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“He hasn’t even introduced another lady to his JJ,” Irma continued, her Spanish accent still think after all the years. “That means you’re a special one, little miss.”
Jamal scooted closer to Cassie on the bleachers and draped his arm around her shoulders. “See? Told ya. You’re pretty special.”
“You better listen to the man, missy. My Irma here tells me he’s a straight shooter. Ain’t that right, sexy lady?” Irma’s boyfriend, Melvin, planted a sloppy kiss on Irma’s lips. He was nothing like Cassie had pictured. Although her hair was gray and she had laugh lines around her eyes, Irma was still sophisticated and Cassie could picture the curvy beauty Irma had once been. Melvin, on the other hand, looked like a retired high school biology teacher. His head was completely bald on the top and gray on the sides and his big, square glasses magnified his watery blue eyes. His jeans were held up by a pair of suspenders that featured pool balls on them, completely at odds with his button down, plaid, short-sleeved shirt.
“That’s right, you studly man, you,” Irma replied, rewarding her man with an equally sloppy kiss.
“Shoot me now,” Jamal whispered in Cassie’s ear. “Or I might shoot Mr. Melvin in his knee cap.”
Cassie stifled a giggle. “I think they’re cute,” she whispered back. “Look at how happy she looks. I don’t know if that’s always how she acts, but she is definitely a woman in love. Didn’t you tell me that her husband died before you even met her? This might be her second chance at love. You’d be a big ol’ meanie if you ruined it for her.”
“A big ol’ meanie, huh?” Jamal asked, a grin on his face. “I guess we wouldn’t want that to happen. Would I have to sit out my recess?”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Smart ass.”
“It’s cute, Bambi. Didn’t I tell you how big of a crush I had on my first grade teacher? There’s just something about a teacher in that grade that makes me go all soft inside,” he replied, planting a kiss on her forehead.
Kyle and Callie turned around from their perch below Cassie and Jamal on the bleachers and grinned. “Would you guys calm things down up there? We’re supposed to be the newlyweds and you’re the ones who can’t keep their hands to themselves.”
“We aren’t doing anything!” Cassie said, a frown her friend’s way.
“Who said we were talking to you?” Kyle asked. “I was referring to Irma and her new man. You guys need to get a room!”
Cassie and Jamal started laughing and looked over at Irma and Melvin.
“I am not ashamed to kiss the man I love,” Irma said with a glare Kyle and Callie’s way. “Now you hush.”
Melvin’s bald head turned as red as the plaid in his shirt. “You love me, Irma?”
“Well, yes, you daft man. Why else would I have quit Canasta to spend time with you? That’s my favorite game!”
Melvin grinned from ear to ear. “Well, little darlin’, I love you, too. Wanna get hitched?”
“I was wondering if you were ever going to work up the courage to ask me. After all, we’ve been living in sin on the weekends for six months. It’s about time you made an honest woman out of me. I’m not getting any younger,” Irma replied, kissing him on the cheek.
“That’swaytoo much information for me, Bambi,” Jamal groaned in her ear. “I’m scarred for life. Nanny’s been getting it on for half a year when I thought she was playing Canasta with a bunch of old biddies. I’ll never be able to look at her the same way.”
Cassie threw her head back and laughed. “Are you traumatized?”
Jamal shuddered. “You have no idea.”
-------------------------
Jamal couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of the woman sitting next to him. He knew he needed to be watching his daughter play, but every time he started to look back at the field, Cassie did something else that caught his attention. The way she smiled sweetly when she looked at Irma and her boyfriend whispering to each other quietly. The way she stared intensely at the field, trying to figure out what was happening and then clapping and screaming at the top of her lungs when she realized the JJ had done something well. The smell of coconuts and pineapple from her lotion and shampoo that drifted past Jamal’s nostrils when she turned her head a certain way. The slight blush of her skin that hinted of the sunburn she was sure to sport later. The way he felt when she shot a smile his way. He was starting to become addicted to those smiles.
“What?” she asked when she turned and caught him staring.
“Nothing,” he replied. “Just thinking about how beautiful you are.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Well, you should be watching your daughter instead of me. She just hit a double up the middle and scored two runs.”
Jamal’s eyebrows shot up in the air. “One day at a tournament and you’re already speaking softball lingo? I’m impressed, Bambi.”
She shot a grin his way. “What can I say? I’m a fast learner.”
Jamal nodded. “That you are, indeed. Hey, Bambi?”
“What?” she asked.
