A deep frown replaced the smile from a moment ago. “What? Can’t do what?”
I stroked Bell’s head, in case anyone looked over and saw us. “Be here, all of us together. It’s too soon. Me coming is a bad idea, someone is going to figure it out. Lauren just asked me why you’re being weird with me. I need to leave.”
“No, you’re not leaving. I’m not spending the day without you, Lowe. We’re all going to the game.”
“Penn…”
“You can solve this by letting me tell everyone; I don’t see why it matters. They’ll all be happy for us, and I want everyone to know you’re mine.”
It’s very hard to be angry and keep your voice down at the same time, but I felt I was doing a stellar job seeing as I wanted to yell, and at the very least shake some sense into him, because he didn’t seem to be listening or makinganysense.
“I don’t even know what that means! What’s happening between us is less than a week old! How can we tell people when we don’t even know ourselves?!”
“I don’t care how long it’s been, it changes nothing. But if you don’t come, then I’m not going. I want us to spend the day together, even if it means we’re sneaking around.”
“That’s blackmail!” I hissed, mustering as much outrage as I could.
“I know,” he grinned down at me, because he knew I’d cave. Because somehow, he always got his own way.
“Fine, but don’t talk to me.”
“Can’t promise that, I’m afraid,” he winked, then a second later stepped away from me and moved back to the group, to stand next to Murray who had his arm round Kit. “Everyone ready? The cars are outside.”
Chapter 56
It was possible Penn had taken my request seriously, because he hadn’t spoken to me in three hours.
Not a peep.
The second we’d walked out of the restaurant to the waiting cars, he’d made sure I’d gotten safely into the back of the first one, strapped Bell into her seat next to Kit, then climbed into the car behind with the boys and Barclay. I didn’t even get so much as a backward glance or wave goodbye.
The girls’ car had taken a short diversion back to Kit and Murray’s apartment so we could leave Bell with her nanny, but even after we’d met the boys again at the heliport for the ride to White Plains, that’s how we’d all stayed; separated, girls vs. boys. Them at the front of the helicopter, and us at the back.
I wasn’t even sure Penn had looked at me in the three hours either, for every time I looked at him, he was zoned into aconversation he was having with Murray and Rafe. Then once we’d finally arrived at the Jungle Kings Stadium, we’d been greeted by an official who’d led us to the owner’s seats, after which, Penn had promptly taken off with the boys and Barclay.
I was both grateful and relieved, seeing as Lauren hadn’t mentioned his behavior again, but also a fraction on edge because I realized I was craving his attention, like a teen who’d had her phone confiscated mid-text with a boy she liked. And I didn’t need a lot; a sliver of it would do; a furtive glance, a subtle wink. Even though it had been at my request, suddenly having it removed felt like I was stuck under a black cloud that rained exclusively on me.
It was a problem I didn’t care to be in and wish didn’t require solving, but it definitely had something to do with why I was now obsessively checking the entrance to our block of seats for the blonde head and boyish grin I’d become so familiar with. In fact, I’d been twitching so much that I was likely to put my neck out any second.
I did spy one of the stadium officials making his way down to us, because even though the boys weren’t here, we’d been well taken care of to the point where it seemed like someone stopped by every few minutes to bring us more popcorn and beer. We were currently on our third beer, and the two enormous tubs of popcorn we’d been handed were inhaled so quickly it was like we’d forgotten we’d ever eaten before.
“Does anyone know where the boys are and if they intend to return?” yelled Beulah, so we could hear her over the speaker system blaring out a Beyoncé track, while the field filled with players in bright orange jerseys running on to stretch, throw the ball, practice catching, and do whatever baseball players did before a game. “This will start soon, right?”
Kit pulled her phone out of her bag, giving her head a shake. “Dunno, Murray hasn’t replied to me. They’ve been gone over an hour! Does anyone know what they’re doing?”
In the time we’d been sitting here, the stadium had filled rapidly. It wasn’t a huge stadium by any stretch - a fraction the size of The Lion’s Stadium - but I still hadn’t expected so many people to be here, yet nearly every one of the orange seats was occupied. It was noisy and vibrant, and clear that everyone here loved this team from the amount of team jerseys being worn.
Given we were sitting in the owners section, our seats were right behind the dugout and afforded us pretty spectacular views; both of the field and the players. By spectacular, I meant to the point where the guy currently bending over in his tight,tightwhite pants directly in front of us, should probably have worn underwear.
Not that any of us were complaining.
“Rafe said Penn wanted to check the place out, tour the stadium, and he was due to meet some of the executives here. Oh yeah, what’s a bat dog? Rafe told me Murray had convinced Penn to have Barclay do it or something, but I wasn’t sure what he was talking about.”
“Wait, what?” said Lauren, picking up her beer from the cupholder and sipping it.
Kit started laughing hard. “Ohmygod, you haven’t heard this?! A bat dog is a dog that runs out on the field to collect the bats that are dropped after a hit. Murray has convinced Penn to let Barclay be the bat dog here. He’s been taking him out to Central Park every day this week to practice.”
I turned to her, my eyes wide. “No way! Is he doing this today?”
