The Ninth Inning (The Boys of Baseball #1) - J. Sterling Page 0,48

stepped out before leaning his face back in. “And don’t worry, Lauren; we’ll bring you a doggie bag,” he added with a laugh before shutting the door behind him.

I immediately turned to face Lauren, a million questions racing through me. “What do you think? Is he being sincere? Does he mean it?”

From my perspective, Cole had seemed genuine, but I didn’t trust myself to read him correctly. People convinced themselves all the time that they felt certain things when they really didn’t. Humans were masters at lying—and not only to other people, but to themselves the most. I needed an outside opinion.

She walked into the living room, her head shaking and her eyes wide. “I totally think he means it. That boy is going to be here at eleven. The same way he showed up here after his game today,” she said.

I had forgotten all about that. “Oh, yeah. What happened? He came over here? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

“He was looking for you, and I told him to leave you alone. I said if he cared about you at all, he’d let you be happy for once.” She reached for me and pulled me into a hug before letting me go. “I didn’t know Logan was such a jerk. I didn’t see it. And I’m sorry.”

“That’s not your fault. I didn’t see it either,” I said, annoyed that I seemed to be so freaking awful at reading guys.

Either that or they were really good liars. Maybe it was a combination of both, I decided.

“Cole tried to tell me,” she argued. “But I didn’t believe him.”

“Why would you?” I asked, trying to make her feel better about the situation. “Anyway …”

“Anyway,” she repeated. “Better go get some beauty sleep.”

“You really think he’ll show up?” I asked again because I wasn’t convinced. At least not a hundred percent. I didn’t think I’d believe Cole meant it until he was standing at my front door, picking me up.

“I do. And if he doesn’t, I’ll cut his nuts off and sell them online.”

“Too far,” I said with a laugh before I headed toward my room. “Night, weirdo.”

“Night.”

I could have stayed up for hours, talking to Lauren and asking her more questions, but there was no point. Whatever was going to happen with Cole tomorrow was going to happen whether or not I overanalyzed it. If he’d truly meant what he said, then he’d follow through. And if it was just some spur-of-the-moment emotional response, then I’d finally know the truth. We both would. And no amount of sweet-talking could ever get him to convince me otherwise.

No matter how much I wanted Cole to show up tomorrow and mean what he said, I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it. And I refused to feel hopeful about his promises or hold my breath in regard to them. I wasn’t willing to put my heart on the line for him again if he wasn’t serious.

I guessed I’d find out in about eight hours from now.

First Date Nerves

Cole

Christina didn’t trust me, and I’d given her every reason in the book over the years not to. I wasn’t deterred because I had every intention on fixing this. I would do right by her, make it up to her, and sweep her off her damn feet.

God knows she deserves it.

Once I got home, the house had already been cleared out, and only a few party stragglers remained passed out on the couches and the floor. There were messages from both Mac and Chance, telling me good luck and that they hoped I’d gotten the girl. I smiled before locking myself in my room and thinking about plans for tomorrow. I knew exactly where I wanted to take her to eat, but after that, I wasn’t entirely sure. My days were typically so planned out that I didn’t have that much free time. I almost didn’t know what the hell to do with it all.

Reaching for my phone, I set my alarm. If I didn’t, I knew I’d sleep until mid-afternoon and screw everything up without even meaning to. I’d promised her I’d try. For her, I’d try to pretend like I knew how to be a boyfriend when the truth was that I’d never done it before. Not really. I wasn’t worried about being faithful or messing around with other chicks; that was not going to be an issue. My main concern was letting her down. I’d done so much of that already. I wanted to