She put her hand against mine, the smallness of it pinching my heart. I clasped my fingers around hers and yanked her closer to me. She gasped, and I didn’t know if I did it for show or because I wanted to, but I kissed her on the cheek. I chose the spot right where her lips spread to the rest of her beautiful face. A hint of sweetness teased me, but I kept my mouth away from temptation. Then, I bent close enough so only she could hear me. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Will you be here?” Her shaky voice told me everything. My bold, ball-bustin’ Greta was edgy.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
She released a breath and her body relaxed. “I need you there.”
Those words… The thickness in my throat came back. I couldn’t respond to that, so I pointed to the booth the guys were at. “I’ll be over there. I’ll hang out until you’re off.”
“You don’t have to do that. It could be a late night.” Her normal swagger came back and the insecurity in her eyes disappeared. “Go drink. Have fun. Be a dumb boy. But not too dumb.”
I chuckled and carried my pitcher back to the table. Silly Greta didn’t realize that I had more fun with her than anyone else. Waiting a couple of hours for her was no big deal. I’d done it before and often. She was making it weird.
“Yo! You fucking killed it today.” Zade cheered at me, a little tipsy already. I grinned and fist-bumped him. “I don’t know what you were on, man, but shit. Play like that every day and you’re going first.”
“I beat Tanner at Madden before we left,” I admitted, Tanner snarling at me. “Don’t be a bitch about it. Have you told them our deal?”
“Actually, we need a tie-breaker.”
“No, we don’t. I hit better than you today,” I fired back. Jeff watched us as if we were a tennis match, his expression amused. We got that a lot—people watching our verbal banter like a sport. “I went seven for ten.”
“I went six for ten with a walk. We were on base the same amount of times. That was the deal.”
“No, it…ah fuck.” I closed my eyes. “It was.”
“Hell titties! We tied, mofo. We are both wearing onesies. I’ll order yours right now, ass clown.”
“Excuse me, what?” Zade joined in with laughter bubbling up. “Why?”
“It was our bet. We have to wear onesies to the next team breakfast.” I sighed and found myself enjoying the bet. I needed more reasons to laugh and, hell, onesies were a good reason.
“Jesus.” He cackled and pulled out his phone. “Have you ordered them yet?”
“I haven’t, no. I expected to win.”
“Dude, let’s order them right now. This shit is awesome. I might want one, too.” Zade was having a little too much fun right then and I bit back a grin. I guess we were starting a new wave on the team. We ordered four different ones, each one ridiculous in its own way, and an hour or two passed as the four of us enjoyed our pitchers of cheap beer. Greta stopped by once or twice to chat and each time it took all my willpower to not look at her toned body.
Zade and Jeff headed out earlier than normal, both to go see their women. I had no idea who Jeff was seeing, but it couldn’t have been serious. He’d gotten the numbers of three girls within the two hours he was at the bar. I remembered those days.Don’t miss them.I was about to go sit at the bar and ask Greta something when a body blocked my view. A body that was too tan, too plastered in spandex and too much in my damn space. “Excuse me?”
“Aaron,” the girl purred, stretching my two-syllable name into four or five. I gagged. This chick smelled like strippers on spring break. Her manicured fingers touched my face without permission. I scooted back farther, but she didn’t give up. “Why are you playing hard to get? Last year you loved my body. You told me over and over.”
Now, I had two options. Deny it entirely and embarrass her, or go along with it and dismiss her. I couldn’t tell if I’d slept with her or not. I’d had a lot of drunken nights that turned into regrets before the scandal. Tanner tensed up across the booth and would have my back if needed. “Listen, my friend and I here are having a nice conversation. I’m going to ask you to leave.”
“You don’t dismiss me,” she gasped, putting her orange hand against her chest. “You loved how I rode you last year. Why are you pushing me away?”
I groaned and a mean, nasty side of me bubbled up.Is she the one writing the shit about me? Did she try to ruin my life?But, before I could say anything else, Greta marched over in her black outfit and plopped right onto my lap.
“Hey, pookie,” she purred into my ear, my arms automatically going around her waist. She smelled like candy. “I’m almost done. Were you waiting for me, lover?”
“Yes.” I buried my face in her neck so the aggressive girl didn’t see me laughing. I nipped at her skin on impulse and she jumped.
“Don’t get frisky here. There are patrons.” She giggled—real or fake, I had no idea. She ran her hand through my disheveled hair and pushed my face back. “I missed your face.”
Then she kissed me. It was quick, entirely for show, and I fucking loved it. Her mouth had as much personality as she did. She kissed passionately, loudly and without hesitation. My dick sprang alive, despite the show we were putting on. She slid off me with glazed eyes. She tilted her head at Orange Barbie and frowned. “Oh, hi. Did you need something?”
“Uh.” The girl was speechless, a sick expression on her face. “No. No. I’m good.”
Greta laughed and blew her a kiss. The girl ran out of our section without a glance. “Thata girl.”
