Page 17 of No Easy Catch
It was too easy.
Jeff:You free tomorrow?
Brandon:I can be. Just name the time and place. Thanks for letting me know, dude. I appreciate it.
Boom.Interview set up. Now to find a time for Amber.
Jeff:Brandon’s in for an interview. Freshman on the team. What time are you free tomorrow?
Amber:Anytime before noon.
Jeff:Want to meet in the library? They have those private conference rooms.
Amber:Sure.
Jeff:Do you want to catch up before or after?
Amber:Let’s do after. I don’t think you should be there during the interview.
Jeff:Why not?
Amber:Look, I gotta go. But just set it up for me and we’ll talk after.
Well damn.It was all set to go and I didn’t want to show up empty-handed. I got to work and couldn’t wait to show Amber what I was looking up.
The next day I found a spot in the library a couple of tables away from the conference room where she and Brandon would meet for an hour. I assumed they’d both arrived and had started since I hadn’t gotten a text from either one, but I wasn’t going to wait to hear how it went. Not after what I’d found out the night before. My notes were organized by sport, and I had the papers all lined up when laughter caught my attention.
Brandon and Amber walked out of the conference room and she had the biggest smile on her face—one I had never seen directed at me. Her outfit was different from the ones I was used to seeing her in. This one was a fitted red sweater that showcased the curves she did have—another feature I’d missed all these years.
He had his hand on her shoulder and she leaned into him before they turned to face each other. They talked a little more, him touching her again, before he left her in front of the room. Amber bit down on her bottom lip and held her closed laptop tighter against her chest as she watched him walk away.
Is she into Brandon?
An uncomfortable burning sensation formed in my stomach and I was glad he’d left. Without thinking, I blurted out her name and said, “Hey.”
The almost smitten expression melted off her face when her gaze landed on me, but something else was there. Almost like a spark of excitement in her brown eyes. She waved and nodded her head toward the room she’d just vacated and I swooped up my materials with one motion and met her there within a minute. I was just desperate to share what I found out with her. That was all.
It had nothing to do with Brandon leaving.
“How did it go with Brandon?” I asked, setting my stuff on one side of the table. It was hard to miss the fact two chairs on the same side were turned, practically touching, and the burning sensation moved from my gut to my chest. “From my end, it looked like it wentrealwell.”
Her ears turned red when she pushed her long hair behind them. “It did go really well.”
“You into him?”
For fuck’s sake, why did I ask that?
She focused on the clear white tabletop and ran her finger in a line over the edge. “We had a good time talking, that’s all.” She opened her laptop and gave me a crazy smile. “Want to know what I found out?”
“Hell yeah, but I gotta say, I got some good information last night, too.”
“Can’t wait. Here, I’ll come over there.” She moved and sat next to me, bringing with her a light floral smell that wasn’t too strong. If anything, it was nice. She moved the screen between us and read from her typed notes.
“The process began senior year with the head coach visiting him in the fall and watching him play. They scheduled a campus visit where he was able to see the stadium, meet some of the players, chat with all the coaches, and take some swings in the cages. When he officially signed, the head coach came to his school for the photos and the dean of athletics handled all the scholarship aspects.”
“We have a person then.”
“The Dean of Athletics?”
