Page 33 of Perfect Together
She swallowed hard. She really shouldn’t bring up the softball game. Sam was playing and he’d mentioned plans afterward with Nicole. But if Macy didn’t say anything, and he wandered around town or asked someone else, he’d find out anyway.
“There’s a softball game at the high school, but you don’t know anyone here, so I’m sure that would be boring for you.”
“Are you going?” he asked.
She nodded.
“And do most people end up there?”
She inclined her head once more.
“So... say Nicole would be there?”
“Could be.” Macy rocked on her heels, consoling herself that she hadn’t been the one to offer up the information without him asking first.
“Then I guess I’ll see you there.”
She looked him over, caught the determination in his green eyes, and decided not to argue, just to be there beside him. As a buffer, she assured herself, not because she was determined to turn his focus away from Nicole and onto herself.
“But you really can’t go so dressed up,” she said.
His eyes opened wide. “These are my casual clothes.”
She sighed dramatically. “Jeans are casual clothes. Cargo shorts are casual clothes. Khakis are dress clothes.”
He shook his head. “Suits are dress clothes.”
She bit the inside of her cheek and did her best not to laugh even if she did think he was cute, something she doubted he’d find amusing.
“If you’re hanging around for a while, do you want to stand out? Or do you want to fit in?” she asked him.
He frowned. “Your tone tells me that question has only one right answer.”
“Did you bringmorecasual clothes than those?” Assuming he owned the kind of wardrobe to which she’d referred, which she was beginning to doubt.
“I didn’t plan on more than a day trip. I can drive home later today to pack up some things.”
“More of these?” She gestured to his polo shirt, this one a pale green with a blue pony on his chest. “Never mind, don’t answer that. The mall’s just twenty minutes from here. We can get you a couple of pairs of shorts and jeans, maybe a T-shirt or two, and be back before the game.”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m sure I have a pair of jeans in my closet.”
She clasped her hands behind her back. “Are they pressed?”
He opened his mouth in outrage, then closed it again. “Probably.”
She burst out laughing, enjoying this man way more than she should. “Come on. Order dinner and then I’ll take you shopping and show you how the other half lives.”
***
Sam was pitchingat tonight’s game, which meant he had less time to focus on what was going on outside the baseline. But he wasn’t blind, his peripheral vision was just fine, and he could see exactly what he shouldn’t let distract him.
Erin and the baby sat on a blanket, a safe distance away from the game and fly balls, with a good view of the field. Nicole had joined them, which provided enough of a diversion that Sam was off his game. But by the third inning, when his arm was warmed up and Nicole had settled in to watchhim, he’d begun pitching better. Until Macy arrived with Tyler Stanton—and they didn’t go to the bleachers. Instead, they pulled up folding chairs and joined Sam’s sister—and Nicole.
Instead of letting the other man get to him, Sam gritted his teeth and put his anger and frustration into the game.
***
Nicole had runinto Erin at Cuppa Café, where they’d both had the same idea to bring large iced teas with them to Sam’s game. They talked while they waited, and soon, they’d agreed to meet up again on the field and share a blanket. Erin, an old pro, knew exactly where to sit so the baby wasn’t in any danger of being hit by a foul ball, and Nicole was happy to have someone to talk to. She liked Sam’s sister a lot, and her daughter was the sweetest-smelling, most adorable-looking baby Nicole had ever laid eyes on. Both helped take her mind off her troubles.