Page 43 of Houston, We Have a Problem
“Thanks,” I say, not sure how to proceed. I’m probably the one sending mixed signals now, but it’s so hard to pretend my body isn’t becoming increasingly attuned to her. I notice every movement she makes, down to each breath. “It’s actually really nice to tell someone all of that.”
She cocks her head. “Have you not told anyone else that? What about Jordan?”
“Jordan met me when I lived with my stepdad,” I say with a shrug. “Otherwise known as a super rich man with a literal mansion. I never really talked about life before high school with him, though I’m sure he’s picked up on a lot of things. It’s not like I ever want to talk about my failure of a father.”
“My parents are amazing.” Darcy turns a bright red, pulling her hand back. I miss the contact immediately. “I didn’t mean that how it sounded. I just… I’m sorry you didn’t get to have what I have. You seem pretty well-adjusted, all things considered.”
“That’s because you have me on my best behavior.”
She grins, not at all deterred by my joke. “Is that so? Is there a darker side to Houston Briggs I haven’t seen yet?”
I don’t know if I would call itdarker, but there have been moments in my life that I regret. Things I’ve said or done that will haunt me. “Remember that thing I said about trying to live deliberately? I wasn’t always that way. When my pro career started, I didn’t take much of my life seriously. I dated around, used words my mom would have hated, got into trouble with my teammates. Nothing…bad…but enough that I didn’t like who I was. The only thing I cared about was baseball.” I can’t help it. Her hand is sitting right there, still within reach, and my fingers cover hers as an electric shock passes through me from the contact. “But not anymore. Trying to live deliberately means making choices that mean something.”
Darcy’s smile fades into an expression I can’t read at all. I wish I had Kit here to interpret, because all I can gather from the intense look in her eyes is that she has a whole lot of thoughts running through her head right now, like she can’t decide about something.
Probably about me.
“So, this is deliberate?” she says, sliding her fingers up between mine.
I shiver. “Yes.”
“And you coaching a team full of low-income families is deliberate.”
That one isn’t a question, and though I have no idea how she figured that part out, I nod. “With a pro team in the city, most of the leagues are club teams. AKA expensive.”
Leaning closer, Darcy pins me with a look that completely captivates me. A good chunk of that captivation is because of the smirk that twists her pink lips. “Anything else you’d like to deliberately do?”
I might have leapt across the table and claimed that mouth with my own if three Scorpions didn’t suddenly appear beside us in a flurry of shouts and whines that equate to begging me to play catch with them before they have to leave.
I hold back a groan, but I barely get to see these boys during the season. I’d be an idiot to pass up this chance to spend a little more time with them while I can.
Chuckling, Darcy frees herself and gestures to the boys. “Go ahead,” she tells me. “I’ll hang out with Jack and Molly so I can take you home when you’re done.”
I can’t even put into words how much I love that. Especially when Jack and Molly welcome Darcy at their table with open arms and several other parents move over to talk to her. As I head outside, Little Henry catches my eye and gives me a nod of approval, and my heart feels like it’s trying to beat out of my chest.
By the time we leave Big Henry’s, Darcy has managed to make all of the Scorpions fall in love with her. She got invited to Cooper’s birthday party, even though it’s not for another month. Six different parents told me how much they like her and warned me about doing anything to mess things up. Half the team begged her to play catch with them, and she’s not half bad. (Though, she did get me hit in the stomach with several balls because I kept looking over at her instead of paying attention to the boys throwing to me.)
I would have kept things going and taken her to dinner or something if I didn’t have to get ready for Micah’s event tonight, which is at a lodge a couple of hours away.
The energy in the car is different as we head back toward home, and I’m feeling more certain than ever that she and I could have something good.
Until she says, “I just need to pick up Jesse really quick, and then we’ll be on our way.”
Jesse. I’d pretty much forgotten about the behemoth, mostly because I haven’t seen him since they moved in. I don’t think I’m remembering wrong when I think about how Darcy told my realtor that Jesse is her brother. She toldmethat. And yet, she told me today that she only has her sister.
I’m not sure what that means, but there’s no mistaking the fact that he’s not her real brother. Not a big deal, but…
Wouldn’t she have brought him up at Henry’s if there was any kind of relation there? She didn’t, and I don’t know what that means. But I know what I think, and I think there’s more to her relationship with Jesse than she wants me to know. She could have called him a friend, and I wouldn’t have flinched, but suddenly I’m wondering if he’s more like a boyfriend, which would change everything I know about this woman and the way she interacts with me.
It would make me question everything she’s said to me.
So, when we get back to the house with a scowling Jesse in tow, I tell Darcy I’ve got some work to do and head inside after thanking her for the ride. I don’t want to think she’s lying to me about anything, but I can feel the dam in my heart get a couple new bricks added to the wall, building back up as a safety mechanism. I’m almost glad I have Micah’s thing to distract me for a few hours, except the drive up isn’t going to be all that fun.
“You’re overreacting,” I tell myself as I start up the shower.
But I’m not sure that I am.
Chapter Seventeen
