Page 13 of No Easy Catch
“Thanks. I like sitting in booths that are almost full so people don’t feel entitled to join us, you know? This goddamn draft is hovering over us. Jeff is the only one not freaking out about it.”
Jeff’s only response was a wrinkle between his eyebrows. I didn’t scoot farther inside, hoping he’d get the hint to sit with Aaron, but he didn’t. He plopped down next to me, our legs briefly touching before I repositioned myself. “Mind if I sit here?”
“You didn’t give me a choice,” I mumbled, not meeting his eyes. I wanted to hear the rest of his story, but there would be no way until Aaron left us. He’d made that part clear—making sure no one would ever find out about the investigation…definitely not his teammates. “The draft has to be exciting, though, right? Terrifying, I’m sure, but how exciting you all get to be a part of it. Thousands of players never get that chance.”
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,” Aaron said, rubbing his hands over his eyes, but as soon as he looked up, his entire face softened into a sickly-sweet expression. “Hey, G.”
“Ronnie,” Greta replied just as she set down my steaming cup of coffee. She moved to sit on his lap for a second and the entire thing caused an unwelcome pang near my heart. It wasn’tjealousy. I remembered what they’d gone through and why. It was…a longing for something that might never be mine.
“Fighting a hangover or something?” Jeff asked, pointing to the white mug with a large chip on the side. “Or are you one of those people who can drink coffee any hour?”
“I’m not hungover, no. Coffee is my choice of drink when I want to relax.”
“Doesn’t work like that. You should have a beer.”
“I’m good.” I gave a tight smile, hoping he’d drop it, but Greta and Aaron’s conversation stopped and she chimed in.
“It’s admirable to stop drinking for a bit. It’d probably do us all good to cleanse the binge-drinking from our system. Lord knows I could.” She giggled at the end and abruptly stood up. “Shit, my boss is looking for me. I gotta get back.”
Aaron watched her walk away with a pining in his eyes and it felt so intimate that it almost felt wrong observing it.Will anyone look at me that way?
“The beer doesn’t bother you, does it?” Aaron asked and did his best to hide his glass from view. It was a futile but appreciated attempt.
“Today was a bit rough, so it’s hard, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“Wait. Hold up. You’re saying you don’t drink? I’ve seen you do a keg stand for a full minute wearing a dress, Amber,” Jeff said, further solidifying his impression of me. “I call bullshit on younotdrinking.”
My face burned red and I did my best to look confident. I straightened my shoulders and looked him head-on. “I don’t drinkanymore.”
“Yeah, dude. She stopped in the fall. She’s been over to our parties and sober…you’re dense sometimes, man.” Aaron took a sip of beer and the reasons why Jeff and I weren’t friends were like flashing neon lights. I needed to steer clear of people whomade me feel bad about myself, not spend more time around them, and the thought of walking away from the investigation crossed my mind.
But what if he’s right? The injuries are suspicious.
I sipped the hot brew and tried to think of any comeback that would work. Anything to make him feel bad. But my brain didn’t work like that. I’d think of the perfect zinger in four hours when it didn’t matter. The embarrassment of that being the old me was enough to have my neck burn for an hour.
“Hm,” was all Jeff said.
Like the bright shining star she was, Laney waltzed into the bar and distracted me from the shame of Jeff’s intense stare. “Laney!” I shouted at her.
She grinned at my booth mates and took her time talking with people as she walked over. Then, she lifted a finger telling us to wait a minute and went to the bar.Damn it.Guess I had to suffer in the awkward silence longer.
“Ah, shit.” Aaron narrowed his eyes toward the bar and took off, mumbling something along the lines of his sister. Jeff met my eyes and jutted his chin toward the pretty blonde getting hit on by a group of dudes.
“That’s his sister, Kenzie.”
“Yeah, I’ve met her a couple of times. When she was living in your room last year, actually.”
He made a face and laughed. “My room still has lingering girl smell in there.”
“Good. Boys stink.”
He turned his torso all the way to face me so our faces were just a foot apart and an amused, playful expression crossed his face. “Oh, really?”
“Yes. I have two brothers. They are gross.”
The playfulness left and the line between his eyebrows returned. “Older or younger brothers?”
“Both older.”
