Page 93 of The Shake Off

“Small town romance, set in England.”

Her eyes widened with excitement. “Oh, that’ll be popular. Great work.”

Our chat was interrupted by two more of the editorial team – Mateo and Tyler – who dumped their bags on their desks, dropped into their respective chairs, and propped their feet up before even acknowledging Mia and me. In fact, I wasn’t even sure they’d noticed we were here at all.

I’d met them briefly last week, but since then, they’d either been sitting elsewhere or out of the office. I knew they worked in non-fiction, and I think their focus was on sports. Yeah, it was sports, something they were currently talking about very loudly.

“It was an easy catch, we should have made it,” Tyler grumbled. “Then you’ve got Watson making catches no human should be able to make. Lux Weston is out in center field scaling the wall like he’s effing Spiderman. It’s not normal. They’re all taking something.”

“Who’s Spiderman?” asked Mia, whose head had been moving between the two of them.

Both their heads snapped around to where Mia and I were sitting, and they blinked in surprise. I knew they hadn’t seen us.

“Oh, hey, when did you get here?” asked Matty.

“We were here when you walked in.”

“Oh.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked again, as she sipped her coffee.

“Baseball. The Lions game last night. Did you watch it?”

“No.” She rolled her eyes, like she had a million better things to do. “I had a date.”

Matty frowned, his entire face creasing in confusion. “But all the New York teams played last night. All of them.”

“What’s that got to do with my date?”

“He didn’t want to watch the games?” he asked, and the tone he used had me hiding a smile.

“Not everyone cares about sports to the level you to do.”

Tyler scoffed, spinning his chair around until his knees were almost touching hers, and his voice became serious. “Mia, he’s lying, and if he’s telling you he doesn’t care about sports, it’s because he wants to sleep with you. On the other hand, if he’s telling the truth, then why would you want to be with him in the first place? There’s something wrong with a guy who’s not interested in sports.”

I briefly wondered if I should introduce him to Penn. I had a feeling they’d get along. Penn Shepherd was of the same opinion about people liking or not liking sports.

My chair creaked as I leaned back into it. “And what’s happening right now that you’re mad about?”

“Ace Watson’s comeback.”

I picked up my coffee, trying to disguise the air that had stuck in my throat as a dry cough, and took the biggest sip I could manage.

“What d’you mean?”

“You know The Lions? The baseball team?”

I nodded. “Yes, I know them.”

“Ace Watson is the starting pitcher for The Lions. He had the worst Opening Day I’ve ever seen. It was a blood bath. Utter humiliation, and a beautiful thing to watch.”

I tried really hard not to shrink into my chair with each word he punched out. “You’re not a Lions fan?”

“Hell no. I’m Mets all the way, baby. The Lions suck, and it doesn’t matter how much money Penn Shepherd pumps in, because they will always suck. They always have.”

Maybe I won’t introduce him to Penn. I also refrained from asking him not to call me ‘baby’, because I didn’t think it would make a difference.

“It’s still early in the season, we’ll move back up,” Matty added.

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