Page 32 of Rounding Third

I swing the door open and come face to face with a man who could give Smithy a run for his money. He’s handsome, but a stark contrast to Smithy. His dark hair is slicked back, making him look classically handsome. His jaw is cleanly shaven and his chocolate eyes are sparkling in the light.

He’s so different from the laidback man I'm used to. Smithy’s hair is a mess most days and I rarely see him without some scruff on his jaw. He’s typically wearing athletic clothing, unlike Kevin in his dress pants and button up shirt.

“Hey, Liliana, I'm Kevin.” He takes a step towards me to give me a hug and I happily accept it.

After my realization tonight, I could use a hug. I’ve spent the last chunk of my life being in love with my best friend and wasting so much time.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too. You’re beautiful. Winnie didn’t tell me that.” He grins as he takes a step back.

“Thank you,” I say softly as I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and peek up at him through my lashes.

“Are you ready to go? I have reservations for us at Catalino’s.”

“I’m ready. Did Winnie tell you Catalino’s is my favorite restaurant?”

“She might’ve mentioned it.” He smirks as I lock up. As soon as we start walking, he places his hand on my lower back and leads me out of the apartment building and in the direction of his car.

“Do you let Winnie set you up on dates often?” I grin up at him.

“No.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “The only reason I agreed to this is because she wouldn’t stop going on and on about how amazing you were. I figured if you were a quarter of amazing as she says, you’d be pretty great.”

“She’s a fantastic hype girl.” I chuckle, knowing exactly what he’s talking about. “She did the same with talking you up.”

“I hope you weren’t disappointed when you opened the door. I'm a little afraid of what she could’ve said.”

“Not disappointed at all.”

Kevin opens my door and once I climb in, he carefully shuts it for me. I'm about to turn towards him when movement across the street catches my eye. I do a double take when I see Smithy’s SUV. It could be someone else’s SUV, but it’s the same make and color as Smithy’s.

I swore I saw someone in the driver’s seat, but when I looked back, there’s no one there. My brows tug together as I watch the car carefully. He doesn’t drive that car a lot, normally he likes his truck or sports car, but I know he still has it.

Why would he be here though? What the heck is going on?

“Are you ok?” Kevin glances over at me as he starts the car.

“Yeah, I thought I saw someone I knew, but now I'm not sure where the person went.”

“Ah, that’s the worst. You feel like you’re going crazy then.” He pulls out of the parking lot and takes the highway out of town. “I'm not ignoring you, but I don’t really want to get to know you while I'm driving. I want to be able to look at you while we’re talking. Is that ok?”

“Definitely.” I settle back into my seat and enjoy the quiet.

As soon as we’re seated at a booth and have ordered, Kevin leans in and his full attention is on me.

“Tell me a little about yourself. Winnie was fairly vague about anything past you’re amazing.”

“She loves creating a mystery.” I grin. “I’m a sports reporter. I’m a little obsessed with sports, which makes some guys unhappy.”

“Well, I love sports too, so I don’t see why that would be a problem.” He winks at me. “What’s your favorite sport, team, and player?”

“Oh, that’s easy. Baseball, the Pit Bulls, and Travis Smithy.”

“Favorite hockey team and player?”

“Pythons and one of the Robinson twins. I won't pick, so don’t ask me to.” I arch a brow, making him chuckle.

“Fair enough. What about football?”

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