Page 111 of Taking the Pitch
Hazel and I both gasp, getting looks from patrons at other tables nearby.
“Charlotte Leigh Dixon, did you get laid on vacation?” I ask, scooting my chair closer.
“Will youpleasekeep your voices down?” Charlie pleads. Her cheeks go from a blush pink to a deep red from her embarrassment.
Hazel flaps her hand in the general direction of the other tables. “They’re fine. It’s not exactly a secret that people have sex.”
Charlie covers her face with her hands and groans.
I tap her leg with my foot, raising a brow at her. “Spill.”
She huffs and takes another sip of her water. “Fine, but youcannottell a soul.Especiallymy parents.”
Hazel and I look at each other, then back at Charlie, both of us dragging our fingers across our lips like we’re zipping our lips.
Charlie sighs. “I had sex with a manfifteen yearsolder than me, not once, butseveraltimes, and it was the best sex of my life.”
Hazel and I gasp again.
“Charlie, you little minx you,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows up and down.
“Older men aresohot. It’s truly not fair they get better looking as they get older,” Hazel adds.
“But why the secrecy, Char? It’s not like you’ll ever see him again. Right?” I ask.
Charlie draws a pattern in the condensation that’s formed on the outside of her glass, avoiding our gazes.
“Charlie?”
Her eyes snap to mine. “Does the name Grant Collins sound familiar?”
I wrack my brain, trying to think if we went to school with someone with that name, but come up blank. “No. Should it?”
Charlie lifts a shoulder. “Probably not. The only reason I know it is because I follow baseball. Not that I really have a choice, seeing as my dad’s an MLB coach.”
“Focus, Charlie,” Hazel says, snapping her fingers in front of Charlie’s face. “What’s with the secrecy?”
Charlie takes a deep breath. “Because Grant Collins is a retired MLB player who used to play for my dad,” she rushes out.
“Oh shit,” Hazel says.
Charlie grimaces. “There’s more.”
I hold a finger up to Charlie and down the rest of my mimosa, reaching for the pitcher to fill it back up, then fill Hazel’s, who also finished off her drink.
“Okay, please continue.”
Charlie mumbles something under her breath.
I look at Hazel, who looks at me and shrugs her shoulders.
“You’re gonna have to speak up, Charlie.”
Heaving out a sigh, Charlie stares down at the table and says, “He’s technically still married.”
Hazel and I sit in stunned silence, staring at Charlie.
The waiter appears at our table, setting down our food, then asks us if he can get us anything else. I snap out of my shockwhen he speaks, thanking him and telling him we were good for now.
