Claiming Callie: Part two by Paige Rion Page A

riling the crowd of Panther fans up. He ’ s pumping his furry, golden-brown arms in the air, swinging the rose like a conductor, before he stops in front of Callie.
    She can feel the excitement spilling over, the bubble of laughter rising within her. And before she can stop herself, she gives the outstretched paw a high five before accepting her fourth rose. The panther does a cartwheel, then runs off, leaving Callie with this stupid grin on her face she can ’ t erase, no matter how hard she tries.
    She can feel Jinny ’ s gaze on her, boring into her with supersonic heat. She barely glances at her to see a smug expression, then focuses back on the flowers in her lap. This is the most excitement Callie ’ s had in a long while. Whether that makes her pathetic or not she isn ’ t sure, but the fireflies dancing in her stomach are real.
    Behind her, the girl sighs and says to her friend, “Why can ’ t we find a guy like that?”
    “Why can ’ t I?” she whispers.
    Did I say that out loud? Jinny clears her throat, and Callie stills. Of course, s he meant theoretically. But even still, she can ’ t bring herself to say anything. Not while her cheeks are aflame and the light within is burning so bright. Not when the darkness from earlier in the day has lifted so completely. All Callie knows in this mom ent is that she doesn ’ t want to ruin this feeling. Even if it is only for some other girl’s benefit. Even if it ’ s all a show.
    Her decision made, Callie leans back in the bleachers and lets herself enjoy the glow.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    DEAN
     
    Normally Dean can drown out the crowd, the cheers, and the screams around him until they are nothing more than white noise. As a player he has to—otherwise, he ’ s risking distraction. On the court, he only allows room for total focus. There is only one thing on his mind: the basketball, the net, and keeping it away from the opposing team. Nothing more.
    But tonight is different. Tonight, he can ’ t help but listen for the cheers, the roar of the crowd with each shot at the hoop. The wail of disappointment the couple times he mis sed, and the screams of joy when he makes yet another shot.
    Instead of distracting him, though, he lets it fuel him. Because one look at Callie sitting in the crowd, across the court, her arms full of flowers, only partially obscuring the huge smile on her face, and the adrenaline shoots through his limbs, setting him on fire. He ’ s completely aware that he ’ s fighting a battle both on and off the court. And based on the scoreboard as well as Callie ’ s expression, he ’ s winning both.
    Sweat drips from his hair i nto his eyes as he faces off against the Boston ballplayer. His fingers twitch in anticipation. He watches his eyes, not his body, as the ballplayer dribbles slowly in front of the three-point line, preparing to make his move. He throws a sharp pass to his right. Dean follows, hustling to place his body in front of him. The ball comes back at them and the Boston player catches it with ease. Whipping around, Dean waves his arms in front of him in an attempt to block any throws and make moving freely more dif ficult. He sees the hesitation in his opponent ’ s eyes as he stops dribbling and grips the ball, realizing too late that there’s no way to pass. Now his opponent’s stuck. Pass or walk.
    Dean takes advantage and darts at him, managing to steal the ball, and runs down the opposite end of the court without hesitation. But his opponent’s on his heels, and Dean knows he has little time before he catches up and blocks him. He plants his feet in front of the three-point line and raises his arms to shoot. But the Bo ston player shoves him just as the ball leaves his fingertips, causing it to fall short of the net.
    A whistle blows and the ref makes an L shape with his arms, then gestures the pushing signal and grabs the ball.
    Dean shakes his fist in victory. He ’ ll get three shots at the foul line, since the