Seduction Gone Wrong (Seducing my Best Friend)

The sun was blazing, and the only protection she had was a baseball cap. But she didn't mind—it wasn't like she wasn't used to the heat. She stood in the middle of the field, her baseball bat gripped and ready. While waiting for the pitch, her gaze drifted toward the bleachers where Finn, also in a baseball cap, was idly playing with a ball and flirting with a girl sitting beside him.

She immediately recognized the girl—she was a year ahead of them and was now giggling while slapping Finn's leg playfully.

As usual, the girl's porcelain-white skin seemed to glow under the sun. Fair skin was his weakness. She glanced down at her own sun-darkened arms. She knew she must look like a sunburnt mess after spending almost every day practicing under the scorching heat.

To be honest, she wasn't even into softball at first. But since Finn played baseball, she got into softball too, just so she had a reason to hang around and ask for his help during his practices. Eventually, she grew to love the sport and even got good at it. After all, who wouldn't if they were being coached by Finnley Bridgeworth himself?

He was well-known at their school for several reasons. First and foremost, his looks. He got his features from his Italian grandfather. Even his last name hinted at wealth, though he lived a relatively normal life with his mother.

His father had long since remarried and had a daughter with his new wife. For years, his father had been trying to bring Finn to live in their mansion or at least move him and his mother to a bigger house and send him to an exclusive school. But Finn always refused. He didn't want to leave his mother, and even though his father offered to include her in the move, Finn knew she would feel out of place in such a life. So they stayed in their modest home in a neighborhood still within the city.

She saw Finn whisper something to the girl, who visibly shivered from excitement.

Flavor of the month, she thought. She knew all too well how many girls Finn flirted with—none of them lasted more than a month.

With a slight sneer, she turned her attention back to the pitcher. Her eyes widened when she saw the ball flying toward her. In a slight panic, she swung the bat just in time. Had she missed, it would've smashed right into her face.

The crowd gasped when they saw where the ball was heading.

Finn also looked up and saw the ball zooming toward his flirty companion. He reacted quickly, catching it with his gloved hand just inches from her face. The girl screamed in a high-pitched voice, eyes shut and hands covering her face. It took her a while to realize she was fine. She only moved when she heard the surrounding applause.

Finn looked over in her direction with furrowed brows. She just shrugged and walked back to her teammates. That had been her third strike—she was OUT.

She dropped down on the grass next to one of her teammates, who handed her a bottle of water. She quickly took it, drinking while her eyes instinctively returned to where Finn sat, now with the girl clinging to him like a koala.

She saw him rubbing the girl's back, as if comforting her. The crowd began teasing the two, and she noticed a few other girls glaring at the girl who was still wrapped around Finn.

"So dramatic," she muttered, loud enough for the teammate beside her to hear.

"Are they together now, Finn and Fritz?" her teammate asked, referring to the clinger.

"How would I know? Haven't you gotten used to our classmate by now?" she replied indifferently, pulling her gaze away from the pair.

"Sigh. Why does your friend have to be so handsome? Hook me up with him," her teammate sighed, eyes dreamy as she continued staring at Finn.

She raised an eyebrow, nearly laughing. Her teammate looked even darker than she did.

"Keep dreaming. Maybe try getting fair skin first," she teased with a laugh.

But the other girl wasn't listening anymore. Suddenly, she squeaked and tugged at her sleeve.

"OMG! Finn's heading this way!" she hissed, practically jumping out of her seat.

She looked up and saw Finn walking toward them. For a moment, everything felt like it was in slow motion. She found herself stunned—he looked like an angel descending from the heavens.

Her trance broke when Finn cupped her cheeks in both hands with a grin.

"You're in trouble," he said playfully.

She didn't hear anything from her teammate beside her. She looked over and, just as she suspected, the girl looked like she was about to faint, eyes wide and hand clutching her chest as she stared at Finn. Her eyes grew even wider when Finn looked her way and smiled.

"Hi, Trina," he greeted.

"H-hi, F-Finn," she stammered, clearly overwhelmed. She was soon called by the coach and had to leave.

She quickly slapped Finn's hands away from her cheeks.

"Tsk. What'd I do now?" she asked, brushing his hand off and glancing over at his previous spot. She saw Fritz—was that even her name?—scowling at her like she wanted to murder someone.

"Why's your new girlfriend frowning like that?" she asked, nodding toward the glaring girl.

Finn just laughed and flopped onto the grass beside her. He grabbed the water bottle she had drunk from earlier and took a sip from it himself.

Butterflies instantly fluttered in her stomach at what he did. Technically, that was almost a kiss! But she kept her face unreadable, hiding the chaos in her chest.

She didn't want anyone to notice how her heart seemed to lose its rhythm because of what her best friend did—especially not Finn. Her constant sarcasm and snarkiness toward him were her way of covering up the true feelings of a young heart that only she knew about.

She didn't know how she would face her friend if he ever got even the slightest idea that she had been secretly harboring feelings for him for a long time. She didn't want their friendship to be broken just because she couldn't help but show how she truly felt. She was doing her best to protect the friendship she had with Finn.