Keeping Secrets in Seattle - By Brooke Moss Page 0,63
teams while shoveling pizza down their gullets, and that just Curtis, Uncle Roy, and I remained. Dan was nervously shifting his eyes between the three of us, trying to decide whom to pick. I laughed at the sight of Uncle Roy, standing there, sweating already, a sliver of paunchy white belly sticking out of the bottom hem of his jersey.
“I’ll take Curtis,” Dan announced.
I walked over to Roy and linked my arm through his. “I come in a group of two. Whoever gets me gets Roy here, too. And he has a mean curveball.”
Roy patted my hand affectionately. “My favorite girl.”
Gabe winked at me, a silent “thank you” between the two of us, then pointed his bat at us threateningly. “It’s on.”
We played for three hours. Inning after inning after inning, nobody bothering to keep count—I’d lost count after 14. We played into the evening, and Dwight came out only when it was time for the custodial staff to clean, and to close the retractable ceilings. The floodlights covered the field in light as we ran from base to base, swung our bats as hard as we could, and slid on the sacred dirt of Safeco Field. By the time we were done, some of us were limping, Guthrie was gripping his hip as he walked with a grin on his face, Dan was sporting a swollen lip from a wayward ball I’d hit, Roy was wheezing, and every one of us were covered in dirt, grass stains, and sweat.
Once the drinks and pizza were gone, and everyone was beaten up from the night of amateur baseball, we called it a draw. We packed up the balls and bats, cooler, and all of our garbage, then headed back to the parking lot. I brought up the rear, carrying a bag of garbage, following the men down into the dimly lit tunnels, grinning to myself. I’d done it. I’d thrown the ultimate, stripper-free bachelor party.
Just as the group rounded a corner, a hand came out and pulled me back a few feet.
“Gabe.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “You scared me.”
A flickering neon bulb overhead made it easier for us to see each other’s faces. He stared down at me with his hands on my shoulders, and I could see that the bewildered expression had returned to his face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Gabe pulled me into a hug so fierce, every muscle in his chest tightened against my own. I gave in, melting against him, and wrapping my own arms around his middle. I drew in a long, deep breath, savoring in the smell of Gabe’s body—grass, dirt, sweat, pizza—knowing in my mind that smell would forever remind me of this night. He dug a hand into the back of my hair.
“Vi.” Emotion made his voice deeper than usual. “You are so good to me.”
“That’s why I’m your best friend.”
“That you are. I love you.” He pressed his lips together.
I was dizzy. “Me, too.”
Gabe’s gaze was unreadable. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Do you remember the night you told me that you wanted to play ball on Safeco Field?”
He nodded. “I remember.”
Gabe looked torn. Like part of him wanted to close the space between us and press his face to mine, but the other part knew he should push me away. A brief image of Landon presenting me with train tickets to Canada for our first trip together flashed in my mind. Shoving it to the back corner of my mind, I gazed up at Gabe with anxious eyes. His grip tightened around my waist, and one of his palms came up to the back of my neck, where he grasped my hair loosely.
“Vi, I…” His voice was hoarse with effort as he started to close the space between us.
“We need to talk,” I croaked, my voice echoing in the cement tunnel. I needed to focus. There was still so much to tell Gabe.
His head jerked back. “Right.”
“You need to know about Cameron.” I swallowed the lump in my throat that appeared every time I said that name. It felt like it was made out of glass shards.
“All right.” His eyes darkened, but his arms remained around my body.
“And…I need to tell you some things about Alicia, too.” I cringed, waiting for his response.
“Alicia? What?”
“Dude. Where are you guys at?” Dan’s footsteps came too rapidly, and he skidded around the corner. His mouth dropped open when he spotted our arms around each other and Gabe’s fingers tangled in my hair. “Oh, uh, sorry.”