Page 85 of Delay of Game
He raked a hand through his hair, bashfully looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “Is it Gracie or Astrid? I kept meaning to ask.”
“Astrid?” Lily dragged out my name, eyebrow raised. “Nobody calls you Astrid.”
“Actually, Rob calls me Astrid.” My cheeks heated. I ducked my head, turning my attention to Ethan. “Gracie is fine. So is Astrid.”
“Can I call you Astrid?” Lily smirked.
“No. Of course not.”
Lily’s hand fluttered to rest on Ethan’s knee. “You need to tell me about Rob. He’s into her, isn’t he?”
My flushed cheeks burned. “He’s doing me a favor for his mom.”
The edge of Ethan’s lips tipped up.
“Tell me. I’m dying here. She won’t even let me come over to the house and meet him. She’s keeping him very hush-hush.” Lily buzzed with energy, lifting her voice above the tinny music piped through the building.
“I’m not hush-hush. I didn’t want you to make a big deal over nothing.” My defense sounded lame even to my ears, and I squirmed under the scrutiny.
“A big deal over nothing? That’s bullshit, isn’t it, Ethan?”
He suppressed a grin. “I should warn you that Rob’s my captain, and I’m on his shit list.”
Lily groaned, rolling her eyes dramatically. “Fine. I’m sworn to secrecy. Anything shared in this brewpub will stay in this brewpub until the end of the time.”
“He’s nice to her.” He tipped his head in my direction. “Like, really nice. He’s almost a different person from the guy on field.”
“He’s not a different person. Maybe less intense. But that’s because we’re sort of friends,” I argued my case to Lily.
But I was too late. Lily had her full attention on Ethan, practically hanging from him. “So a good different, right? Like maybe he has a crush different?”
Ethan nodded. “If he’s capable of having a crush, it’s definitely on her.”
“Well, that’s all the proof I need,” Lily crowed, raising her hands. “He’s just being stubborn. He’ll come around. Especially after you mingled outside the pottery shed.”
Ethan cocked his head. “Wait, what’s that?”
“They rounded third base at his pottery studio. And then he gave her the whole, ‘we should only be friends because my gruff manliness will corrupt you’ talk.”
Ethan bit back a laugh. “Is that a normal talk? Like, you’ve had that talk before?”
“Not me, obviously.” Lily squeezed his knee. Her unapologetic flirting was mesmerizing. I wanted to take notes. “But he’s definitely the type. Or at least I’ve read through all the dirt I could find on the man, and this seems very on brand for him.”
“Lily!” I gasped, even though I’d done the same thing. I just hadn’t admitted it.
She shrugged. “What? You’re my bestie, and I wanted to make sure that any skeletons in his closet weren’t actual skeletons. Besides, I’m intrigued. One season, he’s a happy-go-lucky bachelor. The next, he’s got a kid with no mom and a chip on his shoulder. If I invoke the sanctity of the brewpub secrecy pact, will you dish, Fieste?”
He leaned close to Lily, brushing his shoulder against hers. “I wish I had anything to tell you. He’s as tight-lipped off the field as he is on. And if anyone knows, they haven’t told me.”
“Well, boo.” Lily’s face fell before she rallied again. “It’s fine. He’ll realize he’s absolutely hot for our Gracie here, and she’ll get the dirt.”
“He’s made it clear we’re just friends. And I’m fine with that,” I lied.
“Fine,” Lily relented, throwing her hands up. “I hope you’re both better at trivia than you are at gossip.”
Lily barely paid enough attention to gauge whether that was true. She and Ethan slipped into a private conversation, Ethan emerging just long enough to answer any sports-related questions.
By eight, trivia ended. Ethan and Lily left together. I went home to an empty house.
