Try.

Chapter 17: I Don't Ever Want to See You With Him

Harry's POV (you're feckin welcome)

also a new character is being introduced and i hope he triggers you as much as he does to me

*

I swung the bat, hearing the familiar Ping! of the ball hitting the metal and sending it flying into left field and hitting the fence.

"Nice, Harry," Coach Jake clapped from the dugout. "Try swinging at a slightly higher angle and see if you can actually get it over the fence."

I held back an eye roll as he said, "Throw him another one, Parker."

Another fastball and I swung, the bat vibrating once I hit the ball and sent it to center field, just barely making it over the fence.

"Now, try to swing like that every time." Coach muttered, just loud enough for me to hear. He was hard on us — a lot — but it was only because he wanted us to be great. I walked off home plate and went back inside the dugout, sitting down on the bench and taking a swing of my water while someone else was at bat.

"How's it goin', Styles?" My teammate Alex came up to me, unstrapping his glove and tucking it in his back pocket. He was probably one of my best friends on the team, even though he's a bit of an áss, but if you didn't know us already, you'd assume we were twins.

"Pretty good, it's been a héll of a morning, though." I said, half of me referring to Coach's hard attitude today, but also because I was this close to fûcking Vivian on the kitchen counter but Martha walked in just as I reached my hand under her shirt.

"I see you've got a new friend hanging around." He said, raising an eyebrow and smiling devilishly.

"Yeah, what about it?" I said. I hated his côcky áss.

He was silent and made the dîck-sucking gesture with his hand moving side to side next to his cheek, making an 'o' shape with his mouth.

"Shut up, Alex." I said, rolling my eyes and taking another long gulp of water.

"Come on, dude, she's fit. If you aren't making any moves, I just might."

"Don't talk to her." I warned. Alex wouldn't be good for Vivian. He was a narcissist and really only cared about himself; I wouldn't dare let Vivian be around him.

"Dámn, bro. Calm down." He chuckled. "All I'm saying is, she's hot."

"I'll give you ten seconds to drop the subject." I said, and he scoffed as he rolled his eyes, walking off to take his turn at bat. My blood boiled at the idea of him getting near Vivian. I loved him as a brother, but she was mine, and I was selfish when it came to her.

It was easy to call her mine, but it wasn't easy defining the relationship. It was weird because Vivian wasn't my type, but for some reason, I couldn't get enough of her. I loved that she had a job and she was mindful of her career and what it took to reach the top. Even though I absolutely despised reporters, she was the only one who could truly get a word out of me.

After practice, Alex and I decided to head to the bars since we hadn't really hung out after the season started and we had the whole evening to kill. I didn't worry about bringing him home because I knew Vivian would still be at work and we'd be in and out of my house in no time.

We showered at the stadium before heading out, and once we reached home, I mentally slapped myself for not even thinking about texting Vivian to see if she was home or not because my original assumptions were very wrong.

After we walked through the door, we went through the foyer and past the living room archway, where I noticed Vivian on the couch with her laptop, one of my dress shirts draped over her shoulders, a white tank top, and athletic shorts that were far too small to be worn around anyone else but me.