Page 41 of Sweet Harmony

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When theyreturned to the ball diamond, drinks in hand, the teams were juststarting to warm up and sure enough, Connor was on the field. Hewore a pair of gray track pants and across the back of his whitet-shirt was the number eight and the words “Harmony Falls Healers”in blue lettering. Feeling a little self-conscious, she waved athim.

He nodded andcontinued to stretch as she walked to the bleachers. Grace wassitting about halfway up but before Kira could join her, Addiegrabbed her arm. “Kira, you should sit on the Healers side.”

Kira looked ather blankly and Addie jerked her head in the direction of the otherbleachers. “This side is for the Flames. The Healers fans aresitting in the other bleachers.”

“Oh right,”Kira said. Feeling a little stupid, she handed Grace’s bottle ofwater to Addie. “Give this to Gracie. I’ll, um, see you after thegame. Okay?”

Addie noddedand Kira walked to the other bleachers. The Healers didn’t havenearly as many fans as the firefighter team and she climbed abouthalfway up to a completely empty bleacher before sitting down.

She crackedopen her bottle of water and took a sip, watching as Connor did afew more stretches before grabbing his glove and partnering up withanother guy on his team. They threw the ball back and forth and sheadmired the lean length of Connor as he stretched to catch a ball.He really did have an amazing body. She’d always thought thatDaniel’s thick and powerful looking body was what she liked best,but there was something about the graceful motion of Connor’s bodythat made her tingle.

“Move over,Kira Bear.” Grace was climbing the bleachers and Kira smiledgratefully at her as she slid down the bleacher. Addison was rightbehind Grace, and the two women sat down on either side of her.

“You guys don’thave to sit with me.”

“We want to,”Grace said. “Besides, as your best friends, we should be cheeringfor your boyfriend’s team.”

“Yeah, butDaniel is Addison’s brother,” Kira said.

Addison grinnedat her. “You know I love you more than Daniel. You don’t try andboss me around or treat me like I’m six years old.”

“Where’sHarrison?” Grace asked.

“Working late,”Addison said.

“Again?” Kirasaid.

“I know, right?He’s been working late so much the last month or so. There are afew cases at work that are a bit more involved,” Addison replied.“Which is terrible timing because we really need to make some finaldecisions for the wedding.”

The game wasstarting and as Connor jogged out to the short stop position,Addison nudged her. “Connor has a pretty great body. I had no ideathat a dentist could be so… in shape.”

Kira grinned,and Addison leaned forward to stare at Grace. “How come you nevertold us that Connor had such a smoking hot body, Gracie?”

Grace didn’treply and Kira followed her gaze. Gideon was walking toward them,the equipment bag thrown over one beefy shoulder. He was wearingtrack pants and a t-shirt, just like Connor, only his t-shirt wasblue and the white lettering across the back said, “Harmony FallsBlues”.

“Hey, Gideon.How was your game?” She smiled at him as he stopped at the edge ofthe bleachers and stared up at them.

“We won. Whyare you sitting on this side?” He glanced at the Flames side, hisupper lip curling just a little when he saw Daniel sitting on thebench.

“Connor’splaying,” she said.

“Right. Yournew boyfriend. We still need to talk about that.”

“What’s thereto talk about?” Grace’s face was red. “You’re her brother, not herboss. She doesn’t need your permission to date anyone.”

Gideon’s jawtightened. “That’s right – I’m her brother and it’s my job to keepher safe.”

“She’s anadult. She can take care of herself.”

“I am awareshe’s an adult.” Gideon kept his gaze on Kira’s face.

“Then maybe youshould start treating her like one, instead of like a little kidwho can’t make her own decisions.”

He finallylooked at her, the muscle in his jaw ticking hard and fast. “Maybeif she started making the right,smartdecisions, I wouldn’thave to -”

Grace foldedher arms across her chest. “Maybe the right,smartdecisionsaren’t necessarily the onesyouthink they are.”

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