Page 8 of Black Roses

My sisters share another look. When did they get so damn good at nonverbal communication with each other?

“Whatever,” I pout. I fetch my heavy suitcase and head for the stairs. “I’m going to bed. I’m exhausted.”

Griffin hops up and grabs my suitcase from me. “Let me show you to your room.”

And only because I’m about to fall over from jet lag, alcohol and frustration, I let a man help me.

chapter four

mason

Gavin and Griffin run up behind me on the indoor track, flanking my sides. “Training for the Boston Marathon, huh?” Gavin asks.“Since when?”

“I’ll bet since about two seconds after Piper said she could beat him,” Griffin says.

They laugh and sprint ahead of me, not needing to pacethemselveslike I do. I shake my head at my stupidity for the tenth time since I opened my big mouth yesterday. I’ve never been the kind of person who is overly competitive. That might come as a surprise for some, considering my profession. And maybe it explains why I chose to stay with the Giants after Henley’s retirement retraction instead of trying to get traded for a starting position. But for some reason, that girl—thatwoman—rubs me the wrong way and I couldn’t help but accept her challenge.

I didn’t sleep very well last night. I wondered if I had made false promises. I didn’t know for sure if I could even get in the race myself, let alone get Piper in. But this morning, when the charity coordinator for the Giants organization returned my call saying it was all good, I breathed a sigh of relief. Or maybe it was a sigh of exasperation knowing how I let her get under my skin again. After all, I did have to pledge five figures on each of our behalves.

One day. I’ve known Piper Mitchell for one goddamn day and can’t stop thinking about her. She’s nothing like the women I used to be attracted to.Nothing like Hailey’s mom.Nothing like the swarms of fans who try to drape themselves all over me when they find out I play pro ball.

“Speaking of Piper,” Gavin says, as they come up behind me again, lapping me on the quarter-miletrack.

I give him a hard stare. “I wasn’t speaking of Piper—youwere.” I slow my pace, thinking they’ll just run ahead of me.

I watch the two of them turn around and jog backwards. “You interested, Dix?” Griffin asks.

I play dumb. “Interested in what?”

“Interested in Piper, you tool.”

Of course I’m interested. Who wouldn’t be? Well, with the exception of guys who don’t like pushy, stubborn, infuriatingwomen.What the hell am I thinking?

“Of course not.”I check my watch and head off the track to find a towel. “No offense, because you guys are with her sisters and all, but she’s a grade-A bitch.”

We all take a towel from the stack and wipe our faces. Gavin furrows his brow. “Then why accept her challenge?And why the marathon?I mean, that’s a pretty big undertaking, Mason.”

“I need to push myself. The stronger I get, the more likely I’ll win that starting position.”

“When do you report back for off-season conditioning?” Griffin asks.

“April 22nd,” I say.ThenI wait for it.

“Two days after the marathon?” Griffin shakes his head at me, laughing. “Dude, do you have a death wish?”

“It’s all good,” I tell them. “The first two weeks of conditioning are limited to strength training and rehabilitation. We don’t get into the heavy stuff for a while.”

Gavin snaps me with his towel. “Rehab—well that sounds about right, after running a marathon.”

“You sure you’re okay with our May 15thwedding date?” Griffin asks. “Isn’t that right in the middle of off-season training?”

“I’m sure, G. I already checked with the training coordinator. We don’t condition on weekends until closer to pre-season and there are really only ten mandatory days of mini-camps that I need to attend. But I plan on being there every chance I get. I’m even going to the rookie camp. I need to show everyone I’ve got what it takes, and sometimes that works better doing it from the ground up.”

“We know you have what it takes, Dix.” Griffin throws his dirty towel into the hamper. “Johnny Henley really screwed you over. But, man, you’ve handled it with grace and dignity—that’s nothing to be taken lightly. You’ll get there one day. We all have faith in you.”

Faith.Every time I hear that word, I think of Griffin’s first wife, Erin. She was always talking about faith, fate and family and how you should trust each to guide you. God, I miss her.

Thinking of Erin reminds me that I promised to take Skylar to get a tattoo. She wants to surprise Griffin by getting the same tattoo Erin had. Looking in from the outside, one would think their situation was really messed up. On the contrary, I think Skylar and Griffin are my fucking heroes. Not many people could have done what they did. Take a crappy situation and turn it into something great.

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