Page 32 of Relief Pitcher

CHAPTER16

TYLER

Ty: What’s your favorite baseball movie?

Coop: Torn between A Field of Dreams and A League of Their Own. What’s yours? Major League: Back to the Minors?

Ty: Oh ye of little faith. The Sandlot, obvs. It’s a classic!

Coop: Damn, that one’s so good. One of my favorite movies as a kid. What movies did you love growing up?

Ty: Labyrinth.

Coop: David Bowie’s codpiece is legendary. What are your thoughts on The Dark Crystal?

* * *

“Remind me when Hayden starts construction?” Austin leaned forward in his armchair and stuffed the rest of his carnitas taco into his mouth. Juice dripped down the edge of his hand.

Dom had nailed his contribution to our tortilla-themed dinner for our Sunday meeting. His carnitas was juicy and cooked to perfection with crispy edges. Honestly, he nailed anything he cooked. The guys hadn’t appreciated the peanut butter and jelly tortilla roll-ups I’d made, but I’d sure as hell appreciated the way Dom’s forehead vein had twitched when I’d set them on the table.

“I don’t want him to start work at all,” Dom grumbled. In an instant, the tension in our meeting room grew thick.

Ethan rolled his eyes and slumped back in his armchair. “Here we go.”

Too bad we hadn’t gone with a popcorn theme tonight because I was about to need it for the show.

Ever since we’d met Hayden a few months ago while helping Austin move in with Caleb and learned Hayden and Dom knew each other, Dom had been even pricklier than usual. He hadn’t shared much beyond the fact that they’d known each other back in high school. Odd for them both to land in a small town in a different part of the state than where they’d grown up. I didn’t believe in fate, but I liked the idea of the universe giving Dom some shit.

I wanted to know what the hell had happened between them, but Dom was by far the most private in our group. He sure as hell wasn’t someone you could push.Ifhe chose to open up to us, he knew we would be there for him. In the meantime, patience was the name of the game.

Seth quietly escaped to the kitchen with his empty plate. I didn’t blame him.

“I went to the building supply store in McMinnville and asked around about some contractors,” Dom said in the voice he used when he got particularly bossy and didn’t want anyone to argue with him. It never worked on us.

Austin sighed, I shook my head, and Ethan stared at the ceiling while clenching his fists.

“We already voted on this, man,” Austin said.

“He starts in two weeks and has already ordered supplies,” Ethan added.

“He could use them for another project.” Dom leaned forward in his chair and dropped his elbows onto his knees.

Ethan mirrored his posture. “We’re not going to get a reputation for screwing over local businesses. What would that do to our reputation?”

Dom huffed. “He’s not a local. No one will care.”

“Me and you aren’t local.” Ethan arched his eyebrow.

“That’s different.”

Ethan reached for the talking dick. “You had the chance to veto this and didn’t. I agreed to run point on this project to keep you out of it. Hayden is the cheapest guy we found, has great references, and can construct the outdoor seating area months before the other contractors in town, so we can actually put it to use this summer. Please, for the love of god, shut the fuck up about it.” Ethan launched the dildo at Dom, and it slapped him on the cheek as he caught it.

Seth snapped a photo as he returned to his chair with more tacos. I’d need to get that one from him later. Dom’s contact photo was overdue for an update.

Austin caught my eye and shook his head. I wondered how Hayden had won Ethan over. Hayden seemed like a nice enough guy the couple of times I’d met him, but it took a lot for Ethan to push back like that on one of us. To be fair, Dom was unusually pissy about the whole thing without explaining why, and Ethan wasn’t the type to hate someone because he was told to.

Dom stood and marched to the kitchen, grumbling something about us trying to make his life a living hell.

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