Page 33 of Play the Field

A laugh filled the room. It wasn’t that long ago that Bri had gone to the hospital to see Sarah’s sister’s newborn. But in all fairness, Zoey and Robin were also Bri’s friends so it wasn’t all that strange – just a little complicated.

“Yeah but it was so weird. We broke up years ago but it felt like… normal.” I confessed, my chest hurting at the thought. It was hard to believe how much of the Collins family lore I’d missed in just five years of being away.

Bri nodded. “Yeah, it’s strange. What happened next?”

Biting my lip, I tried to consider how honest I should be. “Cat came up with some weird excuse to pull me to the side and we walked down the alley across from Pete’s Pizza.”

“An alley?” Sarah scoffed at Cat’s boldness.

Using air quotes, I pursed my lips. “To talk about practice.”

“What’d she say?” Bri leaned forward, too invested in the drama.

My eyes were caught by the flames licking the glass of the woodstove, instantly sending me back to the warmth of Cat’s kiss. “Nothing. She asked if everything in town would ever stop reminding her of me.”

Sarah giggled. “That’s pretty smooth.”

This was the part I really didn’t want to confess, what came next. I swallowed hard, trying to avoid telling them. “I told her time helps. And then she started reminiscing about the first time I held her hand at the pizza place.”

“Oh, I remember that. All the softball girls were so scandalized. Our star pitcher and catcher having a fling was ahuge deal.” Bri looked up at the ceiling, the rush of memories coming back to her as we talked.

Sarah eyed me. “And then she kissed you, right?”

Damn, she’s good.

“No.” I shook my head, looking away from both of them as the illicit confession spilled from my lips. “I kissed her.”

Bri gawked at me. “Cleo, what? Why?”

Giving her arm a light smack, Sarah glared at Bri. “Because being in the same room as an ex is very difficult. Especially when it was as complicated as y’alls breakup was.”

It was easy to forget that the vast majority of New Winford was well aware of my breakup with the one and only Cat Collins. No one in town could understand why I had ended things with a professional softball star. From the outside, we seemed to be a picture-perfect couple.

But I shrugged. “I don’t know why. I mean, she’s still gorgeous. And god is she charming…”

“But you know she’s just going to break your heart again.” Bri shook her head.

Tilting her head, Sarah raised her hands. “We don’t know that.”

Bri scoffed. “What the playboy is suddenly ready to settle down? All that asshole ever did was string you along. She didn’t even have the guts to end it with you. She made you do it because she was too cowardly.”

“I don’t think that’s fair.” I swallowed hard.

It was far more complicated than that. I’d gotten my feelings hurt by her success, letting jealousy get the best of me. Not that Cat had been much help in that department and the pictures of her nights out post-game certainly didn’t help while I was back in New Winford and struggling to keep the bookstore open.

Lowering her gaze to mine, Bri nodded. “I know. I just don’t want to see you get caught up in her storm again. She’s selfishand she’s only here as a means to an end. Once she’s all healed up, she’s going to skip out again.”

“Yeah.” I looked to Sarah who offered an optimistic shrug.

I only had a day before our next practice, having set Mondays as our scheduled day. But I needed to use that day to get my head right. Because right now, I couldn’t be trusted in the same room as Cat Collins – not with that charming smile and the good girl act.

I had to be more careful if I had any hope of getting out of this with my heart intact.

22

CAT

I wasn’tsure I’d ever wanted a weekend to end faster.

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