Page 50 of Stepping Up to the Plate

“No way am I letting you pay for my drinks,” he glowers.

“Georgie,” Lola snaps with a stomp of her foot. This bratty attitude is a whole new side to her I haven’t seen since the night of the bachelor/bachelorette party. I don’t think I’d love it if I had to deal with it every day but I am getting a kick out of it being directed at him.

“If you don’t try to be nice to my boyfriend, I swear on my Gilmore Girls’ box set that I will call your mom AND your sisters.”

Georgie winces at the threat. “Okay, okay. No need to pull out the big guns, Honeybun. I can play nice. I’ll take a Maker’s and Coke.”

I glare at his term of endearment and the fucker smirks back at me. This is going to be a long night.

ChapterTwenty-Four

• LOLA •

Despite his initial reaction, it didn’t take Brady long to accept that Georgie was better known as George ‘Rambo’ Rivera. It helped that he never had an issue with Georgie aside from the attitude problem he has overcome since then… mostly. With a little convincing – and some time spent makinghimmoanmyname – he was able to quickly get over my omission.

On a rare day off, Brady is sitting on the sofa in my apartment watching TV while I put the finishing touches on an article for work. When I peel my eyes away from the screen, I notice he’s watching a sports highlight show.

“Are you an addict, babe?”

“Excuse me?” he questions.

“It’s okay if you are. This is a safe space. You can tell me. I’ll support you as you get the help you need,” I say solemnly.

“What are you talking about?”

I smile, pointing to the screen. “I know it can be hard, but I think it’s time to admit that you have a problem. You can’t go twenty-four hours without baseball. I thought you had to get your fix in person, but now I see it is much deeper if you have to resort to watching it on your day off.”

He tips back his head and lets out a loud laugh. “You can be a real brat, you know that?”

“Me?” I feign innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am a very good girl.”

“You were last night,” he responds with a wink. Despite the fact that we’ve been seeing each other for almost two months, he still manages to make me blush.

“What is my bratty good girl up to?” he asks.

“Now that I’ve finished this article for work, I need to work on a post for my blog.”

“And what post might that be? A new recipe? Making your own candles? Trying meditation?”

I love that he doesn’t bat an eye at all the things I try for my blog. Phil was never supportive of me taking on any side projects or hobbies which is ironic considering he didn’t want to spend his free time with me. I don’t know why he cared how I filled mine.

“Those are actually all good ideas,” I admit.

“Of course, they are,” he scoffs. “All my ideas are good ideas.”

“I’m not sure mine are.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. What’s on the docket?”

I sigh, pulling up my list. “Okay, I need to complete one of the items on my try list and write about it but I can’t decide which one. Some of them strike me as daunting while others are blah. I’m having trouble choosing.”

“I’m great with decisions. Let me see the list. I’ll even go with you to do it.”

“You will?”

“Yeah, if it’s something we can get done today. I’m down. The only thing I was planning to do on my day off was spend time with you.”

Even when he isn't trying, Brady can make my heart melt. Not only is he willing to spend his day off with me, but he is willing to spend it doing something solely for my benefit.

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