Page 52 of Wild Pitch
“And then!” Her voice shakes. “He had the cojones of ordering for me! Which already pissed me the hell off, but that’s nothing compared to what I felt when it turned out to be oysters—which I hate—and he got them just so he could be a creep. Like, made me eat one and then started making comments about how sexy that was and that it’s an aphrodisiac. Can you believe that shit?”
I slam the table and jump to my feet. The guys do the same, our chairs making an ugly scraping sound.
I zero in on the mean looking catcher. “Can you fight?”
“Damn right, I can.” He cracks his knuckles.
“I hope that bastard is still there,” Lucky says, followed by a string of words in Spanish that I can’t comprehend but don’t sound friendly at all.
Garcia takes a deep breath and barks, “Sit down. Now.”
We freeze for a single second—then scramble to take our seats again.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but none of you are going to jeopardize your careers for me.”
I run a hand through my hair. “I’m sorry, Garcia. I thought he looked the most normal out of the other ones.”
With her elbows on the table, she drops her face in her hands and grunts. “Ugh. I think walking up to a circus and asking out the nearest clown would be better than this.”
“Excuse me,” the college kid says and she leans away from the table, tossing her head back with a pained expression like she has lost the strength to even hold her head up. Unfortunately that reveals a bit too much skin for the employee and he trips on his feet, almost spilling all the drinks on her.
I jump to catch the glasses right in time. Meanwhile, Kim does the same—except he’s not reaching for the drinks. Instead, he’s using his hands to obscure the view of Garcia’s chest from the horny yet barely adult employee. Kim’s glare sends him scrambling back to the counter.
Huffing, Garcia lifts her head back up and Kim and I settle down like nothing just happened. Beside me, Lucky stuffs his fist against his mouth to stop himself from laughing.
“I think I’m just going to give up,” she declares all of a sudden.
“You’re well within your right,” Kim says, taking one of the large unsweet teas.
Lucky grabs the Coke, staring at Garcia’s hand reaching for the last unsweet tea and leaving the medium sweet tea for me. “Wait a second, how did you know our drink orders?”
“I know what all of you eat and drink.” Her entire face is scrunched up in annoyance as she sips from her tea.
“Never mind that. What about Friendsgiving?” I ask, reminding her of her own goal.
She groans, her shoulders dropping in even more defeat. The sound unfortunately gets the attention of the employee again. I lean to the side so I can pin him with a very clear glare. It meanskeep looking at her like she’s food and I will screw you over. He confirms my initial guess of him being smart by stabbing his eyes back down on his textbook.
“You’re right, I can’t give up. But what am I going to do?”
Kim stretches his arm behind her and rests it on the back of her chair. “It seems to me like dating apps aren’t working though. Why don’t you try something else?”
“Like what?” She lifts her face to him. I don’t know if she realizes how close that puts them together.
“Meeting old school.” He shrugs, his leather jacket almost gleaming under the white halogen lights. “At the grocery store, or at a game, or through friends. Something like that.”
“I’m doomed.” She turns back to me. “I don’t have time to waste loitering at the store, waiting for someone to pick me up. And all my friends are at work, where I spend basically my every waking moment.”
The employee comes by with the massive pie. To his credit, he pivots away before his beady eyes can find Garcia’s chest again.
I rub my chin, pondering her words while Lucky’s the first to tuck into the pizza. Kim grabs a handful of napkins from the sideand hands them all over to Garcia, and to my shock, this earns him a smile.
My entire body grows as stiff as a plank at the realization. The answer has been there all along.
It’s not the first time I catch her acting out of character in front of Logan Kim. Maybe the old school way he’s suggesting is precisely this, for Garcia to simply date someone from the team or staff. And it seems like he’s the one who catches her attention.
“Aren’t you eating?”
It takes me two tries to tear my eyes away from the little smile on her face, and from Kim taking a slice to place it on her plate. More romantic than her date, already.
