“Mason, it’s not what you—” Aria begins, then snaps her mouth shut when dickhead stands up and offers me his hand to shake.
“Hi, I’m Michael,” he introduces himself.
I take his proffered hand and grip it, then notice the Dearborne High School baseball logo on the T-shirt he’s wearing.
“Your last name wouldn’t be Davies, would it?” I ask him.
I’m pretty sure the man whose hand I’m shaking, who just had his lips on Aria’s, is the assistant coach I’m supposed to meet next. Great. I can’t punch him now.
His momentary surprise eases into a polite smile. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
“I’m Mason McIntyre.”
At the mention of my name, his eyes flare wide, and his handshake becomes overly enthusiastic.
“Holy shit! I didn’t recognize you. It’s so nice to meet you. I about freaked when they told me you were coming on board. I’m a huge fan. CU Wildcats all the way.” Still shaking my hand with apparently no plans to let go anytime soon, he looks over at Aria. “Youknow Mason McIntyre?”
Her face goes up in flames when we lock eyes, and she catches my knowing smirk. The smirk that says I know her very,verywell. Every inch of her. Carnally.
Michael goes on without waiting for her to reply, not stopping with his zealous handshake.
“Mason holds the collegiate record for fastest pitch at one hundred and seven point eight miles per hour, almost beating out Nolan Ryan’s record of one-oh-eight point one. If he had been playing in the MLB, it would’ve ranked in the top five fastest pitches ever,” he excitedly tells her.
It was one hundred and seven point nine miles per hour, actually, but whatever. And yes, Aria does know that tidbit of baseball fact because she was at the game and witnessed it firsthand.
As she and I continue to stare at one another, her face softens into a smile at the memory of that day.
When my arm gets tired, I give a casual tug, and Michael finally lets go.
“Why didn’t you go into the majors? I’m surprised you didn’t sign with the Lone Stars like your brother, Bennett.”
I don’t correct him about Bennett not being my brother because to Bennett and me, we are. He and Carter are my brothers in every true sense of the word. You don’t have to share DNA to be a family.
And why didn’t I go into the majors like Bennett did? I get asked that question a lot. The simple answer is, I didn’t want to. I had a few teams interested in signing me, offers of multi-million-dollar contracts, and I walked away from all of it.
Some people said I was out of my mind for throwing it away. But baseball wasn’t my passion. Never was. I only played to be with Bennett and Carter. To have an escape from my crappy life. I didn’t know until much later that the McIntyres paid for everything so I could play. Uniforms. Bats. Balls. Gloves. Cleats. Helmets. I never questioned where it all came from. The only time I stopped playing was when I lived with that nicer foster family in Asheville for a couple of years. Without Bennett and Carter, I just didn’t have the heart to play.
I don’t realize that I’ve zoned out on what Michael is saying until I feel Aria’s arm loop through mine.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it wasthattime,” she says, and I think she’s talking to Michael until she pinches me on the underside of my arm.
I look down at her, and she bugs her eyes at me.
“What?” I silently mouth.
She pinches my arm again. “For dinner. I must have lost track of the time. Give me a sec to go change.” She gives Michael an exuberant smile. “It was so nice of you to drop by. And thank you again for last night. With my work schedule and deadlines, it’s been a while since I was able to go out with afriendand unwind.”
She emphasizes the wordfriendand leans in closer to me, her grip on my arm tightening as her wide, fake smile remains plastered to her face.
My brain is slow to process, but when it does, understanding hits. This is the guy she went out on a date with last night. The guy I surreptitiously eavesdropped her mumbling about. The nice guy she wouldn’t let kiss her.
Michael looks at her and at how she’s clinging to me like a limpet. His forehead wrinkles with a slight frown.
“I didn’t know you two were…”
Aria’s imploring verdant eyes gradually narrow when a smile slowly begins to creep across my face. She just opened a metaphorical door for me, and I’m more than happy to waltz right on through. She wants me to play along as her boyfriend to get rid of him? I can absolutely do that.
“We used to date in college and recently reconnected.” Which is the truth.
