“We’ll fill you in, but first, what’s your baked good of choice?” Theo says. “We’ll get you set up.”
“I’ve only ever made cookies,” I say. “But how about tonight I observe. This is…a lot.“
“Wise choice. Especially since it’s a free bake night,” Beau says as I watch him start to knead a ball of dough.
“Free bake?”
“We meet twice a month,” Asher says, keeping his focus on the egg whites he’s separating. “Usually we can find a night where none of us are playing, or traveling, or taking a kid to dance class, or doing some crazy-ass trick shot with a golf ball.”
“Hey!” Beau chimes in. “That trick shot series made me a million dollars in sponsorships.”
“We know,” Theo groans. “He tells us that all the time. Be ready for it.”
“Okay…” I’m still very confused, which apparently Beau can tell.
“Where do you want us to begin?” he asks.
“I couldn’t even begin to tell you where.”
“That’s fair, considering we did try to make it look like we were kidnapping you,” Theo says. “It all started last year at one of those boring parties Ethan makes us go to.”
It hits me at this moment that Theo is also signed at West Athletes. “Ethan? As in our agent Ethan West?”
“The very one,” Theo continues. “You know the type of events he makes us do. Dinners for sponsors so we can have face time and kiss ass. Fancy foods you can’t pronounce. Tuxedos that choke us. The savior of an open bar with expensive liquors.”
“I’m familiar,” I say. “Did you say last summer? I don’t remember having to go to one at that time?”
“It was during your training camp, so all the football guys got out of it,” Beau says. “Unfortunately, that was the one weekend I wasn’t at a tournament, and Ethan conned me into putting on the tux and showing up.”
“Oh, you act like it was an inconvenience,” Asher interrupts. “Something to know about this guy”—he tips his head at Beau—“if there’s an excuse to put on a tux, he’s doing it.”
“It’s not my fault I look like I could be the next James Bond.”
Both Theo and Asher roll their eyes. All I can do is laugh. “You mean, minus the accent. And I don’t think any James Bond ever had a beard.”
My joke hits the mark as Beau narrows his eyes at me. “Watch it Gallagher. There’s still time for me to punch you for getting my sister pregnant.”
“Noted,” I say, turning back to Theo. “So, sponsor gala. Fancy food and drinks. What happened next?”
“Good transition,” he says. “Anyway, Beau and I here had never really talked more than pleasantries at any of these functions. Which is common for most of us. But in this particular case, we found ourselves standing near the bar, only the wall holding us up, as one of the servers brought around a tray of these tiny desserts.”
“Mini pavlovas,” Asher adds.
“They tasted like shit, and I made my feelings known,” Beau says.
“And I agreed,” Theo says, fully comfortable in his role right now as storyteller. “Next thing I’m learning is that Beau here is quite the baking show binger.”
“It’s good television when I’m traveling. The British one is my favorite.”
“And little did Beau know that I have wanted to learn to bake since I was a child. But no…I had to play baseball.”
I look over to Asher. “And where do you come in?”
He doesn’t make eye contact with me, carefully concentrating on filling a piping bag with icing instead. “I was making my way to the bar when I heard these two idiots going back and forth about what was wrong with the desserts. They both knew they tasted like shit, but they couldn’t figure it out. After overhearing them going back and forth for five minutes, I grabbed one from a passing tray to taste it for myself. It was the vanilla. The vanilla was off. Which I let them know before making my way back to whatever boring conversation Ethan was making us have.”
“When he said that, our jaws went slack,” Theo continues. “But it got Beau and I talking. Turns out we both enjoyed baking, or the concept of it, but neither of us ever really dove into it.”
“Really?” I ask Beau. “Gabi said she baked as a kid. You never did with her?”
