Page 134 of Wild Pitch
Dawson’s eyes are fixed on Cade’s face. Funny enough, Amy’s are too. Like I’m fully invisible to them and they’re both just annoyed that someone who is somewhat famous is stealing their thunder.
“Hi,” Dawson says, planting himself in front of Cade. “I don’t believe we’ve met before. Do you have an invitation?”
Sighing, I say, “Of course he does. He’s my plus one and I sure got an invitation.”
Both of them jerk in surprise at my voice, and this is when I realize that the reason they hadn’t paid any attention is because they simply didn’t recognize me.
The cowboy, sharp eyes that he has, picks up on it right away and ramps the PDA just a notch. We definitely won’t get kicked out of the party for it. But him squeezing my side just a bit tighter with his hand is enough to attract notice. I bite my lips not to react at the fact that Cade freaking Starr’s hand spans almost from the bottom of my bra to the start of my hip.
“Oh. Um.” Amy shifts her eyes from my face to Cade’s, back and forth a few times. “Hope, so glad you could drop by. Is this…”
“Her boyfriend, yes.” Kelly nods, smiling placidly. “Don’t they look absolutely perfect for each other?”
Laying it a bit too thick, Kelly, but okay.
“Boyfriend?” Dawson lifts his eyebrows. “This is a new development. When did you start dating, Hope?” Something about his eyes is too shrewd, like he suspects me of doing exactly what I did. Date around until I found literally anyone I could bring here.
Cade runs his thumb back and forth, warming up my skin and reminding me that I’m not fighting this battle alone.
I fully lean into him, tucking my head against his chest. “Cade and I have known each other for a long, long time, but I guess we finally figured things out, huh?”
“A long time?” Dawson presses.
“What, three years?” Cade wonders aloud, looking down at me in earnest.
I make a sound from my throat. It’s true that as of this year, it has been three since I started working for the team. “Exactly.”
Dawson’s expression tightens and in contrast, Kelly stuffs her hand against her mouth to stop from laughing. It takes me another moment to connect the dots.
Wait, does Dawson think I might’ve cheated on him with Cade? Solely because Cade and I met while Dawson and I were still together?
Only someone who has considered something like that, or done it, would make that leap of assumption. Maybe his whole thing with Amy goes back farther than when Dawson broke up with me, and if she was entertaining something with my back-then-boyfriend they can both screw off together to another galaxy. I’ll be way too glad if this is the very last time I see them.
“Here you go, everyone.” Mitch approaches, hugging different drinks against his chest because he doesn’t have enough hands.
As we reach over to help him, Cade and I have no choice but separating for a quick moment. But he doesn’t pull away without first squeezing my side in such an intimate way that I transform into tingles personified. My skin breaks into goosebumps that I can’t hide because of the damn shoulderless top, and Amy notices right away.
“Thanks, babe.” Kelly gives her husband a peck on his lips and it strikes me that now I can do the same.
I have someone I can show affection to whenever the heck I want.
Cade offers his hand to me with a little smile that I can’t help but returning. I slide my fingers between his, deliberately trying to create as much friction between us as possible. He closes his hand around mine tight. It’s a much more family friendly form of possession, but I’m sure the same pink that is on Cade’s cheeks is on mine.
“Oh, excuse me,” he says all of a sudden, handing me his drink to rummage in his left pocket.
That’s when I remember we still have an audience. As Cade check’s the caller ID in his phone, I turn to the to-be-newlyweds and say, “Anyway, you two are made for each other and you have our congratulations.”
I mean it too, if they’re both cheaters then they’re with no one better but each other. And now I can recognize that both did me a favor by hurting me. Otherwise I’d still be hanging around them, none the wiser, and I never would’ve been in need of recruiting Cade to help get me unstuck.
“My apologies, I have to pick up this call,” Cade says to the audience with his usual politeness before leaning to me. “Come with?”
“Always.”
I don’t even pay the others any heed as Cade and I retreat as a unit, heading together toward the shore of the lake, as far from the quartet as we can. I feel laser beams trained on my back a while longer, until we stop under an oak.
“Hey, Lou,” Cade greets to the phone and retrieves his drink from me. I’m glad, because my hand was starting to get cold. “Uh huh.” He nods even though his agent can’t see him, his eyes trained on my hand as I dry it against my jeans.
Then Cade straightens. “For real?”
