Page 2 of Sweet Spot

Almost two years later we were an inseparable group.

I kicked Seth. “So what is it you like about Lori?”

He made big eyes at me. “Have you seen her? She’s fucking hot!” Then he shrugged to cover the fact that he actually had some feelings. “She’s nice to talk to.”

“Awww.” Everett cooed. “Sethy boy’s in love!”

Some of the other ball players at the far end of the table batted their lashes at Seth.

His cheeks actually turned pink! But before he could lash out at his teammates, Lori returned and he focused all his attention on her.

It was clear Seth really liked her, but she was so uptight. I had trouble picturing them lasting long term, just like Isaac and Amanda. Although did anyone really last? It felt like no relationships went the distance anymore.

“So,” Lori’s eyes lit up as she patted my hand, “who do you have your eye on?” She nodded to the table of ballplayers.

I balked. “No one.” They were my friends! I didn’t think of them like that.

She frowned. “Surely you don’t hang out with them for fun.”

I swear I saw Everett cock his head like he was listening to us. Strange. “They’re my best friends. Do you hang out with your friends because you’re trying to bang them?” My gaze zeroed in on Everett’s hand, watching it become a fist. His knuckles turned white.

“Absolutely not!” Lori sputtered. “I just, don’t you have friends who are girls?”

“No.” And based on this conversation I never would. Girls were complicated. Guys were straightforward. I liked straightforward, even if it came with a side of farts and fast food.

Lori stared at me for a while. Like I was a display in a museum. A rare and strange artifact for her to study.

Meanwhile I studied Everett. Casually though. I was just curious. He hadn’t said a word since Lori came back to the table. He still had a fist clenched on the table. His soda seemed to be the most fascinating thing in the world. Seth and Isaac were engaged in a heated discussion about something called “the shift”. Something that normally would have drawn Everett in as well. Instead, he just sat there.

“You okay?”

He startled. His gaze locked with mine. He looked confused. Maybe he’d gotten so lost in his head he forgot where he was. “Me? Yeah. Oh, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

Everett had a very animated face. Eyebrows, eyes, forehead, cheeks, lips, and chin all moving with each word as if each word had a position on his face. It made him very handsome. There was no hiding anything. Everything Everett thought or felt was always written all over his face.

Except I couldn’t figure out what had confused him so thoroughly. I must have missed something.

“Tell him, Ev.” Seth waved his hand through the air. “He’ll listen to you.”

Everett dragged his gaze away from mine. “About the shift?”

“No,” Seth groaned. “About Amanda.”

Everett pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s his life. Let him live it.”

My gaze darted between the men. What had I missed?

“Wait.” Isaac balked. “You agree with him?”

“I just said it’s your life. I mean that. You’re a grown man who can make his own decisions without a bunch of his little brother’s teammates mouthing off.”

Except Everett didn’t sound convincing and Isaac caught on to it immediately. “What the fuck, Ev?”

Everett sighed, his wide pitcher’s shoulders sagging. “Where is it going?” He shook his head as he spoke. “I like Amanda. If she were ever going to be in the United States, I would be the first person to tell you to put a ring on that finger. She’s wonderful. Smart and driven and so nice. But she’s about to spend the rest of her life living anywhere but the United States and your career takes you all over the States but never out of the country. You’ll never be in the same place.”

Isaac’s mouth worked but no words came out.

“You do you, man,” Seth said. “I just…you get your head in the clouds. You get comfortable. And I don’t think you can see yourself when you get like this.”

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