“Do you talk to her still?”
“Not as much as I would like. The last time I talked with her she was dating, in her words, a Greek goddess. I haven’t spoken to her in six months. I date here and there and I’m not above casual dating, but I’ve always enjoyed being in a relationship. By the way, I’m clean. I was tested two months ago.”
“That’s good. I’m clean as well.” Ainslon drummed her fingers on the countertop. “My dating history is a mix of good and bad. Even after I moved in with Nana, and I knew she was accepting, my mind would still replay the moment that my parents walked in on me and my best friend, Deirdre, making out. That stayed with me for a long while. There was the one girl in high school, but we never did more than make out. It wasn’t until I was in college that I had my first real relationship. Holly and I dated for two years off and on. While it was my first relationship, it wasn’t serious. It all fell apart when I found out I wasn’t the only one she was seeing. I knew we weren’t exclusive, but it still hurt. I met Heather, believe it or not, at the grocery store. That relationship imploded because I couldn’t trust her. She hadn’t done anything bad, but the trust would never come. I don’t know why. I hoped I could work it out, but I couldn’t. She broke up with me a week before Christmas.”
“Oh, that sucks.”
“It really did. I had bought her a tan leather jacket. Easton ended up getting that. She still wears it from time to time. The only other person worth mentioning is Jessica. We dated for almost a year. It was fun, but she wanted more and I…I didn’t. It didn’t feel right.”
“That’s important to you?”
“It is.”
“I agree. If something doesn’t feel like it’s going to work, why put in the effort? A piece of me will always love Gabby. She was my first love and it took a long time to get over her. Just because it was a mutual breakup didn’t make it hurt any less. I still have a photo album from when we dated. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to throw it out and I hope anyone I date will understand what it means to me. I don’t look back on the photos and wish I was there again. I look back on them and think, man, I’m so glad I lived those memories.”
That type of love sounded amazing and exactly what Ainslon wanted. She didn’t know Gabby, but what a fool she was to think seeing the world would ever compare to having Lauren in her life. Ainslon leaned forward and grasped both of Lauren’s hands. “So, on top of being a romantic, you’re sentimental. A woman of many facets. You keep surprising me, Lauren. In only good ways, I promise.”
Lauren’s face seemed to light up. “I hope so. You surprise me as well.”
“How so?”
Instead of answering Ainslon’s question, she asked one of her own. “Our friendship seems to be heading in the right direction.”
Ainslon groaned at Lauren’s phrasing and the twinkle in her eyes. “Right direction indeed.”
“Good. Because Callie has informed me, I should invite you to our softball game this Saturday.”
Ainslon tried to hide her shock. “Our?” That hadn’t come up in any of their talks.
“Callie convinced me to sponsor and be a part of it. This weekend is the first time I’ve been able to play this year. I might add,” Lauren leaned across the table, “I pull off the uniform nicely.”
“I’ll be there,” Ainslon said quickly.
Lauren pulled one of her hands back and tapped her bottom lip with the left index finger. “Although, you didn’t let me finish.”
Ainslon frowned. “Go on.”
“Callie insists on everyone being present for our games if they don’t have to work.” Lauren let the statement hang in the air.
Everyone. Ainslon gulped. “Okay.”
“You’ve already met Callie, but my mother will also be there, as well as Callie’s husband and her son.”
“Your entire family?”
“Yes.” Lauren reached up and fiddled with her necklace. “Friends meet friend’s families all the time.”
The knowing smirk on Lauren’s face set her heart racing. “Of course, I can meet your family. I would love to meet your family.”
“It’s settled then.”
“It is.” Ainslon would worry about meeting Lauren’s family later.
“Edna is welcome, as is anyone else you want to invite.”
“I’ll invite her.”
“Good.”
Ainslon stood and cleared off the table. She placed her hand on the small of Lauren’s back as she opened the door and they walked out onto the busy sidewalk. Ainslon opened her mouth when a thought hit her, then snapped it shut. Lauren in a pair of tight baseball pants and a jersey was a fantasy she didn’t even know she had until now. “So.” She gave Lauren a half-lidded look. “Softball uniform, huh?”
Lauren laced their arms together. “You bet.”
“I can’t wait.” Ainslon’s words came out an octave higher.
Lauren chuckled and pulled Ainslon away from the people on the street and closer to the building. She leaned close to her, then whispered in her ear. “Play your cards right, O’Neil, and I might let you play catcher to my pitcher.” With a smirk on her lips and a wink she quickly added, “As friends, of course.” Then she kissed Ainslon on the cheek and walked away, leaving a speechless Ainslon behind.
It wasn’t until Ainslon was safely seated behind her desk that it hit her. She already had plans for Saturday, and they included watching Easton play softball. No way would she miss spending more time with Lauren, even if that involved meeting Lauren’s family. Besides, she had a buffer. Edna would be right there by her side. She had a few days to work out the kinks.
Ainslon breezed into her store on Saturday morning, bypassed Justin helping a customer at the counter, grabbed her laptop, and got to work on updating their inventory. Normally she would have the day off, but she’d promised Justin the day before that she would go over their inventory before going to the game. She hummed and mindlessly ate from the bag of trail mix she’d brought with her. She could feel Justin’s eyes on her, but she ignored him and continued with her task. Coincidently, Easton and Lauren’s team were pitted against each other today, making Ainslon’s choice to choose between the two unimportant. She hoped she could find a spot where she could root for both teams.
She chewed on an almond while crunching the numbers until she was sure their stock was in order. She closed the laptop, sealed the bag of trail mix, and looked up. Justin stood back against the counter with his arms crossed, staring at her. “What?” Had she missed something? She looked around the store, but everything seemed in order.
He smirked and fixed his gaze on her shirt for a moment. “Nice shirt. Bit of a change, but nice nonetheless.”
She blushed. After Lauren had told her about the game, she had gone to C and C and bought one of their softball team’s shirts. She shrugged. “I’m also supporting Easton.” She pulled a ball cap out of her bag and slipped it on.
“I take it things are going well between you two.”
She slipped the laptop back under the counter and squeezed his forearm. “It’s going really good. It’s going to be a pain to cheer them both on. I’m hoping to find a spot between the two teams to show support for them both.”
He looked horrified. “Good luck.”
“I don’t need luck.” They both laughed and she quickly finished her work, then collected Edna to go with her.
At the third stop light, Edna touched Ainslon’s arm. “Nice shirt.”
“Thanks, Nana.” She quickly added, “I have on Easton’s hat.”
“Seems sensible. Are you nervous about meeting Lauren’s family?”
“A little.”
Edna patted her leg. “No need for that. Any woman would be lucky to snag you. Lauren’s not bad looking herself.”
“You can say that again.”
“I take it everything’s still headed in the right direction.”
“So far, so good. I really like her, Nana.”
“Oh, Ains
lon, I know. It’s written all over your face. Now if we can get Easton to meet someone, we’d be all set.”
“You should make that your next project.”
“I might do that.”
It didn’t take them long to reach the ballpark and find a parking space but finding a seat would be trickier than she expected.
Edna held tight to Ainslon’s arm as they made their way through the grass. Ainslon didn’t want to stop and talk with anyone, so she would nod at a familiar face and continue on. Edna pointed in front of them at Callie and they headed toward her. Ainslon took a deep breath and continued walking even when she took in the few people scattered around Callie. Instead of sitting on the bleachers, they had a half-dozen chairs set up in a line between the two bleachers.
Callie waved at them. “Ainslon, Edna, join us.” Edna let go of Ainslon and accepted the hug from Callie.
Ainslon nervously swallowed when three expectant faces zeroed in on her. “Callie,” Ainslon said.
“Ainslon, Edna, this is my husband Jeffrey and my son Charlie, and this is my mother, Patricia.”
Ainslon accepted each of their handshakes and dread filled her when she turned to Patricia. Ainslon could see where Lauren and Callie got their looks from. “Ma’am.”
“So, you’re Ainslon. Lauren has told me about you.”
“That’s lovely.” Ainslon shook her hand, then stuffed her hands in her pockets.
“Well,” Edna said. “Lauren hasn’t told us anything about you.”
With bated breath, Ainslon watched the standoff between Edna and Patricia with trepidation until Patricia took Edna’s hand and led her to the last two chairs in the row and they sat down.
Callie wrapped her arm around Ainslon’s waist. “They’ll get along great.”
“When I first met her,” Jeffrey said, “she scared the shit out of me, but she’s not a bad old—”
“Dad,” Charlie said. “Don’t let Gramma hear you call her that.”
“Call her what, Charlie?” Lauren asked from behind her.
Ainslon turned at the low timbre of Lauren’s voice. The white with grey pinstriped baseball pants hugged her like a second skin, but the jersey held Ainslon’s attention. It fit Lauren in all the right places and hugged her breasts, but was loose enough for her to maneuver in. “Wow.” As she watched, Lauren slipped her aviator sunglasses off and clipped them in the v of her shirt.
Lauren kissed Ainslon on the cheek. “I’m sorry for being late. I hope Mother didn’t give you any trouble? I see she’s getting along with Edna.”
“No trouble. Really. Everyone’s nice, but we only arrived a short time ago.” Maybe if she kept talking her heart rate would return to normal. She slipped her arm around Lauren’s waist and held her phone up. “Smile.” She would be setting that photo as her lock screen.
“Come on, Dad,” Charlie said. “Let’s get some snacks.”
“Sure, son.” Jeffrey called out, “It was nice meeting you, Ainslon.”
“You as well.”
“And that’s my cue also,” Callie said. “I need to give my team a pep talk. Although, we usually win against the team were up against. Five minutes, Lauri.”
Ainslon cringed, but relaxed when Lauren wrapped her arms around her. “You look amazing in that shirt,” Ainslon said.
“As do you.”
“Thanks.”
“Let’s sit.”
Ainslon sat beside Edna with Lauren beside her and laced their fingers together. She would keep telling herself friends behaved this way, while the rest of her knew it was total bullshit.
“You said Easton plays.”
“She’s on the team playing against yours.”
A sinister grin appeared on Lauren’s face. “That’s unfortunate for her.”
“Why’s that?”
“She’s going to lose.”
Ainslon turned to face Lauren. “Want to make a bet?”
“What am I going to win?” Lauren slipped a stray piece of hair behind Ainslon’s ear.
“Winner gets to pick what we do on our next meet up.”
Lauren lifted Ainslon’s hand and kissed the palm. “You’re on. I know the perfect location.”
“We’ll see. We’ll see.”
Five innings later, Ainslon sat on the edge of her seat, absentmindedly eating the popcorn Jeffrey and Charlie had gotten for her. Lauren’s team was up by two points. Lauren hadn’t told her before today what position she played and Ainslon had been surprised when she’d taken up her spot as shortstop. Lauren was good and not one ball had gotten past her yet, but Ainslon hadn’t expected anything less. She knew no matter what team won, she and Lauren would have a fantastic time together, but Ainslon hated to lose. After the end of their last inning, Lauren motioned to Ainslon and she walked to the dugout.
“Would you like to bow out now?” Lauren said, with her fingers clutching links in the dugout fencing.
“No way. They still have time to pull off a victory.”
“If you say so.”
In the end, Lauren’s team won by one point. After the game, Ainslon hugged Easton, then introduced her to everyone. Callie asked to speak with her away from everyone.
“I’ll be honest. I like you, but,” Callie said, “the age difference bothered me a bit. I know it’s not a lot, but Lauren has promised me that isn’t a problem. It isn’t a problem, is it, Ainslon?”
What was happening here? “No, it’s not a problem at all. It’s only ten years. I don’t plan on messing this friendship up.”
“Has that been a problem in the past? Messing things up.”
Ainslon took a moment to consider her answer. “Depending on the situation, things have tended to go south, but I hold out hope that isn’t the case with Lauren.”
“She has a lot of money. Is it her money and power that attract you to her?”
Ainslon clenched her fists by her side and scanned the immediate area but didn’t see Lauren anywhere. She knew she couldn’t ignore the question indefinitely. She slowly turned toward Callie. “It couldn’t possibly be that she’s genuine, sincere, kindhearted, and by far the most attractive woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Could it?”
“Very well,” Callie said. “I only want what’s best for my sister.”
“And what would that be?” Ainslon jerked her head around at Lauren’s low timbre. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
“We were just talking, Lauri.” Callie squeezed Ainslon’s arm and rejoined the rest of the group.
Ainslon kissed Lauren on the cheek, leaned into her body, and didn’t even sensor the next words out of her mouth. “Your ass looks amazing in those pants.”
“Why thank you, ma’am.” Lauren tipped the brim of her hat.
Ainslon swatted her arm. “You know exactly how good you look.”
“I play to my strengths. As everyone should.”
“And you do it so well.”
“Better than Easton did today at the game.”
Ainslon pressed a hand to her chest. “Ouch. That was low, Lauren. Easton did well. It’s the others that could use some practice.”
“I suppose I can concede that point.”
Lauren intertwined their hands and lead her toward the others. “So,” she paused. “How about tomorrow night I treat you to an early dinner and maybe a movie? I may be persuaded to throw in some chocolate.” Then quickly added again, “A friend’s dinner and a movie.”
Ainslon rolled her eyes. Being only friends was the stupidest thing she could have ever said. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.” Ainslon pulled her to a stop. “So, I get to spend all day with you and now I get dinner tomorrow? Just the two of us?”
“Yes.”
“Fantastic.”
“Ainslon, stop fussing. You look fine.” Justin flipped the open sign to closed.
“How can you say that?” Ainslon pulled the hand mirror from behind the counter to check her appearance. Sunday, Lauren had called and had
to reschedule their dinner and a movie, explaining she had to deal with a mix up at C and C. Ainslon understood, but had still been disappointed. They had rescheduled for tonight and of course this was the first Monday in weeks they’d been crazy busy. In addition to a movie, they decided on dinner at the Café, a few blocks from C and C.
“It’s not your fault we’ve been swamped all day. Lauren will understand you didn’t have time to go home and change.”
“Or shower,” she mumbled.
He grasped her by the shoulders and turned her around. “Calm down. You’ve got this.” He walked her to the door, opened it, pushed her out, then locked it.
Ainslon took several deep breaths, then headed in the direction of the Café. The cool, crisp night air did nothing to stop her racing heart. She didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed Lauren wasn’t there when she walked in. A waitress smiled, then directed her to a seat by the window. Ainslon informed her she would wait for her date before ordering. Even though it was seven-ten she wouldn’t freak out. Like herself, Lauren could have been tied up at her store all day.
The realtor still hadn’t called and Ainslon tried not to let worry set in. Surely the owner was back from vacation? One good thing that had happened was she and Shelly finally finalized their deal and just in time, considering Colin’s birthday was coming up. Justin had taken the book to Lauren on their lunch break today, since she had been tied up with customers.
A few minutes later, she did a double take when she spied Lauren walking down the sidewalk. She hoped she never lost the butterflies in her stomach every time she laid eyes on her.
Lauren breezed in, walked toward their table, leaned down, and kissed her on the cheek before sitting down. “I am sorry I’m late.” She pushed hair out of her face. “I can’t remember the last time we were so busy.”
First Edition Romance Page 13