Page 11 of Grand Slam

When he chuckles I look over at him and can’t keep from smiling.

“You never could tell a lie.” Leaning forward he rests his elbows on his knees. “Just like that time you and Liz broke my truck stereo knob.”

“In my defense, it was my turn to pick the song.”

“She was so pissed off when you confessed.”

“She was.” I remember the death glare she offered me. “Told me that if she ever needed help hiding a body I was the last person she’d call.”

“Never met a person that had a better poker face than my sister.”

“It’s scary sometimes,” I add with a laugh.

Silence falls over us, and I know he is looking at me. “I didn’t mean to make things weird.”

“I know.” I offer him a forced smile.

“But I did.” When I don’t answer him, he sits up straight, leans back in the chair and for the remainder of the concert we sit in silence, both lost deep in our owns thoughts.

CHAPTER TEN

Kelton

I should be sleeping,but instead I’m sitting up, staring out the window. Overlooking the lights of Nashville, nursing a warm whiskey, knowing that tomorrow I’ll pay for it.

“Now I know you aren’t sitting here in the dark worried about tomorrow’s game.” My sister flops down on the couch at my side. “You aren’t the kind of guy that gets nervous. You’ve got the game running through your veins.”

She gets comfortable, tucking her feet up and grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch, pulling it around her.

“You want to talk about it?” I don’t answer. I can’t say what I’m feeling to my sister, not about her best friend. “Okay fine, since neither of you want to address the elephant herd that trampled this trip like peanuts, I will.”

My sister can’t hide her irritation and she is normally a very happy-go-lucky person.

“The two of you need to stop dancing around what happened and avoiding each other.”

“I’m not avoiding her.” Then it hits me. “Wait, she told you?”

“That you kissed her? Or that you took her virginity then ran off to play ball more than seven hours away.”

Instantly the whiskey sours in my stomach and I feel nauseous.

“You’ve known all this time?”

She nods and I hold her stare, her face highlighting through the lights filtering in from the open windows.

“Yes,” she finally states. “She broke down the minute the truck pulled out of sight and I spent that evening fighting the urge to jump on the soonest flight so I could be here to kick your ass when you rolled into town.”

“She never called.”

“Neither did you,” she counters only making me feel like an even bigger ass.

“We both knew going in that it couldn’t go any further. She had plans, I had this.” I hold out my hands indicating Nashville and not my shitty apartment.

I don’t lovethe way Alizabeth is looking at me. “She was in love with you.” Her words are like a kick to the stomach. “And she probably still is,” she adds only making the ache worsen. “She may not admit it, she may pretend that it was nothing but I can promise you it was everything. We don’t talk about you, I do, but we don’t. She nods, pretending to listen and be interested but I know her well enough to understand that the second Ibring you up she is tuning me out. Because it hurts too much for her to hear about you.”

I attempt to swallow past the lump in my throat.

“Whenever you call she conveniently remembers she has something to do and disappears. Whenever I put one of your games on she decides it’s time to clean the apartment.”

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