Page 25 of Home Safe

“Or maybe I chose you as my best friend because it’s true,” Kara says, smiling fully. “Give yourself some credit, Danae.”

We’re interrupted by the sound of voices entering the library. “Oops, better get back to the music room!” Kara says. “But don’t think this conversation is over. You will keep me up to date on any and all new developments.”

“Remember, you’re sworn to secrecy,” I whisper as we walk out of the storage room.

“As much as it pains me to keep quiet, I promise,” she says.

I turn to the room filled with third graders and switch into librarian mode. “Good morning, class!”

Chapter twelve

Griffin

“Oye, West!” Adrian’s sharp voice cuts through the fog in my mind. I shake my head and look down to where he’s lying on the bench in front of me. The barbell he’d been bench-pressing is resting safely in the rack.

“You were supposed to be spotting me, man. Good thing I’ve been working out extra in the offseason and can hold my own,” Adrian says, sitting up and swiveling to face me. “Where’s your head at?”

“Sorry, man. Got distracted,” I say, not offering up further explanation. Adrian quirks an eyebrow at me, and the amused twitch of his mouth indicates that he knows precisely where my head was just now. Or rather, where it’s been all day, resulting in multiple extra takes filming the commercial this morning. I already received an earful of opinions from Sam about my distracted mind today.

Adrian grins. “Still thinking about that Danae woman, huh?”

I smack him on the shoulder and signal him to move so I can take my turn lifting. “None of your business.” Lying down on the bench, I reach up to grab hold of the bar. Unfortunately, I can’t avoid the view of Adrian’s gleeful grin from this position. Huffing a breath, I lift the bar from the rack and slowly lower it to my chest.

“It is my business if you’re going to let me drop a rack full of weights on my face instead of paying attention,” Adrian says. I simply grunt as I push the barbell up. I can hear the other infielders talking aroundthe weight room, but Adrian and I are separated enough that we could have a private conversation. If I wanted to.

I lower and raise the bar again in silence.

“Come on, bro, I’m your best friend. And greatest teammate ever. Not to mention, pretty smooth with the ladies. Tell me what’s going on up there,” Adrian urges, motioning toward my head.

The head that should be concentrating its brain power on training for the upcoming season. Not working overtime weighing the pros and cons of asking Danae out.

I don’t think the ease I felt with her on the drive to the bookstore was entirely one-sided. She seemed to come out of her shell and enjoy the conversation.Seemedto enjoy my company, at least a little bit.

The drive home? Not so much.

In her mind, could our connection on the first drive overpower the bitter taste of the attention? Would she consider going out with me? Or has she given me zero thought since last night?

Adrian must read the inner turmoil playing out on my face because his softens from mischievous to uncharacteristically sympathetic. “Why are you overthinking it so much? If you’re interested, just ask her out. This isn’t like you,” he states, his hands hovering below the bar as I reach my final rep.

I strain to push the barbell up, then replace it on the rack. Sighing, I let my arms drop to the sides of the bench, gently stretching the muscles of my chest. Adrianismy best friend, and I don’t envision him letting this go. So I may as well be honest.

“Yeah, well, Danae’s not like other women,” I say, voice low.

The sympathy drops from Adrian’s face, replaced by a devilish grin. “Ooo, you are so obsessed with her.”

“You know, for a twenty-eight-year-old man, you act a lot like a fourteen-year-old girl sometimes,” I say with an exasperated sigh. I don’t really want to admit that he might be right.

“Do I need Sam's help pressuring you to ask her out already?” Adrian asks, voice growing louder.

Shushing him as I sit up, I say under my breath, “No need. She’s already been pestering me about it nonstop. But I’m trying to be amature adult and think through a potentially significant decision. Not rush into something.”

I rise to my feet, and we move to the dip stand for triceps dips. The team trainers are circulating the room to make sure we’re following our plans, and I avoid drawing any additional attention to the conversation that Adrian and I are having.

He grabs the parallel grips, but before hoisting himself up, he cocks his head, looking at me curiously. “You’re really next-level serious about this, aren’t you? Not just a casual date or short-lived interest.”

I nod and shrug, both affirming and playing off the observation. I speak quietly as Adrian starts his first set of dips. “Danae’s not the type of woman to casually date. She’s not in a position to have some fleeting fun. If I ask her out, it’s because there’s potential for something real.”

Adrian grimaces as he completes the first set then drops to the floor. “And you see that potential?” he asks.

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