I volunteer as best man.
Colton
I want to be the flower girl.
Shane
I hate all of you.
Chapter 8
Alex
“What the heck was that?” I ask, the second I find Tenny at the ballpark.
“Another interview? Of course. I’m always happy to speak to the media,” Tenny says too loudly, almost for the benefit of someone else.
My head whips around, finding Patrick within listening distance. When I glance back at Tenny, the self-satisfied smirk on his face makes me want to slap him. My fingers unconsciously fist at my sides before I loosen them.
I lower my voice. “We need to talk about this.”
“What weneedis to get Mags’s name on thewill calllist, or she won’t be able to enter the stadium. You don’t want your sweet grandmother wilting in the parking lot, do you?”
My feet pull me forward, my index finger jabbing into his chest. “If you don’t leave my—”
“Careful, jellybean,” he says, capturing my finger and smoothly bringing it to my side. “You’re drawing attention.
“Jellybean?”
“It’s become my personal goal to never reuse a nickname.”
“You reusedbabe,” I remind him, crossing my arms.
Tenny’s smile sends sparks of liquid energy sliding over my exposed skin. “That’s more of a substitution for Alex—a true nickname rather than an endearment.”
“It seems you put a lot of thought into this.”
He crowds even closer, his gaze briefly dipping to my lips. “Once I’m dedicated to something, I putallof my energy into it.”
The husky timbre of his words makes my legs feel a little wobbly, but I’m sure it’s just from the heat. The day was supposed to be mild like yesterday, but the sun is already roasting. Darn this labile Arizonan weather.
I open my mouth, needing to say something to put us back on an even playing field. “That’s not what your dating record implies.”
Hurt flits over Tenny’s eyes before he squints at the baseball diamond.
“I’m supposed to be in the cages. Tell Brianna, the clubhouse manager, to put Mags on the list.” He winces slightly. “She’llhave to use my name when picking up her ticket, but that should help with your story, won’t it?”
Regret claws at my chest like a monstrous animal.
“Tenny.”
Without another word, he pushes past me, using his long legs to put space between us.
An uneasy sensation feels stuck behind my breastbone as I go through my prep for the day. Brianna is more than accommodating and puts Mags with the other family members a few rows behind home plate.
My grandmother and I had a long discussion earlier about how she’s not, under any circumstances, to tell anyone about ourfakerelationship. All the WAGs—wives and girlfriends—need to know is that Tenny volunteered one of his tickets after overhearing me tell Daphne that my grandmother was in town for a visit.
“If you need anything, just text me.”
