I blew out a breath. These idiots would never let me ignore them. Especially now that we had a frigging group chat. So, with as little enthusiasm as I could, I said, “She had a little too much to drink.” They eyed me skeptically. “Fine, she puked in the bathroom, mid-make out.”
Jake howled in laughter.
“Jesus, you have the bestandworst luck, man. This bet is entertaining if nothing else.” Kev slapped me on the back, damn near doubled over clutching his sides laughing.
“Knuckleheads want to wrap it up? The press is coming in five. I suggest you cover up what you don’t want seen on the Sports channels,” Coach barked at us as he passed by.
A collective groan was heard from several of us before we shuffled into our clothes and tucked away our personal shit. Media day blitzes for the preseason warm-ups weren’t anyone’s favorite day. Except for Petra. He loved to showboat. He had already thrown on his muscle shirt and greased up.
It was nothing but fluff pieces about what our expectations for the season were, how we would do better than the last, ya-da ya-da. If it wasn’t mandatory, I’d have hightailed it out of there. I wasn’t exactly eager to relive my most horrible moments from last season, again. Something they always brought up. Like seriously, reminding me of how I missed an easy catch or failed to get everyone on base in the 9th inning with bases loaded…
Yeah. A real nice way to put me in a good mood for this season. The mere thought of it made me cringe. It wasn’t enough that it was already on the highlight reels of the worst plays.
“You’re in a mood. What’s wrong?”
“A mood?” I shook my head at Jake. “What am I, your wife?”
Jake snorted and dipped his head. “Alright, fine. Stop being in a shitty mood. You’re killing the vibe. You still on for poker?”
Fucking poker. The thing that got me into this mess. I needed some redemption from the last game and a way to take Carlos down. “Nah, I got me a date.”
“For real?”
“Yeah. And it’s got to go better than the last,” I muttered, slamming my locker shut.
Jake smirked. “It can’t get worse.”
I nodded my head in agreement, before heading out to the field where eager sports casters were waiting for some interviews.
The evening sun had left a warm glow about the waterfront. Tonight was going ninety percent better than any of the other dates I had been on over the last week or so. Quinn was smart, beautiful, funny, and I didn’t even mind her rambling about her job, some sort of industrial sales or something else. All I knew was that she traveled often, which meant no expectations.
We’d spent the last week making idle chitchat online as I was away in Philly for a three-game stretch. She wasn’t eager to throw herself at me and our conversation had actual words. It almost felt like I had to work for it. A change of pace compared to the others.
We agreed to meet up early with no expectations, but coffee turned into appetizers and cocktails, light flirting, and then dinner and drinks. It was going well enough she’d invited me back to her place, which was why we wereenjoying the afterglow of the sunset, walking along the downtown core to her condo, which was strangely close to mine.
“I had such a lovely time.” She hiccupped softly.
“Are you okay?” I asked as she gripped my elbow.
“Of course. Just didn’t expect to have so much.” She grinned lopsidedly before nuzzling her head against my shoulder.
“Where is it again?” I semi-shrugged her off of me.
“Over there.” She absently pointed to one of four buildings lining the street.
“Okay…” She stopped suddenly to rifle through her large black bag that could have been used as a carry-on. Why women needed duffel bags as purses was beyond me.
“Shit,” she muttered before tilting her head up to me. “You don’t have a light on you, do you?”
Odd, I hadn’t caught even the faintest trace of cigarette smoke from her. “Sorry, no. You’re a smoker?”
“Only when I’m nervous.”
“I make you nervous?”
“Hell yeah. Do you not see you? You’re gorgeous.” She blushed a little once she realized she had said that out loud. I stifled my chuckle, but hearing a woman talk me up did a little something to my ego.
“I’d say the same thing about you.”
