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Brooke smiled. “Well, Hunter is the opposite of chill. He takes baseball very seriously.”
“So does Cammie.”
“She didn’t want to play softball?” Chad asked.
I shook my head. “She had all sorts of opinions when I suggested softball.”
“Kids. They’ve got minds of their own, don’t they?” He laughed, shaking his head.
“Cammie sure does.” I looked out over the field, trying to spot her. She was the only one with a blonde ponytail showing from the back of her cap. She was on the mound, pitching to the kids lined up for batting practice.
“She wants to be a pitcher?” Brooke asked.
“She wants to learn everything,” I said.
“Hmm,” Brooke hummed.
“You drink your coffee yet?” I figured a fellow coffee store owner would be on their third or fourth cup by then, but I didn’t see anything.
“Not yet. I woke up to my sister’s call, and I’ve been running ever since.”
I handed her my mug. “Try this. I want to know what you think of it.”
At her raised brow, I added, “I haven’t even tasted it yet. It’s fresh.”
The thought of her lips on the same lid as mine had my blood pumping harder.
“I’d love to.” Brooke set her chair on the ground and brought the mug to her lips. I waited, hoping she’d love trying new brews as much as I did.
She licked her lips, drawing my attention to them. “Oh, wow. This is rich and bold. I love it.”
She started to hand it back to me, but as much as I wanted my lips where hers had just been, I said, “You keep it. You need it more than me.”
Wrapping her hands around the cup, she breathed in the smell.
She looked beautiful in the early morning light, even if she wasn’t as put together as at work. I liked her like this. She was a girl I could see myself waking up next to. Brewing her coffee just to see her eyes light up with pleasure. I nearly groaned out loud, wondering where those thoughts were coming from.
I didn’t want to wake up next to Brooke Langley. She was my competition, not my friend.
“Thanks for this,” she said when Chad wandered off to help his son tie his cleats that had come undone.
“You’re welcome.” We stood in silence, watching the practice and listening to the crack of the bat and thump of a ball hitting a glove.
The coaches occasionally yelled at the kids to pay attention, but otherwise, it was quiet. The parents were only half-awake and not socializing much. That early in the morning on a weekend, there weren’t any younger siblings playing on the grass.
“How are things coming with your store?” Brooke asked.
I gave her a side look. “Do you really want to know?”
“As the owner of your biggest competition? Yes. Yes. I do,” she said, smiling.
It reminded me so much of our banter in high school. We were always trying to one-up each other. One time, after she triumphantly stated she received a higher grade than me, I felt the urge to kiss her for the first time. The feeling never left after that.
I wanted to shut her up, but I wanted to feel her against me more. All of those teenage feelings came rushing back and pushed to the surface. I liked Brooke. I always had. I was a nerdy kid who enjoyed succeeding in school and, well, everything. I had no idea how to interact with a beautiful, intelligent girl, so I did the only that came naturally. I teased her. I taunted her. I goaded her into engaging with me.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew it annoyed her, but I fell into that way of interacting with her over the years, and it was impossible to change. Even when my feelings for her only grew stronger. I wasn’t competing with her. I was trying to talk to her, to get her to notice me. She did, just not in the way I’d hoped. It was too late to go back and change our history.
And now, our livelihoods were at stake. I was destined to have this attraction to her and never act on it.
