“Oh, my God, Caden Kessler!” a woman squeals as she passes us in the other direction. “And, holy shit, Sawyer Mills!” The girl backtracks and runs to stand in front of us. “Can I please get a picture with you? My brother would freak out. He’s a huge fan. I mean, I’m a huge fan, too. But he’s like your biggest fan.”

I look at Sawyer and he nods. Both of us are pretty good at fan interaction. I don’t mind signing autographs and taking pictures as long as everyone remains calm. Sometimes, though, it can get out of hand, like now, on a crowded Friday night. I glance around and hope nobody heard her yell our names. I see a few onlookers, but nobody else is approaching us.

“Sure, we can do a quick picture,” I say.

The girl moves to stand between Sawyer and me, giddy with excitement.

“Uh.” The friend who is aiming her phone at us looks to my right. “Would you mind stepping out of the picture please?”

I look to see that Brandy is still standing next to me—hovering. She pouts before moving out of the way. But as soon as the girl thanks us, Brandy comes right back over and threads her arm around my elbow, as if claiming me.

“Are you Caden’s girlfriend?” the fan asks nicely.

“I am tonight,” Brandy says proudly.

I have to keep my jaw from dropping at her temerity. “I don’t have a girlfriend,” I announce. “Brandy is my date.”

“Well, thank you,” the girl says, before walking away and giggling with her friends.

I start walking. “Come on, let’s go before a crowd gathers.”

When we get to Rob’s place, Brandy raids the kitchen, coming out with all the alcohol she can carry. “You guys up for a game?” she asks.

Sawyer looks at me skeptically. “What did you have in mind?” he asks her.

She shrugs. “Whatever you want. Truth or Dare, Quarters, Strip Poker.”

What are we—sixteen?

Rob gives his girlfriend, Kayla, a scolding look. She finally speaks up. “Brandy, would you quit it. They are not playing Strip Poker with you. I’m not playing Strip Poker with you. What’s with you tonight, anyway?”

“She’s drunk,” Kayla’s other friend says. “And she stupidly took a Xanax earlier to chill out because she was nervous about meeting Caden and Sawyer.”

“Was not,” Brandy whines.

I pick up a deck of cards from Rob’s coffee table. “How about just plain old Poker?” I ask.

One drink and an hour later, Sawyer and I get up to leave. Tomorrow we have a double header.

I smile thinking that Murphy and my sister will come watch the second game. Lexi tries to make as many games as she can, but with her job as an assistant to a well-known author, and her two little girls, it seems like her appearances at Hawks Stadium are few and far between.

I told Melanie that the person I hit with my home run ball was coming to another game. I asked her to give Murphy the royal treatment. I know Murphy doesn’t want anything from me, but I figure this being her first Hawks Stadium suite experience, she won’t know the difference.

Brandy walks me to the door and pulls me aside before I can make my escape. “Don’t you want a kiss?” she asks, looking up at me through her eyelashes.

I shake my head. “I don’t kiss on the first date.”

Her eyes light up. “Oh, so you want a second date?”

“Don’t you live in Oregon or something?”

“No. I’m from Seattle,” she says. “But you never know. If I find a job here, maybe I’ll move to New York.”

“Oh. Well, good luck with your job search, Brandy,” I say, turning to walk through the door.

“You’ll look me up when you’re in Seattle, right?” She pulls out her phone. “What’s your phone number? I’ll text you and then you’ll have mine.”

Not a fuckin’ chance.

“I’m sure Rob or Kayla will be nice enough to provide me with your number if I need it,” I tell her.

Looking dejected, she puts her phone away. Then she leans close and whispers in my ear. “You don’t know what you’re missing, Caden Kessler. Everybody says I’m the best fuck they’ve ever had.”

I pull back, put a hand on her shoulder and look at her with serious eyes. “Wow, Brandy. That’s impressive. I’ll bet if you put that on your resumé, you’ll find a job in no time.”

On the way downstairs, I get out my phone, hoping to see a text from Murphy about her day.

“Do you have a wife in labor that I don’t know about?” Sawyer asks me, motioning to my phone.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You’ve been looking at your phone every five minutes all night long, like you’re waiting for someone to call you. Or like maybe you want to call someone.”

I look at him like he’s crazy. “I have not,” I say.

He silently laughs as we hail a cab.

Well, I haven’t.

Have I?

Chapter Fourteen

Murphy

“Thanks again for coming with me,” I tell Lexi as we make our way to the suite in Hawks Stadium. “I don’t have many friends here yet.”

“I’m happy to do it,” she says. “It’s been almost a month since I’ve been to one of Caden’s games, so I was due. Plus, I know what it’s like to be new to the city and not know anyone.”

I laugh. “Oh, I know people. Just not anyone I’d consider a friend.”

“What about Caden? From the way he talks about you, I’d say he’s your friend.”

“Yeah, well, he may just be the only one.”

“Not true,” Lexi says, hooking her arm around my elbow. “Now you have two.”

Lexi Kessler Stone is someone I knew I would like from the moment I saw her. She greeted me with a hug and proceeded to immerse me in conversation as if we’d been long-lost BFFs. Her smile is infectious and welcoming, and although she’s supermodel gorgeous, the way she carries herself is not intimidating in the least.

“Thanks. That means a lot to me,” I say.

“Here it is,” she says, pointing to a sign labeled ‘Suite 19.’ “This is going to be fun.”

I show our tickets to the attendant at the door and we are ushered through into what looks like a swanky cocktail party, only instead of cocktail dresses and suits, the party-goers are all wearing Nighthawks shirts.

I look down at my plain white t-shirt. I thought about wearing the jersey Caden brought me in the hospital, but it was a men’s large and it looked ridiculous on me. And since I haven’t gotten paid yet, I couldn’t afford to get a Nighthawks shirt in my size.

Lexi looks around at the other people in the suite and then at me, laughter dancing in her eyes. “You don’t stand out at all,” she says, sarcastically.

“I know, I’m sorry,” I say guiltily, thinking the least I could have done was wear one of the hats Caden has given me.

“Drinks?” A waitress asks, circulating through the suite.

Lexi leans over and whispers in my ear. “In case Caden didn’t mention it, drinks and food are included in this suite, so don’t be shy.”

“Why else do you think I’m here?” I say, jokingly. Then I realize how bad that must have sounded. “I mean, I came for the game, obviously. It’s just that I lost my job and I recently started a new one and I won’t get paid for a week, so I was really looking forward to having some real food.”

Lexi gives me a sympathetic look. “You don’t have to worry,” she says. “I won’t tell Caden you just came for the food. I know good and well what it’s like to live from paycheck to paycheck. I know how it feels to be without a job.”

“You do?”

She nods. Then she calls over the waitress. “So, what will it be, Murphy? Coke, tea, champagne?”

“Are you kidding?” I ask. “Champagne, of course.”

Lexi laughs as the waitress hands us some pre-poured glasses from her tray. “I knew I was going to like you,” she says.

“Old Man Murphy?” a woman coming through the door shouts over the noise in the room.

I cover my mouth to avoid spitting out a mouthful of champagne. I look around at the now-silent room, embarrassed, but making every effort not to fall down laughing. I walk over to her. “I’m Old Man Murphy.”

The lady looks down at the box and then up at me in total confusion.

“I mean, I’m Murphy. Murphy Cavenaugh.” The woman continues to stare at me. “It’s a long story … er, an inside joke.” I feel heat creep up my face as I scramble for an explanation.

She laughs and hands me the box. “Lucky for you,” she says. “Murphy Cavenaugh suits you so much better, dear. This is for you. It’s from Mr. Kessler.”

“Oh, thank you,” I say, accepting the package.

She hands me a business card. “I’m Melanie. If there is anything you need, anything at all, don’t hesitate to text me during the game.”

I look back at Lexi to see her watching our exchange. “Okay, I appreciate that.”

“Enjoy the game,” she says before walking out of the suite.

I take the box over to a table and open it to see what’s inside. Then I look around at the ceiling of the suite. “Are there cameras in here?”

“Cameras? Why?” Lexi asks.

I pull out the Nighthawks shirt and show it to her. “Do you think Caden could see that I wasn’t wearing a Hawks shirt?”

Lexi laughs. “You don’t know my brother well enough to know this yet, Murphy, but when he plays baseball, he doesn’t think about anything else. Even before games, he has a ritual that he does to get ready. To get him in the right frame of mind. So there is no way he would have seen you even if there were cameras in here.”

“Oh.” I look down at the shirt in my hands. “I wonder how he knew then.”