Page 24 of Reckless Love

Chapter 9

Wednesday night dinner at Marie and Greg’s came much faster than I anticipated. I made a cheese plate and Leo bought a really expensive bottle of red.

“How was work?” It was already dark so the streetlights cast funny shadows around the car as he drove.

“Fairly normal. Charley Culpepper, you remember him?”

The baby. At least that’s how I thought of him. He wasn’t even nineteen and burning up the baseball scene. “Yeah. You drove down to see him, right?”

“Yep. They’re calling him up. In his first season. He’s losing his mind.”

I knew football. It was a sport I had no choice but to learn. Partially because I grew up with it allaround me, but mostly because it was best to understand every single component of a system you planned to dismantle. I probably knew more about football than most coaches. I just couldn’tplayit. Trust me. I tried once. It was ugly.

But baseball was something I was just beginning to understand. I got the mechanics of the sport. It was the nuances of how the leagues worked that I hadn’treally had a chance to dig into yet. “Is this unusual?”

Leo sputtered. “Uh, yeah. It happens, just not usually in your first season. Especially not straight out of high school.”

That made sense since high schoolers and college players had different levels of coaching and experience. “So he’s happy?”

Leo stared at the road. “You know, I’m not sure. At first I thought he wasjust nervous. It’s a big deal to play at the highest level of any sport, but it was more than nerves.”

“More?” I’d be terrified, but then again, I couldn’t catch a ball.

“I don’t know. He almost seemed...scared.”

“Scared? That doesn’t sound good.” I knew from experience that a little nervous energy had its benefits, but too much wasn’t helpful. Every time I had to speakat a conference I wanted to puke in a trashcan right before I took the stage. The nerves spurred me to hone my presentation, double-check my facts. They made me better.

“He’s playing here in Tampa tomorrow night. I’m probably going to spend the day with him.”

“That will be good. Hopefully he’s just shocked.”

Leo parked on the street outside Marie’s house. “Come to the gametomorrow night and keep me company?” He leaned across the seat and brushed a kiss across my lips that sent tingles...everywhere.

“Yep.” It was the only word I could form.

“Yep? That was articulate.”

I kissed him again. “Well what do you expect when you kiss all the thoughts out of my head?”

We walked right inside and found Greg tending a pot on the stove while Mariecut slices of bread on the counter beside him. She was still in her work clothes, just like Leo. Greg on the other hand appeared to have changed, unless he usually wore black lounge pants to work. I was pretty sure he didn’t. Also the Mantas tee didn’t appear to be typical work attire. Also his hair was in complete disarray.

“How do you feel eating dinner with the boss after a full dayof work?” he quipped to Leo before selecting a full glass of wine from the counter and handing it to me. “Try this one. I picked it up last month when Marie and I were in Napa. I think you’re gonna like it.”

“Thank you.”

“I think you keep forgetting I like my work and my boss.” Leo winked at Marie.

“Oh he’s trying for a promotion. Buttering me up over dinner. You know thatdoesn’t work, Leo. You know what does?” She leaned closer with her hand to her ear.

“Charley Culpepper going to the big game and not bombing?”

“Ding, ding, ding!If you can pull it off with this kid I’ll give you a fucking vacation.”

“Can I get that in writing?”

Marie shook her head. “How weird is this? My best agent randomly meets one of my childhood friends and fallsin love with her? When they say the world is small they really mean it.”

I plied Marie with questions about Natalie and somehow that turned into Greg asking about Leo’s childhood. He was always quick to change the subject but not tonight. As we sat around the dinner table with our dirty dishes and fresh glasses of bourbon he actually spoke.

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