AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You know what I mean.” I shoot her a wink, and I see the moment my implication dawns on her.
Her eyes widen in surprise before her expression shifts into a reprimanding frown. “That’s not funny, Corey.”
“What’s not funny?”
“We just started seeing each other,” she mutters. “You can’t make jokes about getting married.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” She repeats with a scoff. “Because it’s inappropriate!”
“You’re the one who said you doodled our initials in your notebook,” I point out. “I assume you also had Mrs. Corey Johnson written somewhere in there, or am I wrong?”
Her red cheeks tell me I’m not.
“You’re a chore.” She shakes her head. “A total chore.”
“But you like me.”
“A little less at the moment,” she snaps back, rising from her seat.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to sit next to Chris. We have work to discuss.”
“You’re going to work on the plane?”
“I am.” She steps into the aisle just as the flight attendant begins her pre-flight announcement over the intercom.
To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. I’d been hoping she’d sit next to me for the short flight. It would take effort to keep from touching her with everyone around, butit was a sacrifice I was willing to make if it meant we’d have the chance to talk.
“Okay, well… see you later.”
Carlee must see my disappointment. She chews her bottom lip, then asks, “What are you doing for dinner?”
“Nothing,” I immediately blurt.
Her lips twitch. “Meet in the lobby at eight?”
My head bobs with enthusiasm. “Sounds good.”
Carlee’s mouth curves in a closed-lipped smile as she turns and heads back up the aisle to where her coworker sits.
The back of my seat shifts as someone puts their weight on the headrest. “Smooth, Johnson,” Kendrick mutters above me. “You didn’t come off as desperate at all.”
I don’t even care that my ex-college teammate overheard our conversation. All that’s on my mind is I have my second date with Carlee Jones tonight, and I’m excited to take one step closer to repairing the rift between us. Maybe I’ll even get lucky and steal another kiss from her.
Still, I have a reputation to uphold. Which is why I take the safety card from the seat pocket in front of me and reach back, swatting Kendrick in the face and saying, “Fuck off, Cohen.”
19
CARLEE
“It’shot as Hades right now,” Morgan uses my notepad to fan her red face. We’re seated behind the visiting players’ dugout with no protection from the Las Vegas sun. It’s only March, the first game of the regular season, but that desert sun is scorching even when the air temperature isn’t that bad.
“Do you want to take a break in the shade?” I motion up the stairs, toward the first-level concourse that hosts concession and merchandise stands.
“No, I’m good. It’s the eighth inning. I can make it,” Morgan declares. “But the moment we’re out of here, I’m getting the largest frozen strawberry margarita I can find and drinking that bad boy down before we hit the Strip tonight.”
