Brenna studied her menu while her fiancée sat rigidly beside her, keeping his hands to himself. They hadn’t seen each other in over a month. I didn’t know how he could stand not touching her.
Ax nudged me in the ribs, as if to sayWhat the hell is going on here?
I cleared my throat, speaking before Ax could. “So, Ellis, I didn’t expect you at the game tonight.”
He looked up from typing quickly on his phone and pinned me with a glare. “Jack came to my office, hoping to get Brenna’s address. We stopped by the house, and no one answered. But the baseball lights were on. Took a wild guess I might find you both there.”
“That’s, what, the third time you’ve been to my house in a month?” I took a swig of beer. “Such dedication to your job.”
Ellis glowered. “It was nice seeing Brenna play. By the time I met her, she’d quit… as you well know.”
Brenna’s eyes snapped to Ellis, but either he didn’t see or refused to acknowledge her. She hated the way we’d fought in high school. Never physical, though one time did come close. We both mastered the wielding of underhanded barbs instead.
Jack spoke quietly. “I didn’t even know you played baseball.”
Ax choked on his beer. I shot him a look, urging him to keep his mouth shut. For once, he followed my silent direction.
“It was a long time ago.” Brenna tore her straw wrapper into smaller and smaller pieces.
“I heard you were good.” Ellis’s finger circled the rim of his bottle; his words were still for me. “Too bad you had to give it up.”
I could read Brenna’s discomfort. I wanted to cut Ellis down to size, but I didn’t want her to feel worse.
“So, Jack,” I said, taking the reins of the conversation and pivoting it away from the past he knew nothing about. “How did y’all meet?”
He glanced over at Brenna, a frown on his face. “I see you’ve talked a lot about me.” To me, he said, “We met on a plane. I was her pilot.”
Ax laughed, tipping his glass in their direction. “That’s romance novel shit right there. Did you ask her out over the intercom?”
Jack shook his head, a smile starting to bloom. “No, I waited until the planewasn’tin the air.”
“You didn’t even see me until I was exiting the plane,” Brenna piped in.
“No, I saw you board.” He placed a hand on hers, staring at her with stars in his eyes. Brenna pointedly kept her gaze away from him. “You were laughing with your friend. I stood with the flight attendants to bid the passengers farewell so you might see me.”
“You never told me that.” Brenna’s hushed voice was barely audible.
He pulled his hand back from hers. Silence descended around the table, turning our presence into an intrusion. The lack of physical contact might have been an aversion to public displays of affection, but neither of them making eye contact or showing a single trace of happiness after being reunited hinted at something wrong between them.
Had they argued on their way to the bar? Ellis drove them, so it didn’t seem likely. Maybe Jack was pissed about our hug after the game? I chanced a look at him, and he caught me, but no malice crossed his features. If it wasn’t my past with Brenna, what the hell was causing this awkward-ass vibe?
“I bet you did something crazy romantic to propose.” Ax broke the silence in the worst way possible. He still hadn’t developed the ability to read a room.
Jack gripped his glass tighter, his knuckles turning white. “I proposed at a baseball game.”
“No shit,” Ax said, smacking me in the arm. “Nathan plays professional baseball.”
“Triple-A,” I deflected.
“He’s so modest. You played ten games in the majors this year.”
A wave of guilt hit me for not keeping in touch with Ax. He’d followed my career and rooted for my success while I barelyknew anything about his life. I shoved Middlebury into the depths of my mind as soon as I graduated.
“There was a stomach flu,” I explained, trying to move the conversation off me. “They were desperate.”
Brenna’s gaze found mine, her eyes sparking with realization. She didn’t follow my baseball career, but she would never not watch the sport altogether. The stomach flu news was widely known because it took down a significant number of popular players. Brenna knew the story.
I could tell from the way her mouth fell open when she figured out the timing. She knew the Nashville Blitz played the Chicago Monarchs while I was in the major leagues. When she was proposed to.
