Page 19 of Curve Ball

“Mel could offer dance classes at the same time as some of our classes and Mel can offer the parents special rates if the parents take one of our classes at the same time. I think that might boost membership over time,” I suggest and Henry stays silent for a minute again.

What’s going through that head of his? I can usually get a read on him, but right now he’s a mask of mystery.

“What does Mel say about all this?” he asks, and I mention that I haven’t told her yet, that I wanted his go-ahead before I told her anything.

“Okay,” is all he says and for a second I think I dreamed it, but when I catch that glint in his eyes and the big smile on his face, I leap out of my chair.

“Okay, as in ‘okay I’ll think about it?’ or ‘okay, let’s do this.’”

“It’s an ‘okay, let’s do this,’” Henry says just as I run and hug him behind his desk. “I love the idea of the studio also functioning as a day care of sorts and I think that you’re right that it will boost membership over time. So yes, I approve.”

I give him another hug before I go and grab all my papers.

“You are amazing!” I scream, loving the feeling coursing through my body. I can’t tell if it’s happiness or pride in myself for doing this. But either way, I’m on cloud nine. “I’ll talk to Mel and try to find some cheap contractors to help.”

“Before you go looking for hired help, talk to that boy of yours. I think he has some ideas on how to help with all that.” He winks, and I smile because of course Josh would have ideas of his own. All I care about right now is that I get to make my best friend’s dreams come true.

8

Josh

The Haws are playing in my hometown tonight, so when the sound of my phone wakes me up, I know that it’s my mother. I shake last night’s events out of my head because my cock is still at half-mast just from remembering the sounds Harper made, wondering if she could be louder next time.

“Hey Mom,” I murmur, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I look at the clock on my nightstand, realizing I still have a few hours before I have to get to the stadium.

“Hi sweetie, I didn’t wake you, did I?”

I chuckle at the concerned tone of her voice, knowing she will never get over that perpetual worry she always seems to have on my behalf.

“It doesn’t matter, I needed to get up anyway. I need to eat before going to practice.”

“I wish you would have told me you were flying in, I would have brought you home for some food.”

I smile, picking up the room service menu, knowing it will all pale in comparison to my mother’s cooking. I think about leaving and going to a restaurant but what’s the use of going out when I can just stay in my boxers and watch TV while eating pancakes and bacon.

“Ma, you know I love your cooking, but if you come here, then Will will come too, so will Cam and about ten of the other guys from the team.”

She laughs it off as if it’s no big deal to have thirteen baseball players in her house. She’s always been that way, wanting to support me any way she can, even when I make enough to support her. Which I do.

“Fine. Then when will I see you? I need to hug my baby before he leaves.”

“Ma, I’m here for three days. We have loads of time to see each other, don’t worry.”

She huffs a reply and I find myself smiling because I can picture her face perfectly, and we both know that if I actually saw her face, I would cave and invite her here right now.

“So who is this girl I saw you with in the paper?”

My head snaps up at the mention of a girl, and I wonder again when Harper and I were pictured together.

“She’s very beautiful, but she seems a bit too girly for you…”

I groan. She’s not talking about Harper, she’s talking about Angela.

“She’s no one. She sat next to me at a basketball game and tried to persuade me to go home with her. I didn’t.” For a split second, I wonder what Harper will do when her picture eventually turns up in gossip magazines. I know she understands that side of the business, but I still get this sinking feeling when I think about it, because it will happen. It’s not a matter of if but when.

“So, if she isn’t the girl, then who is?” she asks all coy, but I know for a fact that she knows more than she’s letting on.

“How do you know there’s a girl in my life?”

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