Page 46 of Raine Out (Grand Slam 2)

“That’s none of my business,” she says, slurping the last bit of her drink through a straw and then starting on the new one. “You didn’t have to tell me that.”

“I wanted to tell you, though,” I say, smiling at her. “I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m not seeing anyone.”

She laughs. “Does Allie know that?”

“Does Butch know he’s not your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she groans. “I thought I made that embarrassingly clear at the airport.”

“He acts like he is. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Believe me, there’s no interest either way there.”

“That’s good. Then you’re available?”

Her eyes shoot wide open. She spins her head away from me and looks back at the ocean. “It’s so pretty down here, right?”

“Okay,” I say, patting her leg. “We can do small talk. Yep, it’s beautiful. I grew up in the Caribbean, so this is a little like home for me.”

“Where’d you grow up?” She keeps her eyes fixed on the ocean.

“Puerto Rico. My family still lives there. I left when I was seventeen to start college here.”

She looks back at me. “That’s cool. What college?”

“UCLA. Where’d you go?”

“Georgetown.”

“Great school,” I say, nodding. “What’d you major in?”

“Political science. You?”

“Social sciences.”

“Is that a normal major for a baseball player? I don’t know much about sports.” Her face scrunches up. She has a cute little line that forms above her eyebrows when she does that. I noticed it this afternoon.

“You don’t need a college degree to play baseball. Most guys go straight from high school to the minor leagues.”

“Really?” She taps her fingers on her lips as she processes the information. “I had no idea. Why didn’t you?”

“I’ve always had a larger goal in mind. I mean, baseball got me into college, and I’m grateful for that,” I say, looking out at the ocean, “but eventually I want to go back to school—law school.”

“Nice. When do you plan to do that?”

“That’s all I’ve been thinking about for the last few months,” I say, running my hands roughly through my hair. “It’s stressing me out. Do you mind if we talk about anything else right now?”

“Okay. We can do small talk.”

I look back at her and laugh. “You’re quick.”

“You have no idea,” she says. “Why don’t we talk about Harry Potter? Who’s your favorite character?”

“I’m a Snape fan—”

“Me, too!” she says, a wide grin breaking out over her face. “Snape’s the biggest badass in the series, besides Hermione, of course.”

“God,” I say, leaning back in the chair, “I had the biggest crush on Hermione.”

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