Page 32 of Raine Out (Grand Slam 2)

Alex

As I walk out of the luggage area, I take one more look at Trouble. She’s still looking at me. She looks down at her suitcase quickly and rolls it in the other direction. I start to walk away, but it’s hard to take my eyes off of her. She can’t be much over five feet, but she seems larger than life for some reason. From the way she carries herself, I can tell she’s confident, but she also seems kind of awkward. It’s a weird—and adorable—mix.

I glance over at her boyfriend who’s on the phone. He’s not much taller than me, but he’s ripped from head-to-toe. His face is shielded by a baseball cap he has pulled low over his eyes. All I can see clearly are his nose—which looks like it’s been broken a few times—and a very unkept beard.

As he talks on the phone, his eyes do a constant sweep of the room. On this sweep, he sees me looking at him. His eyes fix on me so hard that I’m surprised his glare doesn’t knock me to the floor. I return the look for a second before I head back to the waiting area. When I get there, Seb, Sophie, and Maisie have finally made it inside.

“We thought we lost you, man,” Seb says. “Were you preening in the bathroom mirror again?”

Maisie hugs me around the waist. “Alex doesn’t have to preen. He always looks this beautiful.”

I squeeze her shoulders and put my head on top of hers. I must look like I’m enjoying the hug too much because Seb grabs her left hand and holds it up to me.

“Happily married,” he says. “Catch and release, brother.”

“Fine.” I give her shoulders one more squeeze before I let her go. “Where’s your husband, by the way? Did he make it down?”

“No,” Maisie says. “He’s back home. It’s his busy season at work.”

“He trusts you down here with baseball players all over the place?”

She sighs as she smiles up at me. “We started dating when we were sixteen and never broke up once. We even survived going to college across the country from each other. We’re hopelessly in love.”

“Another happy couple,” I mutter. “I’ve got to get new friends.”

“Ricky’s looking for a new leader,” Sophie says. “I don’t think he knows what to do without Seb around all the time.”

“Hard pass,” I say, my teeth clenched.

Seb looks up and laughs. “Ricky’s getting to you already, huh?”

“He’s fine—”

“Liar.” Maisie points at me. “Ricky’s the opposite of fine. He’s a pain in the ass. I’m still convinced that he’s actively trying to break up Seb and Sophie.”

“He’s not trying to break us up,” Sophie says, grabbing Maisie’s arm. “Stop saying that. If anyone’s trying to break us up, it’s Savannah.”

“Yeah, but Savannah’s trying to separate you so she can get with Seb.”

“Mae, stop. Please,” Seb says, pulling Sophie into his arms. “I’d rather date Ricky than Savannah.”

“I think Ricky would be okay with that,” I say. “He’s always been a little too into you. And I agree with Maisie that he’s trying to break you up. This afternoon he said—”

“Good luck breaking us up,” Seb says, laughing as he kisses the top of Sophie’s head. He gives me a quick, but stern look that tells me Sophie doesn’t know about Ricky’s active campaign against the wedding.

“I wonder where Raine is.” Sophie looks at her phone again. “Her plane landed like twenty minutes ago. Do you think she ditched us again?”

“Probably,” Maisie says. “When’s the last time you talked to her?”

“We texted this morning. She said she was headed to the airport. I’ll text her again.”

“Maybe herdatebacked out on her,” Maisie says, using finger quotes. “She probably panicked and missed the flight.”

“Why the air quotes?” I ask.

Maisie turns to Sophie. “What are the chances you think she’s dating him?”

“Is there less percentage than zero?” Sophie says. “She’s bringing him so we won’t try to set her up. He’s a beard.”

---