I refused, but then Rob bumped into me from behind. He’d been kissing his girlfriend and had gotten a little too enthusiastic. The resulting fumble had spilled the beer onto me while Gia snapped a half dozen action shots. Me, covered in beer, looking ridiculous.
Internet gold.
Gia gave me a thumbs-up and left while I began thinking of ways to keep the guys focused for the playoffs. Excitement could destroy a team as much as depression. Keeping everyone steady on each game—instead of their World Series dreams—was a full-time job.
That was the reason I didn’t know about Gia’s birthday party. But once again, she proved that she could do what no one else could.
The Bobcat Stadium was sacred. No one got to take it over for a few hours. Certainly not for something as silly as a birthday party. Not without big bucks and some special connections. No one, that is, except Gia.
I had no idea how she managed it—she cut deals, sweet-talked the event coordinator, hell for all I knew, she had a genie who granted her wishes. But for whatever reason, two days before our series started against the Rangers, I learned that Gia was celebrating her birthday at the park, after hours.
And how did I find out? Because Jake told me. Jake, the playboy who had somehow convinced my cousin Ellie he’d reformed. Jake, the one who knew everything about getting into a woman’s pants and apparently also knew who was having an after-hours party in the owner’s box.
He and Ellie were invited. I wasn’t.
“Her whole family is coming. It’s like four birthday parties in one.”
“She shares her birthday with three others?”
“Nah. She doesn’t know her real birthday, so she goes with the day she was adopted, along with her sister and two brothers.” Jake winked at me. “Twelve years ago, her father was so disappointed that the Bobcats lost the division, he decided to adopt four winners to call his own. So off they marched to the courthouse with the whole extended clan, and wham, they became a family.”
I frowned at Jake. “Adoptions don’t happen that quickly.”
“That’s not the point, man. Today’s adoption day. But since you can’t find a card that says that, it became her birthday. And now that we’re headed toward winning the pennant—”
“Don’t go getting cocky.”
Jake laughed. “I was born that way.” He was going to say more, but at that moment, Ellie half-walked, half-stumbled in, carrying a stupidly large present. Jake left my side without another word, rushing to help my cousin. I couldn’t quite get my head around the fact that they were engaged. I was still watching to make sure he didn’t screw up, but from the look on his face as he kissed her, it wasn’t likely now.
No problem. I had plenty of fault falling on my own head as I watched wives and girlfriends come in with presents for Gia. I knew she was well-liked, but seeing the steady stream of guests, I started to understand that she was far more important to the team than I’d thought. How many of these guys had she bailed out of publicity problems? Or perhaps boosted, with a well-timed tweet or a seemingly accidental photo op? She was there during all the games, which meant she hung out with the wives and girlfriends while we were playing. And I knew that she gave them all her number, just in case, the same way she’d done with Cassie. So it shouldn’t surprise me that there were so many people here for her party.
But that left me feeling like an idiot because I should have known about this. Instead, I was standing in the hallway, like the ex-boyfriend with his head up his ass.
“There you are!”
I spun around at the sound of Cassie’s voice, brightening immediately when I saw her smiling face. She’d obviously rushed to get here, but her eyes didn’t seem haunted as much as tired.
“Cassie! What are you doing here?”
“Are you kidding? It’s the one free night I’ve got all week. I couldn’t miss Gia’s party.”
She’d been invited, too. Now I really felt like a first-class asshole. She wrapped me in a quick hug which I returned a thousandfold. “Did you forget your present?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think I’m invited. I just found out about it.”
She laughed. “Stupid. Everyone on the team is invited. She said so.”
“When did you two become such fast friends?”
If I hadn’t been holding on to her, I wouldn’t have felt her body tighten. It was subtle, but I’d spent many hours holding my sister during her darkest times. I’d lived at the hospital when they allowed it. And when she finally broke and started telling me everything, we’d cried together as she’d lain curled on my lap.
So I knew she’d tensed at my question. And I saw when her eyes skittered away from mine. “I called her about some girl stuff a few weeks back. And she came to my game two days ago.”
A lie. I didn’t know exactly what part of what she said was wrong, but I knew she hadn’t told me the full truth. “Exactly what kind of girl stuff?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Stuff forgirls. And it’s handled. Gia can do anything. Anyway, she invited me then.”
“Details, Tiny Mutt. I know it wasn’t just girl stuff.” I would have pressed her further, but she tugged on my arm.
