Page 62 of Bad Call
“Your heart,” I teased, winking at him.
Thankfully, it didn’t freak him out. Casey just laughed, losing his irritation. “Yeah, maybe,” he agreed.
My phone rang, and I slid it from my pocket and held it up to my ear. “Hello… You’ve got to be kidding me… No, that’s great… Girl, I could kiss you right now… Yes, I know, I owe you dinner. It would be my pleasure to take you out… Yeah, I’ll give him a call… Looking forward to seeing you again, too. Thanks, Hannah.”
Returning the phone to my pocket, I gave Rawlings another pat and when I looked at Casey, he was staring at me as if I had grown two heads.
“Who the fuck was that?”
“Oh, just Hannah.”
His brows pulled tight. “Who the fuck is Hannah?” he asked, his voice rising higher.
“My ex.”
“And you’re taking her to dinner? You can’t wait to kiss her?”
It dawned on me how it sounded and I chuckled, which only made his face grow angrier.
“So now that the season is over, I figured it was a good time to move up, switch jobs.”
“This is the first I’ve heard you talk about switching jobs. What’s wrong with the one you had?”
“It prevents me from telling everyone I’m dating this really hot head coach with a fetish for chicken suits.”
My words sank in and a slow smile spread across his face, growing wider with each second. “What’s Hannah got to do with it?”
“She works at the AMLU. Got me an interview, but it’s just a formality. She said I got the job.”
“Get the fuck out!” he exclaimed, sitting forward. “The minor league? AAA is one step beneath the major league.”
“I know,” I smirked.
“Your schedule is going to be impossible, but we’ll make it work.” He scooted closer, sliding his arm around my shoulder. “We’ll have to go out and celebrate.”
“We don’t have to go anywhere to celebrate,” I suggested with a leer.
Casey chuckled. “This is fucking incredible. It also means we’ve got to tell Marcus and the rest of the world.”
“And you think you’re ready for that?”
“As ready as you are,” he challenged.
Shit, I was more than ready. Casey had the bigger challenge, coming out to his coworkers and his team, making himself an easy target for students at the University.
“I’m not trying to push you out of the closet,” I reassured him. “If you need more time…”
“You’re not pushing me out of anything. I’m ready. We’re doing this.” He linked his fingers with mine and kissed my knuckles.
We were definitely fucking doing this.
“Sit back, Marcus, before you fall out of your goddamn chair,” I teased. He’d been riding the edge of his seat for the last three innings. Unfortunately, his team lost the final round of the NCAA Division One Tournament, and they didn’t make it to the World Series.
“I’ve got heartburn,” he complained, grabbing his soda.
“That’s not gonna help. Here,” Penn offered. “Try water. Penn shoved a water bottle at him, and Marcus gratefully accepted.
I heard the crack of a bat, even though my eyes weren’t on the field, and knew that it had to be Austin when Wilder exploded out of his seat, followed by Marcus.