I fought a grin. “Okay.” I changed my voice, mocking the tone she’d used earlier on me. “Noted, makes threats with silverware.”
“Ha. Ha.” She made a face and adjusted her position so she faced me on the couch. “I grew up going to baseball tournaments, going to Cubs games and entertaining myself when my parents hit Aaron grounders. Of course, I know a lot about baseball. Trust me, I wish I didn’t.”
“Did you ever play?”
“Nope. I know I’m super fitand all, but it seems Aaron stole every fucking athletic gene when he was born. My talents lie in sarcasm, the ability to drink an insane amount of Dr. Pepper, making to-do lists and knowing the lyrics to every country song made since two-thousand and four.”
I chocked on my water, coughing and laughing into my fist. “Incredible.”
“I know. Get in line with the rest of my fans.”
God, she was refreshing. We shared a smile longer than I would’ve felt comfortable staring at my friend’s sister, but she was like a breath of fresh air. I must’ve been quiet too long, because she took another bite, and soon enough, we were both chowing down on the rest of our food without saying a word. It was a comfortable silence and when I finished, she reached for my plate. “I’ll clean up. Thanks for warming it up for me.”
“Sure.”
She got up, giving me a perfect opportunity to stare at her long legs. She had great legs, tan and smooth, toned and the perfect length to—no. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I shut it away.She’s Aaron’s sister.
Hell no. Like, never. He would actually kill me in my sleep. I ran my palms over my eyes and found her sitting back on the couch, next to me. I had to think of something, anything else. “What are you working on…on a Saturday afternoon?”
“Oh, this.” She made an unhappy face at the direction of her laptop. “I signed up for two summer classes to get a head start on my undecideddegree. They start Monday. Terrible idea.”
“Yeah? I gotta class that sucks, too.”
“Good. We can commiserate together. You don’t by chance have an Online Biology textbook, do you? Or Intro to Film?”
Something like excitement formed in my gut. “Are you really taking Film 101?”
“Yes.” She tilted her head just a bit to the side. “Why do you have crazy eyes?”
“I have to take that class too!” I shouted, causing her to back up a few inches. “Fuck. I was pissed thinking about doing all that work, but if you’re doing it too—”
“If you think I’m going to do work for you just because you’re some hot baseball dude, think again, Tanner Johnson. I don’t work that way,” she fired back with a little red tinging her cheeks.
“What? No. I meant—shit. I mean we can do the classtogether. I’m not a total asshole, but let’s revisit that comment about me being hot.”
“Let’s not.” She stared me down but, instead of looking tough, her glasses made her look cuter. I waited—more like refused to blink—until she cracked a smile. It worked.
“Have you always worn glasses?”
“Only when my contacts drive me crazy,” she said and readjusted the frames. “Were you serious about doing the class together? It’s, like, two movies a week. Do you have time?”
“Yeah, here and there. What’s the first movie?”
“Citizen Kane.”
“That’s a long one, too. Damn.” I frowned, already thinking about practice and tournaments, and if I had to sacrifice a night out for this shit. “What’s your night looking like?”
“I need to go rent or buy a book for my biology class, but after that, nothing. I don’t know anyone besides you all in the house and Zade and Aaron’s girlfriends. Who am I going to hang out with?”
She didn’t say it for sympathy, or even have a look of sadness on her face. It was the truth. The simple truth. And a part of me wanted to be a friend for her, and not out of pity, but out of interest. “You’re living with us all summer, Ken, you’ll hang out with us.”
“Going to ragers, doing keg stands and tits for days. God, sounds like my dream.”
“You’re a bit of a smartass.”
“I’m not wrong, though, am I?” She made a face with a way-too-proud expression on it and I fought a laugh. “Your lack of response is my victory.”
“First off, we do more than go to ragers. I’m past the point of doing keg stands. They’re kinda gross if you think about it.” I made a face and continued. “We have Taco Tuesdays and Brewsy Breakfasts. We support other sport teams and yeah, I’ll admit, I see a lot of tits.”
