Page 21 of Double Play

“Anytime I can be there when you have to be with her, consider it a yes.”

We’reall squeezed into the booth at Screwballs. I introduce Ezra and Cheetah to Arizona’s three friends. The two of them are practically drooling over the girls, especially the twins. It’s unspoken guy code that we all want to have sex with hot twins. I’ve done it a handful of times, but I don’t think this is the time to bring it up. These twins are crazy hot, so my boys are going nuts for them.

The girls are in sweatpants. Arizona, Ripley, and Bailey are in normal T-shirts. Kamryn is in a cropped one, showing her toned abs. I can’t help but inwardly laugh at their clothes. All the women in the bar are dressed to kill, but not these four. I love their confidence. I love that they’re not here to score baseball players.

I’m learning quickly that Ripley and Kamryn are very outgoing, while Bailey is more introverted. Arizona lies somewhere in between, always laughing at her friends’ antics and chiming in now and then. I think about what Quincy said earlier today. About the shift in her since her breakup. I wonder what she was like before. She seems pretty fucking sassy to me now.

Quincy arrives last. Ezra smiles at him. “You’re last, Q.”

He mumbles, “Shit.”

Arizona’s jaw drops. “Oh my god, Quincy. Did you bring the random fact thing to this team?”

He nods.

She smiles. “Our mom was always afraid that Q and I would be as absentminded as our father, so she started this game at family dinners. It then spread to our friends and teams. It caused practically everyone in our community to be an hour early to everything.” She proceeds to explain it to Kamryn and Bailey. Ripley already knew.

Ezra nods at Quincy. “Well?”

He scratches his head. “Umm. Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.”

Everyone immediately pulls out their phones to Google the Mona Lisa. Sure enough, no eyebrows.

Cheetah feels his. “I’ve got plenty for her and me.” Cheetah is of Latino descent and, despite his blue eyes, is often mistaken for a younger Mario Lopez, with his larger-than-life smile. He’s got thick, dark eyebrows.

Kamryn looks him up and down. “Why do they call you Cheetah? I’d think everyone would call you AC Slater.”

I smile because Mario Lopez played AC Slater in the ninety’s television show,Saved By the Bell.

He gives her a cocky smirk. “Because I’m fast.Veryfast.”

She raises an eyebrow in challenge. “No one likes a man who’s fast,Cheetah.”

“I’m fast on the field, sweetheart. In bed, I’m more of a tiger than a cheetah. A different feline but an animal nonetheless.”

Kamryn gives him a playful smile. “You look like more of a kitten to me, preppie. Speaking of felines, doyou think that attractive woman over there is looking at me or you,kitten?”

His eyes widen as he looks at the girl in question and then back at Kam. “Is that what you’re into? Explains why you’re busting my balls instead of gargling with them.”

After taking a sip of her beer, she smoothly explains, “Sometimes I like a banana in my fruit salad, and sometimes I like to dip my toes in the kitty pool. It depends on my mood. I’m a mood fucker. How about a little wager,kitten?”

“What do you have in mind,Kam bam?”

She smirks at the nickname. “If she wants you, I’ll let you come home with me tonight to break in my new waterbed. If she wants me…”

Cheetah leans forward in wide-eyed anticipation.

“…you need to come to our first game next week, topless, with my name written across your chest in thick Sharpie. It has to read,Kam’s Kitten.”

Cheetah smiles and eagerly holds out his hand. “Deal. You and I will be riding that wave within the hour.”

She shakes it with a devious smile as they both quickly leave the table and race toward the unsuspecting cute brunette.

The rest of us watch on in amusement as they both bombard her. Her head is toggling between the two of them.

Bailey sighs. “I’m the real loser in this bet. Whichever way it goes, she’s going to be loud in her room tonight. All. Night. Long.”

Ezra sidles up to her and then wraps his arm around her. “You’re welcome to stay with me tonight.”

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