Page 35 of Caught Running

“Liquid stuff,” Brandon agreed, tossing ready-to-eat carrots in the cart before pushing toward the deli.

Jake strolled toward the other end of the store in search of milk and orange juice. He turned the corner into the last aisle and practically skidded to a halt as he saw a woman slowly pushing a cart up the other end of the aisle. It was too late for Jake to bolt out of sight, and he stood there for a moment mentally whimpering as Misty looked up and caught sight of him.

Her eyes flared with pleasure and cunning, and she started prowling down the aisle toward him, her heels clacking on the floor. “Why, Jake, imagine catching you out so late,” she drawled, leaving the cart to approach him. “And all by your lonesome?”

“I got cut from the herd, apparently,” Jake answered as he looked over his shoulder and craned his neck as if looking for someone—anyone—to save him. “Misty,” he finally greeted with a barely concealed grimace.

Tossing her curly brown hair over her shoulder, Misty walked right up into Jake’s personal space. “What are you looking for this late on a Saturday night, hmm?” she said in a seductive tone.

Jake resisted the urge to back up and instead looked down at the woman he towered over. “Milk,” he answered helplessly, trying desperately to think of a way out of the innuendo she always threw at him, but unable to do it with his head floating merrily like it was.

Misty smiled and reached up to place her small hand on his chest. “You can’t tell me you’re just out grocery shopping when you could be out having a good time,” she purred.

Having gathered meat from the deli and some Kaiser rolls, Brandon pushed the cart along the back of the store, blinking when he looked down the length of the aisle to see Jake just standing there, a smaller woman in front of him practically crawling up his chest? Blinking again, Brandon wished he could see her clearly. His eyes were pretty good, really, they just fuzzed out some, up close and at a long distance. But he could make out the slightly panicked look on Jake’s face as he towered over her, and Brandon had to bite his lip not to laugh out loud.

Jake’s eyes caught movement at the end of the aisle, and he looked up to see Brandon watching them with amusement clearly written on his face. He had to repress the urge to growl, and instead he smiled politely and reached up to carefully pluck her hand from his chest. “You know, you’re right,” he responded as if the thought had just occurred to him. “I’m just going to go find a good time,” he said as he backed away from her. “See you Monday,” he added once he was far enough to get to the end of the aisle and turn to dart away.

Nearly collapsing against the cart as he tried to keep his laughter quiet, Brandon scooted away from that aisle and down the next two, looking to catch Jake. Who the hell was that woman? He’d not gotten a clear look at her.

Jake turned down the row two aisles over and practically jogged down it, sliding his feet to make sure his flip flops didn’t slap against the tile floor. It was pretty easy to lose someone in agrocery store, right? Right. He practically bowled Brandon over at the end of the aisle, and he grabbed the man, holding him in front of him like a shield.

Brandon broke into laughter as Jake wrapped an arm around him, using him like some kind of human wall. “Who was that?” he asked.

“Misty,” Jake hissed. “Spawn of Satan. I feel dirty,” he added with a grimace as he looked around furtively. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he pleaded.

“Misty?” Snickering, Brandon let Jake pull the basket and subsequently him to the front of the store so they could check out. “I’m guessing she wondered why you weren’t shacked up somewhere with someone since she didn’t have you?”

“Something like that,” Jake grumbled with a glance over his shoulder. He cleared his throat and looked at Brandon with wide eyes. “I’ll wait in the car,” he declared abruptly.

Stifling another laugh, Brandon dug the keys out of his pocket and held them out to him. Jake snatched the keys and gave Brandon’s arm a quick pat as he stepped around him. “Good luck out there, soldier,” he offered as he retreated to safety.

Shaking his head as he watched Jake practically flee from the store, Brandon pushed the basket forward and started pulling stuff out of it and putting it on the conveyer belt. He heard the heels clacking before he saw her, and he straightened to see Misty get into line. Brandon doubted she would speak to him. They certainly weren’t friends. And now that Brandon got to thinking about it, he didn’t like her trying to get at Jake. He swallowed down the boil of possessiveness. “Evening, Misty,” he said.

Her eyes barely registered Brandon as she scanned the front of the store and the windows that showed the parking lot out front. “Brandon,” she finally sighed in greeting, looking awayand placing her items on the rolling belt. “Hey, did you happen to see Jake Campbell come through here?” she asked as she rounded on Brandon and put her hand on her hip petulantly.

Brandon’s lips twitched. “Yeah, actually, he went through the express line and took off,” he said, slowing to pull items out of the basket.

Misty huffed in exasperation. She looked away and shook her head, eyes narrowing as she thought about Jake and how fucking difficult he was being. Everyone could see how perfect they would be together. She glanced at Brandon and again and raised her eyebrow. “You’re coaching baseball, right?” she asked as she turned toward him and leaned against the counter, close enough to him that she knew it would make him nervous. Brandon had always been the jittery type.

“Yeah,” Brandon answered cautiously, edging away when the cashier started on his groceries.

Misty took another step closer and leaned toward him. “So you see a lot of Jake, right?” she inquired cagily. “Is he seeing anyone?”

“Ah, well,” Brandon drew back, already scared of the predatory look in her eyes. He suddenly felt a lot more sympathetic toward Jake. “Yeah, we’re with the team all the time. But I only see him after sometimes. For, you know, meetings.” Brandon swallowed, somehow proud of the fact that he hadn’t lied yet. But he thought he would, if he needed to.

Misty sighed and tilted her head impatiently. “Is that a no?” she demanded with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t know how to answer your question, Misty,” Brandon said a little desperately, tapping his foot, trying to hurry the cashier.

Misty huffed and turned away, clicking her heel loudly as she did so. “Well, if he’s spending all his free time on baseball and meetings then he’s probably not got much time for a personallife,” she reasoned out loud, shooting Brandon a sideways glare. Something seemed to click in her mind as she looked at him, and she turned her body toward him again. “How rude of me, Brandon, how are you?” she asked sweetly. “We don’t talk nearly enough,” she said, placing a hand on his elbow.

Now Brandon got really nervous. “Well, we’re in different departments,” he said weakly, pulling his debit card out to pay. Now that he was pinned under those eyes, he really wished Jake was here to help. Brandon was never going to tease him about Misty again. He felt trapped.

Misty hummed in response and removed her hand slowly. “So, when’s your next game?”

“Away at North on Monday,” Brandon said, figuring she could find out herself anyway. He watched her apprehensively, wondering what she was up to. There was an odd glimmer in her eyes.

“Well,” Misty responded as if that were good news. The cashier handed Brandon a receipt to sign, and Misty stepped away from him again. “Maybe I’ll see you there,” she told him with a sparkling smile.