Page 31 of Her Three Rangers
He took my hand and helped me up onto the bleachers, letting me walk ahead to choose a seat before sitting down next to me.
“Depends on the sport, I suppose,” I said, shrugging. “I mean, it’s only high school, but the kids here really get into it, and I love seeing their determination when they’re out there working as a team.”
Cody nodded thoughtfully and looked out over the baseball diamond. “Did you play sports in school?”
I laughed. “Not unless you count helping all of my friends with their homework and studying my butt off for scholarships as a sport.”
He turned to look at me, quietly studying my face for a moment before he replied. “I think you probably made the better choice. And scholarships are competitive, so… yeah, I’d say that counts.”
I smiled and reached over to take his hand, loving the way he instantly entwined his fingers with mine. Everything about him was just so steady and stable, relaxing and nice.
Cody was the kind of guy I could see myself curling up on the couch with on a Saturday afternoon, just doing whatever we felt like—or nothing at all—and both of us being perfectly content.
“How about you?” I asked. “Any sports?”
“Football,” he shrugged. “But I never took it very seriously. And I only played in high school. By the time I got to college, I was too busy trying to keep my grades up to spend time throwing a ball around.”
“Sounds like we both made the right decisions,” I said, quietly, looking down as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over the top of my hand.
The way he was looking at me made the butterflies that had been sort of playing around in my stomach spring into action.
Being around Cody made me feel safe and warm, but there was more to him than just that nice, quiet, guy-next-door thing. There was heat in his eyes, and a certainty in his voice no matter what he was talking about.
He wasn’t intimidating—okay, so his huge muscles probably would be intimidating if I were on his bad side—but sitting next to him made me feel protected, made me feel cared for.
It was sexy in a whole other way than what I’d experienced with Jaeger.
When he leaned in closer, I didn’t hesitate for a second to meet him halfway, letting him kiss me sweetly, his lips surprisingly soft and tender.
While Jaeger made me think of danger, Cody was the epitome of security.
Being with them—especially one after the other—was like night and day, and, so far, they were both making me want more.
Jenny stood in the doorway of my office without saying anything, a knowing smile on her face.
I waited a few moments, trying to finish some paperwork before my curiosity made me set it aside with a sigh. “What did I do?” I asked, finally.
“Hm? Oh, nothing,” she said, still smiling.
“Come on, Jenny. I know that look.” Now I was smiling, too, though. We knew each other way too well. Most days, we probably could have communicated solely with looks like the ones we were exchanging now.
“I just couldn’t help but notice how… peppy… you seem this week.” She shrugged, feigning innocence. “And I couldn’t help but wonder what had caused this sudden mood change in my best friend, since we normally don’t keep any secrets from each other…”
She was right. We normally didn’t keep anything from each other, secret or otherwise. Still… this was different.
Not that I was ashamed or embarrassed by the fact that I was dating all three of the guys who were currently outside building a kennel for free, but I also wasn’t so naive to think that anyone else would understand the reasoning behind it.
Even Jenny would probably be shocked, and she’d been around for every single questionable decision I’d ever made.
Except I hadn’t really questioned this decision, had I?
I’d been too happy to bother second-guessing any of it. But she was still looking at me and expecting some kind of answer, so I would have to come up with something to satisfy her curiosity.
“I think the guys just bring a certain energy to work with them,” I said, finally. “You’ve obviously noticed it, too, or you wouldn’t be standing here smiling.”
She laughed and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve noticed the energy you’ve been bringing to work, and it’s an awful lot like the energy of someone who is enjoying themselves after work is done. Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” she added, quickly. “I think you deserve some fun in your life. I’m just dying to know which one it is.”
I rolled my eyes. “What makes you think it’s one of them?”