—exploded and she was the closest outlet. Her eyes widened as she backed up against the wall.
    “What the fuck do you want?” I asked. “You want to fuck your sister's boyfriend? Is that it?” I braced both arms against the wall, trapping her.
    She bit her lip and looked at me but said nothing.
    “Well, guess what?” I sneered. “I'm not interested. Not now. Not ever. So stop fucking following me around. Stop getting in my way and throwing yourself at me. Because I'll drag your ass down to that pool and make you tell Abby—and your parents—just what you've been doing. Again.”
    “I don't want you,” she said, spitting the words at me.
    “Then stop parading yourself around and acting like you do.” I looked her up and down with contempt. “It's embarrassing. And pathetic.” I dropped my arms and walked out of the bedroom, not bothering to look back.
    “I don't want you, West Montgomery,” she called, her voice angry.
    I turned around and stared at her. “No? Then what is this, Annika? Tell me. What the hell are you trying to do here?”
    “I don't know what you're talking about--”
    But I didn't let her finish. “You waltz around half-naked. You get in the way of me and Abby. And then you waltz in on me, naked.What the hell am I supposed to think?”
    She stood in the doorway of the bedroom she was sharing with Abby—the same bedroom I'd slept in when we'd first gotten there—and stared at me. There was that look on her face again, the same look she'd worn when I'd first confronted her on the sidewalk outside of the pool.
    “What?” I snapped.
    “I don't know how to be,” she said, her voice soft.
    I folded my arms across my chest and stared hard at her.
    “I don't know how to be,” she repeated. “I'm trying.”
    “Trying to do what?” I asked. “Piss me off? Get me to sleep with you? Convince your sister to forget the truce and go back to hating your guts? You've got two out of three pretty much nailed. And fucking me isn't one of them.”
    She winced. “That's not what I meant.” She sighed and brought her finger to her mouth. Absently, she began to chew on her nail. “I don't want Abby to hate me. Or you.”
    “No?” I laughed harshly. “You're not doing a very good job in that department.”
    Before she could say anything else, I stormed out. She didn't say anything and she didn't follow me. I inhaled deeply as I stepped outside, the heat of the day slamming into me. I'd been a complete and total asshole to Abby's sister. Again. Not that she didn't deserve it but I knew the real reason I'd lashed out at her. And it had nothing to do with her probing questions or her walking in on me naked. I could handle Annika.
    What I couldn't handle was the conversation I'd just had with Coach Childs.
    My steps, painfully slow, didn't match my breathing as I headed toward the pool. The sun beat down on me, the breeze nonexistent. I could hear people at the pool—kids splashing and shrieking in the water, the low murmur of other voices. I knew it would be packed down there. And I knew Abby