by K. F. Breene
The question was, was he the only one to notice? And the larger question—if that spark of interest between Jace and Cassie started to grow roots and take over, how could Peter keep from standing in their way without admitting his secret and damning him and Cassie both?
Peter felt despondency settle over him as he emptied his drink. “You ladies want another? I’m going…”
“Yes, please,” the women chorused, holding up their empty glasses.
Peter didn’t notice the pointed look pass between the girls as he trudged toward the house.
Chapter 8
“Honey, you don’t mind if I murder a ringer and bury her in the yard do you?” Demetri called to his wife pleasantly.
Jace threw his racquet to the side of the court, and then stepped back so Cassie could do the same.
“Talk to your mother before you choose a place to bury her. She needed some fertilizer for her flowers.”
Demetri tilted his head at Cassie. “That’s why I love her.”
Jace reached out to put his hand on Cassie’s back to direct her toward the whiffle ball diamond, but caught himself just in time. He cleared his throat and pointed, instead. “Next up, baseball.”
Her eyes scanned the length of his arm, glanced at the field, and then back. “Those are some really awesome tattoos.” She reached out to touch one, and then shied away. Like he’d just done, she pointed. “I like the tribal stuff.”
“Poser.” Nick forced his face between the two of them to take a selfie. “Cheese!”
Demetri took a running leap, jamming his face in front of everyone else with a giant and crazy smile, and then ran on. “C’mon—baseball is a man’s sport. We’ll win at this one.”
“Hear that Cassie?” Nick asked, taking down the camera phone and bounding toward the field. “We are going to rock you in this game. That toilet is as good as ours!”
“Better stop running so fast, then,” Jace yelled after his brothers. “You’ll have a heart attack before we even start.”
“Well, that’ll be fun, too.” Demetri waved his father over. “C’mon, dad, the girls have a huge head start on the festivities.”
Jace walked beside Cassie, overwhelming awe mingled with respect showing on his face. The woman was dynamite. Unreal athleticism and confident in it.
“I was wrong in the store. About being good for a girl. You know, as opposed to just being good.” Jace put his hands into the pockets of his sweats.
She gave him a sideways glance. “You’re a man. You’re often wrong. So let me get this straight. The different sports are like heats?”
Jace tried to hide his smile as he looked down. They’d played three games of badminton, Jace and Cassie winning the first, Nick and Demetri winning the second, and Cassie and Jace stomping on them to win the third. Now they would move to five innings of whiffle ball.
“No. One of those trophies is ours for badminton, and now we play for the second trophy.”
“What?” She turned to him in outrage. “I have to share my spoils with you?”
Her smile gave her away. Jace stepped away from her somewhat and glanced toward his brothers to see what the status of the next sport was. He didn’t like the tingling in the base of his stomach, nor did he like the uncomfortable pounding in his chest. He couldn’t seem to stop the effect she was having on him.
He glanced around the grass, noticing Peter sitting with Jenn and Rachel, laughing and having a great time, each with a bright pink drink in a martini glass.
Anger rose up. “He hasn’t come over to congratulate you.”
“Huh?” Cassie looked at Roger in confusion before she noticed where Jace was looking. “Oh. PETER!”
Jenn got Peter’s attention and pointed at Cassie. She and Rachel waved hello happily as Peter glanced over.
“I won.” Cassie threw him a thumbs up. Jace shifted to the side, honing in on her facial expression, amazed she could be this blasé about her boyfriend not giving a shit. Six months in a relationship usually meant undivided attention. Hell, he wouldn’t leave her side if he were in Peter’s place.
“What?” Peter yelled back, cupping his hand to his ear.
Jace clenched his jaw and stared at the ground, two seconds from walking over to that lawn chair, dragging his brother out, and demanding he give his girlfriend the attention she deserved—any woman deserved.
“I won, you idiot. Yay me!” She mimed waving to a fake crowd, bowing, and then threading her fingers together and pumping her combined fists in the air.
Jace had had enough. He shook his head and walked on. They could mock him on their own time.
***
Cassie laughed at Peter’s fun-loving smile. He lounged back in his chair, sipping his alcoholic creation and gabbing to the girls next to him. For the first time since they arrived, he’d relaxed, finally now enjoying himself. She waved at him one last time before turning toward the other brothers.
“All right, where are we?” Jace asked his brothers with lowered eyebrows.
“Coin toss.” Nick threw the quarter at Jace’s chest. “We call it since you won badminton. Heads and we’re up at bat first. Tails, you losers are.”
Without a word, body taut and muscles rigid, Jace flipped the coin.
“Heads!” Demetri yelled as Nick called, “Tails.”
“Tails!” Demetri amended.
The sun glinted off the surface as the coin settled within the grass. Everyone bent to have a look.
“Heads!” Cassie beamed, ready with a high-five.
Jace didn’t even look her way. Instead, he walked toward two plastic yellow bats laid next to a bin full of various types of balls and a Frisbee.
“Hey,” she said, half jogging over to him. “What’s up? Two seconds ago, happy victory. Now, brooding warrior. What happened?”
Jace glanced at her, and then Peter and the wives as they moved their lawn chairs closer to the diamond. He did a half shrug/head shake combo, bending for one of the bats. “Nothing. You want to hang out with me all day instead of your boyfriend, go for it. You don’t care, I don’t care.”
The tightness in his voice and the clench of his jaw said he was lying. That he did care—she might go so far as to say it bothered him a great deal.
A pinch of insecurity had her squinting in irritation. “Would you rather I played the games from the lawn chair next to him? Maybe rig up some sort of extension for my arm or something? Go-go-gadget bat?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Jace snatched the bat off the ground and glanced at his dad, who was dragging a chalkboard out of the sliding glass door.
Rage bubbled up Cassie’s chest for reasons she couldn’t identify. She gave Jace an aggressive poke in his tickle spot, not accepting his stupid deflective response. As intended, he jumped and turned to her, anger peeking through his previously blank face. She said, “Did you fail to notice that the wives didn’t throw themselves at their husband’s feet in praise? Why should Peter be any different?”
He stared at her, his body tensed. The brown-gold of his eyes stood out beautifully with all the green surrounding them. She waited for him to speak, to explain his somewhat extreme reaction.
She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
“It’s none of my business.” Jace turned, giving her a brush off.
She jabbed him again.
“Would you quit that?” he demanded.
“Here’s where we’re at, you horse’s ass.” She jabbed him again, just for kicks. “I don’t like your attitude, and I sure as hell don’t like your judgments. So you better get your shit together, because I want to win this baseball game, and I need you to win it with me. Capiche?”
She was tired of that steady gaze—he was trying not to show his emotions, she was sure of it. She brought her pointer finger up in warning, letting it hover in the air.
Slowly, like a boulder just starting down a hill, his firm expression cracked. His eyes started to twinkle, just a little bit. His lips quirked, threatening a smile.
A shadow of his dimple appeared on his face.
“Good?” She raised her eyebrows, finger still in the air. “Because seriously—this little baby has excellent aim.” She waggled her finger.
His breath came out in a whoosh. “You have a screw loose.”
“I’m not the one freaking out for no reason. Do you like picking fights, or what?”
His eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at her. “You just seem like the kind of girl who wants her man on hand. It pissed me off that Peter wouldn’t be that man for you.”
Butterflies swarmed her belly as her heart started to flutter. “Wow. Calling me dependent?” She reached down to scoop up her own bat. “Not very nice.”
“Loving, maybe.”
“Oh, maybe, huh? Maybe loving, but maybe just a bitch?”
“No, definitely a bitch, but only part of the time. Or maybe a bitch most of the time, and loving only when you want something?”
She shot him a squint. “Careful, you, or you’ll get the full extent of my bitch face. And maybe another jab, depending how I’m feeling.”
His deep laughter rang through the yard, causing more than one person to look over in surprise. “Definitely a screw loose.”
They stepped up to the Frisbee designated as home base, both smiling. Nick stood five feet away on the sock designated as the pitcher’s mound, tossing a white plastic ball with holes all through it. “Who’s up first?” he called.
Cassie looked at Jace. “You?”
“Ladies first.”
“Okie dokie.”
Jace stepped back, giving her space. She brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the glare of the afternoon sun for a moment, getting her bearings. The crooked diamond had three bases, all socks—a family tradition starting from when they played as kids. A piece of string tied them together with the Frisbee home base, which had two holes poked through it, indicating someone lacked the imagination to connect the invisible lines between the socks. Demetri stood near second base, under the impression she wouldn’t hit it very far. To the right about twenty feet sat the wives and Peter, gabbing away, probably a bit tipsy by now. Roger waited in his chair to the left, ready to write the runs on the chalkboard. Three little faces peeked at them from the tree line some thirty feet away.
“Am I just supposed to hit a homerun every time or what?” She swung the plastic bat to get the feel of it.
“That would be great,” Jace said.
“I’ll write down what base you get to.” Roger gestured toward his chalkboard with two columns, one for each team. “At the end of five innings, we’ll add them all up.”
“You need to do milestones at the end of each inning,” Demetri called.
Roger ignored him.
“Okay. Let’s see that curve ball.” Cassie stepped up to the Frisbee and assumed the position.
“You ever played baseball?” Nick asked suspiciously.
“Look at her stance.” Jace stepped forwards and to her side, inspecting her frame. “Obviously she’s played before. Perfect technique.”
“She’s still a girl.” Demetri clapped his hands. “Let’s go!”
Nick went through an exaggerated wind-up before lobbing the ball over the plate. Cassie watched the holey ball whiffle through the air, never flying perfectly straight. She swung, connecting with the dull crack of plastic on plastic. The ball shot over first base, veering left just enough to stay in bounds by baseball standards. She took off running at the same time Demetri did, rounding first base as he fumbled in the grass for the ball. She hit second the same time Nick did, his hands outstretched for Demetri’s throw.
“Get her, honey!” Rachel yelled, clapping.
“Stay there,” Jace instructed.
Cassie stopped on the base, barely breathing hard, as a panting Demetri jogged closer. He eyed her. “Sure you don’t want to run for it?”
“Please don’t run for it, you’re fast.” Nick grinned.
She was fast. And, more importantly, quick, which were not the same things. She launched forward, sprinting for third base.
“Go, Cassie, go!” Jace rooted.
“Get her, Nick!” Demetri shouted.
“You have the ball!” Nick yelled back.
“You got him!” Peter cheered.
“Slide!” Jace yelled, clapping for her.
She did as instructed, the spongy grass cushioning. Her foot hit the sock a moment before Nick jogged up. Demetri was still running toward home base with the ball.
“I didn’t have to slide.” She aimed her triumphant smile at Jace, who stood near home base. He had an answering smile, his whole face lit up and his dimple the deepest she’d ever seen it. The sun shone off his shoulders and kissed his strong arms. She stared in wonder, the man so beautiful it stopped her breath as her heart hammered.
“Just wanted to see if you’d do it.” Jace laughed and gave another couple claps. “Good work. That’s three, dad.”
“I saw it. She’s good.” Roger put three ticks on their column.
“All right, bring it in.” Jace waved her forward.
“I do not like the speed of that one, Nick,” Demetri said, walking back toward the outfield. “I do not like it at all.”
Cassie jogged toward Jace, unable and unwilling to tear her gaze away from his sparkling eyes. The world dropped away; the only thing she noticed was his shoulders dipping lower, leaning toward her as she got closer. His hand went up for a high-five, but his smile dwindled. His gaze became more intense and his eyebrows furrowed slightly. He searched her eyes, like he was looking for something.
“You’re up, Jason,” Roger instructed.
Jace’s gaze, troubled now, ripped away from hers and toward his father. He looked over at Peter next, a scowl forming. Without a word, he started for the plate.
That was weird.
Cassie scrubbed her hand over her face to rid her body of the warm tingling. They were getting too close—having too much fun together. Maybe she should go sit with Peter for a while and let the attraction dwindle.
She refocused her attention on Jace’s perfect batting form, his large arms poised with the plastic bat. The ball reached the plate as he swung, cracking the thing and sending it zipping out into the cosmos. Well, more into the outfield, but for whiffle ball, it might as well’ve been the solar system. Jace took off at a sprint, his muscles working in perfect harmony, his girth not slowing him down. He rounded first before Demetri reached the ball. He passed second as Demetri scooped it up.
“Go, go, go!” Cassie yelled, hopping up and down.
His large strides had him to third as Nick ran to cover home base.
“Keep going!” Cassie yelled, waving him on.
“Stop, Jace,” Roger contradicted.
Jace didn’t even slow. He rounded the base at a sprint, pushing for home as Demetri threw the ball. The white sphere waffled toward the pitcher mound, not going the distance to Nick’s outstretched hands. Jace stomped on the Frisbee as he ran across home base.
“Yay!” Cassie cheered, jogging over to him for a high-five.
“Why didn’t you listen to Dad?” Nick demanded.
Demetri, still in the outfield, had bent over with his hands on his knees, panting.
“Cassie said run.” Jace slapped her offered hand, smiling. “So I ran. Call me Forest Gump.”
Demetri straightened up with a sweaty, red face. “Nick, we need to switch, bro. I’m too fat for this much running.”
As the afternoon wore on, it became increasingly clear that while Nick and Demetri were good at baseball, they were terrible at running. With their muscles already tired from badminton, chasing the ball became visibly painful and extremely hilarious. After a while, they stopping caring about the toilet trophy. At the end of the five innings, Roger didn’t even bother to sum all the chalked ticks—it was pretty obvious who had won.
“Good job, you guys.” Nick held up a hand for congratulatory high-fives as they convened near home base. “Cassie, you are
not welcome back.”
“And you throw like a girl. C’mere.” Demetri grabbed Cassie and pulled her into a hug. “Have some sweat.”
“Ew! Gross!” Cassie wiggled away as Jace shoved Demetri’s shoulder back.
“I need a shower and a beer.” Demetri wandered away toward his wife. “Honey, get me a beer, would ya?”
“No, thanks. But bring me some water when you come back out from getting your own beer,” Rachel responded.
Demetri huffed out a laugh as he lumbered toward the house, walking like a cowboy.
“He’s going to hurt tomorrow,” Cassie reflected, watching Nick join his brother inside.
“It’s good for him. How are you? Tired? Want a beer?” Jace asked.
Cassie checked her wrist, which did not have a watch on it, and looked at the sun’s placement in the sky. “What do you think? Three? Four?”
“Three-thirty probably.”
“No beer, thanks. I think I’ll go see what Peter’s up to. He’s pretty smiley, so he’s probably one sheet to the wind about now. Maybe two.”
Jace tucked his hands into his pockets and bent his head toward the ground. “Sounds good.”
“Wanna come over? Sit with us?” she squinted up at him, the glare from the sun mostly masking his expression.
He looked Peter’s way for a brief moment before shifting away from her again. “Nah, that’s okay. I think I’ll go help my mom prep for dinner. Or watch the kids or something. Make myself useful.”
“Tough task. Good luck with that.”
He laughed softly. “Thanks.”
Cassie got a pang of longing as he moved away. Although the view of him moving away wasn’t so bad. That broad back, a great place to land after a girl had been thrown over his wide shoulder, and that butt.
A fantasy of him moving over her rocked her mind. His hard chest rubbing against her nipples. His delicious weight pushing her down into the mattress.
Good God. I’ve gone pervert with someone else’s property.