Page 2 of What if I Told You

“Alone?” I scoff. “I’m not taking some stranger on vacation and I’m definitely not going alone.”

“I don’t know.” Griffin shrugs. “It worked for Magallan.”

Carter swings at the third pitch and makes contact with the ball. We watch as it flies to the outfield and Carter runs all the way to second base.

“What about me?” Oliver asks.

Oliver Magallan, our team captain, fell in love with a girl after accompanying her on her honeymoon over Halloween last year. Ledger’s cousin, Scarlett, was ghosted at the altar. Poor thing. Apparently, she was a bit of a mess, but she took it in stride and put out an all-call on social media for a date to the year’s biggest Halloween party that was supposed to be part of her honeymoon. Ledger thought it would be a clever idea for Oliver to go with her so he kind of set up their arrangement and the rest is history. Who knew he would fall for some girl on her honeymoon?

Me though…yeah, I haven’t been that lucky. Not yet anyway.

“Oh, I’m just reminding August here that you were lucky enough to fall in love with Scarlett after taking her on her honeymoon.”

“Yeah well, we’ll call those extenuating circumstances,” I say. “Ledger’s related to Scarlett and he knew Oliver would be good for her.”

Griffin huffs out a laugh. “Oh, so that’s what you want?”

“What?” I ask, tossing back my beer.

“You want me to set you up with someone?”

I nearly snort at Griffin’s suggestion, coughing when my beer goes up my nose. “No fucking thank you. I can find someone to eat my wiener perfectly fine on my own.”

Griffin shrugs. “A warm body, yeah. But we’re not talking about pussy.”

“Then what are we talking about?”

“You said you were bored,” he reminds me. “Maybe you need a woman. Like an honest to God relationship.”

“And why would I do that? I’m not home for several months out of the year. Our schedule is rigorous and I have women throwing themselves at me everywhere we play. No girlfriend or wife wants to see that. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”

“Then how do you think Oliver and Scarlett make it work?”

“Easy,” Oliver jumps in. “Scarlett is a social media guru. She travels just as much as we do. And quite frankly, she could follow the team wherever we go, doing whatever she wants to do, and her followers would follow us. So really, it’s a win-win for them, for her, and the team.”

“Alright wise ass.” Griffin turns back, rolling his eyes. “You might be right about that, but what I’m trying to say is I bet you two aren’t bored. You have each other. You have someone to wake up to every morning and go to bed with every night. You laugh, you talk, you enjoy each other’s company. Life is better when you have someone to share it with and maybe that’s what August needs.”

“Says the single guy who hasn’t had a serious girlfriend in at least three years and has been playing with his wiener in the middle of this baseball game.”

“Ooh.” He scowls. “Ouch. You wound me.”

“Just telling it like it is. I’m not the only one in a dry spell.”

“He’s not wrong there,” Ledger adds.

“Alright but I like to see my friends happy so leave it to me to play matchmaker. Ledger’s in love with Marlee Remington so I’ve got to work on that one.”

Ledger’s eyes bulge and even in the summer sun I can see his face turn red. “What? I am not. Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true dude. We all see the way you look at her.”

He slouches in his seat. “Yeah well, she never looks at me.”

“She will Ledge.” Griffin pats Ledger’s knee. “I promise, one day, she will.” He turns back to me. “Now, what about that girl?”

I roll my eyes and take another sip of my beer, watching the next batter for the Indianapolis Racers connect with the ball for a home run.

Dang. Anaheim is not having a great game.

---