Page 29 of The Double Play

“Now, all I have to do is learn baseball; then I can be a true fan,” she says.

I’m tempted to smile, but I refrain. I’ve gotten too comfortable. We need boundaries. Bold, extra-large Sharpie-drawn boundaries. There can’t be anymore accidental sleepovers or gifting articles of clothing. I wince internally. It sounds even worse when put that way. Yes, I need to make sure she understands I’m her boss. That’s all.

“I’m sure you’ll learn in time. Are you ready to go to lunch?”

“Yes, I’m excited to meet your friends. I’ve heard so many great things about them through Mikayla. She said they’ve treated her and Patrick like family since they moved.”

June grabs Hazel’s hand with her left, and then mine with her right as we start to walk. She doesn’t ask first. It’s natural to her, and seeing her happily swinging our arms has that feeling returning. Yet again, I’m wondering if June has gotten too attached to Hazel. She’s going to be devastated when she leaves.And she will leave, I remind myself.

“I should warn you that Jason can be…a lot,” I say as we step into the elevator.

Hazel laughs. “I’ve heard a little about his personality. I’m sure I can handle it. He can’t be too bad if you’re friends, right?”

“You’d think that,” I mutter.

“I watchedCinderellalast night,” June announces before Hazel can say anything else.

It’s probably for the best. There’s no preparing for Jason. He’s always been incorrigible, but he’s been worse since he got married. I’m certain he would kiss the ground Willow walks on if she wouldn’t kick him for embarrassing her. He does everything short of that, though. Each of my friends are nauseatingly overzealous with affection for their significant others, but Jason might top them all. I don’t understand it. Even when my relationship with Shelby was good, I never had the urge to behave the way Jason does.

Brock is the only one who understands me now and laments–loudly–about how obnoxious the other three are. But it doesn’t change anything. All he gets is a chorus of‘You’ll see’and‘This will be you one day.'That may be true for him, but it’s certainly not for me.

I tune back into June’s recap of the movie. “And then theykissed,” June says. “I’m going to kiss a boy.”

My head jerks in her direction. “No, you’re not.”

Her face scrunches up. “Why not? That’s what girls and boys do. They kiss. It happens in all the princess movies.”

“You’re too young to kiss any boys, sweet pea,” Hazel says gently.

“But I’ll kiss one someday, right?”

Hazel uses her other hand to pat June’s curls. “When you’re much, much older, yes.”

“Have you kissed a boy, Miss Hazel?”

Hazel’s eyes widen. Her cheeks turn that pretty shade of pink I’ve become familiar with. She glances at me, almost too fast for me to catch.

“Yes, I have,” she says in a high-pitched tone.

The admission makes me frown. Though I’m not sure why. She’s twenty-five. It makes sense that she would have kissed a guy before. Something in me won’t allow the thought to take root though. I can’t picture her kissing anyone.

“How old were you when you kissed a boy?” June asks.

The sloth-like elevator finally creeps its way to the ground floor.

“All right, that’s enough questions,” I say to June, who frowns.

Hazel’s relief is evident as we step into the lobby. Patrons mill about, some walking to the front desk, others to the restaurant attached to the hotel, which is where we’re headed. A bellhop breezes past with a cart full of bags. We pause to let him go by, then continue the walk to Farm To Table. Apparently, the restaurant is one in an increasingly growing franchise. Jason sent me a whole article about it when he suggested the place. The article was unnecessary, as I don’t care, but I read it last night anyway in order to prevent any extra pestering on his part today.

As the three of us walk hand in hand to the host stand, I spot Jason already seated at a table. Willow is snuggled up next to him. No doubt he pulled her chair closer to his.Lovesick sap.He grins when he spots me and takes in June and Hazel. He must notice our joined hands, because his grin grows to a worrying degree.

This is going to be miserable.

Chapter fifteen

Hazel James

Itshouldn’tbeconcerningthat one of Emmett’s friends is smiling at me, but there’s something about Jason’s grin that has me shifting in my seat. His eyes sparkle with the kind of mischief that June’s do before she does something like pour half a bottle of maple syrup on her pancakes. For the record, she only stopped at half because I confiscated said bottle.

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