Lauren let out an annoyed grunt and glared up at the tall, skinny guy who'd just collided with her, fiery green eyes warning him that she was no one to be trifled with. "Wanna watch where you're going, Ichabod?"

He scowled down at her and crossed his arms. "Sorry, but you were totally out of my line of vision, Short Stop."

The petite young woman's pale face turned scarlet and her lip curled up in a sneer that would have sent any other man packing. "If you ever call me that again, I will end you."

He threw his head back and roared with laughter, which only succeeded in making her turn the color of a beet. "You know, you're really kind of cute when you look like you want to cut somebody's heart out and eat it."

Lauren's mouth fell open and she craned her neck back to frown up into his face, which was framed by longish but neatly groomed brown hair. When her eyes met his chocolate brown ones, with the subtlest flecks of gold, she tried to ignore that his unwavering gaze made her stomach flip-flop. "Better watch it, Ichabod," she growled, "You're swiftly working your way to the top of my hit list."

He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward a little in an obvious attempt to make the girl with sandy brown hair, who was more than a foot shorter than he, back down. "The name's William."

She lifted her chin and cocked an eyebrow at him, less than intimidated. "If you're trying to intimidate me, it won't work. I've taken on bigger guys than you and come out on top."

William laughed again, this time a slow rumbling chuckle that raised goosebumps along her spine. "Do I detect a double entendre, or are you prone to setting yourself up like that?"

Lauren sneered and crossed her arms. "Why would it be intended as a double entendre? You're obviously not the kind of guy I'd flirt with."

Will snorted and shook his head. "Well, well...aren't we a frosty little wench? Just what kind of guy do you flirt with?"

She scrunched her nose and shook her head. "Piss off, Ichabod."

"Ladies first, Short Stop."

A disgruntled cough interrupted their exchange, and they looked up to see their trivia team's coach, who resembled a bald leprechaun with a red beard, staring at them with an expression that was part amusement and part annoyance. "If you two are quite finished with the sassy foreplay, we have a practice to conduct."

William frowned and stepped back, his gaze focusing on the older man. "Wait a minute, Short Stop is our new player? She doesn't even look old enough to be in college, Dave!"

Dave stared back at William, his usually kind blue eyes holding an edge of steel. "She graduated from high school in May with a 3.5 GPA and an impressive record from her high school trivia team. She's good at what she does. I don't care how she looks. We need a really good player to pull us out of the rut we've been in for the past year, and you need to respect that."

Lauren could hear William grinding his teeth from where she stood a couple of feet away, and noticed a muscle in his jaw twitching. "Fine." He brushed past her and headed for the restroom, and she wasn't too surprised when he flicked a look of annoyance at her back over his shoulder as he disappeared through the men's room door. 

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the coach, who was studying her with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "The team seems charming, so far, Mr. Sutherland."

The coach laughed until his eyes watered. "Witty. I like that, and it's Dave. Everyone on the team calls me Dave."

He disappeared into the classroom she'd been trying to enter when William steamrolled her, and she followed, trying hard to squelch the nervous butterflies that were eating away at her stomach's lining.

As he washed his hands, Will stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. "What the hell was that about, anyway," he muttered to no one as he dried his hands.