The shift in the line made the mother and her teenage son standing in front of us turn their heads in our direction. The kids’ eyes went wide when he spotted me.
Fuck. He we go.
I cursed under my breath.
“Hey.” The kid squinted at my face under the ball cap. “Are you Nate Sandler?”
“Yeah,” I said, pulling on the rim of my hat.
He grinned. “Dude, that was one hell of a game last week.”
“Thanks,” I replied politely.
He pulled his phone out. “Do you mind if I get a selfie with you?”
I held my hand up. “I hate to be the bad guy here, but no selfies or autographs tonight,” I said, keeping my voice friendly but firm. “If I do that, it will only draw attention. Tonight, I’m just a regular guy out with a girl.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s all good.” I pulled out my phone and clicked on the Notes app. “If you want to give me your email, I can have something signed sent to you from the front office.”
Did kids his age even use email? Guess I was about to find out.
“Really?” His eyes grew big. “That would be cool. Thanks.”
I guess that answered my question. It probably wasn’t his preferred way of communication, but it was better than nothing.
Becca watched the whole exchange with quiet curiosity. Once the kid typed his email into my phone, his mom gave me a grateful smile before they both turned back around.
“Does that happen a lot?” Becca asked.
“More than I’d like.” I exhaled slowly.
She tilted her head slightly. “You handled it well.”
I glanced down at her, my eyes catching on the thin gold chain that fell right between her breasts. I cleared my throat and forced my gaze back up to her face before I came across as a peeping pervert. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
She pulled a tube of lip gloss out of her purse and ran it over her lips. I was hypnotized just from watching her.
I guess that’s why her lips always look so shiny. Before I could stop myself, I reached out to swipe a bit of gloss that had smeared on her skin.
Her eyes widened. “Sorry, I don’t have a mirror.”
I cleared my throat. “You don’t have to apologize.”
Feeling nervous and uneasy was not something I was used to. Not even on the field. Maybe because I knew what to expect, or perhaps I had more confidence. Tonight, I felt out of my league.
Twenty minutes later, we finally got our food.
I grabbed the tray loaded with lobster rolls, mac and cheese, and our drinks.
“Are you ready to have the best lobster roll of your life?”
“You have been hyping this place up so much, I’m going to be disappointed if it’s mediocre.”
I laughed as we took a seat at one of the empty picnic tables tucked behind a set of string lights. It was far enough away from the crowd and music that we would be able to hear each other talk. “You should know by now there is nothing mediocre about me.”
“We will see about that.” She rolled her eyes, and I found myself grinning like a goof.
