Page 61 of The Shake Off

“And what does it say about that?” I asked.

Lux went back to the answers and snickered loudly enough to have Parker snatchingCosmofrom him. His face fell as he read the answer. “That we lack intimacy and romance.”

“Works for me,” grinned Tanner. “It’s easier to get away the next morning, or better yet, the same night.”

I snorted and glanced out of the window as we made our descent into Dulles. In the distance, I could just make out the Washington Monument. Beyond that would be Nationals Stadium, where we were playing tonight. Coach hadn’t gone outright and said it, but with any luck I’d be back starting in the next series, and I needed to make sure I was back permanently.

Therefore, I needed to ensure my game hadn’t just returned, but improved immensely.

I pulled out my phone.

Ace:Hey, Babycakes, I’m sure you saw my game was better last night… and my boss just ordered me to keep doing whatever I’ve been doing.

Ace:As I’ve been doing you, I guess we’re going to be seeing more of each other *winky face*

I didn’t wait for a response. Next to me, Lux was packing up his bag. I turned as he tapped me on the shoulder with a rolled-upCosmo.

“Can I borrow this?”

“When I’ve finished with it,” I grinned, taking it from him and stuffing it into my backpack.

I had homework to do.

ELEVEN

PAYTON

Tequila before nine a.m. is acceptable, right?

“Mom, I don’t know what dad’s doing, I haven’t talked to him.” I banged my head repeatedly against the couch cushion.

“Well, you tell him that I know what he’s up to. Every year I host Memorial Day Weekend, and now he’s decided he’s hosting too? He’s doing it on purpose. How are our friends supposed to decide which party to go to?”

“You don’t have any of the same friends anymore.”

“We have some of the same friends,” she snapped. “You tell him…”

“Mom, you’re a grown-ass adult woman. You tell him,” I snapped back. “I have a job and I need to go and do it. Sorry, Mom, I gotta go. Hope your party is good.”

I hung up before I could hear any more about how her party would fail, or how my dad was a selfish asshole, and tried to ignore my guilt creeping in.

I remember when I first moved to New York, I thought I would be free of the hatred my parents had for each other, but I’d been wrong. After the first month of being away, they’d called me more times to complain about each other than they had to hear the voice of their only child. I used to attend support groups for kids of divorce, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I’d stopped. I needed to find a new one.

The buzzing of the intercom halted my train of thought.

“Ms. Lopez, your nine o’clock is here.”

I scowled at the offending announcement and quickly brought up my calendar, because a nine o’clock meeting was both new to me and unwanted.

I scanned through today’s date. Nothing, I knew it.

“I don’t have a nine o’clock,” I replied.

“He’s quite insistent, ma’am.”

“He? Who is it?”

The receptionist didn’t need to answer however, as over the faint muffling of the speaker I heard a voice I recognized immediately, and three things happened:

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