Page 58 of The Art of Catching Feelings

“Probably easier if it’s not made public,” he said. “At least to start. Minimize any potential impact on either person’s job.”

“That makes sense,” she said. “When it’s work time, focus on work. Set some boundaries.”

“Boundaries are good.”

She thought about the actual logistics of sneaking around with him, the way her brother and Layla would react if they found out. Probably not well. Kim would reiterate all of her concerns about Daphne putting too much on the possibility of a relationship with Chris, which Daphne really didn’t want to hear. It would be better if she didn’t have to worry about that part of things, at least for now.

“Like maybe they should only be together when the team is on the road,” she said. “So there’s a clearer line.”

“Exclusive?”

She snuck a sidelong look at him, trying to figure out how he meant the question. Was he asking because hewantedto be exclusive? Or because he didn’t?

“Yes,” she said finally. “But with an easy out clause. If either met someone else or the arrangement wasn’t working anymore, they could end it. No questions asked. No strings.”

When she’d entered the bar, she’d seen the light golden color of his drink and thought maybe it was some type of liquor. But now that she was up close on it, she could see the bubbles. She waspretty sure it was ginger ale. Whatever else you could say, they were both stone-cold sober while they were having this conversation.

“So just sex?”

Once again she wished she could decipherhowhe meant the question. She’d never had a casual relationship before. She didn’t know if she’d know how to even have one. But Kim’s words also echoed in her head, and she was scared by the idea of trying to make more out of it than it was. She didn’t want to be the person face-planting in centerfield thinking she was going to make the catch.

“That’s probably easiest,” she said slowly, still thinking it through. “Friends with benefits.”

She hoped he understood that it was as much about the friendship as it was about the benefits.

He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I want to. God, do I want to—”

Daphne was so surprised by him breaking their little game, by that explosive use ofI, that she almost missed what he was actually saying. But once she caught up, realized he wasrejectingher, she felt her face heat and her heart speed up. Fight or flight kicked in and who was she kidding, she’d always choose flight. She wanted to be out of there as fast as possible. The only problem was she hadn’t settled her bill yet.

“No, right.” She tried to snag the bartender’s attention, but he’d turned away to take another customer’s order. “It would be extremely irresponsible. There’s a reason it’s frowned upon.”

“It’s not that, it—”

Finally the bartender turned around and Daphne was able to give him the tight smile and eye contact that hopefully was universal body language forcheck, please!Because thinking that Chris just didn’t want to break any rules—unwritten or otherwise—was vastly preferable to the alternative that he just didn’t think she was worth breaking those rules for. She really didn’t need him tosayit.

She thanked the bartender as she added the tip and signed the receipt. There were still about half of her chips left in the basket, and it felt like a damn shame to walk away from them, but she didn’t have much of an appetite anyway.

“Wait.” He reached out to touch her arm, before drawing back, his hand clenched. “It’s nothing to do with you. It’s me. I’m all f—” He swallowed whatever he was about to say, then set his hand next to hers on the counter, their pinkies almost touching. “There’s someone else.”

Whatever she’d expected him to say, it wasn’t that. “You’re seeing someone else?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “No. I’m not. It’s over. Or it wasn’t anything. I don’t know.”

He ran an agitated hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up a little in the back. It was so rare to see him ruffled in that way; she almost wanted to run her own hands through it, smooth it back into place. If the whole thing wasn’t so sad, it would almost be hilarious. He was turning her down because he was still hung up on someone else—only that someone else wasalsoher. She was touched that he would be so loyal to someone he’d never even met, someone who’d ended it almost a month ago. She was sick inside from what she’d done, this impossible situation she’d created with her own deception.

“It’s fine,” she said. “You’re right, it’s late, I’m tired, I guess I was—” The wordlonelystuck in her throat, too pathetic to speak out loud. It also would make it sound like that was the only reason she’d wanted him, as some last-ditch companionship, when there was more to it than that. More that she couldn’t even express, because he didn’t know.

She gave him a smile that she hoped came across as genuine. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the game. And don’t worry, I won’t—” She started to say that she wouldn’t make it weird during any interview, but that should go without saying, surely? Eventually she’d get over the mortification of this night. She needed to just finish out the season, keep Layla’s seat warm, and then go back to her regular life where she didn’t have to think about the rules of baseball, unwritten or otherwise.

“Daphne—” he said, but she was already turning away, hoping she could make it out of there before she did something to make it even worse, like start to cry.

TWENTY-FOUR

Fuck. That had not gone any way that Chris wanted it to.

When he’d spotted Daphne in the bar, his first instinct had been that he wanted to talk to her. She had a way about her that was easy to talk to—she had kind eyes, an open and honest face. But then when he’d actually sat next to her, he found himself all tongue-tied, barely able to come up with the blandest thing to say, something about what time it was.

He’d thought she was interested in Randy at first, and that’s why she was asking him about dating policies. The very idea had sent a jolt through him so strong it had taken him aback. Something like jealousy. Something likemine.

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