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"Like what, baby?"
"So pushy. So needy."
"What? You were amazing. I’m the one who couldn’t last longer than two minutes. Just give me a half hour to recover and I’ll make it up to you. But I do have one question..."
"Okay sure..." Katie held her breath.
"You don’t have a proper bedroom, but you have the entire platinum sports package on your cable?"
Katie rushed to defend herself around guilty giggles. "Hey, if I could have just gotten the MLB channels, I would have, but in order to get that you have to get, not just the basic but the premium, with the sports add on package. But since I consider it somewhat of a work expense, sometimes when I’m out of the office on a job and get to expense my lunch...I order two meals and take one home for dinner. Just to sort of even it out, you know?"
Landon chuckled and kissed the top of her head while adjusting the covers around her. "Who knew? You’ve got big tits and a rebellious streak hidden beneath those Maverick polos."
A satisfied smile crept onto Katie’s face, the last thing she remembered before exhaustion took over. She didn't even get to do her final scan of the apartment.I’ll do it in a minute, she told herself, only meaning to close her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them again, a trickle of gray light streamed in through the crack in the curtains. The spot on the bed next to her was empty and cold.
KISS FM RADIO 103.1
CARO:Welcome back toThe Caro and Jim Morning Show. We've got thirty minutes of nonstop music with some fresh jams to get your day started. It’s six a.m. on the dot and it’s shaping up to be a beautiful day. The weather forecast is mild and partly cloudy all day, great news for all you Maverick fans out there, huh Jim?
JIM:That’s right!The boys are back in town, the boys are back in townand they’re hitting up a storm against the Cubs, a team from your neck of the woods, Caro.
CARO:You know I’m not much of a sports gal, but I am a local now and I think everyone’s rooting for Landon Ryan to keep up his hitting streak. I’ve actually been thinking about taking my son out to see the game this afternoon.
JIM:You should! Such a good time, the stadium’s beautiful, food is great and surprisingly cheap, and come on, if Ryan hits number fifteen, you could be watching part of history in the making.
CARO:So how far does he have to go to make history?
JIM:I actually looked it up this morning and Joe DiMaggio holds the hitting streak record with fifty-six games. That was back in 1941 and no one’s come close since Pete Rose with forty-four in the seventies, and then in the eighties, this other guy had like thirty-nine.
CARO:Oh, wow, we’re pretty far from that aren’t we? I’m kind of surprised the fuss is being made so early on.
JIM:The longest streak last season in all of Major League Baseball was twenty-one, so we’re not too far off from that. I think what everyone’s hoping for though is for him to get to thirty. That’s kinda the magic number where you go down in the record books. Landon Ryan actually spoke about this in his post game interview last night. I have the clip here, let’s listen:
INTERVIEWER:Fourteen game hitting streak, Landon, that’s pretty impressive. How far are you hoping to take this?
LANDON:Uh, who knows? I think the bigger issue is that we as a team have a winning record this season and we’re on a three game winning streak. That may not seem like much, but every game counts towards getting to that championship. So yeah, if my hits can help that, let’s keep it going.
INTERVIEWER:But you must be looking towards thirty right?
LANDON:Uhhh, there’s like twenty or so guys that have a thirty game streak. Jimmy Rollins holds the spot for thirty-eight and that’s a guy I saw play coming up. So yeah, let’s say thirty-eight is the magic number for me right now.
chapter 13
Really?! Every single weekday morning, Katie woke up toThe Caro and Jim Morning Showand never once had they been talking about the Mavericks, much less Landon Ryan himself. In four months of loyal listening, she didn’t even know Jim liked baseball and now he was singing the praises of the man who had just left her to wake up alone to the reality of her first one night stand?
"Ahhhh!" Katie bellowed her frustration out into the empty apartment and smashed her palm on the radio to turn it off. She threw back the covers and got up to inspect the apartment anyway. No clothes, no shoes, no Landon.Thanks, asshole.The last thing she wanted was a romantic entanglement, but, damn, he could have at least said good-bye.
She went through the motions of making coffee and toast, but couldn’t stomach more than a nibble. It wasn’t until she showered, dressed, and made her way to the door to meet the Uber already halfway down the block, that she finally saw the black key fob sitting right next to her purse with a bright green Post-it note on top.
Jogged home, early meeting. Take my truck. I’ll get key later
A sweet, but very dangerous relief washed over Katie. He hadn’t abandoned her. He’d even ensured they’d have to see each other at least one more time. But then what? If he didn’t end it, she would have to. As much as she loved spending time with him, this roller coaster of emotions was threatening to derail her.
She channeled all her heartbreak into irritation as she stomped down the stairs. What was he thinking leaving her his truck? No way in hell could she show up to work in Landon Ryan’s truck. Lori would know about it before lunchtime, guaranteed.
She took the Uber.
Katie's morning flashed by with office work and preparations for the early afternoon game, leaving her with almost no time to think about men and how they completely fucked up everything for her. Until she got a text. And not from the guy she’d kinda been hoping to hear from.
