Page 4 of Offsides Attraction
“Stupid bike shorts. Why do they have to be so tight?” Penny dropped to the chair and grabbed her socks. “I’m fine, but I need to cut this short. Maggie and I are meeting Cal and his two roommates for a hike in about five minutes, and I’m trying to get ready.”
“Ooh, hiking with football players sounds like a much better way to end the day than riding home in the subway like a sardine.”
“I’ll let you know.” Penny hoped Tanya was right. A male-type diversion might be exactly what she needed to get out of her funk. But it would be a short-term diversion, because Penny had never met a man more interesting than a book.
Bash tugged his Tetons ball cap further down his face. Several locals had already approached the three men, and while signing autographs came with the job, Bash didn’t have the energy for it. Not today. The last time he’d been this nervous had been right before appearing live on Ian Banks’s televised sports show. But the stakes were higher now. He wanted this to work, and he didn’t want to embarrass Cal in front of his sisters.
He hadn’t met Cal before moving in, and he hadn’t seen Lucas since their early days playing. But Lucas had reached out and convinced him to share the house with them. Cal’s parents had recently remodeled the ranch-style house in a neighborhood near the stadium. The rooms were large and the ceilings were high. It was perfect for three oversized men.
He’d always chosen to live alone, but so far it was the best housing situation he’d had in his career. Cal and Lucas were the easy, extroverted types, and Lucas would talk his ear off if Bash let him, but he liked these men and he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of them. Today needed to be a success.
“Assuming I pass today’s test with your sisters, what’s next in Operation Tin Man?” Cal and Lucas looked at him, baffled. “That was my childhood nickname,” Bash explained, shrugging.
“You’re not heartless, you’re reserved. Kids can be so stupid,” Lucas said, sounding disgusted. Bash refrained from telling them his mom had started it. He’d played the role for his sixth-grade spring play, and she’d said it was perfect for him. Even back then, he’d sucked at connecting with people. He had a heart. He knew he did, because if he didn’t, why would he go to all this effort trying to connect? Bash knew he couldn’t go through life alone. People were useful.
“Still water and all that crap,” Cal said. “Can you imagine what it would be like if everyone was as talkative as Chatty-Cathy Lucas here?” Cal dodged as Lucas tried to knock off his cap.
“And you tend to hang back and watch people. You need to stop studying them and start interacting with them. You’re an interesting person. You need to get comfortable sharing.” Bash cringed at the thought, but he nodded so Lucas knew he’d heard him. A therapist had shared that golden nugget for successful interactions, and Bash used it often.
Cal went back to his phone and Lucas resumed his hallway stakeout. Bash didn’t know what the man was looking for, but he seemed intent on finding it. They stood in the wide hallway between Get Lost bookstore, the store Cal said his aunt owned, and Brewster’s, the coffee shop his sister Maggie managed. Large double-doors flanked both ends. One led to the parking lot next to Tumble Falls, a popular tourist destination, and the other to a busy street.
The original version was so much better, he thought, looking at the cover of a sci-fi novel. The new cover had the movie’s hero and heroine on it, and when he flipped it over, a picture of the alien warship. So, predictable, he sneered. Bash’s eyes traveled over the large display, and he stepped back to get the full feel of it. While the revised sci-fi cover was disappointing, the display of books that had inspired recent summer movie blockbusters and binge-worthy series wasn’t.
It was eye catching and effective, based on the number of people who’d stopped to look and the few who’d carried books into the store. More lookers than buyers, and Bash wondered how many lookers turned into a buyer and, on average, how many books did someone look at before buying? Dad should know, Bash thought, making a mental note to ask the CEO of Vander Vetter Publishing.
The family-owned publishing house had started in Amsterdam in the 1850s, but had moved to New York City when the Vander Vetter family immigrated shortly before World War I. VV Pub also had offices in London, Melbourne, New Delhi, and Curacao, but Bash preferred their New York City office.
They expected him to take over from his father when he retired, but lately his dad had made noises about wanting Bash to join sooner. Bash didn’t know if his dad was burned out and truly needed the help, or if he wanted to escape and shed his responsibilities. John Vander Vetter would rather be on a golf course or sailing than stuck in an office. Dislike of an office and a love of books were about the only things they had in common. And their love for Gloria Sebastian, Bash’s mother, John’s wife, and an internationally best-selling author of crime procedurals and thrillers.
Bash thumbed through the interior pages to see the layout as he felt Cal lean over his shoulder. “What do you think?”
That they did a hatchet job on the original book and the author must have signed away all his rights to the movie’s producers. But he couldn’t say that. From what he’d seen, neither Cal nor Lucas were recreational readers, and no one associated with the NFL, other than team lawyers, knew his true identity thanks to a mix-up in college.
The person who’d ordered the jerseys hadn’t understood Bash’s full last name and, seeing the freedom in a new identity, Bash hadn’t pushed for a correction. He lived most of his life under his professional name, and it usually worked for him. With it, he could escape his family responsibilities and niggling guilt, and leave Sebastian Vander Vetter to deal with them in the future.
“Eh, the movie’s always better,” Bash said, dropping the book.
Chapter 3
Penny’s eyes flew open. “Did you hear what he said?” she hissed at Maggie. “And he didn’t even put it back where it belonged.” Her eyes shot daggers at the neanderthal’s back. A well-defined, very muscular backside, but still a neanderthal’s.
“Finally,” Cal said as they approached. Both men turned, and Penny felt Maggie stiffen.
“Penny and Maggie, this is Bash Vetter, and you probably already know Lucas Rodriguez, although maybe only Maggie does?” Cal tugged at his cap like he did when he was nervous.
“Maggie, great to see you again.” Lucas leaned in as if to hug her, but Maggie stuck her hand out, blocking him. He looked at her hand and smiled before shaking it and then shaking Penny’s. Maggie flexed her fingers.
“Nice block,” Bash said, sounding amused, and Maggie blushed. “And nice to meet you.” Penny kept her hands in her pockets and gave him a tight smile.
“Do you still want to do the Bigger Falls, or was practice too tiring?” Penny asked, moving toward the exit. The sooner they started, the sooner they’d be done with these men. One hated books and the other upset Maggie. And her baby brother was too clueless to notice the undercurrents of dislike, bless his heart. She needed to get Maggie alone to find out what was going on. All three Buchanan sisters were well-liked—a side-effect of their gifts, and only the people closest to them saw their real selves—but Maggie was everyone’s favorite. She oozed warmth and goodness, but Penny had never seen her react like this.
“What’s the difference?” Bash asked, opening the door. The heat smacked her in the face and Penny slipped on her sunglasses. They’d protect her eyes, and she could roll them to her heart’s content with no one seeing. Her poor peepers would be tired, and Penny chuckled, envisioning her eyeballs relaxing and putting up their feet after the hike. That could be a cute children’s book.
“Bigger Falls is a little longer and to get the best view you need to leave the paved trail, which is why most people wear appropriate shoes,” Cal said, pointing at Maggie’s sandals. Penny fought the urge to intervene between her squabbling siblings. Given their easygoing temperaments, Cal and Maggie rarely squabbled.
“I’ll be fine,” Maggie said as they approached Cal’s fully loaded, fresh-off-the-line, black pickup truck. He’d bought the beast after signing his contract with the Tetons. His old, smaller truck, which was a hand-me-down from their dad, was now ranch property. Nanna happily bounced around the property in the smaller truck since it was easier for her to load her supplies into.
“Maggie and I will meet you at the trailhead,” Penny said, unlocking her car which beeped at them from a few rows away.