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“Why would she hate you?”
“She thinks I’m a one-nighter, a playboy.”
Megan cackles and Archer coughs. “What?”
I give a little tilt of my head and shrug my shoulders. We stand up to leave, and Megan takes me aside while we wait for the valet. I absolutely look up to her and want my daughters to be like her one day. She reminds me of an older version of Adalee. Megan’s only four or five years older and is also petite with brown hair.
“Hagan, she must not know you at all if she thinks you’re sleeping around. Show her who you really are. Sometimes your confidence comes off cocky and that’s fantastic on the field, but it intimidates the average girl. I think I had this same conversation with Tackett.” Archer agrees. They grin at how they already feel like parents of all us twenty-somethings.
“Nothing about her is average and she’s a gymnast. I should forget about her. It would never work with both of us being athletes, but we kissed yesterday. I’m playing the waiting game to give her time to catch up to my feelings. I just don’t know how to date since Julia. She messed me up, and every time Adalee rejects me by making untrue statements…”
Archer joins us and when we get into the car, he says, “Hagan, be yourself and don’t force it. She’ll come around if she’s worth it.”
I mumble to myself, “You don’t know how stubborn this girl is.”
They both laugh as Archer snakes his hand around Megan’s waist. “If she’s anything like this one, I do.” Then he bends down giving his wife a chaste kiss. “But there’snotone thing I would change about Megan, except the clicking of her pen.”
They married in the spring at home plate of Kodiak stadium, and they’re always touching and kissing.
My family is filled with people to admire. Not because they’re all successful but because they love like a home run blasted over the centerfield wall—deep. My oldest brother, Reagan, is a world renowned chef, and when he told my dad that he didn’t want to work in baseball, he was supported fully.
When my sister, Sarah Jane, wanted to be a stay at home mom, the Kodiaks gave her projects that she could work from home on. Archer used to be the President of our minor league team and Megan was the Financial Analyst, so Archer became a sports agent and Dad promoted Megan, so they could be together.
Now, Harper and I are the only single siblings.
The chemistry between Adalee and me is amazing, but there’s a wall around her heart, and it’s my mission to find out why. Was Chaz as terrible a boyfriend as he is a teammate?
Energy is popping off my body, and I need a release. “Do you mind dropping me off at the gym?”
ChapterFifteen
Adalee
As I turn the corner,hiking home from the gym, Hagan steps out of a car. I put my head down and keep right on walking. He says, “Adalee, Adalee.” He’s fifty feet away but runs toward me. “Hey, let me give you a ride.”
“Someone dropped you off. How are you going to drive without a vehicle?” I ask, poking my hip out with my brows diving into my nose. The trainer told me that I need to see the doctor on Monday. I’m frustrated and nervous energy flows through my body, worried about my scholarship for next year.
He slides his fingers over my forearm and my polyester gymnastics jacket almost melts.
“It’s my brother. We’ll take you home, so you don’t have trek that far.”
“That’s okay, thanks.”
Hagan’s face drops and his eyes hold disappointment. “Adalee, come on,” he says, clearly frustrated.
“I need to be alone right now. I want to walk.” I pause, realizing how I harsh I sound, so I soften my tone. “But I appreciate you for asking.”
With that, I make a beeline to my apartment. The least I could do was go thank his family for the parking space at the football game, but I’m home with self-pity is rearing its ugly head.
I’ve never had an injury to this extent or been out this long. And all because I was thinking of the guy with the liquid caramel eyes, his boyish charm and never-ending confidence make him even sexier if that’s possible.
But it’s also why Hagan and I can never be. As much as I’m attracted to him, I can’t be with someone that’s capable of dazzling me into dropping my panties with only a dimpled smile, and I came close at the job site. I won’t spend my life worrying about another guy being unfaithful to me, if he doesn’t get sex right away.
And that pisses me off as much as my injury because I want to learn more about Hagan Chatham. Kiss Hagan Chatham. And why should I care as much about NOT dating him as I do about my gymnastics career?
I wish my mom was here. Her words would heal me—motivate me.
By the point I’m home, I realize I should have accepted the ride. Why am I so stubborn? I did need the space to clear my head and find the determination to push through the pain.
