Free Midnight Surrender: A Paranormal Romance Anthology by Alyssa Rose Ivy, Airicka Phoenix, Shannon Dermott, Charlotte Abel, Kelly D. Cooper, Laura A. H. Elliott, Amy M. Jones, Kris Kendall

“You better not be looking at my sister, Bowman,” a different voice said.
    Turning to face the voice wouldn’t change what I already knew. Looking up, I saw the match to the fireball. Liam was tall with a mix of reddish-blond hair, but the resemblance was clear. Although only a year ahead of me, a junior, Liam wasn’t one to be messed with. And he wasn’t Maggie’s only protector. Her other brother was a senior, but he didn’t play baseball. He played lacrosse, so I didn’t have to deal with both of them at once.
    “ No, I’m not,” I said flatly.
    Liam frowned at me. “What are you saying? You don’t think she’s cute enough?”
    Laughing, I wondered why the guy just admonished me from checking his sister out. “She’s cute,” I said in a nonchalant way. “But it’s her friend I’m interested in.”
    Liam’s frown stayed in place. “Who, Mercy? She’s like a sister to me too.”
    Sighing, I pulled my cap off my head and ran my hand through my hair. Putting my cap back on, I manned up. “Is she off limits too?”
    My question, however, came too late before the rest of the team, who’d been practicing, now came over to huddle around, wondering what was going on. A few murmurs were spoken when Liam finally took it upon himself to broadcast to everyone what they’d been talking about.
    “ Fellas, it seems my young apprentice Paul, here, is going to ask Mercy Moore out,” Liam announced.
    “ Nice,” a guy named Doug said as he clapped Liam’s other shoulder. “Do you think I can ask your sister out?”
    Liam immediately went on a rant while Doug just grinned up at him. Thankfully, the guy took the heat off of me. The guys were quickly immersed in that conversation, leaving me to glance over at the girls’ team again.
    Only it seemed not everybody was watching the showdown between Doug and Liam. “So what makes you think she’ll go out with you?” another voice asked arrogantly.
    I turned to catch sight of the freshman guy all the girls were going gaga over. Flynn was his name. He was tall like me and he met me eye to eye. Luke, a friend to us both, looked between us. His expression said he really didn’t want to have to pick a side. But I knew he and Flynn were close and if it came down to it, he would side with Flynn.
    “ What is she your girlfriend or something?” he asked, with a little chuckle to show his confidence. Mercy was in my math class and I’d been talking to her for a while now. I was pretty sure she was interested in me too.
    Flynn turned and stared in the direction of the girls. The guy flashed a sly smile. I turned back to see that a bunch of the girls had stopped practice to see what we were doing. Maggie, the firecracker and sister to Liam, started making rude gestures. Chuckling, I watched as Mercy’s face flushed and not from the heat. Other girls began to chime in with hoots about, “You can’t handle all this!”
    That quieted Liam, who held his hand out to either side as if he were saying, “Why,” suggesting to his sister he wasn’t pleased. Meanwhile, the cat calls like, “Why don’t you come over here with that sweet ass of yours and find out,” rained out on the guys’ side. This caused Liam to push some kid, and it all seemed to get a little out of control from there.
    Coach must have been talking to someone on the phone because he’d yet to break this up. Meanwhile, I blanked out on all the noises around me. Instead, I focused solely on Mercy. She returned my stare with a shy smile and a hint of a dimple. That smile ignited something in me no girl ever had. She was pretty without knowing it, which made her sweet as homemade pie.
    Taking a step forward, I planned to make my move. Holding eye contact, I was sure she would move towards me once he started forward. A firm hand grasped my biceps. Turning, I looked to meet the furious glare from Flynn. “Where are you going Cassanova? We’ve got practice.”
    Shrugging, I shook out of Flynn’s hold.