Mr. Charming, page 4
I try not to outwardly show my irritation or jealousy. “Enough of the games. I’m here to sell tickets, ad spots, and merch so the league can afford to keep you all playing. You do know the oldest players go first, right?”
His smirk falls, and I don’t feel an ounce of satisfaction because of it. “Throwing shots? That’s how you want this to play out?”
“Just…” I hate that he can get me so flustered. This isn’t a good sign for what’s going to happen tomorrow when I’m trying to get all his teammates to respect me. “I want to be prepared. Who knows about our past?”
He turns away from me for a second before his eyes meet mine again. “The three guys out there.”
“That’s it?”
He nods.
“Coach Buford?”
He shakes his head. “Not really. I told him I know you through Aiden.”
“Then I’m sure you can make some kind of deal with those three to keep their mouths shut.”
He chuckles again, leaning back in his chair. Using his foot, he slides the chair between us out of the way. “Why would I do that? I’m not ashamed that you’re my ex.”
My mouth sours at the word ex. There was a time I thought I’d be his forever. “So, you want everyone to know you’re not against monogamy? You want to answer questions about what happened between us and who broke whose heart and—”
“Fucking hell,” he says and runs his hands through his chin-length hair. “You know I don’t like my personal shit everywhere.”
“Neither do I, so how about you turn off the persona you use to make everyone think you’re someone you’re not, and let’s just have some real talk?”
His eyes bore into mine, and I blink, the intensity in his gaze unnerving.
The door opens, and Ruby stands there with two drinks. “You’ve been in here so long I thought your mouths must be going dry.” She places another rum and Coke in front of me and a beer in front of Tweetie.
She squeezes Tweetie’s shoulder and leaves after we both murmur our thanks.
He eyes my drink but doesn’t say anything. “The guys won’t tell anyone.”
“Good. This job is really important to me, so I’d appreciate their discretion. Tomorrow when they introduce us, act like you’ve never met me, and I’ll do the same.”
His jaw hardens, but he doesn’t argue. “Fine.” He tips back his beer. “Is that all?”
I sip my drink and stand. “Yeah.”
“You didn’t have to ambush me. You could’ve called me.”
“I don’t have your number,” I say, heading toward the door.
“I never changed it.”
“I don’t have it because I deleted it.” My hand lands on the doorknob, and I remain there with my back to him.
He huffs, and the chair skids along the floor as he stands. “You really think we can do this?” I hear him walk over to me, and I really wish I had my drink to coat my dry throat.
“Do what?”
“Coexist? See each other and not touch each other?” I don’t have to be facing him to know that his gaze roams down my body again. “You still…”
He leans forward, caging me between the door and his body. I hear him inhale, smelling me, and goose bumps travel up my arms.
“We just need to be professional and keep our distance,” I mumble, too affected by his chest along my back.
Goddamn it, Tedi, move!
“That’s the problem, though. You’re the one thing that ruins my self-control. You’re the one person I can never stay away from.” He slides my hand off the doorknob.
“You’ve done it for three years, you can do it for the rest of the season. Goodbye, Tweetie.” I open the door and bolt.
Four sets of eyes turn in my direction before looking over my shoulder at Tweetie.
“Boys,” I say. “Thank you, Ruby.” I nod, walking across the bar to the door, trying to keep my steps even so it doesn’t appear as though I’m rushing.
As soon as I’m outside, I keep walking until I turn a corner, then I press my back to the brick wall, close my eyes, and inhale deeply. I pull my phone out of my purse, dialing Saige.
She answers on the first ring. “How did it go?”
“Not good. I need to figure out a plan and fast.”
“I knew it was going to be hard on you, but I was thinking, how can we make sure he knows you’re off-limits?”
I laugh, look to my left, and start walking as far as I can away from him. “I am off-limits.”
She scoffs.
“What was that for?”
“You know when Tweetie is involved, you lose all your willpower. It’s okay. I’d be the same with Aiden.”
“He’s your husband,” I say.
“I meant if we had your type of relationship.”
“Okay, I’m going to hang up now. I feel very insulted.”
“Come on. You know I’m right. Anyway, you need a man in your life.” I hear a child screaming in the background.
“Thanks. You make me feel so good, bestie.”
“That’s not what I meant. Hold on.” The receiver is muffled, but I still hear her arguing with her two girls about something. “Okay, I’m back. I mean, you need to find a boyfriend and make it seem serious.”
Her idea isn’t horrible, but where am I going to find a guy? I can’t pick up some random on the street.
There’s another scream. “Sorry, I have to go, but think about it. Plus, maybe it will help you finally get over Tweetie.”
I want to tell her that based on the reaction he just got from me, I’m probably going to want him on my deathbed. “All right. Go.”
“I’ll call you later.” Another muffled sound. “Girls!” she screams. “You got this. If there’s anyone who can do this, it’s you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Now go handle your shit.”
She laughs. “Bye. Love you.”
“Love you.”
I end the call and people-watch for a minute, wondering if all of these people have their lives figured out. No way I’m the only screw-up.
Eight
Tweetie
“You look like you just got the shit beat out of you,” Conor says when I step out of the back room at Peeper’s.
I feel like it, but like hell if I’m gonna tell them. “We just had to clear some shit up. You dipshits need to keep your mouths shut tomorrow. No one on the team can know she’s my ex.”
Rowan’s eyebrow quirks. “You really think that’s not going to get around?”
Ruby watches me the entire time I walk over, then grabs a shot glass and fills it with whiskey. She slides it across the bar, and I grab it, downing it. The burn does nothing to soothe my aching heart after seeing the only woman I’ve ever loved again.
God, she smelled good. I could’ve stayed there with her between the door and me forever. I didn’t even have to touch her, I just wanted to be near her again.
“It has to stay between us. This job is really important to her,” I say.
Henry smiles, and when I narrow my eyes, he chuckles into his beer. Asshole.
“We’re not going to say anything, but”—Rowan puts his hand on my shoulder—“you okay?”
I nod. “It’s just weird. It’s been three years since I’ve seen her in person.”
“Yeah, when Jade returned, it was a shock,” Henry says. “All those feelings come rushing—”
“It’s been over for a long time.” I slide the empty shot glass Ruby’s way.
“Yeah, but anyone can tell there are lingering feelings there. Maybe the door isn’t completely closed.”
I really wish Henry would stop comparing Tedi and me to him and Jade. We’re different.
“Do you want to finally tell us why you broke up?” Conor leans his weight on the bar top.
I could talk to them. They’re some of my best friends, and none of them were tangled up in the situation like all my Florida teammates. Even when I’ve broached the subject with Ford a few times, he somehow ends up saying something that makes me feel as though he sides with Tedi, and we end up in an argument. I finally just stopped talking about it with him. Now it’s been so long since I’ve discussed Tedi and my relationship that I can almost pretend it never happened. But seeing her today… it took everything I had not to pull her into my arms.
“There isn’t much to say. We were on for a long time. We dated for years, and then I got hurt… got traded… and we were off… then Ford retired and had a party, and we were back on briefly before we were done for good.”
There’s so much between those events. We were a couple I’d be jealous of today. But we were young and felt as if we had our entire future in front of us. Now, I’m struggling to stay relevant in my career, and she’s finally made it to the big leagues like she wanted.
“It’s over now. So, just help me get drunk these next few months, and if I’m around her, detour me away. That’s all I ask.”
Ruby pours me another shot, and I down it. She hasn’t said anything, and I know she’ll corner me at some point, but she won’t do it in front of all of them.
“That’s how you want it to be? Just get through it?” Rowan asks. I can tell he’s not judging, he’s only asking.
I shrug. “It’s the only way.”
Henry raises his eyebrows and glances at Conor, who shrugs.
“You don’t think it’s going to affect your game?” Conor asks.
It’s something I gave each of them hell about when they were having problems of their own in the love department. “Nah, I realized a long time ago that Tedi Douglas isn’t mine to keep.”
They each take a sip of their drinks, and the door opens. I’m thankful for the distraction. All I need to do is center myself again and pretend we’re not sharing the same city.
“No dogs!” Ruby scolds, pointing at the girls.
“He could be your mascot.” Eloise, Conor’s now-wife, holds their new dog, Wilbur.
“You’re screwed, buddy. You just got replaced,” I say to Conor, who stares with so much love at Eloise.
“No mascot. No dog.” Ruby narrows her eyes.
Kyleigh looks around the space. “No one else is here.” She walks over to Rowan and wraps her arms around his waist.
He kisses the top of her head. “How was the park?”
She rests her cheek on his chest and stares up at him just like Tedi used to look at me in the early days. “Turns out dogs are kind of a dick magnet.”
Rowan’s smile slips from his lips.
She laughs. “Don’t worry, Bodhi made sure to tell them we were all taken.”
Rowan lifts his hand, and Henry’s seven-year-old, Bodhi, jumps up to slap it.
“Can I have a kiddie cocktail?” Bodhi asks his dad.
“Ask Ruby,” he says, pulling Jade over to him.
Bodhi climbs up on the stool next to me. He doesn’t even have to ask Ruby before she’s dropping three cherries into the drink. “There were all these birds at the park. I thought they flew south in the winter?” Bodhi says to Ruby.
All three of my teammates are coupled up, and I’m definitely the odd man out, but that’s the way I want it. Don’t I?
I gave up the hope a long time ago of having what they have, but I can’t deny that after seeing Tedi today, the ache in my chest stings a little more than usual. Which tells me I’m gonna have a helluva time keeping my distance from her.
Nine
Tweetie’s Journal Entry
Twelve years ago
Florida
* * *
To my teenage self,
* * *
You’d be so proud of me, man. We’ve got a girlfriend. Yeah, I asked Tedi to be my girlfriend, which sounds really juvenile now that I’m in my twenties. Things are coming around for us, though. She’s different than the other girls. She’s like us. Crazy, wild, and spontaneous. But let me tell you how it all went down…
* * *
Our season ended, so I booked us a flight to stay in one of those huts over the ocean. The water was so clear, the sand so white, and the sky so blue. It was the perfect place for us to decompress after all the traveling during the season. (We’ve come a long way.)
She changed into a bikini right after the bellhop left our private hut. Damn, she looked so good. She already had a bronze glow since we live in Florida, but somehow under the sun there, she was even hotter.
Tedi walked up to me and slid her hands under my shirt and up my chest. I love her hands on me. “Come on. The water is begging for us.”
I let her push up my T-shirt, and I helped her shed it from my body. She cast small kisses along my collarbone as her fingers manipulated the button of my shorts.
“This is amazing, Tweetie.”
I just watched her, still amazed that she was mine. I rested my hands on her waist, wanting so badly to pull the strings at her hips and watch the flimsy fabric float to the wooden floor. “You like it?”
“What’s not to love?”
We hadn’t said the words yet. The three words I’ve never told anyone because of my fear of abandonment. (Yeah, we still have that problem.) Even though I haven’t said them, that doesn’t mean I don’t feel them. I do. She’s changed me, and all I see and want is her.
“Aren’t you hungry?” I asked.
She pushed my shorts down, leaving me in my boxer briefs. “I’m not hungry for food. What I want is to jump into the ocean with you. Don’t you want to feel me all wet?”
Fuck yeah, I did. “Give me a minute.”
She rose on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on my lips. “Hurry.”
I placed my hand on the back of her head to keep her with me, and she slid her tongue into my mouth. I’d never grow tired of her forwardness and the way she took what she wanted from me. The trust she gave me was addicting.
I patted her ass after we closed the kiss, and she gave me one quick peck before sauntering over to the water’s edge.
Not wanting to be away from her, I hurriedly changed into my swim trunks. When I reached the deck, she was still standing at the edge, looking down at the water. I was surprised she wasn’t already neck deep.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, wrapping my arms around her and nuzzling my head into the crook of her neck. It was my favorite position with her, feeling as though I was offering her shelter and protection. Plus, she smelled so damn good.
“I thought if a shark came and ate me, you’d think I ran away with another man. So, I figured I’d wait.”
I laughed and tightened my arms around her. “I think I would have noticed the bloody water, and I’m hoping you would have screamed so I could be your hero.”
“What if he just swallowed me whole and you spent the rest of your life without me, thinking I’d found some man who swept me away? That’d be sad.”
I kissed the nape of her neck, and she put her hands over my arms. “Want to tell me the real reason?”
She sighed. We were so alike, always trying to hide our real fears. “What if there really is a shark and you weren’t here to save me?”
“I’d sacrifice myself so you could live.”
“But what if the shark only wanted me because I’m cute?”
“Are you saying I’m not cute?”
She circled in my arms, and I clung to her tighter. “You’re the cutest, but you’re hairy, and maybe the shark doesn’t want hair in its teeth.”
I lowered my hands to her ass. “Let’s get in the water, babe.”
She rested her head on my chest. “The sun feels good.”
“The water will feel better.” I wasn’t about to let her not enjoy the water because she was scared of sharks.
“Maybe I’m in the mood for that food you promised me now.” Her hand wedged between our bodies, and she ran her palm over my dick.
“Hey.” I placed my finger under her chin and raised her head to look at me. “You trust me?”
She nodded.
So I walked us to the edge, picked her up, and jumped toward the water.
“Tweetie!” Her scream was quickly garbled from the water.
When we emerged, she wrapped her body around mine, her eyes frantically searching the water.
I laughed. “I swear I would never imagine you’d be scared of sharks.”
She reared her head back. “Have you never seen Shark Week? Or Jaws?”
I laughed harder. “I figured you were more the kind to learn exactly where to punch the shark to make it go away. That you’d be protecting me.”
She pushed my hair away from my face. My face was clean-shaven since the season had ended, and she seemed to enjoy my clean face. “I would. I’d put myself in harm’s way for you.”
I kissed her. “I know, but then we’d be wrestling one another to see who could save the other.”
She giggled, and her legs tightened around my waist. “And we’d both be eaten.”
“Or the shark would think we weren’t worth the trouble.” I kissed her shoulder. I didn’t ever want to leave this water, and I feared every day I might lose her. I didn’t want this to end.
She came into my life on a whim. It was supposed to be one night. I was supposed to be a checkmark off her fuck-it bucket list that she better have retired now, otherwise, I might morph into that asshole kid I was when I was younger and beat the shit out of every person she propositioned.
She tilted her head back, and I admired the way the sun soaked her skin. She was so beautiful, I could stare at her all day.
“Be my girlfriend?” The question came from the fear of losing her, but it was what I wanted.
Her head sprang up, and she stared at me. I opened my mouth to explain that I knew I was changing the game, but…
A small smile formed on her lips, then it grew. “You want to be my boyfriend?”
I drew in a deep breath. “Yeah.”
“Okay,” she said and went back to laying her head back, feeling the sun on her skin.
A moment I was so scared of was over, and we were officially a couple.
