Page 44 of Break Away
Eva rushed forward and Zoey rose and steppedover the bench to receive her hug before her friend turned andwaved to the others from their table, many of whom had stood.“Hello, cousins and friends,” she sang out in her cheerfulvoice.
Fists were bumped and hands shaken. Diegobrushed Zoey’s cheek with a casual kiss. “Good to see you,sweetheart.” Levi stood behind her, and she bumped against him.Either he moved forward or she had moved back. In that crowdedspace she found herself standing with her back pressed against hischest, and it felt way too good.
Then Justin tugged her away from Levi andcaught her in a hug before giving her a smacking kiss on the lips.“How’s my girl?” The teasing gleam in his eyes told her he knewexactly what he was doing. She pinched him over his ribs. Hard. Heleaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Easy, darling. I’m justhaving fun. I bet he doesn’t know I’m gay.”
Zoey felt a hand rest on her hip, and whenJustin moved away, Levi pulled her closer. “What the hell was thatabout?” he growled.
“He’s a friend.”
“Casual friends don’t kiss on the lips.”
She was saved from responding by the arrivalof a big black man whose shoulders looked wide enough to fill thedoorway. Justin crossed the room to clap him on the shoulder as hepointed to the cops. “You all are warned. At practice today, my manTank here hit three homers and he’s got an arm like a cannon. MatchTank’s hitting with Diego’s base running, and you all won’t be ableto catch us.”
“Your friend’s trying to psych us out,” Levimuttered.
“Is it working?”
“Hell no.”
For the next hour, Zoey ate pizza and talkedwith her friends. While there was plenty of trash talk between theteams, it was obvious they got along well. She was surprised tofind how much time had passed when the group began to break up.Who’d have thought she’d have so much fun with a bunch of cops andfirefighters?
An hour later, stuffed from too much pizza,and with a box of leftovers on the passenger seat, Zoey turned intotheir driveway, Levi’s motorcycle directly behind her. He followedher and came to a stop in front of her cottage, where the porchlight gleamed with welcome.
She gathered her purse and the takeout box,and after locking her car, climbed the steps to where Levi stood infront of the door. He wore the reinforced motorcycle jacketunzipped and was pulling off his gloves to lay them on the smalltable. Lucy barked, then made her snuffling noises on the otherside of the door.
“Everything as it should be?”
“Looks like.”
She eyed him, not sure of his mood. “Thanksfor checking out my porch for me. I’ll see you later.”
He didn’t take the hint, instead widening hisstance and crossing his arms over his chest. “So, JustinTrainer.”
“What about him?”
“I got a gay sense from him that first nighthere, but not so much tonight.”
“Justin’s a good friend.”
“That’s it?”
“We were roommates for a while, if thatmatters.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope.”
“How’d that happen?”
She shrugged. “I needed a place to stay whenI first moved here. Justin’s been living in the house he grew upin. He inherited it from his dad. It’s a big place and he rents outa room. It’s through him I met Eva and reconnected with Diego.”
“You two ever hook up?”
“What is this, Levi? If I hooked up withJustin, it’s absolutely none of your business.”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “Right. Becausewe’re not dating.”
“Even if we were, I don’t see how Justin isan issue.”
