“This is going to be a disaster,” I said to Rachel. “I hope I have enough napkins.”
Rachel burst out laughing.
“She’ll be fine, all part of the fun.” Rachel’s eyes flicked to the aisle. “So I think you made an impression on Deacon.”
“He asked if I was single while we waited in line.”
“Ohh,” Rachel said, her brows arching up. “What did you say?”
“I…don’t think I said anything, come to think of it. I am but not interested.”
“Because of Lee?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. The answer was yes, but I didn’t know how to get into all the reasons why it was because of Lee.
“Well, because dating someone on the Bats may get weird for him. Plus, I’m here to watch Bennie.”
“They’d have the same days off, for the most part. Lee would have Bennie those days anyway, right?”
“I guess that’s true. But…” I shook my head. “Not a good idea.” I took a long lick from my water ice. “I know your romance-writer brain is thinking of ways it could be.”
“No.” She chuckled. “Why would it be weird for Lee? You guys are just friends, right?”
“We are.” I scraped my spoon around my water ice, not wanting to raise my head and try to explain the real reason why I didn’t want to date Deacon, much less acknowledge it to myself. “I guess it’s not a big deal, but?—”
“I’m sorry.” Rachel cringed when I turned my head. “You’re probably right. The romance writer in me wants topair people up and make them as stupidly happy as me.” She draped her hand over mine. “I didn’t mean to be pushy. Your reasons are your business.”
Dating someone like Deacon would probably be easy. He’d been a little forward but had some humble charm about it, and he had filled out his uniform nicely enough for me to notice.
But Zach had seemed easy at first too.
I couldn’t go through the motions with anyone else, even for a random date, if I wasn’t invested.
I’d get there, but that day wasn’t today.
And until I got over Lee and whatever was happening between us, that day was a million light-years away.
NINETEEN
LEE
“Adrian, you’re on fire, man!”
Nate came up to Adrian in the locker room and slapped him on the back. He’d only allowed one hit, coming late enough in the game that we’d been on edge in anticipation of a no-hitter.
“For sure,” Silas agreed. “You should go out and celebrate tonight.”
Adrian shrugged. “Just taking my girl out to dinner.”
“Your girl?” I asked, winging a brow at him.
“Yeah, same one,” he said, leaning against the wall as Nate posed for some pictures with fans. “It escalated a little quickly. She’s here today.”
“Good for you,” I said, slapping his shoulder.
“I guess you were right. She didn’t care how I pitched.”
We shared a laugh. I was happy for him, if a little envious. His love life was probably mostly uncomplicated and easy, no hang-ups stopping him from doing what he wanted with whomever he wanted.
