Go Away, Darling - Alexis Anne Page 0,15

Ruiz for starting this.

“There is no she. I wish everyone would stop assuming there is a she.” And why did anyone care? This investment in other people’s love lives baffled the fuck out of me.

“Oh, there’s a she. It’s written all over your lovesick face, but lie all you want if it helps. How’s the house?”

“You’re not going to drink?” Scott stared at me like I’d instantly grown a full beard.

“Naw. I have to drive.”

He set his beer down and slid it towards me. “I’ll drive. You drink. You just pitched a hell of a game.”

I slid it back to him. “Seriously. I’m good. Maybe I’ll have something when we get home.”

Scott shrugged and took the beer. “I drove off the road one time. One.”

“That was like, ten years ago. You think I’m still worried about that?” Considering all the other shit my brother had done since going “Hollywood”, swerving off a road a decade ago in an ice storm was not even on my radar.

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I don’t know anymore. I just wanted to offer.”

Scott looked tired. I hoped it was the travel, but the more I watched him fidgeting, the more I wondered if he was upset. Dealing with Scott was always a delicate balance between forcing him to talk about the things he didn’t want to talk about, and not pushing him so hard he ran away.

I focused on the appetizers. “So how long will you be around?”

He shrugged. “I’m supposed to be in New York to meet with my agent and do an interview, but with this weather system fucking all the flights up, they pushed it at least a week.”

“And you’ll stay here?”

“Yeah. You sent that photo last week and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. You looked happy and the sky was blue and...I don’t know. A change of scenery seemed like a good idea.”

“Grandma will be happy to see you.”

He smiled. “She’s been texting me series of emojis all week. It’s like interpreting sign language.”

I flashed him my phone. “She sent me this after the game.” It was a message with nothing but a baseball mitt, a baseball, a bat, and a bunch of celebration emojis.

“Why’d she send so many of those?” Scott asked, turning my phone back.

“I think it’s the number of batters I struck out.”

He groaned. “She would do that. She’s crazy and I love her.”

Our grandmother was...well she was kind of like all the Golden Girls rolled into one, mixed with a Broadway star, and a fortune teller. She drove our parents absolutely nuts, but we loved her to pieces. Partially because she always baked us cookies and snuck us more when our parents weren’t looking.

“Speaking of love,” Scott drew out the words, “who is this girl you’re into?”

I groaned and reached for his beer, taking one huge gulp. “She’s not a girl.”

“Ah ha!” He practically leapt out of his chair pointing his finger at me. “I knew it!”

I didn’t want to even mention Olivia’s name to my teammates. It was too soon and there was nothing to tell. But Scott? Scott knew her. Knew I had a crush on her way back when. And honestly? I didn’t like keeping things from my siblings. So while I didn’t particularly want to discuss something I didn’t even understand myself, I wasn’t about to avoid the topic either. Not with Scott sitting across from me asking questions.

I grabbed a chip piled high with beans and cheese and sat back, taking a moment to chew and think. “It happened a week ago,” I explained, “and so far it’s just a...a spark?”

Scott seemed to find me fascinating. At least his eyes did. They examined me from head to hands. “A spark? This isn’t some sex thing. You’re…” he whistled and wiggled his fingers in the air, “gone.”

Yeah. I was. All it took was seeing her. I wish I understood how it was possible, but from the moment she flagged me down she’d inserted herself into my thoughts and refused to leave.

I licked my lips and stared at my silverware. “You remember Olivia?”

Using my excellent peripheral vision, I watched Scott frown, think, and then jerk. “Saldana? No!”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“Still?”

I laughed. “I’m as surprised as you are.”

“And she...reciprocated these feelings?”

I didn’t blame him for being skeptical. Twenty years ago a five year age gap was laughable. But now? It was still a small stretch. “I...I think so. Like I said, this just happened.”

Scott demanded to know everything. Every detail.