Page 40 of The Perfect Deal
She chuckled and took my arm, and I was re-reminded of why she was my best friend. “It’s fine. We’ll sit in the back and snicker at the two of you where you can’t see us.”
Landon laughed and went around to get into the driver’s side, and the rest of us piled in as well. I was grateful that Poppy didn’t protest. Sitting in the back seat with Joshua right now would be incredibly awkward, even if Landon’s truck was big enough for me to hug the door and not even have to breathe the same air as him.
We went to a different Mexican restaurant, but still a good one. By the time our chips and salsa hit the table, the uncomfortableness between Joshua and me was beginning to dissipate some, at least enough that I was no longer worried that my brother would realize something was going on. I wasn’t okay with the way Joshua had treated me, but I was open to playing nice, at least for now.
Over dinner, we discussed what we should do on our quick trip to the beach. “I don’t care what we do as long as there’s a lot of drinks and a lot of sun,” Poppy proclaimed, picking up her third taco. I was already on my fourth, and I’d lost count of how many the boys had scarfed down.
“We’re staying in a great rental house,” Landon told us. “Wait until you see it. The rooms are huge, and almost all of the bedrooms have a view of the beach.”
“Score,” I chimed in, taking a sip of my drink. I didn’t have to worry about driving home, so I could drink as much as I wanted to. “Please don’t put me with a snorer.” I turned and looked at Joshua, and he snickered. For a moment, we shared a laugh before I remembered I was angry at him and pulled my eyes away.
“I take it that’s an inside joke?” Poppy asked.
“The woman I shared a cabin with snored like a fucking freight train,” I explained. “It was awful.”
“It’s no wonder you were exhausted when you came home,” my brother noted.
“For sure.” Again, I found myself looking at Joshua. He said nothing, which was probably for the best, but just knowing I could meet his gaze again gave me hope that we could figure this out. I had missed him, and I didn’t want to be without him anymore, even if he had been a jerk.
It was dark when we left the restaurant. We’d only just stepped outside when Poppy shouted, “Shotgun!” She turned and laughed in Joshua’s face, and he shook his head. Then, my friend met my eyes, and I nodded. I could handle sitting in the back seat with the man who’d stolen and broken my heart now.
The ride home wasn’t long, and there wasn’t much conversation. The two love birds in front of us sat near one another, holding hands, as a romance song played on the radio. Jealousy blossomed in my heart, but then, I was also happy for them.
When I felt Joshua’s hand graze mine, at first, I thought it was an accident. But then, his fingers didn’t move away, and I realized he wanted to hold my hand. I glanced over at him, and in his eyes, I could see that he was missing me just as much as I’d been missing him.
Sliding my fingers between his, I felt warmth seeping into my hand, climbing up my arm, soothing my soul, and filling my heart. Damn, as much as I wanted to stay mad at him, it was impossible. He still had some explaining to do, but it was clear to me now that what had transpired between us wasn’t just special to me.
It meant something to him, too.
25
JOSHUA
Sounds of kids laughing mingled with the squeak of rubber off the basketball court as Coach Sam blew his whistle, calling a foul. I stuck my head in the door, a smile on my face, as I saw a group of familiar kids working on fundamentals. Even after spending so much time with the kiddos at camp, I was still happy to see them. Axel waved at me, and I waved back, right before Robby stole the ball from him and took off toward the basket, getting a shout from his friend.
I was still chuckling when I reached my office. With my mind on the trip to West Palm Beach in a few days, it was nice to have the distraction of the younger athletes running around. I wouldn’t be spending a lot of time with them today because there was so much I needed to do to prepare for the next session of camp before I left for the long weekend.
I sat down behind my desk and pulled up the list I’d made the day before to keep myself organized. I had so many little things to check off before I went home today in order to keep myself on track for the rest of the week that I had to make a list to keep from forgetting anything. As it was, I thought I might’ve left a few items off.
Only a few moments after I started reading through the list, there was a knock on my door, and it came flying open. Karrie poked her head in, a big grin on her face, “Hey there, Josh! Got a minute?”
Biting back a sarcastic question about why bother to knock if you’re just going to force your way in, I plastered a polite smile on my face. “Sure, Karrie. What’s up?”
She trotted in and sat down across from me. I noted her skirt was fairly short, and the shoes she had on would’ve never worked for anyone who was going to be working with kids. Sometimes I wished that my father hadn’t made me hire her, but there was nothing I could do about it now.
“I just wanted to talk to you about the new basketballs Sam wants me to order. He says we need both sizes, but it seems really expensive to get big ones and little ones, so I decided to just order the small ones. That’ll save us a ton of money.” She smiled proudly, like she’d come up with a way to save my company from the brink of bankruptcy.
“We need both sizes, Karrie.” I reminded myself that I was talking to someone who’d never played a sport in her life. “You need to order them both.”
Her bottom lip protruding, she asked, “But why? We don’t use different-sized baskets, right?”
“The smaller ones are for the girls, and the larger ones are for the boys. The boys have bigger hands, and while they could use the smaller ones, that’s true, their school teams will be using the bigger ones for games. They need to practice with the right-sized ball.”
Karrie’s eyes doubled in size. “That’s discrimination. Those teams need to be sued!”
I wasn’t sure what that even meant. “That’s just how it is, Karrie. It’s not a big deal. It’s not discrimination so much as it is accommodation. We’re fine on the budget, so go ahead and order them, and please just get the coaches what they need from now on, okay?” I shouldn’t have to waste my time telling her to do her job.
I could tell she was upset. I’d deflated her balloon. She thought she was doing me a favor, something I’d be happy about, but I’d had to correct her instead. “Fine,” she said with a huff, crossing her arms. “So how are you? Do you have any plans for this weekend?”