Callie rolls her eyes. “I know, right? Her name is Julianna. She’s Patrick’s brother’s wife. She’s a know-it-all.”
Well, that solidifies my opinion of her. But I don’t want this conversation to get off track because I have a lot of questions that weren’t appropriate for me to ask Leighton. “Sorry for being nice to your best friend.”
She picks up the Twix wrapper and holds it in the air. “You remembered her favorite candy bar?”
“Don’t be jealous. I brought you a Hershey’s bar.” I pat my chest before realizing I’m not wearing my suit jacket. “It’s in my jacket.”
She slides a chair out and sits across from me, dramatically crossing her legs to say we’re really going to dig in now. “I’m your sister, you should remember my favorite candy, but Leighton isn’t?—”
“How many times did I drive you guys to the 7-Eleven?” I shoot down her line of thinking that I somehow stored that piece of information away because I’ve yearned for Leighton all these years.
She hums and leans back in her chair, tossing the wrapper onto the table. “Now isn’t the time, Hayes.”
I stare her right in the eye with the hope that she doesn’t see through me. “Let’s talk about something else.”
She rests her chin in her palm. “I’m serious. I know you’re back in town, but this season is top priority for you, and she has all this to deal with. It’s not the right time.” She gestures to the house behind us, which I assume is now Leighton’s.
My chest grows heavy just thinking about how exhausted Leighton’s mind must be from spinning. “Haven’t you heard? I’m a manwhore and partier who almost torched his entire career.” I might be deflecting, but I’m not lying.
“Come on, Hayes, talk to me.” There’s concern in her gaze.
I rest my forearms on my legs and clasp my hands together. “One for one.”
She groans, not wanting to play the game we always play when we’re both hiding something and want information from the other. My mom started it when we were young to spur real conversations, as she put it.
“We’re adults now, you can’t be serious.”
“Deadly.” My voice doesn’t waver.
She rolls her eyes again, and I still get some kind of sick pleasure from annoying my sister, even as a thirty-two-year-old man. “Only if I get to go first.”
I gesture with my hand. “By all means, you are the baby of the family.”
She groans but doesn’t fight me because she wants to know something just as badly as I do. “With the season starting again… are you in a better headspace?”
“Well yeah.” I rub my hands together. “You made the first question too easy.”
She leans back in her chair, crossing her legs. “Just take your turn.” She waves her hand between us, and I chuckle.
“Is Leighton really going to take this on?”
She nods. “And you make fun of my question for being too easy? Of course she is. She’s Leighton. You know her.”
I used to. Hell, Leighton went on family vacations. You don’t spend that much time together without getting to know the person. Even now that we’ve kept our distance since the kissing incident, it’s no surprise to me she’s agreed to take on the role of guardian to her cousin’s kids.
I open my mouth to ask another question.
“Nope… my turn.” Callie taps her finger to her lips. “How’s it going with your manager?”
“Listen, I’m just going to give it all to you at once because none of this seems very important in the grand scheme of why we’re out on the deck with what’s going on inside. Spring training was great. I’m meeting with Jagger in a couple of days. Vega seems good with me and is willing to give me a fresh start. I plan to work my ass off and win a Gold Glove this year to prove wrong everyone who said I was done. End of story. I fucked up last year…”
“Yeah, but?—”
I cut her off because regardless of the circumstances, there was no excuse for all the partying. “My turn. Since you only decided to tell me today about Skylar dying, I’d like more specifics.”
Callie blows out a breath. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you earlier, but I didn’t want anything too heavy on your mind. I’m honestly surprised Mom didn’t tell you. She’d be here if she and Dad weren’t in Europe.” She smiles, and I can’t help but match it. “Then I could tell Leighton was really getting sad and annoyed, and I just figured?—”
“I wish you would’ve called me sooner. Hell, I would’ve brought over the entire team to get all those guests off Leighton’s back.”
