“What the hell is wrong with people?” I asked. “Here, look through the messages I got on the app. Connor and Tyler seemed like stand-up guys.”
Hawk took my phone and read through some messages.
“Oof, this poor guy. Did he really offer up his disability check for a date?”
Hawk was referring to the message I received from the nineteen-year-old kid who promised me he could support me with his disability check. He then described his traumatic brain injury from the car accident he was in, whichkilled both his parents. It was heartbreaking, and while I had no intention of dating him, I felt slightly responsible for protecting him. So many women would take advantage of him.
“Oh, yeah. I wanted to meet up with him to protect him from all the vultures that would be more than happy to relieve him of whatever small amount of government assistance he gets.”
“I know the feeling. But I guess you don’t need to own a baseball team to have women try to take everything you’ve got.”
“You don’t date?” I asked.
“Not for a while. It was something I realized I had to give up when I took over the team. And honestly, I’m not missing out on much. It gives me a great excuse to turn down whatever mystery match my grandmother decides would be the best for the family’s future.”
I sighed. “At least my parents don’t set me up with anyone.”
“And your sisters?”
I shook my head. “Kylie has been out of the city long enough not to have many connections. Kelsey knows better than to set me up with an athlete.”
He stared at me, and I squirmed in my seat, polishing off my second glass of wine.
“No athletes?”
“Ah, you caught that.” I signaled for another glass of wine. The buzz from the first two glasses encouraged me to open up, making it more difficult to say no to another drink.
“So there’s a story there.”
“I dated one of the baseball players at Dartmouth. Hewas full of himself, which carried over to how he treated me.”
I gave Hawk my canned response, which left out so much of what had happened with Tucker.
“Sounds like that is the safe response.”
Our eyes met, and I knew he wasn’t buying my brush-off.
“Well, that relationship is why I do many things the way I do now.”
There had been a time when I saw a future with Tucker. But then, after it all fell apart, after he hurt me unimaginably, I hated myself for how blind I had been. It was probably why I hadn’t had more than a single date with a man since. Some had led to sex, some sex had even been good, but I wasn’t ready to trust anyone again.
“I’m a good listener if you ever want to talk about it.”
Fuck, I wanted to talk about it. Not only because the three glasses of wine had loosened my lips, but because I felt so alone after everything that had happened. I had crawled into myself and hadn’t even told my sisters.
“Are you saying this as my boss?”
“I’m saying this as a friend, with the understanding that becoming friends with your boss can be strange and complicated. But if you want to add boundaries, we can do that.”
“So, we pretend that we are peers?” I asked. Shit, I just slurred. And when the bartender offered another glass of wine, I accepted that too.
“Workout partners?”
I laughed, remembering his comment about my nipples. “HR would be on your case after our workout. Do you comment on most partners’ nipples?”
“Shit, Kendra. I’m a man, and I have eyes.”
Was he saying he’s attracted to me? I bit back a flirtatious response and did my best to bring the conversation firmly back to the friend zone.
