Hashtag rolls his cat eyes like he knows Cooper’s trying to get out of super deep territory when we only have a few minutes left.
Or maybe he doesn’t want to go deep with me.
“So the true key to happiness is sleep, hm?”
“Can’t trade the sleep. That’ll do you in every time.”
“Clearly, you have no trouble with sleeping.”
“She swings, and look at that ball go.Zing!Home run. She got me. I told you. I don’t usually fall asleepthatfast. Four more nights, and I’ll prove it to you.”
Thatmakes me happy. My heart does a butt-wiggle dance, and I couldn’t stop my smile if I tried. He’s flying to LA to hang out at my house while I have a rare three full days of operating out of my hometown that happens to coincide with his time off for the mid-summer All-Star break.
“Speaking of swing and a home run—” I say.
“Waverly Sweet, have you been watching my baseball games?”
“I have a vested interest in making sure you’re still performing well.”
“Waverly Sweet, are you betting on baseball?Insider knowledge. I’m telling the commissioner.”
It feels good to laugh again. That’s what this is supposed to be.We’ll enjoy this as long as we enjoy it. “So you’re a tattletale?”
“Nah. More, I just want to make sure you know my interest in you doesn’t lie in my game. I’m over the superstition. If you want to hang out with our clothes on, I’m gonna keep being the fabulous kick-ass baseball player that I’ve always been.”
“So you’re saying youdon’twant to get naked?”
“Ah, shit.”
“Hey, you get that I’m teasing, right?”
“Yeah, but now I’m thinking of you naked. And I’ll be boarding the bus in five minutes with a hard-on.”
I shiver.
I like his hard-on.
“Do you need help taking care of that?” I ask.
“Where are you?”
“New York.”
“Can you teleport? I’m in Boston. And is it really worth the effort of teleporting for a three-minute quickie? That’s dedication. You must like me a lot.”
“Cooper.”
“I hear music when you say my name.”
I drop my voice and add a seductive lilt, not sure if I sound like a total goofball or a goddess. “What are you wearing?”
“It’s gangster suit day for team-building. Mine has Baby Ash printed all over it. I’m the dragon gangster.”
I burst out laughing.
“Matching hat. Want a picture?”
“Later,” I tell him. “Right now, I want you to unbutton your pants.”
