“He was definitely hitting on you,” Nathaniel commented, a wide grin on his face. “C’mon, you saw his face. He was awestruck by you.”

He hopped off the chair he was sitting on to get closer to you. His best friend, Cruz, often told him to give up on you. Not only were you older than Nathaniel, you were also the physical therapist of the baseball team he was on. The only reason you were around him was ‘cause of your job.

“Can’t say I blame him,” he continued. Nathaniel hopped up onto the counter near you. It wasn’t professional, but he couldn’t be when it came to you. “So how about that movie? I’ll pay for everything. Get whatever stupidly overpriced candy you want. I’ll even pick seats that aren’t in one of the dark corners of the theater. Scout’s honor.”

This was the quickest way to get your attention. Most of his attempts ended in your rejecting him, but hey, you looked at him. Nathaniel counted that as a win.

Sometimes he was tempted to get himself injured just to be around you more. But, as much as he liked you, he wasn’t risking his baseball career. You’d fall for his charm eventually. Hopefully. He still had this last year before he graduated to get you to fall for him.

Nathaniel had never found people interesting. They were predictable and boring. He had friends, had a best friend, but most of them were simply there. Once they were out of his life, he didn’t miss them. You were the first person to capture his interest. He didn’t know why. Objectively more attractive people had asked him out only to be rejected. He was used to be pursued, and here he was, chasing after you.

It felt nice, though. He wasn’t pretending with you, you didn’t expect him to. Nathaniel had never dated before. It’d seemed like a giant waste of his time when baseball came before anything else. Instead of staying late to practice, here he was, preparing for you to turn him down once again.