Page 60 of Caught Stealing

“Well, I for one am glad he finally decided to start dating. Someone needs to remind him life should be fun,” Jess says.

I peer up at Andrew and poke his arm. “Are you a grouch? Say it isn’t so.”

“Only when I’m not with you. I guess you’ll have to stick around so I don’t revert back to my grumpy ways,” he teases.

“Oh, please. You aren’t that grumpy.” Koa rolls his eyes before glancing over his shoulder. “Spencer, that is not…How do you breathe unassisted? You’re a cheater!” He leaves the group to tease Spencer a little.

“Do you play?” Andrew asks.

I glance at the dartboard. “No clue how. Wanna teach me?”

Something tells me the twinkle in his eyes means I’m about to enter another level of flirting, which also means my defenses will be tested further.

Andrew motions for the guys to move out of his way as he manipulates me into position. I’m positive this much touching is not part of the game, but I’m not going to shirk his hand on my lower back that slyly slides around to settle on my hip while he hands me a dart and leans in. With his free hand, he moves my arm and bends it at the elbow.

“It’s all in the elbow. Aim for the middle, throw and extend your arm all the way through.”

I peer at him from the corner of my eye. “Just like pitching?”

His breath warms my cheek when he laughs. “Nothing like pitching, but I think you’re teasing me.”

“Oh, I am.” I toss the dart and it hits the wall. One of the guys has to stand a little straighter to avoid getting hit and I realize this game is harder than it seems.

“I think that would be a ball if you were a pitcher. We try not to do that,” Koa teases and hands me another dart. “Don’t hit anyone, or it’s an automatic walk to first.”

“Who’s doing the walking?” I ask, glancing at the dart board.

“Whoever you hit’s gonna have a fun walk to the ER to get a dart dug out of their body.” Koa takes a few steps back and clears the area. He’s teasing me, but if I survive this horrible game of hit the red circle with a sharp object, then I’m going to show him what’s up with a game of pool. My daddy taught me that game when I was barely big enough to see over the table, and I haven’t lost a game in years. Except to my mother, but she beats everyone.

“All right, stop teasing the woman,” Jess says. Her pink Sharks jersey sports her husband’s number and it’s probably the most adorable sports related top I’ve ever seen. After admiring the cut of it, I toss another dart. This time I actually hit the board.

“Nice,” Andrew says and lets his arm drop from my hip.

I shrug and turn around. “Meh, not really much fun if you ask me. You can fill in for me while I watch and learn.”

Andrew proceeds to play a cutthroat game of darts with the guys, something I didn’t know was possible until they started ribbing each other.

“They do this every week, and every week they lose to Andrew. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel for him,” Jess says.

“He knows it, too. He just likes messing with them,” Katie adds.

“Excuse me,” a man says behind me and clears his throat. I turn to find Martinez staring back at me. His brown eyes hold none of the confident swagger they did when he approached me before. “Can I have a moment?”

I look over to find Andrew in a conversation with Spencer. “Yeah. Sure.”

Marco only pulls me a little away from the group, for which I’m grateful. It’s just out of earshot. He clears his throat again and fidgets with a ball cap in his hand. “I wanted to apologize for the way I behaved the other day. I was way out of line, and I’m really sorry.”

Well. I guess Andrew really did get to him. “Apology accepted.” I shrug and smile, which seems to throw him off.

“Wait, that’s it?” His eyes narrow on mine.

“Of course. You did a rude thing and you seem legitimately apologetic. So, apology accepted.”

Marco breathes a sigh of relief that’s almost drowned out by the guys cheering. Andrew must have made a winning throw because Koa’s head is hanging. Andrew turns his attention back to where I was and scans the area when he doesn’t find me.

I wave at him. He sidles up with a little more swagger, so I press a finger to his chest, slowing his advance. “So you’re good at baseball and darts, but I’m going to take you out at pool, Mr. Confident.”

“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Marco says and sneaks over to join the rest of the guys.

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