“Franny!” a man calls, and I look up to not one butfivemassive Red Tail players standing in Stack’s doorway.
“Our lucky charm!” another says.
I look them over and spot a sheepish Callum Whitaker at the back of the group.
Lucca Cruz is beaming at me—no doubt the one who called me Franny. The others glow like children at a theme park, eyes on me. I recognize all of their faces. But only know a few names—Callum, Lucca, and Zev.
“Frances!” Glen calls again, and I whip my head around—another order in the window. Glen frowns as he looks over the men as if they were teenage ruffians here to muss up his café rather than here to give him hard-earned cash.
I nibble on my bottom lip and spin back around to theguys. “You can take the back booth. There’s an extra chair back there that you can pull over.” I hurry up and deliver two more orders for customers seated at the lunch counter. I refill their drinks and peek around at my fan club.
In speed mode, I wipe down the end of the lunch counter, snatch up a waiting tip, and toss an empty plate into the dirty dish bin before making my way to the back, table ten.
“Hi,” I say, my eyes darting from man to man to man, but landing on Callum.
“Hey, Franny,” Lucca calls again, sitting on the chair at the end of this booth. “We had to come see our lucky charm. Let me introduce you to the guys. This is Zev—” Lucca points to the reddish-blond man who I’ve already met a couple times now. His beard is full and darker than the hair on his head. “This is Maverick—” He points to the dark blond whose hair might be longer than mine. “And this is Sawyer.” Brown hair, brown beard, and blue eyes—but more than the eyes, I think he stands out because I remember him from the game. This man is the Red Tail goalie. My eyes were glued to him every time the opposing team neared the Red Tails’ net.
“You’re the goalie,” I say, nodding toward Sawyer.
He smiles. “And you’re Callum’s lucky charm,” he says, pointing one finger toward me.
“That was quite the kiss, Franny,” Lucca says. Something tells me this man says whatever he wants to.
My face burns with a flush, and I swallow. “Just doing my lucky charm duty,” I say as if I didn’t enjoy every second of Callum’s soft lips on mine.
“Nice to see you again, Fran,” Zev says.
I nod. “You too,” I say. “And it’s nice to meet the rest ofyou guys too.” I pull out my tablet and slide the pen from between the knot of my low ponytail. “Can I get you all something to drink?” I tap pen to paper and wait, praying Glen doesn’t yell my name again.
“Can I get an OJ, Franny?” Sawyer asks.
“Ooo, make that two,” Maverick says.
“Orange juice all around,” Callum says, finally speaking.
“Thanks, Franny!” Maverick says.
No, thank you,Lucca—I am going to beFranny, a name only slightly more pleasant than Frances, to Callum’s entire team.
“Five OJs. Got it.” I slip my pen through the tendrils of my hair once more without writing down the order—I’m not going to forget.
I turn and start back behind the counter when there’s shuffling behind me.
“Fran,” Cal says as he climbs over Zev to get out from the table. “Hey.”
I pause and he snatches my elbow. With a gentle tug, he walks us toward the counter and away from his friends. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop them from coming. They wanted to see you. To thank you for being at the game and—” His cheeks puff. “Possibly for kissing me.”
I swallow. I’m not Simone, but I am lucky for Cal. “No problem, Superman,” I say, playing it cool and using the nickname I’ve heard so many of his teammates call him. I stand at the juice machine, just next to the counter’s edge, and Cal stays with me, just outside of this employee station.
“Kissing? Are you doing a little kissing these days, Fran?” Lester Crabtree looks up from his plate of eggs and toast.
“Um.” I dart a glance from Callum to Lester. “Very little.”
“I highly recommend kissing. Dorothy was a tamale of a kisser, if you know what I mean.”
I cough. “I think we do, Lester. Um, congrats on that.” I set another glass of juice onto a serving tray. “Can I get you anything?”
“Oh, no, dear. I’m almost done. No haunting today, it seems.”
