Page 2 of Date with a Devil
“Oh, sweetie.” Austen covered her mouth and laughed. “Matchbox Twenty. They were a band. And Rob Thomas was their front man. Which is why your teammates are calling you Matchbox. Get it?”
“I get it now.” He rolled his eyes like a moody teenager. “But I’ve never heard of them.”
“Seriously?” Austen panted. “I thought you were big into music!”
“Yeah, music fromtoday. Not whatever era Matchbox Twenty is from.”
“They’re from the nineties, Robbie.” She scooped up a pinch of flour and dusted the rookie’s cheek. “And P.S., I’m only five years older than you are. Don’t make me feel so old.”
He laughed and wiped the flour from his peach-fuzzed cheek. “Whatever.”
“You kinda look like a younger version of him, too,” she said.
“Who?”
“Rob Thomas! From Matchbox Twenty. You’ve even got the same curly blonde hair. You’re cuter than he is, though.”
Robbie stared at his pizza dough. His cheeks began to blush.
Aw,Austen thought.So innocent.
But with The Big D apparently taking him under his wing, it was only a matter of time until Matchbox turned out like all the others—bawdy, foul-mouthed, and promiscuous.
It was a shame, really. But all those jocks ended up exactly the same.
***
Both pizzas came out of the oven piping hot. It was time to sample their creations. Austen’spizza margheritawas surprisingly tasty, but Robbie’s goopy pepperoni and pineapple monstrosity was, er, hilariouslynot.Austen was sure herDate with a Devilfans would get a kick out of the shy guy’s creation.
Then it was time to wrap up the interview. Austen shook his hand and thanked him for his time.
Most times after an interview, the athletes rushed out the door. Sometimes, their posse picked them up and whisked them away to wherever it is a young millionaire and his tag-along friends hang out.
Other times, the athletes lurked behind to test the waters. To see if Austen was ‘DTF,’ as one of Robbie’s teammates once phrased it—‘down to fuck.’
Did theyreallynot understand that her jokey-flirty banter was all for the show? Or was it just in the jocks’ DNA to try to ‘smash’ everything that moved?
Austen wassureRobbie was too sweet and innocent to be one of those guys. But lo and behold, while Austen and her crew packed their equipment up and into their SUV, Robbie lingered behind like a lost puppy.
“Hey, Austy? I uh, I wanted to talk to you in private,” he said, pulling her away from her camera crew.
Oh no, not you,she thought.Don’t ruin it. You were so shy and polite.
“Oh, uh, okay. What’s up?” she asked.
“I just wanted to say hey, I had fun.”
“Me too,” she said, suspiciously. “And?”
“And, um, I was wondering what you were up to after this?”
Guh.This was like pulling teeth.
“I’m going on a date, actually,” she said. “A real one.”
“Oh.” Robbie toed at the floor. “With your boyfriend?”
“Just some ‘pigeon’ from Tinder,” she said, with a warm smile.
