“What do we do about the payments?” Emmy asked. “Are you hiding a credit card machine in your other pocket?”
“Or are you just happy to see her?” I heard her friend whisper a bit too loudly. That was followed by a grunt and an “Ow!” shortly after.
“No,” I hurried, anxious to move on. “It’s fine. I’ll hand these over to admin and they’ll be sending you an e-mail with payment information. You can do it online. In fact, we could have done the whole thing online, but Naomi was a bit…vague on your details.”
“You have no idea,” she responded in understanding. I felt the pen running across the muscles of my mid-back as her fingers continued to work their way down the papers. She finally finished with a flourish of what I assumed to be her signature, and I had to hold in a grunt as she pressed a bit too hard at the end. Clearly, she’d forgotten her desk was of the human variety, something I was all too acutely aware of.
“There,” she said, lifting the forms off me. I turned around and was greeted with the brilliant smile once more.
Before I could even contemplate my next move, a tall, broad guy with dark hair and eyes walked up behind both women and put his arms around their shoulders, pulling them into him. “Hey, how’s my favorite girl?” His head leaned toward Emmy. Her friend elbowed him in the gut and he pretended to be offended. “What? You know I like her better.”
She rolled her eyes at him, but he’d already turned back to Emmy. I decided immediately that I hated him.
He raised his chin toward me. “Who’s this?”
I stood up a little straighter, suddenly aware that this guy was a couple inches taller and instinctively feeling the need to make up the difference somehow. I held out my hand and forced a smile. “Gavin Monroe.” Keep your friends close and all that.
He didn’t remove his hands from the women’s shoulders so I lamely dropped my hand back to my side. This caused Emmy to elbow him in the gut as well. “Born in a barn, were you?” she asked him and then spun out from under his arm. She gestured to him and said, “This is Ponch. And while we’re at it, this is Ariana, his sister. Neither one is fit for public interaction.” The siblings looked at each other and simply shrugged. Ponch then extended his hand.
“Sorry, man. Just messing with you. Ponch Amante. Nice to meet you.” I hesitated, sure he was going to pull his hand back, but when he didn’t, I took it and we shook in greeting. If his grip was a bit too firm, I ignored it. The warning had been clear from the beginning. No need to drive it home.
We stood awkwardly for a moment and then Emmy thrust the papers toward me. “Here, Gavin. We’re going to wait outside the locker room for Jay. Would you like to join us?”
I noticed Ari’s eyes widen a bit as Ponch’s narrowed. It was almost comical, but I couldn’t afford to take the time to hesitate. I nodded. “Sounds good. Ladies.” I gestured for them to precede me toward the building.
Once Emmy was in front of me, I used the opportunity to quickly glance at the forms she’d filled out, homing in on the only line of info I needed: her phone number. Committing it to memory, I shoved the forms into my back pocket once again and followed the trio.
“You missed a great game, dickwad,” Ari threw over her shoulder to Ponch.
“Pardon me for trying to make a living. Some of us have to be adults, you know.” He shot me a sideways look, as if suggesting I was somehow guilty of not being an adult. I was dying to ask if he and Emmy were dating, but could think of no way to do it that wouldn’t have me looking like a desperate moron. I’d have to find out another way.
Despite the looks I was getting from this overprotective Neanderthal, I smiled to myself as we walked toward the school. Tucked safely in my memory was the phone number of one auburn-haired beauty, and I had every intention of using it.
Chapter Six
Feeling the Buzz
EMERSON
I had no idea why I’d invited Gavin Monroe to join us to wait for Jay except that I’d been embarrassed by the blatant He-Man routine Ponch had displayed. Why were guys such idiots? It wasn’t as if Ponch had any claim on me, and even more to the point, it wasn’t as if I had any interest whatsoever in this Gavin guy. Even if he was sort of cute and had a decent backend. Okay, fine. He was hot and had an awesome ass. The mere thought had my skin turning crimson. I couldn’t believe he’d caught us staring at his butt. How humiliating. And even more-so considering he was probably all of about twenty. Talk about inappropriate. Nevertheless, I felt the need to compensate for Ponch’s idiotic behavior and so I’d asked Gavin to join us.
In step at my side, I could see Ari giving me sideways glances and practically choking in her attempts to both keep her mouth shut and stop herself from laughing outright.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned quietly, which caused her to snort. This would just descend into disaster if I didn’t step in. But before I could, Ari gathered herself and glanced behind us.
“So, Gavin, will you be training Jay yourself? How does this work?”
I took the opportunity to look at him—it was good manners to look at someone when they were speaking, after all. What? He was tall, probably right around six feet or a touch taller, with naturally highlighted brown hair that sprang out in various directions from beneath his well-worn, green baseball cap. The bill shadowed his eyes, but even so, I could see the deep brown shade surrounded by an even darker ring of almost black. He had such a boyish quality to his expression, eyes a bit wide as if always responding to a question and not exactly sure of his answer. It was quite adorable, honestly.
If boyish described his face, however, it did nothing to describe the rest of him. Long, lean muscle covered his build, and the sexiest wrists—yes, wrists—extended from perfectly proportioned biceps and forearms as he forced his hands into his pockets while listening to Ari. There was clearly something wrong with me if I was now ogling guys’ wrists.
His tongue swept over his bottom lip just before he spoke, and my belly dipped in awareness. Yep—definitely something wrong with me. “I’m just one of the coaching staff, but I’ll be working closely with Jay since pitching is my specialty. His head trainer will be Buzz Hader, but I’ll oversee a lot of day-to-day aspects.”
At that, I noticed Ponch completely halt his gait. He looked as if he’d been shot with a tranquilizer dart, and I involuntarily stopped in my tracks as well, causing Gavin to barrel into me.
“Crap, I’m so sorry,” he said, steadying me with his hands on the skin of my upper arms, just below the sleeves of my flimsy summer sweater. I felt my skin turn hot and I drew a quick intake of air. I tried to force away the memory of the feel of his t-shirt-covered back under my hands when I’d been filling out the forms minutes earlier. I failed miserably and had the sudden urge to lean back into his solid form. What was I doing?! He was a child, for God’s sake!
“Buzz Hader?” came Ponch’s voice. I’d almost forgotten he’d been the reason I’d halted in the first place. “The Buzz Hader?” A glance back at Ponch showed him looking dumbstruck, his mouth practically hanging open.
“Who the hell is Buzz Hader?” asked Ari, who’d backtracked once she realized we’d all stopped.
Both Ponch and Gavin swiveled their eyes to Ari with what could only be described as horrified expressions. “Who the hell is Buzz Hader?” they mimicked simultaneously. I held in a snicker, relieved when Gavin’s grip released my arms and I could breathe normally again. I knew I’d heard the name before, but I couldn’t recall who this Buzz guy was either. Not that I would bring that up.
Ponch was shaking his head and muttering under his breath while Gavin illuminated us. “Former All-Star first baseman for the Kings?”
Ari just pursed her lips and shrugged. “If you say so.”
“If I…” Gavin trailed off as if he couldn’t quite believe what he’d just witnessed.
Ponch put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Tell me you have a sister, man.”
Gavin tore his eyes from Ari and fi
nally registered what Ponch had said. “Unfortunately,” he responded, and they both gazed at the ground, seemingly lost in some kind of shared grief over the possession of sisters who didn’t share the baseball gene.
It was time to get this show on the road. The sooner we saw Jay, the sooner I could be rid of these pesky, tingly sensations this man-child kept evoking in me. “Well, I happen to be a sister too, so let’s go find my little brother and tell him the good news.”
As planned, this brought everyone out of their thoughts and we all moved forward, eager to find Jay and tell him that he’d be coached by a former Major League player and a hot young stud by the name of Gavin Monroe.
Well, perhaps I’d keep the latter to myself.
“I still can’t believe it,” Jay said again as we pulled off Horse Pen Creek Road onto the main street of my neighborhood.
“I still can’t believe what an awesome game you pitched,” I responded, grinning his way.
He gave me a playful scowl. “Buzz Hader. I mean, that’s just…that’s just crazy.”
Ever since we’d broken the news to Jay outside the locker room, he’d had a half-awed, half-ecstatic smile plastered to his face. He’d been so bowled over by the idea of one of his idols coaching him that he hadn’t even protested at my proceeding with the registration without consulting him. Ponch, of course, had been the one to butt in and break the big news to Jay. The two had high-fived and back slapped until I’d finally had to cut in and introduce Jay to Gavin, who took the whole thing very good-naturedly. He’d clearly been a star-struck young player once upon a time as well.
I’d been glad, however, when we’d all parted ways and I could escape the strangely unnerving presence of one of Jay’s soon-to-be coaches. I was actually a little embarrassed for myself.
“Seriously, though, Jay. I don’t get why you’re not the starting pitcher. You’re clearly the best pitcher on the team.”
I could see him shaking his head in my peripheral vision. “Nah. I just had a lucky day. And I’m only a sophomore, anyway. These other guys have earned their place, Em. It’s just how the game is played.”
“I guess,” I conceded. “But if I were the coach, I’d start you. So would Ari, if you couldn’t guess by her reaction today.”
“She’s never been very subtle, has she?”
I pressed the button for the garage door and pulled into the driveway. “Got any plans tonight? I wish I could take you out, but I’ve got work to do.” I was doing my best to get the final draft of the AgPower founder’s agreement together, but Craig hadn’t been answering my e-mails this morning. I should have anticipated that, but it was frustrating regardless. He knew I couldn’t move on without the data he was gathering. And then there was the pro bono case I’d taken on. I was due in court on Monday afternoon and had hardly glanced at the case, even though I was fairly confident it would be cut and dried. I’d only taken it on because I felt like I owed the couple who’d asked for the favor.
“That’s okay,” my brother said, “I’ll probably just pass out in front of the TV.”
“You know, you can invite a friend over if you want.”
“Nah, I’m good.” He shrugged.
I knew he’d say that. Oh well. Baby steps.
Three hours later, I still hadn’t heard back from Craig, so I moved on to the pro bono case. Technically, I was supposed to get these approved before accepting them, but I knew I could slide by with one on my own now and then. It wasn’t like it took away from my billable hours, and the client’s family was paying the court costs. I looked over the file to familiarize myself with the facts.
Christian Hardacre, age fourteen, was being charged with grand theft and driving without a license. There wasn’t much I could do about the second part, but the first part was a joke.
Christian—Chris—had taken a neighbor’s car for a joyride to impress some older kids. Dumb, but not a danger to society in my opinion. And besides, from what the kid’s parents had said, he’d been given some not-so-wise advice from a family friend—an adult family friend—who had prompted the idea in the first place. Not that Chris shouldn’t have been smart enough to ignore the advice, but this “friend” sounded like a first-class imbecile to me.
Thankfully, the neighbor—the victim of the theft—would be in court and I was confident we’d be able to dispense with the grand theft charges and get the kid off with fines and community service. It was clear to me that the neighbor didn’t have the whole story, and I was only too happy to enlighten him. Chris was just an awkward young kid with crappy judgement and even crappier friends.
I poured myself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and was just about to settle back into my task when my phone rang with an unknown local number. Worried it might have to do with one of my cases, I took a chance and answered.
“Hello?”
“Oh, hi,” said a vaguely familiar male voice on the other end. “Emmy?”
My pulse automatically kicked up a notch, which startled me to the point where I completely forgot to correct the caller about my actual name. Instead, I lamely answered, “Yes?” As if I didn’t know exactly who it was on the other end of the line. I face-palmed and waited.
“It’s Gavin Monroe,” he said. And when I failed to respond, still caught up in my own stupidity, he added, “from today.”
I had to get it together. “Yes. Hi. How are you?”
“I’m great. How are you?”
I was obviously missing something here. I set the wine glass on the counter and took a breath.
“Great,” I responded. “Um, did I forget to sign something?” Then it hit me. “Oh! The payment. I completely forgot. You’re probably waiting on me to log in and pay. So sorry!”
He chuckled. “No. No, it’s not that.”
“Oh,” I let out a breath.
“I was actually calling because I wanted to ask if you were free for dinner next weekend.”
Huh? “Is this some kind of parent orientation or something?”
“Uh, not exactly.” He seemed to hesitate before continuing, “It’s more of a date kind of thing.”
“Oh. Seriously?” I couldn’t help myself. It just slipped out, and I was mortified by my poor manners.
“Well, based on your reaction, I’m not sure any more.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m guessing I caught you by surprise.”
“You could say that. It’s just…” It’s just that you’re jailbait?
“You don’t eat? Are you part cyborg? Shit, I always end up going for the half-humans.”
That got a smile out of me. I picked up the wine glass again and took a sip, settling my back into the counter as I answered. “No, I eat. And I’m human, for the record.”
“Okay, then. Great! How does Friday sound?” Wow, he wasn’t shy, was he? But I had to shut this thing down.
“Gavin, I’m really flattered, but I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t really get the vibe that you and Ponch were an item.”
“Ponch? Um, no. Just, no.” I didn’t even try to explain, as that would have taken all night.
“Good to know. So why not then? I’m human, you’re human…what more could you ask for?” I could hear his grin in his voice.
I blurted out, “How old are you?” Again with the impeccable manners.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not polite to ask someone’s age?” There was that audible grin again.
“Not when it could be considered a felony to go on a date with the person.”
“Ouch.”
I made my way over to the couch and settled in. “Well?”
“How about if we just say I’m old enough, and I won’t ask you how old you are,” he responded.
“You don’t have to. I’m twenty-nine. And I’m guessing that’s about two presidential terms older than you.”
“Oh, please. I can’t help it if I don’t have wrinkles. What can I say? I take sunscreen seriously.”
&n
bsp; I pulled a throw pillow into my lap. “So, you’re what? You’re actually sixty with the skin of a twenty-year-old?”
“I’m taking the secret to my grave. Now, what do you say? Italian? Greek? Steakhouse? You choose.”
This guy…this boy, I reminded myself.
“You’re very sweet, and I can tell you’re fun, but I’m not in a place where I can date right now. Even if you weren’t thirty years older than me,” I added to soften the rejection.
“Ah, I see. Still getting over your crush on Buzz Hader. Why do I always come in second to that guy?”
“Sadly, no. Although I hear he’s quite a catch. I’m actually completely swamped with work, and any free time I have I’m trying to spend with Jay. I’m sure you understand.”
He didn’t confirm he understood anything. Instead, he switched topics entirely. “That reminds me. I’ve been meaning to ask. Is his name really Jupiter?”
“As shocking as it sounds, yes. But then, you’ve spoken to our mother so there is that.”
“True. So how did you end up with a normal name? Or is Emmy short for Emulsion or something?”
Again, I didn’t correct him. What was wrong with me? Apart from my mom, nobody called me Emmy. Nobody. So why did I like the sound of it coming from this random guy?
“No. My dad named me. It’s a family name.” That, and I secretly think he wanted a boy. I didn’t add that part. Instead, I tucked my feet under my butt and took another sip of wine.
“And he lost when it came time to name Jay?”
“No. Different fathers. Jay’s my half-brother.”
“Ah, I see. Half-brother but full human? Just asking because with the way he pitches I wouldn’t be surprised if he was part machine.”
I felt my lips curve into a smile. “I’ll tell him you said so. Honestly, I don’t know where he gets his athletic ability. His dad’s not exactly the sporting type.”
The Game (Carolina Connections Book 4) Page 6